Zoë Marriott's Blog, page 67

LETTER TO MY CHARACTERS

Dear Pair of Characters (You Know Who You Are)

I'm...sorry. Really, really sorry.

You've just had such a wonderful moment between you. A moment of human connection and warmth that I'm convinced has changed you both forever, and released one of you from a burden of isolation and loneliness you've carried for a very long time.

I'm so happy for you. So happy that after all the snarling and suppressed misery and stupid fights, you've been able to reach out to each other in this way. I know you're bo...

WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW?

Okay, I know you've all heard that one before.

I guess how you react to it will depend on who you are. If you're one of those people who sailed single-handedly around the world at age fourteen, volunteered to go abroad and build orphanages for the under-privileged in Borneo at fifteen, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro when you were sixteen - and blogged about it all - you're making a smug face right now.

But if you're like me, a fairly normal person who's had a few interesting experiences but has gene...

AND THE WINNERS ARE....

Hopefully the video says it all. Some spills, some thrills, some over-the-top special effects, some chic 1940's hats and some hi-lol-rious tomfoolery. All in a day's work for this author.

My only problem is that winner number 3, Ryuuoh Elf, did not leave an email address. Now, she does have an LJ, but it's Friends only and has anonymous comments disabled, and I DON'T have an LJ. So if you're reading this, my Elfy friend, please email me so that we can get your prize sent out, okay?

For those of...

BLOGIVERSARY GOODIE GIVEAWAY...CLOSED.

Saturday is upon us, and the Blogiversary Goodie Giveaway is now CLOSED. No more entries will be accepted. Sorry to anyone who left it too late, but you did have a whole week. Maybe you'll know better next time.

Despair not: there may be future giveaways and competitions. But not right now. Right now, I have to go and write out nearly *300* entries to go in the hat. Way to go gathering those points, people!

The draw will be held later on today. I will film it and upload it here and on YouTube. ...

HALF WAY! WOOHOO!

First: Only the remainder of today left to enter the Goodie Giveaway. If you haven't already, get your butt in gear and do it now.


Okay, with that out of the way - direct your eyes, Dear Readers, to the Work in Progress metre on the left of this blog, beneath the pretty pictures of book covers.

What's that you see? 51%? Yes, that's right. I've now reached and passed (just) the halfway mark on my newest book, tentatively entitled FrostFire. Wheee!

Having reached this milestone, it seems appropria...

MAGGIE STIEFVATER KICKS SOME BUTT

Feeling a bit grim today? Looking at your stack of rejection letters and thinking, 'Waily, waily, waily'? Wandering if anyone can possibly find a publisher in today's crazy world, or if your genius will go forever undiscovered?

Just pop here for a minute.

I guarantee you'll feel much before for it.

WHERE THE SWAN KINGDOM CAME FROM

As anyone who's read my first book The Swan Kingdom knows, it's based on a fairytale called The Wild Swans, which is a Hans Christian Andersen story. When I actually came to write the book lots of other influences crept in there, like Celtic mythology and some Japanese folklore, but the original spark of inspiration was the fairytale.

This was my favourite fairy story growing up for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I liked that the heroine got to be the one to save her brothers. I also admired ho...

AND NOW, A MUSICAL INTERLUDE

This is a post I've been saving up for a little while, just because it's hard for me to really express how important music is to me when I'm writing. I have literally spent months - miserable, blocked, unproductive months - desperately trawling through my CDs, checking out artists on YouTube and iTunes, hoping against hope that I would find The Song.

The Song is the one that captures the mood of the story, it's emotional heart, perfectly. Once I have that, I can build a playlist for the book a...

BLOGIVERSARY GOODIE GIVEAWAY...OPEN!!!

I'm just going to reiterate the points made in the vid above in case, you know, I talked too fast or my English accent was too confusing for anyone. So:

The list of goodies to be given away will include,
A signed and customised copy of The Swan Kingdom A signed and customised copy of Daughter of the Flames Pretty bookplates, signed by me Chapter One of Shadows on the Moon - the first few pages of this are already on my website, but this will be the full first chapter, which no one but...

JUST A MINI-POST

Popping in briefly to mention this liver-shiveringly exciting competition by new author Courtney Allison Moulton to win an ARC of her upcoming book ANGELFIRE. This book sounds so intensely cool that the mere thought of getting my hands on it early (it's not released until February 2011) makes me drool like an ancient Cocker Spaniel. If you are also drooling right now, head over and there and comment to be entered for a chance to win it too.