Z.R. Southcombe's Blog, page 28
April 1, 2015
Betas make you better
For the April A-Z blogging challenge, I’ll be blogging (almost) daily about my latest release, The Caretaker of Imagination.
Like game developers, writers use ‘betas’ to test early versions of a story. After the story is drafted, edited, edited again and then re-editedre-edited, we often send it out to our beta readers. Authors can have anywhere from 1 to 20+ beta readers, and I had about 15 for The Caretaker of Imagination! By the time I wrote Lucy’s Story: The End of the World, I was confident enough in my own ability to write a narrative with less feedback. I’d also found an editor, Jeni Chappelle, who was just the right amount of critical and enthusiastic.
One interesting thing that happened completely by accident is that all my beta readers either wrote books for grown-ups, or weren’t writers at all. At the time, this felt like a draw-back, but in hindsight I think it was a great benefit. It meant that I got a wide range of feedback, and that my betas picked out issues that other children’s authors may not have noticed.
If you’re interested in the book, you can purchase it from one of the links below:
March 31, 2015
Amazing Animals
For the April A-Z blogging challenge, I’ll be blogging (almost) daily about my latest release, The Caretaker of Imagination.
When my illustrator, Jane Thorne, sat down to do the illustrations in The Caretaker of Imagination, the enchanted forest scene tickled her imagination.
Jane used some of the animals I had described in the forest, but also added some of her own. In the illustrator’s foreword (which is only in the Limited Edition version) she says, “I took some liberties and added in as many exotic non-forest dwelling animals as I could imagine.”
You can see that she’s taken animals from all over the place – from the Australia to Antarctica to the African savannahs. What animal would you add?
If you’re interested in the book, you can purchase it from one of the links below:
March 30, 2015
April Challenges
For the April A-Z blogging challenge, I’ll be blogging about my latest release, The Caretaker of Imagination.
After the buzz and overwhelming excitement of my first real launch party, I’m now launching into a few more projects: blogging, illustration & writing.
First up, I’m joining in on the A to Z Challenge. It happens every April, and every day (except Sundays) gets a turn for a topic beginning with each letter of the alphabet. I’m theming my posts, so each post will be about The Caretaker of Imagination.
Secondly, I’m working on an illustration job for my friend, Anne. She’s publishing her first children’s picture book soon, and I’m doing the artwork for her second book, Animal Heaven.
Finally – the one you’re all waiting for! I’m working on the second and third book after The Caretaker of Imagination. They’re stand-alone sequels, which means they can be read on their own OR as part of their series.
The second book is Lucy’s Story: The End of the World (You can read a teaser here!) and it’s currently fully-written, half-illustrated, and ready for the last couple rounds of editing. The third book is called Beyond the End of the World and it’s in first draft phase (if you look to the right you can see my progress for this and Animal Heaven).
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March 21, 2015
Book Launch & Media Round Up
Wow! A big thanks to EVERYONE who made yesterday’s launch such a brilliant success. I was blown away by the support – whether you were there in person, or there in spirit – and really touched.
As I said at the launch, every little bit of support over the last two years has contributed to me actually finishing the book, actually publishing the book, and actually having a book launch. I really, truly couldn’t have done it without you ALL.
Today of course, I am feeling ALL the feels, but my brain is awake enough to share some photos contributed by Barbs Peterson, James Stonley Photography & Deborah Moss.
You can purchase the print books directly from me (see shop), or from Pt Chev Bookshop. You can get the eBooks from Amazon and Kobo.
Some recent guest posts, as part of The Caretaker of Imagination blog tour:
Samantha Dunaway Bryant: Balancing Act
Dornwell Studios
Chris the Story Reading Ape
March 13, 2015
Giveaway & Interview on SONZA: Spotlight On the New Zealand Arts
I got this lovely intro from Barbs, a fellow writer at SONZA. She’s an actress and did the awesome reading (pirate voice and all) which you can see here.
Zee Southcombe (otherwise known by her author name, ZR Southcombe) is a frequent artistic writer/contributor for SONZA. She is incredibly passionate about promoting the NZ arts scene and encouraging our young people to see the arts as a viable career. To that end she has delved into a career as a writer for children and young adults.
Her first book, a wordless picture book about the struggles of creativity called What Stars Are Made Of made its debut early this year to positive reviews and her second book, a story about believing in imagination, is due for release at a book launch next Saturday. I sat down with ZR to talk about what inspired her to write a book for children about a grown-up who runs away.
Read the full interview here.
Questions I answer:
1) Can you remember the exact moment you came up with the idea for The Caretaker of Imagination, or was the conception more like a gradual process?
2) How much or little do you relate to the main character, John?
3) What kind of readers do you think will enjoy the book most?
4) What kind of books did you enjoy most growing up, and what do you enjoy now?
5) Do you have any favourite kiwi authors?
6) What’s next for you?
Oh! I almost forgot… you can win a signed paperback, too! I’ll ship anywhere (well, anywhere on Earth. Inter-galactic shipping will break the bank) so make sure you enter – and get your friends to, as well 
Read the full interview here.
March 10, 2015
A Writing Retreat & Historical Fiction Giveaway
One of the coolest things about being a writer is making friends with other awesome writers. Recently, I ‘met’ Lizzi Tremayne in an online writing group, and went down to Waihi for her book launch. While down there, I was treated to my own little retreat room (pictured below – isn’t it gorgeous??). It was PERFECT: a wonderful conglomeration of rest, reflection, fresh air, and creative company.
I’m also an art journalist for an emerging online magazine called SONZA. It stands for Spotlight On the New Zealand Arts and I’m really excited about playing a part in it. I’ve done a few write ups for SONZA before, but I’ll be writing more frequently for them this year.
The reason I mention this is ’cause I recently published an interview with Lizzi on there, and she’s generously donated a signed copy of her book, A Long Trail Rolling as a prize for a giveaway! It’s a YA historical fiction with a hint of romance and strong female characters. All the details of the comp are on the website, and it’s worth reading the interview as well.
March 3, 2015
This week on the web: Reviews & Interviews
This week I started my blog tour for The Caretaker of Imagination. This is kind of like a book tour, where the author goes around the cities in their country and does book signings and speaking events. Instead of a physical tour, I’m ‘touring’ the internet, by posting articles and interviews on different blogs.
Every week, I’ll update you with where I’ve toured. Here’s the round up for this week:
Kylie Jude – Interview
Kylie Jude is a fellow ‘Jill of all trades’. She’s involved in different creative pursuits, and so her interview with me focuses on the different types of art I make, as well as how I manage it all! She’s a super talented lady and worth checking out.
Christine Campbell – Setting up a Blog Tour
Christine is an author, too, and I happen to be reading her latest book Searching for Summer at the moment! We decided to do a more marketing-focused post, as many of her readers are writers, like she and I both are. So, on her blog, I’ve written about how an author can set up a blog tour for their book, and why it’s something worth doing.
DC Grant – The Marketing Rule of Seven
This is another author, this time a fellow New Zealander. She writes historical & teen fiction. Her blog is also geared towards other writers, so we chose to write about marketing there, too. This one is about gaining publicity, being patient and thinking long-term in regards to the ‘rule of seven’.
New reviews
There were also some awesome new reviews for What Stars Are Made Of. You can check out Freya’s review on Amazon, and an especially touching review all the way from Ireland on Goodreads. Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed. I
February 26, 2015
‘What Stars Are Made Of’ gets 5 stars from eBook Review Gal
Yesterday, I received a heart-warming, five-star, review from Susan over at eBook review gal.
Here’s an excerpt:
“I would recommend What Stars Are Made Of for anyone who appreciates a positive message and beautiful artwork combined together in one imaginative book.”
And you can read the full review here.
(On a related note, print books are now OUT OF STOCK. I’ll be considering another print run later in the year, so watch this space. Thank you to everyone who has purchased my very first book!)
February 11, 2015
The Perfect Writing Place
One of the awesome things about being a writer is the people you meet. I’m in an online writing group called The Writers’ Coffeehouse which one of my writer friends, Amanda, set up. Earlier this year, Amanda started giving us prompts to use as inspiration for our writing.
Last week the prompt was: The Perfect Writing Place.
My absolute favourite place to write is in a café. Because I work in different parts of Auckland, I’ve found several different cafes (and a foodcourt!) around the place that I’ve come to like for different reasons – it might be the food, the art, the service, or the quiet atmosphere.
There are a few reasons why I like writing in cafés. One is because there are less distractions if I’m not at home. Like, even if I don’t actually vacuum the house today, there’s still that nagging in my head that I need to do it. Another is because they usually have interesting artwork, and interesting artwork is good to feed my creative brain.
I think the biggest reason though, is that I’m aware of the time. I know that I am there for an hour or two, I’ve gone with the purpose of writing, and if I don’t end up with a decent number of words on the page then it feels like a waste of time and money.
Oh and yummy food! Nom, nom nom…
February 4, 2015
Prize round-up & The Caretaker’s first review
So the first review from one of my pre-release readers (Ella, aged 12) arrived in my inbox as follows:
ZEE IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AMAZE-BALLS AND AWESOME AND CREATIVE AND JUST BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!!
My review for your book is “This book is like no other, I couldn’t put it down. Definitely one for the bookshelf!”
Which obviously left me in a state of pure delight for the rest of the evening!
Equally delightful is the number of people who have come on board to support my launch. The prizes will be up for grabs from launch day until the end of the week, Saturday 21 – Friday 27 March.
So far, here is what we’ve got!
Kapowai the Dragonfly keyring from Louise de Varga
Kapowai the Dragonfly mouse pad from Louise de Varga
‘Treasure!’ picture book by Bronwen Billinghurst
Enchanted forest cake fondant from cakepop.co.nz
‘The Goodbye Chair’ picture book by Jo Barr
Interested in getting your product in front of children, parents and teachers? See zrsouthcombe.com/sponsor for more details.
