Getting to Know You: Brittany

This week for the eighth interview of the ‘Getting to Know You’ series, I met thirteen year old Brittany. Yes, I did say thirteen, but other than that, she blogs over at Hills and Corkscrews. She is taking part in Rach Harries’ 3^rd Writers Platform-Building Campaign and she’s pretty cool.

Brittany, you are 13 years old, when did you decide you were a writer?

I've written as long as I could. I wrote little stories for school and just for fun probably from 1st-4th grade. I have composition notebooks full of stories and drawings. I didn't really think of it as anything more than that until I wrote my first full-length novel 

during a NaNo WriMo spin-off in January. I've always wanted to be a writer but I think that's when I started to take my writing seriously.

Wow! I’d say that I’ve been writing all my life too, I just wish I’d thought to take it seriously a bit earlier. I've looked at some of the books you love and I see that we like some of the same authors, namely Neil Gaiman and Cornelia Funke. What do you love about these authors?

I know this is going to sound cliche, but what I love most about an author is his or her's ability to take you to another world. For example, Cornelia Funke can take me to a world that's inside a story in the world of the novel (book-ception!), Neil Gaiman takes me to places like a graveyard full of ghosts or a creepy parallel world (with Coraline). I also love writers who can create magical characters and twisty plots.

I see you took part in NaNoWriMo. Will you be taking part this year and why do you do it?

I'm participating in NaNo WriMo this year, and I do NaNo because it's incredibly motivating for me, it's lots of fun, and I probably wouldn't have written my first novel (or at least, it would have been a lot later in my life) without it. Even though I've realized by now that I can't write anything worth keeping during NaNo, I still do it because I think it's a great way to write those dirty water words and I can't imagine missing it. 

Not sure I agree with you. I am sure you can get something out of those dirty NaNo words ;) But let’s move onto writing now are you a plotter or pantster?

I'm kind of in between. I plot most of the story on index cards before writing it, I know a bit about my characters, and I know what happens for the first half or two-thirds of the story. Then when I hit that point, I usually throw out whatever outline I have left, though I'm not sure why, and I pants the rest of the story. I like knowing where the story is going but I also like freedom and spontaneity.

 I get that. I sort of plotted my last novel, but what I have now has definitely been the result of some pretty hard writing by the seat of my pants. Although I do recommend planning, too. So what’s your top writing tip?

My top writing tip is to write and read (let's pretend that's one tip instead of two). One of the best ways to get better at writing is to just keep writing, but you also need to read. You can learn a lot about writing from studying your favorite books.

And what’s your most valuable writing resource?

Probably some of my favorite blogs and websites about writing, like Janice Hardy's blog Storyflip, which has a TON of blog posts about writing. 

And finally why did you join this challenge?

I joined the Campaign to meet other writers who blog and to build my platform, same as everyone else I think. :)

If you’ve enjoyed getting to know Brittany, don’t forget you can read her blog over at Hills and Corkscrews. Unfortunately, she’s going to be taking a break from blogging, but hopefully we’ll see her again somewhere in the future.

Meanwhile, there might be a book review here on Wednesday and definitely a photo on Friday, and who knows I might even tell you a bit about the Red Hot Chilli Peppers gig I’m going to on Tuesday. 

Getting to know you: Kelly Smith

In week seven of Getting to know you, I've hooked up with Kelly Smith from Writtled. She is the first self-published author I've interviewed and gave some insight into the process of going from aspiring to Indie author. As ever Kelly and I were put together through Rach Harrie's 3rd Writer's Platform-Building Campaign. 

Your book GLITTERING ASHES is available at Amazon, Smashwords, Apple iBooks and a few other places. Why should we add it to our to be read lists?

I think Glittering Ashes should be added to your TBR piles because I really wrote something that I wanted to read. I wanted to read a YA paranormal romance that wasn't the stereotypical vampires, werewolves, angels, or demon story (though I have read good ones of all of those). You're supposed to write about what you're passionate about, and YA romance is that for me. I had fun writing it; so hopefully readers will have fun reading it!

Your book is an e book. How did you reach the decision to be an indie writer? 

It took me a long time to come to that decision. I thought about going the traditional route because of the support writers receive, but I wanted to be able to have control of my book so ultimately I decided to go alone, at least with this series.

Can you explain a little about he steps you took e publish your book?

I don't have an agent currently. There hasn't been a need as of one as of yet, but I am not opposed to having one at all. Any help is good help, right? I'm not currently a part of a writer's group, but I have wonderful people surrounding me, through my blog, Twitter friends, and the vibrant YA writer community all over the internet, let alone my own family and friends.

As far as what steps I chose to self-publish Glittering Ashes, I want to say it took a lot of research. I highly suggest Smashword's Style Guide for formatting your actual manuscript. Also, there are many, many resources (including awesome blog advice) about how to make your own cover. It may all seem overwhelming at first, but if you're willing to learn, all of the information is available, and it may even turn out to be fun. My experience so far has been very fun :)

What was your revision process to ensure that your book was ready for publishing?

Every person's revision process is different, and the stakes are higher when you decide to self-publish because you don't have an official team of editors behind you (unless you hire them). I let friends and family read the book and give me their feedback, and I did a lot of editing of my own. After much deliberation, I decided I wanted to release Glittering Ashes into the wild internet and see what people thought of it.

What did you need to learn in order to get the book ready for e publishing?

 Getting the book published is a complicated process, even though it might not seem that way at first. I had to first format the manuscript (the font, title page, dedication (optional), paragraph indention decisions, contact page and author bio, table of contents, chapter bookmarks--all of which are outlined fairly succinctly in the Smashwords Style Guide.).

After formatting the actual manuscript, I had to decide on a cover. For me, I chose to make my own cover for Glittering Ashes, but one could hire a cover creator for several hundred dollars or more, depending on who you chose to design it.

After you format the book and create the cover, it's only a matter of uploading to Amazon, Smashwords, and the like, but those two steps may take a while, and I wouldn't suggest trying to rush them.

Once you finish everything and have uploaded your book, it's all about getting the word out about it (one of the hardest parts).

There is a lot of talk about platforms nowadays, and this challenge is all about building a platform; why is it so important for an indie author?

Building a platform is SO important for an indie/self-published author. The hardest part of being an indie or self-published author is getting the word out about your book. You have to have contacts, followers, and friends to tell about your book, and then you hope you've written something good enough for word to spread. Without a platform, success is still possible, but you should have all the friends you can get to help you be even more successful. I suggest doing blog interviews (like this one here, THANK YOU! :) ), having interesting content on your own blog, and being active in promoting your book in all avenues.

Now onto writing. Are you a plotter or pantster?

Good question. I am a loosey-goosey plotter, who sometimes moonlights as a pantser. All of that means that I have to have a rough outline before I start any WIP, but I don't want to know everything that could possibly happen before I start writing. You have to keep yourself focused enough to move forward but excited enough to not be bored, I say. 

What's your top writing tip?

My top writing tip is definitely to write down everything that remotely sounds like a good idea. I have a brain book of sorts (at least that's what I call refer to it as on my blog) where I write down any and everything that seems inspiring to me. Song titles, dreams, snippets of ideas--you never know what you could read over later to inspire your next WIP!

What's your most valuable writing resource?

My most valuable writing resource is other people's writing blogs. I love reading about how other writers do what they do, and their blogs are goldmines for that. I highly suggest meeting other writers through blogs and getting familiar with other people's processes. It's inspiring to learn that other people have been successful and you can be successful too!


If you would like to know more about Kelly, you can find her at her blog Writtled. And if you've been convinced to buy her book, you can click on the link below. 

Also remember that voting for the 2nd Campaign Challenge goes on until Friday. You can find my entry here and I'm #153 over at Rach's site. 

Three, seven and fifteen

This morning I woke up feeling a little blue, because as you know in this writerly world, things are not always pink. Anyway, things swiftly picked up. First England were playing Georgia in the Rugby World Cup, this meant I got to stay in bed while the Frog and the Bubba watched it. So, I checked my e mail and saw that Sheri over at Finding Joy in the Journey had left me not ONE but TWO blog awards. Can you imagine the little smile starting to form on my face? I hopped out of bed with a spring in my step (this may be a little fictional) and went to deal with breakfast (before the France/Canada match). I had a little read of some blogs and this time came across Beth Kemp at Thoughts from the Hearthfire and found TWO more awards waiting for me. FOUR!!!! Wow! Alright one of them is the same as the other, but who's quibbling? 

Now feeling very cheered up I got cracking with passing these awards straight on. I know that some of you already have these, but there are three to choose from so hopefully ONE of them will be new. 

Number 1: The Versatile Blogger

The rules:

• Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post. SEE ABOVE and thank you BETH and SHERI. 
• Share 7 things about yourself. SEE BELOW

1. I used to blog under the pseudonym Verilion, meaning Very Lion, as I'm a Leo, but not in a typically Leo way, just that I'm a bit like a cat, I like cats and I sleep a lot.  
2. Since starting this blog I have acquired: two cats (one died of FIP), a French man, a baby (now a very boisterous toddler), a flat, two WIP's and what will be next? (This happened in five years, so we have a long time frame here).
3. I like cooking, and stuff tastes nice, but I ALWAYS follow recipes!
4. After Primary school, my relationship with the education system went downhill. Yep, I'm a teacher and I really like my job. 
5. I like sticking my hands into a big pile of wood chip or soil and feeling the warmth.
6. And adore walking on damp grass barefoot. 
7. I don't get golf. When people start talking about it (and you'd be surprised by how many people do) my eyes glaze over and I go to a special place with wet grass, wood chip and bubbles. Sorry, pardon… what was that?

• Pass this Award along to 15 recently discovered blogs and let them know about it. SEE A LITTLE BIT FURTHER BELOW

Number 2: Leibster Blog 

The Liebster Award, is intended to show bloggy love to blogs with fewer than 200 followers. Count me in then. 

The rules: 

1. Show your appreciation to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them. THAT'LL BE BETH. 
2. Reveal your five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog. UGH THAT'LL BE THE 15 A BIT FUTHER BELOW
3. Post the award on your blog. DONE
4. Bask in the camaraderie of the most supportive people on the internet. THAT'LL BE ALL OF YOU. YEP, YOU TOO.

5. And best of all have bloggity fun and spread the love. DONE

Number 3: Our lovely blog award

1. Thank and link to the person who nominates you: MERCI SHERI.

2. Pass this Award along to 15 recently discovered blogs and let them know about it! So right below is a list of recently discovered blogs. All 15 of them have been discovered thanks to Rach Harrie's 3rd Writer's Platform-Building Campaign

1. Stephanie @ Word by Word who will be interviewed right here on this blog TOMORROW. 
2. Brittany @ Hills and Corkscrews who will also be interviewed here on this blog in October
3. Kelley @ Writtled Kelley is also going to be interviewed here on a very SPECIAL day in October.
4. Cat Gerlach @ Always try a little harder The demigoddess who organised the 'Who started your dream?' Blog hop
5. grillyfish @Grillyfish  who pops by from time to time
6. Lady Gwen @Run Gwen, Run! Write Gwen, Write  another lady who pops by.
7. Shannon @ The Warrior Muse  who was also part of the bloghop
8. Melissa @ MG Higgins  another bloghopper.
9. Kate @ The Scribbling SeaSerpent a fellow Litopian and campaigner
10. Elizabeth Varadan @ Elizabeth Varadan's Fourth Wish a fellow scribblerati and campaigner
11. Robyn Campbell @ Putting Pen to Paper the lovely lady whose interview you may have read, or maybe you'd like to read it. 
12. Michael @ In Time… another fellow bloghopper
13. Laila @ The Untroubled Kingdom of Laila Knight a regular visitor and campaigner.
14. Rosalind @ Rosalind Adam is writing in the rain Check out her interview at the beginning of October.
15. Andrew @ Strange Pegs and check out his interview towards the end of October. 

Who started your dream?

As part of Rach Harrie's 3rd Writer's Platform-Building Campaign I've joined a bloghop organised by Cat Gerlach that explores what and who got us started on this writing journey. There are eleven bloggers in this little circle, if you follow the links at the end of the post you should get to visit them all.

Oh! Silly me, I almost forgot! As well as finding out about our writing influences, there are also PRIZES! That's right prizes. The more blogs you visit, and the more comments you leave, the more chance you have of winning a query crit, a 500 word crit, an e book by William L. Hahn, there are 2 YA novels for grabs, and finally a 30 and 25 page critique.

So without further ado, who started my dream?

About four years ago, I went from writing for a hobby, to 'You know, I think I may just take this seriously'. The authors/writers who helped me reach this decision were one small wee colleague that I had the good luck to be closely working with, and a small group of bloggers who commented regularly on this good ole blog. Their names are: Rhian Saadat (an execellent mentor if ever there was one), Kate Bousefield, Debi Alper, Nicky Schmidt, Seamus Kearney, Derec Jones, Maht Wells, Marie Syemou and Jefferson Davies. These guys were supporting and lovely in a way that helped me make the most terrible writing mistakes ever, while still giving me the confidence to carry on.

But why did I then start writing children's? Well another colleague leant me Skellig by David Almond and I was completely blown away. I was big into Magic Realism at the time and after I read another of Almond's books Heaven Eyes I decided I was reading the best Magic Realist ever.

A kid in my class passed along Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. The kid's book review had not convinced me I would like the book, but I gave it a go despite the animal characters. I really liked it, but reading The Thief Lord shorly after a visit to Venice was just amazing. then there was Inkheart and how my heart bled at the end of Inkspell. So, in case you haven't guessed I'm big into Funke!

And last but not least, who put the steam into punk? Well in my opinion it was Philip Reeve and Mortal Engines. Shortly after reading that book I cancelled my summer holiday and sat down and wrote for two months solid, joined SCBWI... and... no, there's no happy ending, YET. Still a lot of hard work to do and a lot to learn.

Meanwhile, if you want to here about other influences and great books, you can go one way along the ring by going to Robyn Campbell's blog (yes, she of the interview) or you could go the other way by tootling along to M.G. Higgins blog. And remember to comment (before the 23rd, which is when all the comments will go in a big hat).

Writing on Wednesday: The Tea Room

I haven't been doing as much writing this week. That's because I've been doing some other stuff. This week I've been reading. I've been reading other people's writing. 

I find critiquing other people's work really hard. It's easy to spot a clumsy sentence, a spelling mistake, some poor punctuation. The rest is hard. For a start I'm not that positive. I worry that I'm too direct and don't highlight the good stuff enough. If I like something, great, but then I find it hard to focus on what could be better. If I think something is not good, I find it really hard to find something good in it and I find it really hard to put my finger on what it is that isn't working. 

So for my return to the critique group there were five pieces to work on from a picture book to an adult short story. Now, my experience of picture books is limited to what I read to my two year old. Faced with these five hundred odd words I felt myself beginning to enter a blind panic. And then I realised that actually my experience was exactly what I needed. What are the things that annoy me when I'm reading to the bubba and what do I like?  I managed to add a few comments that I hope are useful.

The ones that were OK or I really liked, made me realise that one reading was not enough, you miss stuff. So I printed it out really small and shoved it in my bag to read on the bus. The distance between the beginning of the day and the end meant I gave each piece a different reading and I hope some useful critique.

Now the piece that was not so good also sent me into a bit of a tailspin. Something was not working, something was making an otherwise intriguing story a bit wrong, but I could not for the life of me put my finger on it. What was it? What wasn't working? I did a bit of an internet search and found Jody Hedlund's blog. I find myself guilty of a couple of the crimes she names, but I am thankful that she gave me a couple of pointers and there I was, able to put some relevant comments onto the document.

To ease me back into the group, I got the Frog to check my first chapter so I knew what worked and didn't. The Frog was pretty spot on, but the thing he didn't have a problem with was the shifting points of view, but I think I know how to fix it now.

Which brings me neatly to the last thing I want to talk about tonight. After NaNo I had a plan. The wip grant? Does that ring a bell? And have you noticed how I'm not exactly mentioning it lately. Well, you see, it seems that the act of writing a synopsis and a query letter is just as difficult as writing a book. Not to mention the fact that that first chapter needs to be mind blowingly brilliant. And I just can't see it all happening before February, but by next February, maybe. So to new goals. Writer Unboxed lists seven tasks to get you from the first to the second draft. I have to confess that out of the seven tasks I am focussing on only one of the them. The goal setting one. I've always been a goal setting kind of girl, so that one speaks to me above the others right now. So, here are the new goals:

• I'm looking at NaNo as a half draft rather than a first draft. Usually I do a quick edit straight away and I didn't do that in November, so this is the quick edit.
• The Frog is my beta reader for EVERY chapter. 
• The critique group will get whatever chapter I am working on when we next meet. 
• When first/revised draft is ready I will ask ONE person to read and critique it.
• Then I will stick it into a drawer and write the first draft of the millionth version of Sands of Time (which was always a naff title). In fact I've been kind of writing it already, while I've been on the bus on the way to work... I had to.

* The photo is where the opening scene of my first chapter takes place.

Writing on Wednesday: A New Challenge

I have to say that after NaNoWriMo I wasn't really looking for another challenge. After all, I do have my wip grant challenge, but that is getting a bit lost in the rewrite. I realised (skip this bit if I've mentioned it before) that I quite like action, but by starting with the action there was no build up of the friendship between Ella and Morgane. Also, a part of Ella's character that I deemed important was completely ignored in the first draft. In building up the friendship and putting the swimming back in, the story is now wandering off (over dramatic off stage horror scream).

So, as I was saying I wasn't looking for another challenge, but this one just jumped out at me. I was reading Lucy Coates blog over at Scribble City Central and she mentioned casually that she was going to take part in a book challenge. Oooh, I thought. She introduced new readers to Becky of the The Bookette blog and the concept of the challenge. So, then I tootled over to The Bookette blog to have a look and this is what I found...

The British Book Challenge

The BBC (hee hee) is a reading challenge where bloggers sign up to read books by British writers throughout 2011.

The books can be in print or out. Old or new titles. They can be from any genre and for any age.

The idea is for British bloggers to read 12 titles by 12 British authors over 2011 and to review one of the books each month. I will be an International Friend what with not living in Blighty any more and I choose to take part in the Royal Family challenge (the other option was Winston Churchill and 6 books, but that doesn't strike me as much of a challenge). There is also a chance to earn a crown if you read 50 books, but where I think I can do 12 easily, I think I may have to resort to cheating to achieve 50 (e.g. picture books of the sort: Is that Bunny Blue Ears? NO! Is that Bunny Blue Ears? NO!) 

The thing is that I can also use this challenge to help me. One piece of advice that Lynne Garner gave away for free the other day was: 

well [you] should research other books already published in the same genre, who has published them, why [your] book different?

So, I shall try to do that.Now what shall I read? Well, I will be looking to Becky's site for some recommendations for a start, followed by Celia Rees recommendation of the independent online magazine: Armadillo, which is full of children's book news, reviews and interviews. I found it very useful yesterday and may have picked my next class reader. In fact maybe that's what I will start with: The Ogre of Oglefort. I don't know if Eva counts as she was born in Vienna, before ending up in Devon, but there we go, tis my choice. Now I just need to get it before January!

1. January : Shadow Forest by Matt Haig 

2. January: The Memory Cage by Ruth Eastham 

   3. February: Ravenwood by Andrew Peters 

   4. March: The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh

   5. June: Stoneheart by Charlie Fletcher

   6. June: The Demon Collector by Jon Mayhew 

   7. July: Firebrand by Gillian Philip 

   8. July: The Blackhope Enigma by Teresa Flavin 

   9. July: Puddle Goblins by David Melling

   10. August: The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedwick  

   11. August: The good man Jesus and the scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman

    

Once upon a Blog

I have been having a wee conversation with a fellow blogger about blogging. OK, I know this is a tired and well trodden path, except I’m going to be very egocentric and focus only on ME and BLOGGING (because that hasn’t been done before either has it?)

I started blogging because I had a blog. Does that sound cockeyed? OK, how about I start with: I had a blog...

I had a blog that was supposed to be a way for me to co-write with a friend. We never did it because it wasn’t the right thing for my friend. So I had this sad and lonely blog thing that wasn’t doing anything and I kept looking at it. Eventually I tentatively typed up an entry from my journal and learnt never to do that again, that first post is cringey and just embarrassing, but hey ho, you live and learn.

So a 180+ posts later I write about writing, sometimes it is my writing, I write about travelling, I write about issues that I find interesting, things that I think are interesting, reviews of things that you might like: films, book, stuff. I am far more aware of my audience; in fact I have even become friends with some of my audience. I gave myself a mandatory word limit; basically if it’s over the page when I’m typing it in WORD it’s too damn long. There are also many days when I don’t write... on the blog that is, basically because I have nothing to say.

Having said that I do have a little something to say today: I joined Scubwee on Monday (aka SCBWI) and have signed up to do a MASTER CLASS with Sharon Darrow. I’ve never heard of her, but it sounds quite cool. I was hoping to let my MS mulch a little bit longer, but there’s a pre Sharon study group next week! Eek and we’re going to be doing something about ‘zinging’ and ‘zipping’ and ‘glowing’! It all sounds very, ehm, scary actually. And they are ALL looking forward to meeting me! AAAH! What if I’ve written a pile of crap?

So I have just over a week to work on Chapter 1. I’m trying to give myself realistic goals. I think one chapter a week is manageable, slow, but manageable and then during holidays I can up that to a chapter a day (or two days).

But back to blogging... It’s not about the numbers or the massively huge readership, it’s really about you guys. Over the last year and a bit I’ve gone from a wannabe writer to one who has finished a first draft of a MS. If I’ve done that it’s because YOU have constantly left supportive and positive comments. YOU have given me that little lift when I’ve needed it and you have respected what I needed to do. So basically, I guess I just wanted to take this opportunity to say THANKS, Merci, Gracias y Grazi (and possibly arigato, but I’m not a 100% sure about that one, and have no idea about the spelling!)

A bientôt.

A Very Lion

Apparently Matt and all his friend's scratched their heads about my request, but I like it. Thank you Matt. Go here and you might recognise some others up there. Granny Were certainly is fearsome! I also like Frederich Nietzche.

Oh and thanks Minx for highlighting this fun spot.