Zoë Marriott's Blog, page 50

REVIEW: THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS BY RAE CARSON

Hi everyone! Congratulations on making it to Wednesday alive.

Today I'm going to review The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (which I received as an eARC via NetGalley - thanks NetGalley!) a book which held me utterly spellbound on Monday, and which I still can't stop thinking about now.

The Synopsis:  

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.

Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn't die young.

Most of the chosen do. 

The Review:

I honestly don't know what to say about this book. It's not enough to say that I loved it. That I admired it. That I swallowed it in one gulp and that my heart is still filled by it. Or even that, despite the book's carefully crafted and well-resolved story arc, I'd sell a kidney to get hold of the next book in the trilogy. 

As a writer I love and admire many books, and crave their sequels. 

But I don't often read books that I wish, with my whole soul, I had written myself. 

That's a odd statement to make, I know. Of course whenever I like a book I kind of wish that I could have written it. But most of the time know I never could. I don't have the fiendish plotting gift needed to create a trilogy like The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, or the epic vision to come up with a story like Veronica Roth's Divergent, or the skill required to put together a double-crossing Baroque family dynamic like the one in The Demon Trilogy by Sarah Rees Brennan. My brain simply doesn't work the way those author's brains work. Not only could I never have written their books the way they did, I know that a story like the stories they have told would never have occurred to me to be written in the first place.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns is different. It's a high fantasy which deals with almost every one of my all-time favourite themes to write about. It tackles religion and the dividing and uniting aspects of religion. It deals with the physical and mental transformation of the protagonist. It takes on tragic, forbidden love, friendship, resistence against overwhelming odds and female power. It is written in a voice which is the perfect combination of lyricism and intense sensory description. Its characters - from the main players to the most minor spear-carriers - are beautifully nuanced, multifaceted and complex in just the way I always strive to achieve. The story follows the path which I would have chosen myself, and yet it is utterly unpredictable.

In short, The Girl of Fire and Thorns is the book I want to write when I grow up.

AND IT IS A DEBUT NOVEL.

Sometimes I regret that I got published at such a relatively young age. I mean, I don't regret being a published author, and I'm proud of all my books, imperfect as they are. But I wonder - if I'd waited a few years, trunked a few more stories - maybe my first book could have been like this? Because if you're going to blast your way onto the market with a high fantasy, THIS is the way to do it.

Let me offer a few more reasons why you should go out and get this yourselves the moment it hits the shops.

Firstly, if you want to see a heroine who is (painfully, excruciatingly) realistic in her flaws and self-doubts, and who gradually matures and hardens into an extraordinary woman of courage, power and wisdom (and also the sort of badass who pretends to beg at a traitor's feet so that she can steal the knives out of his boots and then threaten to cut his throat with them) then you will definitely enjoy this book.

If you love far-flung, unpredictable plots which drag the characters through every possible physical and mental test and then come full-circle to allow them to use all they have learned, you will like this book.

If you hate insta-love and you want meaningful relationships (not just romantic ones!) which develop slowly out of respect and knowledge, this book is for you.

If you love richly textured non-standard fantasy settings which are filled with people of all ethnic backgrounds, and dark-skinned heroes and heroines who take leading roles, you want this book.

If you want a book that carefully examines the idea of religious faith and 'God's Will' and which eventually demonstrates that all humans, whether by virtue or weakness, are part of God's plan, then this book will thrill you.

Finally, if you want a book that will make you gasp, and cry, and curl up into a little ball of shattered emotions, a book that will wreck you and then put you back together again with bittersweet grace, The Girl of Fire and Thorns is your book.

I've recommended books to you guys before, books that I loved and admired. But this book? This book I am not recommending. I am *ordering* you to go get it. You need it. You want it. You must have it. Go on. Pre-order it now.

  

FROSTFIRE TEASER #2

Hello, dear readers! Today I propose to tantalise you with a snippet of my fourth book, FrostFire, which is currently in edits with Wonder Editor (otherwise known as Mistress of Awesome, She Who Must be Obeyed, or sometimes just Annalie). As a quick reminder, FrostFire is a companion novel to Daughter of the Flames , set in Ruan but featuring a completely different cast of characters.

As always, any teasers posted here prior to the final proof-read are subject to changes both large and small, and may even end up on the cutting room floor. So enjoy it while you can. And tell me what you think!

*****
Luca strode ahead of me. By the time that I, carefully carrying my axe, had reached the tent, Luca had already lit two lamps inside and was rummaging in the chest at the foot of his bed. I laid my axe carefully on my pile of furs. When I turned, I saw that Luca had laid a drying cloth on the floor next to the low table, and had a brush in his hand. The brush had fine white bristles and the back of it was silver. Such an item had never been near my shaggy mess of hair before."This will get the dust out," he promised. "Come sit on the cloth, and that way it won't get all over the rugs."I smiled as I went to sit cross legged on the edge of the towel."What?""Nothing. Only...sometimes you can be a little...m-motherly."There was a long pause. I glanced over my shoulder at him. He was still by the bed, mouth hanging open."Motherly?" he repeated. I couldn't tell from if his voice if he was angry or just shocked. I shrugged, taking a little petty satisfaction in having wrong-footed him for once."Sometimes. Can I have the brush now?""No," he almost snapped, coming to kneel behind me. "You can't see where the dust is." A tiny laugh escaped my lips. I put my hand over my mouth. After a second I heard him laugh too, if reluctantly. "Any more jokes like that and I'll make you go and dunk in the river again – and it's cold at this time of night, believe me. Here, hold this."He shoved the brush at me over my shoulder, and as I fumbled to catch it I felt a quick series of tugs at my hair. My braid uncoiled from around my head, falling down my back with a puff of rock dust. "How do you know how to do that?" I demanded. "How do you think? My hair's longer than yours. I pin it under my helm all the time. Give me the brush now, and no funny comments, please."He tugged the tie from the end of the braid. Feeling him comb gently through the long wriggles of hair with his fingers, I abruptly lost the urge to tease. My breath left me in a long, shuddering sigh. Goosepimples sprang up on my skin. Mortified, I pressed my lips together and prayed this would be over soon."Lean back," he murmured, tilting my head. His fingertips brushed the curve of my ear. My teeth bit into my lip.The brush made a soft shushing noise as he ran it through the thick, fluffy layers of my hair, parting it gently to get at all the dust. I felt myself slumping back further towards him – I couldn't help it – and put out a hand to steady myself. My palm landed on his leg, stretched out beside me. The firm, warm bulge of muscle above his knee tensed under my fingers. The brush paused in mid-stroke. I froze.

RETROFRIDAY - HOW I PLOT

Hello everyone, and happy Friday. Well done for surviving this far. Before we move onto today's archive post I need to share this supremely brilliant post by fantasy writer N.K. Jemisen on the limitations of 'traditional' feminine roles . Read it, my babies. Feel your mind expand.

Now onto RETROFRIDAY, where in a post from early last year, I answer that much asked question: HOW I PLOT. 

Recently the YA Rebels (whose vlogs I highly recommend for helpful hilarity) have been vlogging about plot and structure. I've enjoyed their videos, but no one's really touched on anything LIKE the method I use (and one of my favourite rebels, Leah Clifford, even stunned me by asking 'What is structure?').

It seems I am an unusually structure-focused writer. Not that I always called it that. For a long time I just talked about the 'shape' of a story. That's still how stories feel to me; like something solid, which has a shape, with bulgy bits and thin bits, that I need to sort of pat and squash into place. I can remember struggling with a scene for days, and then adding two or three lines to the beginning which changed the 'shape' of it for me, so that I was able to move forward.

While I was in the middle of writing Shadows on the Moon I read Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey. I wasn't convinced by all of it, but one thing that did strike me was the way that Mr Vogler illustrated the three act structure. He used a diamond shape, which actually looks more like a four act structure to me. Not that I cared about 'acts'. What I cared about was the fact that I could see how my own story fitted onto that diagram.

There were, of course, four points on the diamond. Each point had a major event on it. The sides were filled in by the smaller events leading to each major event. I realised I could adapt the diamond shaped diagram to keep track of time elasping in my story world, how old my heroine was at each event, and to make sure that the pacing of the story was even, with a certain amount of smaller events building in momentum until a major event erupted, and then the drama flowed back down to smaller events again.

These plot diagrams aren't set in stone for me. For Shadows I think I drew out three our four of them. Working on FrostFire, I think I've already hit three. But this process of evolution itself is helpful.

I was going to take a picture of the last plot diagram for Shadows, but then I realised it was (as you would expect) basically the most spoilerific thing EVER. So I made up a plot diagram, which doesn't make that much sense, but which gives you an idea how I use one of these.


My real plot diagrams show a lot more detail. I draw them by hand, and use highlighters and lots of different coloured pens, and put arrows pointing from one event to another to show how they relate, as well as notes on how old the protagonist and other main characters are at each event and anything else significant (for example, if the location has changed).

I've never been able to use the index card method. I love the idea of having different cards that signify a certain subplot, but for me each event is such a tangle of different developing plots that I can't separate them out. And, as most writers would agree, synopses, while good for giving people a general idea how your story plays out, don't help much at all. But if you, like me, tend to have trouble with pacing and structure, the Diamond Plot Diagram might be for you.

Anyone else want to chip in here? How do you plot?

READER QUESTIONS ANSWERED #2

Hello, dear readers! Today we're still working through the questions that I put off answering during Shadows on the Moon release week, and by a lucky coincidence both of today's questions are publishing related. First of all Rebecca asked (via comments):

"Do you have to get an agent before you get published or can you go straight to the publisher with your book if it is a trusted and well-known publisher? And if you do need an agent how do you know which ones are trustworthy, because generally I don't know the agents of authors I like?"

I'm going to assume that you're talking about writing children's or YA books here because that's my area of expertise. Children's and YA publishing is distinct from adult publishing in that many well-known, successful authors represent themselves with no help from a literary agent, and many children's publishers still accept submissions from unagented authors. In fact, I found my publisher and started revising The Swan Kingdom with them before I got an agent. So no: you don't HAVE to get an agent before you can get published.

SHOULD you try to get a literary agent before you get published, on the other hand? In today's marketplace, I think the answer is definitely yes. You see, no matter how reputable and NICE a publisher is, and no matter how much they like your book, a publisher is still primarily a business. They need to make as much money as possible from selling books, and the less money that they give to you, the author, the more money there will be for them.

This sounds really awful, and as if I'm implying that publishers are out to con authors. That's not the case at all. They don't want to con anyone. But like any good business people, the contracts department of your publisher will want to get as much as possible for the smallest amount of money. That's how you make a profit. A publisher's most straightforward, standard, boilerplate contract - the one you get as an unagented author - will basically take all your rights (world export rights, translation rights, audiobook rights, film and TV rights, ebook rights), and pay you an advance against royalties for them, plus a percentage of profits. The advance will be the smallest one they think is fair, and the percentage of profits will be low as well. And that's it. Everything's out of your hands from then on. And usually there will be clauses in there which are to the publisher's advantage in other ways, such as one that states the publisher gets first refusal on anything else you write in the future, and that if they decide to buy your next book, it will be 'on the same terms'.

An agent, on the other hand, will get stuck right into that contract and extract every right that they think they can sell on your behalf for more money. And if an agent sells, say, your audiobook rights, you get all of that money minus only the agent's commision (usually between 10-15%) right away, rather than having to split that money 60/40 or 70/30 with your publisher, and then have them subtract that money from the advance which you still need to repay (it's more complex than that, but I don't want to waffle on too long here). Your agent will bargain for a larger advance and a bigger share of profits, and they will make sure that there are no sneaky clauses stating that the publisher gets to hang onto your next book for a year before rejecting it. They will be your advocate in every part of your career, and it's in their interest to make sure you do well, because they make no money unless YOU make money.

Basically, unless you are an industry veteran with years of experience in the business and a very logical, analytical mind, who doesn't mind brangling and arguing with professional legal staff at your publisher, you are going to want to have an agent.

So, how do you find a reputable agent? Well, you go and get a copy of The Writer's and Artist's Yearbook or The Writer's Handbook for this year (buy a copy, get one second hand, borrow it from the library), and you look in the Agents section. They're all listed there - including their contact details, whether they accept unsolicited submissions and who their clients are. If an agent represents a well-known author, an author that you admire, they are likely to be an excellent agent. Some agencies are new and have no well-known authors in their stable - this doesn't mean they're not good too. In fact it can mean that they are more likely to take on new authors as they seek to build up their client list.

Before you approach an agent, do a Google search on them. Most agents now have websites. Does everything look solid and professional on their site? Is the site really out of date, or there any silly spelling mistakes, grammatical errors or things that strike you as odd? If so, back away. If not, great. Now, look more closely. Is there any mention that the agent charges ANY kind of a fee, for any of their work? If so, cross them off your list. NO REPUTABLE AGENT should charge to read a manuscript, or for any other aspect of their work. Good agents make their money from the percentage they charge once you've started earning. If they can't get by on that, they're no good. Have a look at other Google results. If you come across anything dodgy, like people complaining that the agent has charged them hidden fees, or lied to them, then again, cross them off the list. The same goes for any worried or unhappy feelings if you do approach them and they agree to be your agent. Your instincts are good, and if you feel anxious about your agent instead of calm and happy, then they're not right for you. A bad agent, a neglectful one or an uncommitted one can do a lot of harm to your standing as a writer and your chances of making a good living. This might sound crazy, a bad agent can be worse than no agent at all.

Be prepared to be rejected by agents in just the same way that you might be by publishers. Agents are just as exacting, and they won't take on work that they don't think will sell. But once you get an agent, your chances of being published - and what's more, WELL published - will shoot up. Good luck!

Today's second question comes from Megan, via email, and asks:

"I was wondering if you could give me some information on how to get a book published, because I've written something and quite a few people have read it and said it was really good. Now I want to see if I can get it published but I don't know how to. Can you give me some info please?"

Here's where my cunning, time-saving plan comes into things. Megan, see all that info that I just gave to Rebecca about getting an agent? If you want to get published, you need to do everything that I've just said there. Do your research, find an agent, and THEY will then deal with the practicalities of finding you a publisher.

NOTE: Just as with agents, if any publisher asks you for any money whatsoever - run. The number one law of publishing is that money flows towards the writer, not the other way around. Any person in publishing who tries to take money from you is a wrong 'un.

OK, I hope this was helpful, guys! Thanks for tuning in, and come back on Friday.

READER QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Hi everyone - I hope you all had a great weekend! I had a signing on Saturday at my local bookshop and despite it being a very quiet day in the shopping centre (it was a beautiful, sunny day and everyone wanted to be out soaking up rays) I managed to sell a fairly good amount of books. Then I spent Sunday recovering because WHOO that was an exhausting ordeal.  

Just a little reminder for you again that once the Shadows on the Moon book trailer gets up above 1,000 views, there will be...goodies. Very good goodies. Keep watching it, recommend it to your friends, send the link out - it would be great if the trailer went viral.


Just in case you missed it, the final stop on the Shadows on the Moon Blog Tour was at the Overflowing Library with the lovely Kirsty. She had an extract of the book and a swag giveaway, so head on over there if you haven't already.

Now onto some reader questions! I really meant to get to these much much earlier, but all the release day stuff kind of derailed me. Sorry about the delay.

First up, then, is Gabbi, who emailed me about a dozen questions. A lot of them were things that I really think only Gabbi can answer for herself, and others were things that I've already answered here or on the website. So I picked out the question which I really think is vital:

"...my question to you is that even though it's very unlikely for me to get published, is it silly to plan a series of novels, rather than just a single debut. I know most author's debut novels are the first in a series, but most of them have also completed a book before. Needless to say, I haven't." 

Gabbi, you won't ever get published until you finish a novel. Unless you're a celebrity or a respected university professor with lots of non-fiction publishing credits behind you, you will ALWAYS have to finish at least one book for a publisher to take you seriously. They're not going to publish any first time novelist based on a few chapters and a synopsis, no matter how brilliant they are, because there's no guarantee you'll be able to finish what you've started. But publishers don't care if you have thirty bad novels hidden under your bed or if the one that lands on their desk is your very first. All they care about is that it's good.

So, bearing that in mind - no, it's not silly for you to plan a series if that's what you really want to write. In today's publishing climate, as you note, many debut authors begin their careers with a trilogy (Cassandra Clare, Veronica Roth, Sarah Rees Brennan). Publishers and agents now seem to negotiate multibook contracts as standard, and knowing that you've got a plan in place for the follow-up books is very reassuring for the publisher, I think.

What you have to do is write the first book, create a really good plan for the next ones, and then start trying to get an agent/publisher with that (noting in your queries that you're hard at work on the second book). But remember that writing a series is a really challenging undertaking. If you're doing it because that's just the way you think things need to be, then stop and consider whether the story you really want to write can stand alone. There are still many single volumes being published.

Good luck with it, Gabbi!

Next up we have a great question from Borko, who asks:

"I have a problem with my characters (In my book). More specifically, one of the main. I'm worried that people would hate him or like him less then others. He reacts a bit sharper, but ... But this is not a reason!"

I sympathise with you on this one. When I was writing Shadows on the Moon I worried that my heroine's often self-destructive behaviour would put readers off. When I was writing FF I was anxious that one of my main characters would never get any sympathy from readers because he made such a bad impression initially. But I couldn't change who those characters were, make them more sensible or less harsh, because that was who they WERE. That was who the story needed them to be. 

So, it's possible that the reader will react as you fear and dislike this person. And that's OK, so long as the plot doesn't depend on the reader sympathising with them. 

It's no good trying to create a sense of tension and jeopardy with life or death situations if the reader doesn't care that the main character is in danger. You're going to need to give them something else to care about. 

Maybe a wider situation (the world is going to end!), or some innocent's life at stake (the crying baby in the corner). If this sounds a bit complicated, then you can go a different route. The easiest way to get someone to keep reading is to give them someone to identify with. Readers normally need and want at least one person whose motives they can get behind as they begin the journey of the book. If you give them that - even if the character providing the contrast is only a sidekick - they'll hang in there long enough for you to begin to show the more vulnerable, softer or more loveable sides to the character who might initially have repulsed them.

That's the secret of getting away with an anti-hero. They might seem flat out nasty at the start, and maybe they are, but in real life everyone has depths and a reason for being who they are. Once you realise that, you begin to view their actions from a different viewpoint and while THEY may not change, the reader's opinion of them does. A person who is cruel, cold and even violent will suddenly shine with the light of a hero if we see that s/he's also unflinchingly honourable and never breaks her/his word. A weak, fumbling, obnoxious character will become an object of sympathy if we're given an insight that shows us they were once proactive and strong, but they have been emotionally crippled by some terrible loss. And once you've shown us that they're more than just a shell, you can begin the task of having them develop and change via their interaction with other characters and the ordeal of the plot.

The final thing to bear in mind is that readers will often develop an unexpected soft spot for the most unlikely characters. Look at the legion of fans that Draco Malfoy has. He's written as a villain, and he gets in Harry Potter's way at every turn. He's bigoted, cruel, unprincipled, and at the end he shows that he's also weak and cowardly. Yet (to J K Rowling's astonishment!) he's actually an object of adoration for a lot of readers who are convinced that one day he will be a hero. 

So go ahead and write your character the way he needs to be. Just bear in mind the points I've made here.

I hope that was helpful, guys! Barring anything unexpected coming up, I'll probably tackle a few more of your questions on Wednesday, because I think you've all been waiting long enough!

SHADOWS ON THE MOON SPECIAL POST

Hello everyone! Today is official release day for Shadows on the Moon - the day when the online retailers like Amazon and The Book Depository change the book's status from Pre-Order to Order Now, the day when bookshops nationwide will start putting it out right there on the shelves for people to pick up and leaf through and hopefully BUY.

Eeeep!

Just for your information, I have made another pledge, this time to my Twitter friends, that if Shadows on the Moon makes it onto any UK bestseller's chart, I will film myself doing the famous Zolah Happy Dance and post it on YouTube for all to see (and mock, and laugh at). So, if you'd like to see (and mock, and laugh at) that, now is a great time to order Shadows on the Moon in either paperback or Kindle edition, or pick up a copy (or two!) from your local bookshop. You could even ask about it at your local library and make sure that they've ordered one for their shelves. Just sayin'.

And now that bit's over (phew!) I'm going to talk to you about the thing causing all this fuss. My story. The story that was, at various times, called 'The Moon Mask', 'Fair as the Moon' and 'The Shadow Mantle'. The story we now know as Shadows on the Moon . The following post is based on the talk I gave at the Walker Undercover event in winter last year.

Sometimes as a writer you get an idea that is crazy. So crazy that you have no choice but to write it. In my case the idea came when Memoirs of a Geisha, Cinderella and The Count of Monte Cristo all collided in my head. At the time I was struggling with another book (which is still unfinished) and my crazy, Japanese influenced idea looked incredibly shiny and fun and easy in comparision. So, with the blessing of my editor, I switched.

Guess what? It wasn't shiny. It wasn't fun. And it definitely was not easy.

Almost straight away, things began to go wrong. My heroine turned out to be much darker and more complex than I had bargained for. The story developed twists and turns I never expected. The world expanded until I had lost track of its boundaries. Within a chapter or two I was having a crisis of confidence. The monologue running through my head went something like this:

I made a mistake. This story isn't ready to be written. It's too big. I should never have started it. I'll never finish it. 

I got stuck for months at a time. I blew two deadlines, one computer, and more braincells than I care to think about.

And it was worth it.

Because when I finished I found that despite the panic attacks, temper tantrums and ripping my hair out over my rising word count, something really extraordinary had happened. A story had forced itself out of me into the world, and even I felt a bit shocked at just how special it was.

It might be surprising to learn, especially for those of you who know how much I love fairytales - but I have never been a fan of Cinderella. In fact, if you'd asked me growing up, I'd probably have said she was my least favourite fairytale heroine of all. Let's face it, she's the classic wimp. Throughout the entire fairytale Cinderella never seems to take a single action to improve her lot in life. All she does is sigh and whine and wait for other people to save her – which they duly do, first her fairy godmother, and finally the prince.

But what did Cinderella do to deserve any of that? I'm sorry, but being beautiful and obedient just don't cut it in my view. She never shows a scrap of determination, strength or intelligence. I mean, if I was in her situation and my fairy godmother had arrived in a puff of smoke asking what I wanted, I'd have requested something a bit more practical than a nice dress and a ride to the ball. How a box of my mum's jewellery and a coach ticket out of town? Who would just throw away their one chance at freedom to go and sip lukewarm lemonade and get stepped on by some random prince's feet?

For years I'd been rolling my eyes at Cinderella and crossly muttering to myself that no real person - no real girl, with a real heart and a real mind - could be that spineless. And then one day, out of the blue, it occurred to me to ask: What if Cinderella wasn't? What if she WASN'T a wimp? If it was an illusion. A disguise...
What kind of person would play that part? Hide every vestige of their soul beneath a mask of obedience and beauty? And why?

The story flipped in my head. Immediately I saw that a character who was intelligent, cunning and devious enough to play the role of Cinderella would have to have a really good reason to endure all that she does in the story. She would have to want something very badly, badly enough to risk her own soul to get it.

REVENGE. Revenge for the murder of her father. After all, the first important thing that happens in Cinderella is her father's death. The story never says how he died, but what if it was murder?

I began to see that my Cinderella would hide as a common drudge in her enemy's kitchen in order to preserve her life. And when she rose from the dirt and ashes she would become, not some imitation fairy princess, but the most beautiful courtesan in the land, determined to go to the ball – not to wear a pretty dress and dance with the prince - but to crush her enemy.

And then I began to think of all the ways it could go wrong. All the ways that living a life of such darkness and deception would hurt and twist and eventually destroy a person, no matter how strong they were. I began to wonder just what could save my Cinderella from the vengeance she had sacrificed everything to achieve.

So in the midst of this ruthless quest for vengeance, I knew that my heroie would meet a boy? Not just any boy. The one person in the world who saw through her magic and her beautiful illusions and her mask of Shadows. Someone who could sees all her fury and her hurt and her darkness...and love her anyway? This boy wouldn't give her up - not even to the prince she was determined to snare.

Shadows on the Moon is a story about transformations, and about how sometimes in our quest to leave our pain behind, we can accidentally leave ourselves behind as well.

It's a story about how deception hurts everyone, even the one practising it.
 
It's a story about illusions and how - frighteningly often - is it easier to believe in lies than truth.

But most of all, Shadows on the Moon turned out to be a story about love. About how, like my version of Cinderella, it can wear many faces. And some them are dark and terrible. But ultimately, the story is about how love can bring you back to yourself when even you thought that you were lost forever.

Here's the trailer again, just in case anyone missed it on Sugarscape (or just wants to see it again). And I've been authorised to tell you that if the views on this trailer get up to over 1,000, there may be extra trailer related goodness on offer - like deleted scenes. Yeah, baby! Tell your friends!

SHADOWS ON THE MOON BOOK TRAILER!

Hello dear readers! Today is a momentous day because it is FINALLY time for me to reveal to you the Shadows on the Moon trailer!

I'm really incredibly proud of this (even though my contribution to it was fairly small) and so delighted that my publisher decided to put this much effort into making it something special. They've arranged for it to debut exclusively on Sugarscape.com, which is a digital magazine for teens with a fantastic online book club, which will hopefully get it the attention it deserves - but of course if you want to share it on Facebook or Tweet about it, I'll be very pleased.

But before I give you the link, another quick round-up of the blog tour.

Monday's post was on Writing From the Tub and included a sneak preview of the book and a swag giveaway too.

On Tuesday the wonderful Sarah at Feeling Fictional also offered a sneak preview, and a review - and a brilliant giveaway of two copies of the book, one of which is for INTERNATIONAL readers. So get over there and enter if you haven't already.

Today, lovely Lynsey at Narratively Speaking is doing another exciting giveaway and she will be reviewing the book tomorrow too, so make sure to check that out.

Also tomorrow, in defiance of my normal posting schedule, I'm going to be doing a very special blog post for you, which is based on the talk I gave at the 2010 Walker Undercover event, about the origins of Shadows on the Moon - where the idea came from, how it developed, my experience writing it and what the story means to me. I'll be hosting the book trailer here too. This post won't go up until after 5:30 in the afternoon (due to the exclusivity period which Sugarscape.com has with the trailer) so make sure to check back then for interesting insights into the book.

OK. Now for the moment you've been waiting for. *Deep breaths*

Here's the link to the Shadows on the Moon trailer.

Don't forget to come back and tell me what you think, guys!

ONE YEAR BLOGIVERSARY EXTRAVAGANZA WINNERS

Hi everyone and a very happy Monday to you all. Today is the day when we pick the names of three hardworking blog readers from the hat (well, the random number generator) and make them very happy, with any luck.

Before we get to that, though - a Blog Tour update.

Saturday's post is about my most influential writers, and is on the Undercover Blog.

Sunday's post reveals the soundtrack of Shadows on the Moon and is at the lovely Emma's Book Angel's Booktopia.

Today's post will be on Writing From the Tub (I think it's going to be another sneak preview of the book - there might be a giveaway too).

And don't forget to check out Tuesday's at Sarah's Feeling Fictional.

In other news, the Shadows on the Moon ebook is now available for pre-order and it's only £2.49. That's nearly 500 pages for under three quid!

All right, onto the part which I know you're all really here for:

The first winner, who will receive the grand prize of an ARC of Shadows on the Moon , signed and personalised for them, a sparkly UK paperback of The Swan Kingdom, a gorgeous US hardcover of Daughter of the Flames , both also signed and personalised, and a one of a kind piece of artwork created by my own fair hand during the process of writing Shadows on the Moon is...


*Drumroll*

...


Rebecca Lindsay! 

Which, given how many times Rebecca and her family entered, was probably inevitable. You really worked hard for this Rebecca - well done.

Now, the winner of the second prize, which is an ARC of Shadows on the Moon , a one of a kind piece of artwork from my Shadows on the Moon sketches, and a bag of swag, including signed bookplates, magnets and postcards is...


*Trumpet fanfare*

...

Isabel!

And again, I can't say I'm all that surprised, as I think Isabel entered nearly as many times as Rebecca. You were determined to win this one, Isabel, and you've never won anything from the blog before, which I know has been disappointing in the past. I'm really, really pleased for you. Congratulations! 

Finally, the runner up, who will get a one of a kind piece of artwork and a bag of swag, including signed bookplates, magnets, postcards, fans, and anything else I have on hand, is... 


*Heavenly chorus of angels*

...

Scattered Laura!  

Congratulations, Laura - I hope you'll be happy with your prize!  

I'd like all the winners to get in touch with me via my email (zdmarriott at g mail dot com) as soon as possible to give me their postal addresses. I'm going to try to get all these prizes in the post by Friday of this week so that you get them pronto. 

Congratulations again to all the winners. Commiserations to those of you who didn't win. I'm sure you're feeling a little depressed right now, but there will be other giveaways and maybe you'll be lucky another time.

See you all on Wednesday!

SHADOWS ON THE MOON BLOG TOUR DAYS #1 & #2

Hello everyone - I hope you're enjoying this fine, sunny Friday? I certainly am, after a half hour of yoga, a bracing dog-walk and a pint of coffee. Later on I plan to lay out a blanket in my garden and read while soaking up as much vitamin D as is possible for a pasty-skinned girl wearing factor 30. O, lazy holiday lifestyle - I shall miss you when I go back to work next week. Well, not really. But I shall pretend to.

All right, the first order of business today is to remind anyone who hasn't entered yet that the Blogiversary Extravaganza giveaway is still open. You have until midnight on the 3rd of July to collect those points. Clickity clickity to read the rules and the list of prizes.

Next up on the agenda - the Shadows on the Moon Blog Tour has begun! Yesterday the lovely Liz and Sarah of My favourite Books hosted an extract of Shadows on the Moon, a review, and swag giveaway/guest post by me about fairytale and mythology retellings that I love. Check it out!

Today's tour post is up on the Serendipity Blog, hosted by charming Vivienne, and recounts A Day In My Crazy Writing Life (with pictures) AND a giveaway of a copy of Shadows on the Moon !

See how good to you I am? Two posts and three giveaways in one day! I really urge you to head over to both these blogs and comment - let my publisher see your enthusiasm!

Finally, an update on the Shadows book trailer. I have seen a tough cut, and although they intend to trim it down with a little more editing, I am...well...speechless pretty much covers it. I cannot WAIT to show you what they did. I think they're launching it next week, and there are hush-hush things going on as to where, but I'll let you know the second I've got a link.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

A TOUR OF MY TBR PILE

Hi Everyone - and Happy Wednesday!

Yesterday I treated myself to an outing in Sheffield, fully intending to raid every bookshop I could find and do a picture post for you showcasing all my new treasures. Unfortunately, NONE of the books I wanted were in stock and so I went home empty handed. *Sob*

Seeking consolation last night, I started sifting through my TBR pile, and it occurred to me that I've never shown you guys just how many books I own which I haven't yet read. And so - a pictorial tour of my TBR pile!

This is the consolidated version, including the pile from my coffee table, the pile by my bed, and the pile from the writer's cave:


Impressive, right?

These are the books which have either been given to me by Walker Books when I was visiting them in London (they have this basement. There are floor to ceiling shelves of books. Shelves and shelves that go on forever. It's some kind of crazy bookworm HEAVEN), or else were sent to me by my lovely editor Annalie because she thought I would like them. There were originally a LOT more of these. I've been steadily working through them.


These are the books which friends talked me into buying - sometimes by giving glowing reviews, other times by literally forcing them on me. I once made the mistake of going book shopping with two members of my online writing group. They kept pulling things off the shelves and saying 'You must have this. And this. Oh - and this!' I went home with £68 worth of books. Darn you, Ferret and Roccie! I lived on bread and jam for a fortnight!


Finally, these books are the ones I am responsible myself, but still haven't managed to get around to yet.



Fun Activities You Can Do With A TBR Pile This Big:

Play Jenga!


Create Modern Art!


Use As A Handy Prop For Your Musical Instrument!



What's in your TBR piles guys?