The Liebster Award

Thank you to Katie L. Carrol at the Observation Desk http://katielcarroll.com/the-liebaster-award/ for passing on the Liebster Award to me.

What is the Liebaster Award you ask? Well, it's an award given to up-and-coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. Think of it as a virtal pat on the back. A bit of recognition for doing a good job and encouragement to keep going. And let's not forget the bloggers that have been blogging for awhile and have great blogs.

Now for the questions.

1. If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would purchase?

A bigger house so that I can have an office just for writing in.

2. Is there something unique about you that you'd like to share with the readers?

I can't think of anything unique about myself to share right now.

3. Where is your dream place to live and why?

My dream place to live would be a cabin in the woods. It's quiet. I can picture myself sitting on the porch writing and observing the beauty and spookiness of the woods.

4. What do you find is the most difficult part of the writing process?

Knowing when to stop revising and let my baby go.

5. Tell us something about yourself that we don't know?

I used to be a very shy person, but not so much anymore. But don't ask me to get up and talk in front of a crowd.

6. Do you have any pet peeves?

People who are fake. Say one thing and do another.

7.  Do you have any special habits you do when you write?

No. Not really.

8. Did you ever write your friends or family members in your books?

Yes

9. What is your favorite drink?

Iced tea.

10. Who gives you the best encouragement to write?

My husband. He would like to see me make enough money off my writing so that he can quit his job.

11. Do you have a critique group or special author group?

Yes. I've been involve with two online groups for years, and without their help and encouragement I wouldn't be a published author.

Katie has asked me instead of listing 11 random things about me to list 11 favorite books. Well there is the Harry Potter series that's 7 books and then there is the Twilight series which is 4 books. Wow that was quick and easy. I also like books from Nora Roberts, Heather Graham, James Patterson, R. L. Stine. P. C. Cast, Alyson Noel, Laurie Faria Stolarz, Rachel Caine, L. J. Smith and many others.

Now I would like to pass this award on to two of my writer friends.
Mary Ann who is a great writer and crit partner. Her blog is http://itsthewriteplace.blogspot.com
K. C. Sprayberry great crit partner and author of Sofetly Say Goodbye. Her blog is http://outofcontrolcharacters.blogspot.com

Next Big Thing Blog

Hi and welcome to my blog.

I've accepted the challenge from women's fiction writer Addison James to complete the Next Big Thing. (You can check out her blog at http://addisonjwriter.com

What is the working title of your book?


Family Secret

Where did the idea come from for the book?

 It originally started from a writing exercise I did a few years ago, where I looked at a picture and started writing what I saw. Later I looked at that writing exercise and started asking what if questions. Soon it developed into a short story. Then years later I pulled it out of my file and started revising it and Family Secret started growing and developing into a novel.

 

What genre does your book fall under?

YA

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

A younger version of Tom Welling from Smallville. The moment I started writing this story that is who I pictured Tom, my main character from Family Secret to be like.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

 After the death of his mother, Tom discovers family secrets that his parents kept from him that put him in danger.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

 I’m hoping Muse It Up Publishing will published it just like they did Ghostly Clues

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

 I don’t know how long it took to write the first draft. Family Secret has been through many years of revisions and now I’m almost done with it.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

 I’m not sure. Growing up my sons have liked R. L. Stine books so I’d say a book along those lines.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I’d have to say my sons have especially my youngest who has a wild imagination.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

What boy doesn’t like adventure and mystery. Ghosts, witches, demons and just the pure mystery of discovering your parents secrets before it kills you.

 

Stay tuned. I have a lot more works in progress that I will be sharing later on.

This writer and friend has accepted the Next Big Thing blog challenge

K. C. Sprayberry author of Softly Say Goodbye. Check out her blog http://outofcontrolcharacters.blogspot.com and see what her next big thing is.

Interview With Suzanne de Montigny

Hi,
Today I am interviewing Suzanne de Montigny the author of The Shadow Of The Unicorn The Legacy to be released Nov 30 by Museituppublishing.

Suzanne de Montigny wrote her first unicorn novel when she was twelve and has always kept it in a safe place. In her twenties, she freelanced as a composer and pianist in Vancouver, B.C. Later, she began teaching elementary music where she learned she could spin a good tale that kept kids and teachers begging for more. She has written four novels. The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy is her first. Living in Burnaby, she resides with her husand and her two boys.


Tell us about The Shadow Of The Unicorn: The Legacy and how the story came to be.

The Shadow Of The Unicorn: The Legacy came about in a strange sort of way. When my father died, six years ago, I was stricken by an intense urge to write. A year later, I found an old box of childhood memorabilia while cleaning the basement. And in that box, I found the first four chapters of a rewrite of my grade six unicorn story that I must have done somewhere in my teens. I threw it in the recycling box, along with all the rest of my garbage, but a couple of days later, on a rainy afternoon, my curiosity got the best of me, so I brought it back in, dried it off, and read it. I was utterly fascinated. A week later, I sat down and wrote the first draft, then a month later, a second novel. And I’ve never stopped.

What three words best describe your main character?
Azaria, a unicorn colt is brave, loyal, and funny.

What types of books do you like to read?
Anything that takes me away from my real world. Thus fantasy, historical fiction, science fiction, that sort of thing.

What do you like to do when you aren't writing?
My boys and I fiddle. If I’m not writing, I’m either playing music or helping the boys with their
homework.

What's next for your writing? Are you working on a new story?
I just recently completed a YA Paranormal entitled: A Town Bewitched about a fourteen-year-old child prodigy in classical violin who struggles to survive in the small town of Hope, British Columbia. When a fiddler bewitches the town, only the girl suspects it’s her who has been vandalizing the town, leaving tokens of dead and gutted birds. I’m also rewriting the second of The Shadow of the Unicorn trilogy.

Where can readers find you and your books?
From Muse It Up Publishing and Kindle.

Anything else you want readers to know?Yes, the most important part of all. Last July, I was stricken with a visual impairment for which I’ve been undergoing numerous tests. At present, my ophthalmologist feels it’s only temporary and will clear itself up in time. But it got me to thinking there are countless people in the world, who have no hope for their vision. And so, I decided that half of all my proceeds from the The Shadow of the Unicorn: The legacy will go to the Third World Eye Care Society, a group of eye specialists who travel to underdeveloped nations, bringing thousands of pairs of used glasses and operating for free.

  Check out Suzanne's book trailer, It is very powerful
http://youtu.be/St9OsyK974o

After checking out the book trailer go over to MuseItUp and order the book.
https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=466&category_id=69&manufacturer_id=230&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Thank you Suzanne.

Excerpt From Ghostly Clues

Excerpt:
I slid under the covers and closed my eyes and began tossing and turning, trying to block out my haunting thoughts. Once more I flopped over and faced the wall. From somewhere something creaked like someone stepping on the floor board. I pried my eyes open trying to figure out where it was coming from. Under the bed? From the closet? Just outside my closed bedroom door? The noise stopped so I flipped with my back to the wall. A white glow appeared in front of the bedroom door. It came from the center of the door and headed toward the bed. I gasped in a breath, holding back my scream. The light hovered over the foot of the bed.

The smell of lilacs drifted in the air and I held the sneeze in, too afraid of the scene in front of me. My heart beat faster as the glow transformed into the shape of a woman. The lady had snow-white hair pulled back in a bun. A smile formed on her face and her familiar sky-blue eyes twinkled. The springs creaked as she lowered herself to the bed and the smell of lilacs greeted me like a hug.

“Grandma?” I whispered, sitting up and staring.

Grandma looked the same as when she was alive except her hair was grayer than I remembered.
She bent down to pick up the doll. As she handed it to me, her mouth moved but no sound came out.

“Grandma, what are you trying to tell me?” I whispered.

“Kay, darling, don’t cry. Your grandfather will be okay,” Grandma finally said. “It’s not his time to go home yet.”

“Wow.” My jaw dropped open. “I can hear you.” I wanted to wrap my arms around her and squeeze, but fear that any movement would cause Grandma to disappear stopped me. “How do you know Gramps will be okay?”

“He’s too stubborn. He just needs to take it easy. So make sure he does that. It’s not his time to be with me.”

“How can you be here?”

“That’s not important.” Grandma touched my hand.

The touch felt strange like a warm tingling sensation. I sat very still afraid this moment wouldn’t last long.

Grandma stared at me for a moment. Her form seemed to become more transparent. The cluttered dresser behind her started to appear clearer.

“Find your father. There are two sides to a family. I love you, Kay,” she whispered before she vanished along with the sweet flowery aroma.

pre-order Ghostly Clues and save 20%
https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=527&category_id=69&manufacturer_id=255&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Ghostly Clues

Want to save 20% on Ghostly Clues? Go here and save.





https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=527&category_id=69&manufacturer_id=255&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Interview With Sarah Kay From Ghostly Clues

 

As a writer/author, it is my job to make the characters come alive for the readers. Before I can make the characters come alive for the reader, first they need to come alive for me. How does a writer do that? By doing a character sketch. Not just what they look like, but also what do they do, about their family, hobbies, likes and dislikes, friends, things you'd want to know about a person you just met. So once I get a character developed, then I like to interview them, to get to know them better. Once they have come alive for me, I put the characters into situations, give them problems to solve. So I hope as a writer my characters come alive for the reader because they do come alive for me.

In November, Ghostly Clues will be released. It will become a book and I hope a lot of young readers will enjoy reading about Sarah Kay, the main character in Ghostly Clues. I hope the readers will be able to relate to her and she will come alive in their minds as they read her story.

Today I would like to do an interview with Sarah Kay from my new book Ghostly Clues.

Welcom Sarah Kay.

Thank you. You can call me SK.
Okay, SK. First question. Did you really see your grandmother's ghost?
You really need to read the book to find out. But I will tell you, grandparents have creative ways of communicating even from beyond the grave.
How does your grandma communticate with you from beyond the grave?

Well whenever her spirit is around and she wants me to know it, she sends the smell of lilacs, her favorite flower. Which is kind of silly on Grandma's part because I sneeze like crazy when I smell lilacs. Grandma must think it's funny. Gramps says it's the best way to get my attention. And it does get my attention especailly when I smell lilacs and they're not even in bloom. The first time I smelled lilacs was at her funeral. I didn't think much about it until I heard a voice say Kay. Only Gramps and Grandma called me Kay most other people call me Sarah. So that kind of freaked me out when I realized that Gramps wasn't calling my name.

Wow. Before this ghostly experience, did you believe in ghosts?
Oh, sure. In books and movies, but not in real life. MJ and I love scary movies.

Who is MJ?
Mary Jane. She's my best friends. She helped me out a lot on figuring out Grandma's ghostly clues.
So now you are a firm believer in ghosts? You bet. Grandma's ghost helped me find my dad.

So has your grandma's ghost left you any more ghostly clues lately? Not since I found my dad. But MJ and I look forward to following more ghostly clues from grandma or any other ghosts if they wish to leave us clues.

Well thanks, SK, for talking with us. It has been nice getting to know you a little better. Thanks. For the readers out there, don't just think ghosts are in books and movies, because ghosts are real and it is fun to follow the ghostly clues they leave for us to find.

You can read more about Sarah Kay in Ghostly Clues to be released in November from museituppublishing.com
Next week I will interview Mary Jane, Sarah Kay's best friend.

Keep writing and reading.

Book Cover

Here is my book cover for Ghostly Clues to be released Nov 2012 from Muse It Up.

Charlie did a great job on this cover. Thanks

Random Thought of a Writer


NaNo is next month. Part of me is excited about doing it again this year. What will the story be about? What new characters will pop out of my head. Part of me worries about will I be able to write everyday. Will I be able meet my goal everyday. 50,000 words is a lot of words to write in a month.

Some writers outline and plot the story they will be working on. Every year I always tell myself I'll plot and outline and get ready for NaNo, but just like this year I never get around to actually plotting the story. Nov. 1 I sit down in front of the blank screen and just start typing. I start with an idea and as I type the characters start to reveal themselves.

As long as I sit down and write something everyday, I try not to worry if I meet the word limit or not everyday. Some days I get in the groove of writing and the story just seems to flow through me. Then other days it is a struggle.

I look at NaNo as a way to discipline myself to write. Somedays it is so easy to get involved in other things/stuff and avoid writing. Other days I feel off if I don't sit down and write.

This year I have a lot of writing projects I'm working on so my writing time is limited. But I think NaNo will give me the chance to free write instead of just revising all the time.

This is just my random thoughts on NaNo. So if you don't see me blogging in the month of Nov. this is why - my fingers are flying away on the keyboard.

Keep writing and reading.

Random Thoughts of a Writer

We all have thoughts running though our heads on a regural basics. As a writer I am continually thinking about writing - different scenes, characters, and story ideas. These ideas pop into my head when I'm out walking the dogs, or cleaning house or when I'm just waking up in the morning from a dream. Usaully I try to write my dreams down first thing in the morning because sometime those dreams turn into stories. Usually when I get idea for a scene or character or what I think might be a good idea for a story, I like to write it down as soon as I can.

What if one day I'm in the tub soaking and this great idea pops into my head. It's the greatest ending to my story that I had been struggling with. No time to wait. I have to get to a pencil and paper now. So I dash out of the tub with nothing on but a robe. I'm dripping wet, leaving puddles as I scramble around to find paper and pencil and I fall, flat on my back on the floor. This great idea for the closing scene falls out of my head and lands in a million pieces all around me. I lay sprawled on the floor whishing I kept a pad and pencil by the tub.

This has never happened to me, thank God. I'd probably break a hip or something. But I thought about all the great ideas I had floating around in my head that never got written down because I didn't have anything to write it down on. So it's important as writers to have a notebook, pencil, maybe even a recorder so that we can jot down our ideas before they fall out of our head or get crowded out by another character.

When a writer takes a shower do they sing or do they plot out a story into a recorder? I usually sing, but if I had a recorder my family would think I was crazy talking to myself.

Next time you hear someone talking to themselves, listen closely. They could be plotting their next best seller. I know I would be.

Keep writing and reading.

What are you reading?

What are you reading?

I love to read. Going to the library is one of my most favorite things to do. The only problem I have when I go to the library is figuring out what books I want to take home to read. Most of the time I end up taking home too many books (if there is such a thing as too many books. I don't think so, but) I usually don't have time to finish reading all the books I take home before they are due back to the library.

The books I have picked up from the library this month are Spellcaster by Cara Lynn Shultz. The Screaming Season by Nancy Holder. I've enjoyed reading her other book. Broken Illusions by Ellie James. Currently I am reading Torn by Amanda Hocking. Then I have two other books I hope to finish reading before they are due back to the library and those books are Witch Catcher and Closed For The Season by Mary Downing Hahn. I enjoyed reading one of her books before. These are MG novels.

How do I choose the books I read?

I read the blurb on the back of the book. If that sounds interesting then I read the first sentence of the book. If that draws me in then the book goes home with me. As a writer the first sentence is important. Sometimes I've taken books out of the library and started to read them and didn't like them. I couldn't finish reading the book because it got boring or something. Once the writer draws the reader in, the writer needs to keep the reader wanting to read.

Time to get back to writing. Leave me a comment and let me know what books you are currently reading.

Keep writing and reading.

Ghostly Clues Pre Order

Follow the link below to pre order Ghostly Clues. My first novel, Ghostly Clues, comes out in Nov. 2012.

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=527&category_id=10&keyword=Ghostly+Clues&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

 

Today I'm happy to be part of a Tag game with some wonderful authors. Enjoy the following interview that will allow you to catch up on my current writing project, then hop over to the other author's blog to learn more about them.


1, What is the working title of your book?







Family Secret









2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

It came from a writing exerise I did a few years ago. I looked at a picture and just write whatever popped into my head. Later the idea bloomed into a story.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

YA Paranormal

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?


I've always been a Smallville fan. When I started writing this story I pictured my main character, Tom, as a younger version of Tom Welling who plays on Smallville. I never really thought about who might play the other characters. I think Tom's girlfriend, Sarah, could be played by a younger version of Allison Mack who is also a actress on Smallville.

5. What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

A teenage boy finds out that his parents have kept secrets from him that end up putting him in danger.

6. Will your book be self published or represented by an agency?

I'm hoping Muse It Up Publishing will publish this story too. In Nov. I will have my first novel, Ghostly Clues, published by them.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I can't answer that because I'm still in the process of writing the first draft. I still haven't figure out the ending to this story.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I've always been a big fan of R. L. Stine. One of my sons collected all the Goosebump books. So I'm thinking this story would come close to one of his books.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I would have to say my sons. Before I had sons, I just mostly read girly books, books where the main characters were girls. But once my sons were old enough to read on their own, I started to read more books where the main characters were boys. So I started to want to write stories where my main characters were boys. Even though I still write stories where the main characters are girls. Ghostly Clues has a girl main character. To get into my boy characters, I need to look at the world through my sons' eyes. So they inspire me to do that.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

This story holds a lot of different things that will pique the interest of boys from bad guys, ghosts, withces, demons, and maybe something else I haven't even written in yet.

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Check out the other author's blog to see what she is up to.

www.outofcontrolcharacters.blogspot.com

Keep checking my blog or my website www.kaylalone.weebly.com to see when Ghostly Clues comes out.

Writing is fun. I love to come up with new characters and put them in scary situations and see how they get out of those situations. Most of my characters deal with ghosts or sometime the characters discover they have some type of supernatural ability. Or they might already know they have a special gift and they need to use that gift to get out of a bad situation.