Musings/Traumereien/Devaneios posted a writing challenge last week, to write a little something based on the picture below. It caught my imagination, and I originally meant to write only 1000 or so words.

It's now 3300 words and will likely grow to a 10, 000 word novelette, which means that I'm only posting about 700 words of it. You can find it here, on my blog!

This is a (kind of) reblog from my other space, The WR(ite) Blog. Over there, I'm running a series of posts entitled These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things.

Mostly I talk about books and movies, stuff that inspires, delights, and makes me think. But I've hitherto neglected to mention the music that inspires and delights me. So today I'm concentrating on my writing music--aka, music I listen to as I write my books--which is why you guys get a video (or three).

I listen to a few different artists as I write, with the most frequently listened-to being Lindsay Stirling, The Piano Guys, and Evanescence. I also like to listen to Nightwish, Within Temptation, and a range of movie soundtracks with wonderful music. Lately, I've also purchased a CD of New Orleans music with a dixie/jazz type of sound to it. Listening to music as I write can improve my productivity by up to 100%: I'm far more likely to write 3-6k on a day that I play music as I write, than on a day where I write in silence or with the TV in the back ground. Mind you, The A-Team is great to write to as well, but I do get distracted by the flamin' awesomeness of Murdock sometimes...

Well, NaNoWriMo is still going, and I still have words to write, so it's ciao for now! What are you guys listening to as you read/write?

Reblogged from The WR(ite) Blog. My 100th blog post wasn't supposed to be so angsty O_o

Adventures In Reviewing: To Review Or Not To Review….

It's not too often in my life that I'm not actively re-reading one of Austen's novels. Pride and Prejudice is arguably my favourite, the staple to which I run again and again in all weathers, moods, and situations. The others are harder to rate one against the other, since they all have such nuance and difference that every time I read one of them, I'm persuaded that it's my favourite after P&P.

I've been reading Northanger Abbey lately, which means that it's my current 2nd fave. One of the things I love so much about Austen's novels is that each reading deepens the understanding of the characters and situations. I never read one of them without gleaning a little more from the current reading than I did from the last; and Northanger Abbey is no exception.

I've always loved the fact that, contrary to all fashionable and popular books of the time, Catherine Morland (a reasonably typical 17 year-old) falls in love with the hero first. Puppy love that deepens to real love, but love nevertheless- and without any inkling of whether or not he may be in love with her. Shocking!

With my latest reading I've begun to see a little more. I see Henry Tilney's flirtation where once I saw only kindness and a likeable personality. I see his subtle jealousy and his discomfort with it. I see his delight both at Catherine's undoubtedly kind and loving nature, and her naivety. She's young and foolish, but she's also kind and sensible and willing to learn. Henry Tilney values those things, as does his sister Eleanor; and it's this value he places on Catherine that makes me like him more.

On my first few readings I thought him lovely but wasn't sure he was in love with Catherine until much later in the book. This time I caught all the tiny, delightful hints that make me sure he liked her from the first and fell in love much more quickly than I gave him credit for.

General Tilney is quite terrifying in his unreasonableness: more so than I ever remember him being. His up and down moods, the heaviness of his displeasure on Eleanor and even Henry--his suffocating lack of love and understanding--really stood out to me on this reading. He's a worthier-- and far more subtle--villain than Isabella and John Thorpe, whose inconsistencies, lies, and insincere friendship are the first sustained assault that Catherine meets with in Bath.

I enjoyed this re-read so much that it prompted me to watch both versions of Northanger Abbey that I own on DVD. If you're going to do the same, I recommend the Peter Firth, Catherine Sleisinger, Googie Withers version. It's dated, downright odd, and delightfully addictive, with a synthesised and saxaphonic soundtrack. The new version with JJ. Fields is also excellent, but I suspect I'll always love the older version better.

Guys, if you're interested in a free ecopy of my upcoming release TWELVE DAYS OF FAERY, I've just started a giveaway of 15 copies. You can enter over HERE. Feel free to reblog if you think any of your fellow-readers will be interested too, but no pressure :)

To anyone not interested: 

Keep scrollin'....keeep scrollin'.... :D

I honestly don’t read a huge amount of middle grade fiction. Even as a kid I was more inclined to read teen and adult fiction–or classics–than I was to read middle grade. There were exceptions, but by and large I didn’t read a huge amount of it (Nicholas Fisk, Diana Wynne Jones, and Joan Aiken being three HUGE exceptions, because they’re amazing).

Frances Hardinge is a new, huge exception. THE LOST CONSPIRACY (also known as GULLSTRUCK ISLAND, depending upon which country you live in) was the first book of Frances Hardinge’s that I ever read (I think. Maybe it was TWILIGHT ROBBERY, which I also love).

Hathin belongs to a tribe called The Lace, whose perennially smiling faces and Sweeny-Todd-like legacy of human sacrifice behind those smiling faces have left them to be widely regarded in suspicion and horrified fear by the peoples around them. Hathin’s chief difficulty and chief responsibility are one and the same: her older sister, Arilou. They are described thusly:

“Her name was Hathin. While Arilou’s name was meant to sound like the call of an owl, the fluting of a bird of prophecy, Hathin’s name imitated the whisper of settling dust. Dust-like she was indeed, unremarkable, quiet, all but invisible.”

Arilou is The Lady Lost, considered special; a lady of prophecy, possessed of great and awesome powers. Her powers are the reason that Hathin’s village has enough food for the winter and a place to live, not to mention a small income from selling relics and suchlike. Unfortunately, those powers are entirely faked. Hathin and the Lace have been keeping Arilou’s lacking mental capacities a secret, ‘translating’ her drooling and moaning to seem as though they’re prophecies. But now an inspector is arriving to test Arilou’s ‘powers’, and it may not be long before they’re all exposed.

Things happen very quickly after the opening is set up. The inspector is murdered. Then almost the entirety of Hathin’s village is also murdered, leaving her on the run and dragging the mentally lacking Arilou along behind her.

What I love about Frances Hardinge is the fact that she’s not afraid to have ugly characters. I don’t mean physically ugly, though she’s not afraid of that as well. I mean the whole setup of a young girl from a people with human sacrifice in their (not too distant) past. There are a lot of stories about the Nazis, and fighting the Nazis, but what would it be like to grow up in the next generation, knowing your people were responsible for such atrocities? There are a lot of countries in real life that have done similar things: my own country of Australia, and the hunting and murder of Aboriginals; the ‘settlement’ of America, where Native Indians were murdered and pushed out of their own land; the Nazis, as previously mentioned; and so on. THE LOST CONSPIRACY was the first time I’d seen anything like this in fiction.

Added to the interest of the subject matter (and the fact that Frances Hardinge is one of the few authors who can still surprise me with the direction a book takes), is the fact that the writing is so absolutely beautiful. For style as well as substance, Frances Hardinge’s books are some of the best out there.

There’s so much more I could say about this book, but the most important thing I have to say is: BUY IT. READ IT. This is one of my favourite books. It’s also eminently re-readable, which is one of the biggest tests of the worth of a book.

Reblogged from my other space, The WR(ite) Blog!

Confessions: I’m A Hoarder

Reblogged from The WR(ite) Blog :)

I've been writing 'poetry' again. YOU'RE WELCOME.

The Editing Blues

It’s editing time again
-what a lark!
I’ve mounds of paper to spare!
Print out the MS
-a walk in the park!
The paper has jammed- but where??

My hot pink editing pen
-oh so bright!
Has caught out that, and and but
Echoes of repeated words
-what a plight!
I’m certain I’ll have to cut

that beautiful, deathless prose
-what a bore!
Surely I’ve started to bleed!
There must be an easier way
-or four
to make this book fit to read!

Now it’s a badly formed sentence
–boo hiss
I didn’t write that, I swear!
That ‘humorous’ dialogue?
-hit and miss
And shouldn’t that pair be pare?

Markups in hot pink
-all over the page!
I think there’s more pink than black!
My back is a wreck
-I’m sure that I’ve aged
And likely started to crack.

But there’s tea for the weary
-ah, what joy!
And doughnuts allay the stress
as my poor typing fingers
-I employ
To lay the edits to rest.

It’s not like that’s all there’s to do
-that pink
But it’s a milestone, yanno?
The changes are added to file
-just think!
‘Only’ the proofing to go!
(oh no!)

Have Pen, Will Edit

I have been remiss in my monthly reminders about Rachel Ann Nunes’ suit against her plagiarist. I did send an email to Rachel asking her how things were progressing and she sent me back a short note. As you can see this has cut into her writing time and it will still be almost a year before it goes to trial.

“Hi Mahala,

I’m so sorry that I have neglected to respond to this earlier. I’m been
writing like crazy trying to get SOMETHING out to my readers. Finally.

Currently, we have answered the opposing attorney’s requests and have
created a document detailing economic damages. I’m sad to say that I wasn’t
able to put out two of the books I normally would have, but I am definitely
writing again. And the joy is returning. My attorney has received
information from Amazon, Goodreads, and other social media about the
accounts in question, and he is now getting ready to take depositions from
the defendant. I will need to give one as well to the opposing attorney. At
present, the case is schedule to go to court in August 2016. That will be
two years from the infringement. I will be sending out an update soon on the
Go Fund Me and on my blog.

Thanks so much! And I’m sorry for the delay.

Rachel ”

Trials are expensive so here is the link to her GoFundMe. Help send a message that the book community will not stand for neither the plagiarism nor the attacks Rushton directed towards Nunes after she was found out. Read the timeline here.

If you don't like seeing blatant self-promotion, look away now...

Ready?

Right.

This is a reblog from my other space, The WR(ite) Blog. Self-promotion commences in...3...2...1...

Preorder Is Up: AKA, Git Yer Novella Heeeeere!

I'm on a bit of a Georgette Heyer re-read kick at the moment. I started with The Foundling and went on to April Lady.

As with The Foundling, one star deducted for the main female lead. This time the star off is because of Nell's wild mood swings. As in, sometimes she's shy and awkward and lovable and all that stuff, while at other times she's sensible and mother-like and straightforward. It doesn't seem to have been done as a matter of character growth, it just seems to be...not quite as well written or consistent as most of Heyer's characters.

Cardross is really rather delightful, and is one of the first male leads I've read who, while being absolutely horrible when he's jealous and angry (for actually understandable/good reasons) apologises unreservedly in the same scene. I can't say how refreshing that is.

Heyer's books always have such a lovely cast of glorious side characters: I love her mad, bad, and downright weird secondary characters. April Lady is no exception here: Nell's brother and his friend Chubby are just delightful (if rather annoying sometimes) and Felix Heathercott is a constant stream of delight through the book.

In this one, my favourite character (out of all the characters, not just side characters) is Felix Heathercott. He's a darling. Seriously: he's quiet, sensible, very sweet, and knows just how a woman ought to dress, and how to dance with her. What's not to love?

One star off because little Harriet never really changes. She's shy and embarrassed the whole way through. But Gilly is wonderful and I suppose with all his growth and discovery during the book it would have been hard to have an advanced love plot as well as all the character growth. It's not about Harriet, nor is the love story the point of this book (oddly enough for a Heyer).

Gideon struck me as delightful as always, and Liversedge is just as wonderfully villainous as I remember him being. Perhaps even slightly better than I remembered. Apart from Gideon he's my favourite character.

It's been a LONG time since I read this one, and apart from a quibble with Harriet and feeling we don't see enough of her, it was even better than I remembered.

I read the Barchester Chronicles for the first time when I was about 12, and for some reason I just kept ploughing through, at the same time enjoying yet finding it difficult to process. I've since read the first two books a couple times each, and each time I read them again I enjoy them a little more. Clever, interesting, and deeply political, they have wonderful characters and also provide a great historical view.

(Plus I love the Warden. He's lovely.)

The Barchester Chronicles (dvd series) is also really well worth the watching.

Ridiculous, fun, and decidedly tongue-in-cheek. I'm only surprised it took me this long to check it out! Now I'll have to check out the others.

Favourite passage:

"Hey, they're shooting at us," said Arthur, crouching in a tight ball. "I thought they said they didn't want to do that."
"Yeah, I thought they said that," agreed Ford.
Zaphod stuck a head up for a dangerous moment.
"Hey," he said, "I thought you said you didn't want to shoot us!" and ducked again.
They waited.
After a moment a voice replied, "It isn't easy being a cop!"
"What did he say?" whispered Ford in astonishment.
"He said it isn't easy being a cop."
"Well, surely that's his problem isn't it?"

"I'd have thought so."

Ford shouted out, "Hey, listen! I think we've got enough problems of our own having you shooting at us, so if you could avoid laying your problems on us as well, I think we'd all find it easier to cope!"

I'm celebrating Spindle's one week publication anniversary by running a Booklikes giveaway that you can find HERE! I've got 5 ecopies of Spindle to send out to the winners (which is different, and kind of cool, because I've only ever done paperback giveaways before) so if you want to get your hot little mitts on 'em, go for it!

Huzzah! Free stuff!

And while I'm at it, here: have an excerpt!

Excerpt

“Well now,” said a soft, amused voice beside Poly. “Something seems to have annoyed Luck. I wonder what that can be?”

The younger of the two men had strolled away from Luck and was now standing beside her. Poly turned her head in what she hoped was a stately manner and took in the faintly challenging hazel eyes that glinted at her above a thin, sarcastic mouth.

“I can see why Luck likes you so much,” said that sarcastic mouth. It wasn’t said sarcastically, however: unless Poly was very much mistaken, those hazel eyes were looking her over with distinct appreciation.

“I’m Melchior,” he said. “That’s Pettis: he and Luck will talk for hours if left alone. Foolish of him, I think, when he could be whispering in your ear. You do speak, don’t you?”

“You’re very forward, sirrah,” said Poly. She was pleased to hear that her voice sounded thoughtful and quite cool. “Why are you addressing me?”

“Four reasons,” said Melchior. “One, I have a great interest in the Sleeping Princess. You’re something of a hobby of mine. Two, your hair is delightfully unusual. Those arespells, I take it? May I touch your hair?”

“Of course not!” said Poly, ruining her aloof tone of voice with an unfortunate squeak.

Melchior’s eyes lit with wicked amusement. “Three, you’re quite obviously an enchantress of some power; and four, well, I haven’t seen anything quite like thisbefore.”

He was holding her gloved hand in his own, and before Poly quite knew what was happening he had kissed her fingers lightly.

“Stop that!” hissed Poly, her eyes flying to Luck. He hadn’t noticed, still deep in his conversation with Pettis, and Poly wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or relieved.

“Why? Because Luck isn’t intelligent enough to do it?” This time there was certainly a sardonic edge to Melchior’s voice. “You must have so many questions, princess: I’m certain that Luck hasn’t answered them all. Allow me to be of service.”

“He warned me about you,” Poly said bluntly. She was rewarded by a lightning-fast grin from Melchior, and was a little annoyed to find that she felt rewarded.

“Did he so! Clever Luck. Me in particular?”

“Not in particular, no. He did warn me against accepting any gifts, agreeing to any arrangements or allowing people to touch me, though.”

One of Melchior’s hands spread wide, indicating innocence, but the other didn’t release Poly’s gloved hand. Poly saw a brief glint of magic obscure his hazel eyes like the flash of light across glass, and knew that he was studying her antimagic hand. The magic was obsidian black, but it didn’t frighten her.

“No hidden costs, princess. Ask, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

***

Can't remember exactly what you have to do today?

Let me help you with that.

Spindle, the first book in my Two Monarchies Sequence, has its release day August 10th. Which means you have 3 days to preorder!

You can preorder on Kobo and Kindle, with paperback available August 10th.

More importantly, if you sign up to my newsletter from now until the end of August, you'll get a Smashwords Coupon for 50% off Spindle! That means you'll only pay $1.50 O_O

Hooray! Stuff on the cheap!

So sign up here for the WR(ite) Newsletter.