Archive for June 2017

I realized I missed posting on Monday. *nervous laughter* I hope that won't happen again. But today is the day I've been waiting for for a couple of weeks - it's the blog tour for Emily Mundell's book, The Sorceress and the Squid!

images all from Emily's Pinterest collage

S y n o p s i s :

In the magical land of Perth, divisions between the Old Kingdom and the New have waged for centuries. The humans have long harbored a mistrust of the spell-casting Fae and vice versa.

In the midst of this conflict, Estrella the Sorceress lays waste to the Training Academy for Human Warriors, making an enemy in the soldier, Jalen. During their standoff, Jalen is turned into a squid and Estrella, unable to restore him to his original form, takes pity on him and travels west across the Sea to bring him to the Wizard in hope he can be saved.

But is there more to the unrest in Perth than meets the eye?

A u t h o r B i o :

Emily Mundell is a 19 year old author, artist, horsewoman and lover of the wonders of the wide world. She hails from the Great White North of Canada and has spent her life growing up in the heart of rural Alberta in a close-knit farming community - though she has often entertained fantasies of inhabiting the Shire.

Writing is her true passion – though horses and art take a close second. With fantasy as her primary genre, Emily has been writing stories since the tender age of eight when she finished her first “book.” She is currently working to complete her Creative Writing Certificate through the University of Calgary. An avid bookworm, true country-mouse, and unconventional tree-climber, Emily can usually be found on a horse, working on one of her half-dozen projects, chasing a loose cow, or being swept off her feet by the man she calls her own personal “hobbit.”

So go follow Emily on her social media:

Blog: http://writeremilymundell.blogspot.ca/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/emundell97/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/e_mundell

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emundell97/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16900796.Emily_Mundell

And this is where you get the book:

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B072MGPNSN

CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.com/7211673

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35262606-the-sorceress-and-the-squid

Now for the interview! I asked fourteen questions, and at first I didn't intend to post them all, but the answers all turned out so interesting, I decided to give them all to you anyway!

(Also, this being my first blog tour, I completely forgot I am supposed to say to Emily, thank you for being here. Thanks for the interview... and things like that, so just saying now, THANKS EMILY. It was fun and fascinating!)

HOW WAS THE IDEA FOR THIS TALE BORN?

The story came about through a late night Facebook conversation between myself and Jonathan (my then-not-yet-boyfriend-now-fiance). We were avidly discussing his secret identity as a ninja squid training an army of squidlings. Later on, after he had asked me to be his girlfriend and I agreed, we decided that I was a sorceress who had turned him into a squid, and the rest is history.

HOW LONG DID THE IDEA GROW IN YOUR MIND BEFORE YOU BEGAN WRITING?

About a year actually. I came up with the idea right away but it seemed really silly in my mind initially so I didn’t actually start writing it til nearly a year after we had been dating (in late 2015). It took me into February of 2016 to finish. Originally it was going to be sweet, short and silly but it morphed into something quite a bit more - which I am quite content with.

HOW LONG HAS THIS JOURNEY BEEN?

From idea to publication it was September of 2014 to June of 2017. So about three years I guess? It has been long, though these last three years have been among the fastest and funnest of my life.

WHAT WAS YOUR WRITING PROCESS LIKE?

I started writing with the intent to finish it for Jonathan as a gift for our October 2015 first anniversary - but since I’m a procrastinator that didn’t happen. :P I did manage to get it done by Valentine’s Day the following spring though, which worked as well. My writing process is a bit messy. If I’m in the middle of a project I have two methods: write at least 300 words every day or finish one chapter a week. I employed a bit of both for this story.

WHAT WERE YOUR WRITING HABITS LIKE (e.g. time of day, computer or paper, drinks, music, number of hours, special place, etc.)?

I’m a morning writer, once it gets beyond lunchtime my creative writing juices generally dry up. Sometimes I can make myself go back to it at night - if I have to. I enjoy being outside or doing something more during the day though and just being on the internet at night, so morning is my best writing space. Other than that, I don’t really have too many habits. I definitely use a computer...no food or drinks really...no special place...no music...no defined amount of time. I’m a pretty laid-back writer.

WHAT REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES/PEOPLE/PLACES DID YOU DRAW ON WHEN CREATING THIS WORLD AND STORY?

Hehe, well I did not really take any real life experiences or places, but I DID draw from real life people (very loosely). Every character aside from the Wizard, Morana, Arian, King Hubrik, Estrella’s father, Jalen’s mother, and Commander Han are based off of friends/family of mine. Perhaps if you know me personally you have your guesses? ;)

HOW DID YOU NAME YOUR CHARACTERS?

Since the majority of them were based on my friends and family, I took the first letter of their name and made a name from that. There wasn’t really a method otherwise. Jonathan named Estrella, I named Jalen. I named the others. XD I come up with character names usually quickly and easily so that wasn’t much of a process.

WHAT WAS THE HARDEST STRUGGLE?

I think the hardest struggle for me as a writer anytime is sitting down and making myself write the first draft. There is so much going on in my life that it can be very easy for me to procrastinate and put things off far longer than necessary. I am also not super knowledgable when it comes to social media marketing, so trying to figure all of that out has been a bit difficult. I have had some very good help from some very good friends/examples though, which I am incredibly thankful for.

WHAT WAS THE MOST FUN PART?

Having the story grow into something much bigger than I previously anticipated was really fun and cool. Originally it was going to be short and silly, then it suddenly became more serious and more like an actual book. I had planned a novella - it turned into a 60,000 word novel. Basically, it exploded. But I really enjoyed that process, and seeing how it grew and just kind of forming it as it went, like working with clay. Also, I love Estrella and Jalen to bits now and they have become some of my favorite characters ever.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO WRITE ABOUT A SQUID? HOW MUCH DID YOU RESEARCH FOR IT?

Literally no research was done. XD Since Jalen was magicked into a somewhat magical squid, I figured I didn’t have to be entirely scientifically accurate. I mean, he can talk, that’s not really typical of a normal squid. I basically just went off of the basics I know concerning squids and that was it. Should I have done some research? Probably. :P

Writing about a squid presented a few challenges. Particularly how to travel with him needing to be in water. As I wrote about Estrella and Jalen’s adventure I kept running into little problems with that and having to solve them. I think it was good for me though, learning to write myself out of corners. I did enjoy the squid aspect quite a bit, it was ridiculous, but I had a lot of fun with the ridiculousness.

WHICH AUTHORS DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR "MENTORS"/INSPIRATIONS/TEACHERS?

Definitely CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. I have admired their work through my whole life and draw from their masterpieces, particularly in writing fantasy. JRR Tolkien is my world-building inspiration and CS Lewis is my other-world inspiration. Between the two of them I have learned so much about writing and grown so much. I absolutely love all their work. If you have not yet read their stuff or have only read Lord of the Rings and Narnia, go and READ MORE.

WHO WAS THE FIRST TO READ YOUR BOOK?

Since I was writing for Jonathan, he got to read first/read as I went. He was also among the first to read the final draft. I had some other readers in between, beta reader friends including Abigayle, Stacey, Billie-Gean, and Lisa. They were all wonderful and very helpful and pointed out some big stuff that I had missed.

WHAT WAS THE HARSHEST CRITICISM AND BEST COMPLIMENT YOU RECEIVED FROM YOUR READERS/EDITORS/ALPHAS/BETAS?

Hmm, a tricky question. I didn’t get very harsh criticism about the story as a whole. There was criticism for parts of it, my gaping plot hole with the Academy that Abi pointed out. :P I can’t think of anything worse than that - I have very nice reader friends. The best compliment? Well, I was so happy that Jonathan really liked it, that he said he could see little bits of us in the characters and that it was super cool. Also, Lisa, when you sent me your informal review and said that you had read it in a day, that was super cool to me. :)

DO YOU EVER THINK BEYOND WHAT YOU WROTE ABOUT THE STORIES OF THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS, OR THE WORLD'S PAST/FUTURE?

I definitely do, great question! I had a lot more background in mind for both Estrella and Jalen but cut it out in order to make it less complicated. However, I will gladly indulge anyone who is interested in hearing about it. I tend to think more about the world’s past than it’s future, however, I have had a few images of Estrella and Jalen flitting through my mind from beyond the closing scene. So who knows, maybe I will be able to come up with something substantial to write about someday?

Thank you so so much for hosting me on your blog, Lisa! I had a great time answering these questions - they were great.

So now go and read the rest of the blog tour posts from the previous blogs (I read them all and they were great!) and go stalk the blogs with the upcoming interviews! I also wrote a review of the book here on Goodreads!

Thanks for joining us today, everyone! Trust me, friends, you have to read this thing!

xxxx
lisa

So I'm doing this unofficial link-up of Jonathan Trout's in countdown for Camp NaNoWriMo. For your info, I didn't know what Camp NaNo was until last March when everyone was talking about it. And this is my very first time joining so I thought I should do this to get myself ready. And of course you'll have fun reading about it.

Now, down to business:

W h a t w i l l I b e w r i t i n g ?

My story is fantasy. I think it will end up being in the lower YA upper MG age group.

My very spontaneously written synopsis goes like this:

In is the 95th year of Queen Ria, and as is custom, a new heir must be chosen. Every girl aspiring for this position must compete in the Tournament. After those games, only four will be left. Of those four, the queen will choose the most worthy one herself after they have completed a mission for her.

But this year, the quest the queen devised is far more complicated than anyone anticipated.

This tale began growing in my head early this year and now it's so big it demands to be written down. Who knows, it may end up needing to be split into two or more books? Depending on how much details I pack in, and what craziness the villains decide to come up with. It's basically a game for the throne that turns out to be much more than a game. And there are teens of different ages involved and there's traveling and questing and forests and competitions and some wizardry and maybe saving the world.

Snippet? Okay. I wrote this scene in my head first, then by hand and now I have to type it; hope it isn't too confusing. I don't actually know if it'll be in the finished work!

Rhine narrowed her eyes. The person in the tree below was so green that it had to be a Broccoli in camouflage. And the Broccoli was very intently watching and following her friends.

Rhine didn't stop to think; she grabbed a vine and swung at the person.

He was facing the other way, and by the time he heard her and turned, Rhine's feet connected solidly with his back and shoulders and she knocked him clean off the branch.

He yelped and flopped down the tree - from branch, to branch, to branch, to branch - grunting every time he hit something. Finally, he landed square on his back on a large and wide bough. Before he could recover, Rhine had dropped in front of him.

As he began to rise, she flew at him, fist swinging, and punched him hard in his jaw. He fell back, more from surprise, it seemed. He winced, and she also felt like wincing from the pain in her knuckles.

"Who are you?" she demanded, fist still raised. "Why are you -"

But before she could finish, someone snatched her back from behind.

Rhine found herself being held in a tight grip, arms pinned to her sides. She twisted and struggles, but to no avail. Then she raised her foot and drove her heel into her assailants leg with all the power she had.

There was an, "Ouch!" and for one instant the grip loosened enough for Rhine to break free, and she spun around fist ready to strike once more. In that moment she saw that the person who had grabbed her was an older girl with surprisingly short hair, but before she could think or do anything else, the guy she had punched grabbed her other arm and yanked her around. She hit him instead.

He let go. Before she could decide how to act, a body slammed into her from behind, and two seconds later she found herself successfully pinned between two people.

She heard the guy's muffled voice say to the girl, "Got a feisty one, didn't you?"

This is just a tiny part, there's more but you may have noticed two things. First, these people are called Broccolis, and second, this whole scene happened in the branches of a tree. So yes, they are called Broccolis because they live in the land of Broccoli, and they are rather small in size. Or the trees are just bigger there, maybe?

That was that, frens.

W h a t a b o u t y o u ?

Link me to your projects if you have the synopses anywhere - on your NaNo accounts or your blogs!

Also since it's my first time doing NaNo, I have no experience with cabins and I have been told the best thing is to start one, which I will, if nothing else pops up (like, if no one invites me before I get to it). But I have in mind only two people to invite so if any of you don't have a cabin yet or know someone who doesn't, you are more than welcome to give me a shout!

xxxx
Lisa

I was tagged for this by Jonathan yesterday, and as it is my first tag, I can't wait to answer the questions! I looked up the person who created this, Caitlin Lambert, and she has an awesome blog, so check it out if you haven't already! Now, let's dive into this -

What draws you to YA?

Why do I feel like whatever I'm about to say here has probably been said already? It's young adult fiction. It's written with young adults in mind. I'm a young adult (wow. I didn't realize that). I relate to the young adult characters. And probably to their thinking and actions and problems too? But I think it's the characters that are the greatest thing. They are like friends. Friends my age. And besides this genre is exciting; it's adventurous.

Describe your writing process. Do you like outlines and structures, or seeing where the story takes you?

I have a different process for every genre I write in. For short stories, I never ever write an outline. (Even though I was taught to do so in school.) The idea is all I need. Sometimes I may have the whole story drafted in my head, and at other times I have only one word of inspiration in mind. But I just write and see what happens.

For poems, it's best if I have music ringing in my mind, and then I just scribble spur-of-the-moment. I can't write planned poetry. It has to be spontaneous, the more emotional I am the better.

For books... I confess I have never finished a book. And that's probably because I didn't have a plan. Which mean I haven't ever outlined a book before, but somehow I think that if I want to actually complete one I have to have some idea where I am going (especially with the climax and resolution).

How long have you been writing? Where are you in your journey?

I've been writing since I was eight. Does that count? I did just for fun. I wrote four or five stories/books (between 4 and 15 pages) when I was nine and ten, and a 100-pager when I was eleven. Since then I've worked on numerous unfinished pieces. But only this year have I started to take it really seriously - I entered a contest, and submitted to some magazines, and now I'm starting a blog... And I will complete a book this year.

What do you need to write? Coffee? Music?

I need paper and a pen or my laptop and free time and preferably an empty room and no distractions. I do drink coffee or tea while writing sometimes, but what usually happens is that I forget about the drink completely and when I'm done it's still sitting there, cold. xD I can have music on, but if I'm seriously writing I am not actually paying attention to the music at all, so it really doesn't make a difference.

If you could offer on piece of advice to another writer, (other than "don't give up"), what would it be?

"Write from your heart out. Write for your King. Write what you were meant to write."

That's like three pieces of advice? Sorry. I'm actually basing this on one of my favorite Bible verses got to do with writing which is Psalm 45:1.

What book still has you reeling from it's plot twist?

*thinks for five minutes* I can't say I've read a lot of plot twists lately!? So I'm not, you know, reeling from anything anymore. But the latest, most surprising one I can remember right now is from Andora's Folly :)

What books are you most anticipating for this year?

You mean books that are going to be published this year? I don't know - I'm not really up to date on this, guys. If you want to know, I'b backlogged, trying to read all the YA published from before I read YA. But I'm dying for so many self published and written-by-someone-I-know books that HOW AM I EVER GOING TO SATISFY MY THIRST, and I have a problem because I hardly ever buy books, actually. Let me just change the question: What book from my summer tbr am I most anticipating? Girl of Fire and Thorns and Roseblood and Hangman's Curse.

In your opinion, which YA book/series has the most unique premise?

Let me think... I don't know really - some of the most unique ones I've read are Donita K. Paul's books, the Maze Runner, the Lunar Chronicles, and Out of Time series (not stealing from you, Jonathan, I promise).

What is your all-time favorite quote from YA?

I don't collect quotes like I should, so I don't have many to choose from, unfortunately. Currently though I really like this one because it's spring and I'm seeing a lot of dandy lions: "What I need is the dandelion in the spring." See if any of you can tell me where it comes from ;) (should be easy)

What books do you most hope will have a movie adaption?

Ted Dekker's Circle series and the Lost Books, of course. I really want this, because once I even dreamed there was a movie version - and I was so disappointed when I woke up that there wasn't xD

I'm supposed to tag at least two other people, but I'm going to tag six:

Emily
Tracey
Zane
Faith
Hannah
Mary

No obligations, and I tried to make sure none of you have done it before.

xxxx,
lisa

So, I have finally (just after four days) gotten this blog design thing under control. And I am thinking of posting every Friday and Monday. Today is Monday, so I thought I'd let you read a short short of mine. I originally wrote it for a friend's birthday. Later I ended up submitting it to a local writing contest. It was a prize-winner. Hope you enjoy it!

"Ripples"

submitted for the TBLN 7th Annual Writing Contest

She sat at the back of the school bus, all alone, just looking out the window at the countryside passing by. She heard the chattering and the giggling of the kids at the front of the bus.

She looked out the window at the fields, and saw a lone farm house sitting on a hill. She was that house, she thought. All alone in the middle of nowhere. The odd one out.

"Hey," someone said beside her, and she jerked her head around. A boy sat on the seat next to her, smiling.

"Hey," she replied, somewhat sullen.

"How're you?"

"Fine," she said defensively.

"Enjoying the view?"

She shrugged. "It's all right."

"You're new around here?"

She gave a hard laugh and turned back to the window. "You just noticed?"

"Where are you from?"

"Vancouver," she replied, glancing at him.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What?" she said.

"So am I."

She turned to face him. "You are? Why didn't you say so!?"

The boy grinned. He stuck out his hand. "Cal."

She shook. "Tara."

. . .

In the same school bus some months later, she asked him, "Why'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Come talk with me."

"Oh..." He looked out the window, remembering.

He remembered himself sitting on the same seat she had been sitting on. He had watched the other kids talking and laughing, and he had stared at the field outside the window.

He remembered wishing, wishing with all the power in him, that someone, anyone, would come and say, hi.

And he remembered that no one ever did.

He turned back to her and shrugged. “I was just dropping a pebble in the water.”

She looked away and wondered what he meant.

. . .

Two years later, she sat in one of the front seats of the school bus, talking and laughing with the other kids.

The bus made a new stop, and a blonde girl climbed aboard. The girl looked at everyone for a moment, then retreated to the back of the bus.

She watched as the blonde girl looked at the other kids chatting and giggling. She watched as the blonde girl stare out the window at the fields; and she watched as the blonde girl open a book in her lap.

She looked at the kids, who went on having fun, oblivious.

She looked out the window at the sky, remembering.

She took a breath and made her way to the back of the bus.

"Hi," she said, and sat at the edge of the other seat.

The blonde girl looked up, surprised. "Hi," she said shyly.

"How're you doing?"

"Good."

"I'm Tara."

"M' name's Julie."

She looked at the girl's book, and saw it was a book of poems. "You like poems?"

"Oh, yes. A lot."

"What are you reading now?"

"Drop a Pebble in the Water," the blonde girl said.

She stopped. She looked out at the window, and thought. She turned to the girl.

"How does it go?"

"Drop a pebble in the water: just a splash, and then it's gone, but there's half a hundred ripples, circling on and on and on," the girl quoted.

. . .

"Hey," the blonde girl said to her a week later, "thanks. You know, for making friends with me."

"It's nothing," she said.

"No, really. Thanks."

She gave a hard laugh, and said, "I was just one ripple, circling on."

* * *

There you have it! Did you like it?

Was it confusing that I only used pronouns, never names?

And do give me feedback, criticism, comments... I want your opinions!

xxxx

lisa

As the the title says, welcome! Thank you so much for dropping by! This is my first post, so I thought I would introduce myself to you and tell you about why I decided to start blogging.

I'm Lisa, and I'm fifteen. I'm supposing that you have already checked out the about page (or if you haven't, will soon). That should give you an idea about who I am. Here though, I will tell you what this blog will be about.

How did I discover the blogsphere?

Long story. But I will tell you anyway. I was talking to my cousin once about writing, and he mentioned that I should start a blog to share my work. At the time, I hadn't the slightest idea what a blog really was, but I got curious. I decided to find out. I remembered once reading an interview in the Writer magazine with teenage blogger Jessica Bernt, and I still remembered her blog's name, Bookish Serendipity. So I looked it up. And oh my! A treasure trove, in my opinion! The archives! Anyway, from there I found more bloggers, from whom I found even more, and that hasn't become history yet. I am still discovering new ones! I was amazed and delighted by the number of young writers and readers and I found. I have been roaming for half a year now, and I finally decided to join the gang.

Why did I decide to start a blog?

Obviously, because the rest of the bloggers were having so much fun and I felt left out.
Because they were so convincing when they explained why one should start a blog that I couldn't think of a good reason not to.
So, okay, those were the ulterior motives. Seriously – because I think that it will be great practice for me as a writer.
It will be a place for me to share my writing.
My readers can give me criticism or compliments or feedback.
It will be a place for me to share my thoughts about writing and books(so that no one will get sick hearing me talk about it).
It'll be a place where I can ~~fangirl~~ review books and talk about the bookish thing I like.
Maybe someday I can get beta readers for my books and if I want to get myself published apparently it's a good idea to develop a "platform".
I can make new friends!

So, what can you can expect from my blog?

This blog will be about books and writing because they're my main obsessions. I don't know yet what kind of a schedule I'll have, but when I have tried things out and decided, I'll let you know. I'm hoping to post twice a week but we'll see how that goes.

So, until then guys, ink well.

xxxx

lisa

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