"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."
-Sir Winston Churchill
Monday, July 30, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Interview with Author Lia London
We are super excited to introduce local author Lia London!! Lia was gracious enough to send me a copy of her book, The Circle of Law, as well as answer a few questions for us! Without further ado, Lia London:
1. Can you tell us a little about The Circle of Law? (I am cheating, even though I have read it, I love to hear what authors say about their own books!)
When people ask me, "What is The Circle of Law" about, I always feel jumbly. There are two answers: the one about the characters and what they do, and the one about the theme--which is what it's really about. The story is about a group of people called Ancients who have the ability to Govern elements like water, wind and animals. In theory, they should be working together to benefit humanity, but as the book begins, they've long since fallen apart as a council. The plot is then about the trials of bringing them back together, all while battling a selfish and tyrannical Realm. The title comes from a series of tenets or principles by which the Ancients are supposed to live in order to increase their power and bless the world. What is the book about? Forgiveness, redemption, faith, friendship, unity, and...above all, integrity. With themes like that, I bill it as a Christian fantasy.
2. The Circle of Law is full of new places, people, and things where do you get your inspiration?
Believe it or not, the main idea came to me in a dream. I had my pencil and paper handy by the bedside, and started jotting down notes (a practice I very much recommend). Much of the scenery is based on different parts of my home state, Oregon, which has great diversity with oceans, mountains, forests and deserts. Many of the people are patterned after friends or acquaintances, at least physically, though in a few cases, personality-wise, too.
3. Who is your favorite character? And why?
Who doesn't love Bobres best? The man is just so amazing. He is full of love and integrity, and yet he has to overcome character flaws, too. He's the wise mentor I think most of need at some point in our lives because he really walks his talk, even when it's hard and requires sacrifice. I want to be like him when I grow up.
As his character developed, I saw him as a new kind of hero. He "battles" evil with goodness, not guns or smack down street fights. A hero, to me, is one who saves us in some way--physically, spiritually, emotionally--and Bobres manages to do all of those without ever throwing a punch.
4. I have to admit, I fell in love with Bobres; did you always know you needed a character like him or was he one of the first characters you thought of?
Initially, I was going to have him be kind of a hermit character who came in and got the younger characters started on their journey, and then sort of faded away. But a friend of mine, one of my key beta readers, became focused on the Laws, and as I watched him talk about them, I saw Bobres taking on that role--the champion of the Circle of Law itself. The character morphed quickly from being a small supporting role to being a central figure.
5. You've talked a lot about your publishing challenges on your blog, what is the biggest lesson you've learned?
The publishing companies (even the self-publishing service companies) are in business to make money. They are not in love with our work. They see it as a potential key to revenue--or not. We cannot wrap up our self-esteem in whether or not publishers or literary agents accept us or treat us well. They are looking at dollar signs, not how the stories might touch lives. We have to believe in ourselves and the stories inside of us, and then pay the price to create a great product that we can be proud of. And of course, with the way the industry is changing so quickly, we can jolly well publish ourselves at almost no cost.
6. What is your biggest piece of advice to aspiring authors?
Take your time. Don't be in a big rush to publish and get all famous. First of all, it doesn't happen like that for 99.9% of the people. (That's not a researched stat, but I bet I'm reeeallly close.) And secondly, our works usually need several more drafts than we think they do. Each round of submissions brought new changes to my manuscript, and even now, I'm trimming and fine tuning for the re-release. We don't like to cut and revise our precious creations, but it's the best thing we can do for them. What we see in our heads and feel in our hearts is not necessarily coming out on the page with our first few efforts.
7. If you had to pick only one of your characters to come to life, who would it be, and why?
That's a tough one because, as I said, some of them are based on real people. I suppose I'd want Isbi to come to life. She's the Governor of Hope, and heaven knows we need more of that in the world!
8. I celebrate my small writing victories with pairs of new cozy socks, do you have any off-the-wall habits (or am I the only one?)
Chocolate is a universal addiction, isn't it? Not very off-the-wall. But I will specify that it has to be imported chocolate. Either Swiss or something from UK Cadbury's. (Note from Toni: I am seriously reconsidering my addiction, I think chocolate is WAY better than socks!)
9. What are you working on now?
Two things. The biggie is the sequel to The Circle of Law, called New Gifts, in which we will meet two new Ancients. There will be more in the series beyond that, but that's the one I hope to finish by the end of the year. The "fun" work in progress is
Magian High , an interactive fiction project I'm writing with reader input on my website. It's a YA adventure novel about bringing magical and non-magical kids together in a high school. It's kind of a fantasy exploration of cultural rifts. You all are absolutely invited to join us at any time! Participants get a free ebook at the end!
Lia also has a few other projects, both available on Amazon- check them out!
Once again, thanks to Lia for not only writing a wonderful book, but introducing it to me, and for answering some questions for us! Best of luck Lia!!
Monday, July 23, 2012
Motivation Monday
"One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach.
- Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Saturday, July 21, 2012
WriteOnCon is coming!!!!
WriteOn-What?
Seriously if you have not heard of this amazing online conference you are missing out! Last year I participated in an online conference called WriteOnCon, and I have to tell you, it was a lot of fun and the best part is.......it's FREE!! With that in mind, I think it's important to realize how much work goes into it, and therefore if you participate think about contributing to the conference so they can continue providing this awesome service!
The conference is August 14-15!!!
And what exactly is WriteOnCon?? Here's a snippet from their website:
WriteOnCon is an Online Children’s Writers Conference created by writers, for writers.
You can find out all about WriteOnCon by going to their website (you can even find out more about the cute little guy above)
But honestly, the conference is full of blogs and vlogs from published authors and literary agents that are extremely helpful. There is also forums for you to get free critiques from fellow pre-published authors. The extra kicker is that in these forums a handful of literary agents act as "ninjas agents" and they too will critique your stuff - which means you are getting your writing in front of agents!!!!
So what are you waiting for??? WriteOnCon is coming!!!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Motivation Monday
"The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it."
- Pearl S. Buck
- Pearl S. Buck
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Celebrate Success
It may not be ours, but every success needs to be celebrated! So that's why we are bringing back the interview Erika did with debut author Adam Glendon Sidwell. Adam's Book Evertaster came out less than a month ago, on June 14, 2012 and has already found itself #2 on Amazon's Movers & Shakers List!!!
So if you haven't already gone out to get Adam's book, you should! And before you rush down to your local bookstore take a second to read the interview Erika posted with this new, talented, and seriously funny author!
So if you haven't already gone out to get Adam's book, you should! And before you rush down to your local bookstore take a second to read the interview Erika posted with this new, talented, and seriously funny author!
I am delighted to introduce Adam Glendon Sidwell, author of Evertaster, his first book, which is scheduled to release this June. Adam graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Animation. In between books, Adam uses the power of computers to make monsters, robots and zombies come to life for blockbuster movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean, King Kong, Transformers and Tron. After spending countless hours in front of a keyboard meticulously adjusting tentacles, calibrating hydraulics, and brushing monkey fur, he is delighted at the prospect of modifying his creations with the flick of a few deftly placed adjectives. He’s been eating food since age 7, so feels very qualified to write this book. Adam currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and baby girl.
1. Can you tell us a little about your upcoming book Evertaster?
Evertaster is a middle grade, real-world fantasy-adventure novel in the vein as Harry Potter or Percy Jackson. It’s the story of the Johnsonville kids, Guster, Mariah, and Zeke who hear about a legendary taste and go searching across the world through perils and danger just so they can try it for themselves.
They’ve got some powerful reasons for doing so, mostly to help their brother Guster, who is suffering from a serious problem: he can taste any flaw in his food, whether it’s potatoes in his mom’s casserole that were grown too far north, or what the cows ate that gave the milk in his ice cream. None of it tastes right to him.
2. Where did you find your idea and/or inspiration?
I was browsing through the book store, when I happened upon a cookbook – the cooking aisle is a somewhat frightening place for me – I saw how thick it was, and how many other books there were like it, and thought about all the cookbooks in the whole world, and how many there must be, and how many were written over the centuries. That’s when I wondered: what are all those chefs looking for? What are they after? In science, there’s an idea that there is a grand Theory of Everything that is waiting to be discovered. What if there is was grand Recipe? The final answer to all cooking and food. From there, the Johnsonville family developed naturally, with the mom, Mabel, who feels inadequate about her abilities as a cook, and Guster, the eleven year old for whom food burns or stings his mouth and tongue as he swallows it. It made for a fun dynamic. The setting and adventure itself were inspired by some of the places I’ve had the chance to travel to. They were such interesting settings, I just had to put them into a story.
3. Who is your favorite character? Is the character based on real life experiences?
I’ll confess that my favorite character is actually Mabel, Guster’s mom. She’s humble and pure in heart, but completely dorky in the way that an 11 year-old kid finds his mom dorky – wearing aprons all day, bad jokes, she makes you do your chores. She is pure mom-ness. Mabel realizes that about herself to a certain extent, which is why she half-heartedly lets the family set out on the adventure – she wants to prove something to herself. In many ways, she is based on my mom. My mom is a kindergarten teacher, finger paints, nursery rhymes, sugary sweetness and all. My mom had never been out of the United States until just a few years ago, and that’s the case for a lot of moms who are busy raising their families. So I wanted to see what would happen if a mom like that – Mabel – were to go on a dangerous quest around the globe. The tendency in children’s books is to write about orphans. On this point I was firm while writing – Mabel was always going to play an integral role in my book, and the kids were going to learn to deal with that, scolding and all. The family dynamic only enriched the adventure.
4. Can you tell us about your challenges getting your book published?
Phew! There indeed were challenges. I wrote the first draft of Evertaster about four years ago. It just spilled out of me onto the keyboard, and I was just grinning at the end of many of my writing sessions, I was having so much fun. I revised it for a few months, then sent it out to agents and publishers. Most rejected me with form letters. Then, Alyssa Henkin of Trident Media Group, a really great agency in New York, responded to my query and asked to see the manuscript. I sent it and a few days later, she called to tell me she would like to represent it if I was willing to make a few changes. That phone call was incredible. I had been cooped up at my desk for so long, with grand, romantic, delusional ideas of becoming a novelist, and Alyssa called to tell me I wasn’t crazy!
Over the next 2 years we revised the manuscript together, all while I was working sometimes 60 hour weeks at my day job animating feature films. When we finally finished, five drafts later, she sent it out. The response was incredible! Publishers loved the characters, the story, the pacing, the quirky world of adventure. They told us how effortlessly they were pulled along. And this was all from the top publishers in the industry! It was tremendous validation for my secret project. There was one day when we had interest from two top publishers that would both have been a dream – the editors were ready to buy – but both deals fell through for various reasons at the last minute. I was devastated, but happy. Professionals liked my work! So a year later, when Alyssa told me that Trident was launching its own line of original ebooks, and asked me if Evertaster could be one of them, of course I said yes! So now it will be in ebook and paperback.
5. What words of advice would you give to aspiring writers?
I remember when I decided I was going to take a few months off work and write a book. I was visiting a friend’s apartment in Los Angeles, where the joke is that everyone you meet has got their screenplay that they’re writing. I told my friend that I wanted to write. He laughed at me, and said, “You and everybody else,” then pointed out the balcony window down into the alley where a homeless man was sitting next to his shopping cart with pen and binder paper in hand working on his screenplay. What was I thinking? This is the same crazy idea that everyone has.
That’s when I realized no matter what I had to work work work. And I had to finish things. Whether it’s a short story, novella, or epic fantasy series, make sure you write the last word and complete the project. If the project is too big, choose something more manageable and work up from there. You have to have something finished to show people.
Then start querying. There really are no hard and fast rules on how to get published. Each author’s publishing story is unique. But no matter what happens, if you have a finished product, that is an achievement.
Thank you Adam! We are very excited for your upcoming book and the ones to follow! Evertaster is the first of a three book series. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy and read it to my very picky 6 year old!
You can read the first chapter of Evertaster, sign up for fun giveaways (such as the Cookie Giveaway!) and watch for upcoming events: Click here for Adam's Evertaster page on Facebook. Well worth hitting the "Like" button!
There is also an amazing video Adam posted on Mother's Day dedicating Evertaster to his mom. Very sweet video!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
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