Katharina Gerlach's Blog, page 21

I’m hosting Blog Tour Author Chrystal Collier

(cross posted on The Independent Bookworm)

I’m happy to be able to host a writer that I have known and admired for quite a while already: Chrystal Collier. With the release of her new novel Moonless, she is touring the world (virtually of course, who could afford anythign else) and popped in here for a short interview.

Why did you choose a socially challenged heroine?

MOONLESS is written for young adults. As a teenager, I remember that being one of my greatest struggles—figuring out my place in the world and feeling like I just didn’t fit in. Who doesn’t feel that at some point?

What makes the world of your novel different from ours?

Call this an alternate history if you will, but what if there was another race of people hidden just below the surface of society? Now let’s say these people are gifted and unique, but nature is all about balance, so they have an antithesis or predator. Keep in mind they don’t propagate as easily as humanity which makes them a minority, and their discovery in the past has led to wars, racial cleansing, etc. Because of that, they’re very interested in remaining unknown, even while their battle for survival rages in the shadows.

What was the most exciting thing happening when you wrote your novel?

Some people write dozens of novels before they get published. I rewrite the same book again and again and again until I get it right—or at least, that’s how it worked with Moonless. During rewrites we’ve lived in 3 different states, had two kids, worked on and off with producers for a Broadway aimed musical, and I’ve been a composer/writer for an audio/video production company. Do we need to add any more excitement?

Tell us about your writing day schedule.

My days starts with study, then I’m getting kids fed, dressed and into a home school day. After a couple lessons (and while the littles are occupied with assignments), I check in with email, the blogosphere, maybe even some critiquing. Finally, mid to late afternoon my littles get free time and I dive into writing, with regular interruptions, praying for a solid two hours.

If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?

I believe we are infinitely powerful beings. We can accomplish anything through hard work and perseverance. My only complaint is the need for a time-stopper. (Which the scientists locked in my Floridian basement are desperately working to complete.)

Thank you for answering our question, Chrystal. We wish you a lot of success for your books.

P.S. I started read ing, and it’s really good. Go and check it out right now: Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Smashwords, iBooks, or Sony

P.S.S. Chrystal is giving away three copies of Moonless. Visit this post for details (You need to scroll a bit).

The Advent Calendar is now available

Sign up for a countdown for Christmas. The first Advent-eMail-parcel will be delivered on the first of December for all who sign up in time (the others get their parcels later). In total, you will get 25 eMails with stories, Character studies, recipes and original music from six talented authors. And the best is, it’s absolutely free.

Check it out and join the fun!

I’m an award winning author now…

Its really true!

Mid October two of my books won awards. First, “Scotlands Guardians” won the B.R.A.G. Medallion for high quality Indie publications and a day later, “Paralan’s Children” was nominated Indie book of the day. I’m very proud of this. Here comes proof so you can believe me:

It’s my daughters’ fault

Now, I haven’t posted in quite a while. You could say it was my daughter’s fault. I always push them to spend as much time outdoors as they can because it’s healthy and trains their imagination. But two of three are in puberty  at the moment, and they accuse me of forcing them to do something I’m not doing myself. They are right (partially).

I worked a lot this year (new novels and short stories, becoming an Independent Publisher, Webdesign, several publications, marketing plus a course and much more), which meant I spent a lot of time in front of my computer. Incidentally, it’s a desktop PC and cannot be carried outdoors.

The kids have been on holiday for the last two weeks, and I tried to make amends and be a good example for them. One week we went horse riding on a pony farm we have been visiting for the last few years. By now, the kids are capable enough to go riding on their own (with a mobile in their pocket and us walking somewhere close). The days flew past so fast, I barely noticed.

One questions remains: How can it be that my garden is still a mess despite the time I spent outdoors?

How about you? Do you have a garden? Do you like to roam around outdoors like my kids (if they’re not throwing a puberty-related tantrum)? Let me know and enjoy the golden autumn.

“Hangover” — have you ever listened to the lyrics?

When I drove to the shopping center yesterday, I head the song “Hangover” by Taio Cruz on the radio. For the first time, I really listened to the lyrics and was shocked. There’s a boy singing about getting drunk and linking it. He’s even asking for more. No wonder that so many kids think that binge drinking is OK.

Why doesn’t anyone ever make a song that’s just as addictive (the music alone is wonderful and memorable)  about the dangers of alcohol? Why not devote a song to FASD-children who are born with severe handicaps because their mothers drank alcohol during the pregnancy (and it doesn’t even have to be much alcohol since the drug goes through the placenta unhindered and kills the fetus’ cells — mostly brain cells)?

These are the steps of drinking alcohol. Believe me, it’s not much fun at a party to have someone around like this:

 

Remember that it’s your body and it will have to last for a hundred years (best case scenario). And, what’s worse, your alcohol drinking habits will affect your children directly (FASD) or indirectly (“following in your footsteps”-mentality).

Rant over (for now),

The Lost Day (incl. roman/germanic battle)

Wouldn’t the header for this post make a great title for a book? So, what happened?

On Tuesday, my day went haywire. First I went to a wonderful exhibition with my husband about a Roman/Germanic battlefield from 335 a.D. It was discovered a few years back and shocked the scientists since they had been sure that Romans had never been this far into Germany since Varus lost 3 legions in 9 a.D. The exhibition was great and we enjoyed it a lot.

Since it took us all morning and the lunch break too, to go there, look at it and return, we had given our middle daughter (12) a key so she could get in when she came back from school at 12am. Unfortunately, she left the key in the house when her friend came and requested her to help catch their sheep (4 of the herd had broken free from their compound).

We spend two hours waiting for the car service to come and open the door to my husband’s car (the key was in the house too) where we had a spare key to the front door. Of course, everybody was starving by then, so I had to cook and walk the dog (which had been in urgent need). Well, with shopping and a few telephone calls, the day was gone before I realized I hadn’t been on my PC at all. Strange feeling but not unwelcome.

Now, I’m back on track. The revision of my newest novel, “Juma’s Rain”, is nearly done and the first 50 pages are already translated. If all goes as planned, it will be available in the usual shops early next year.

Have you ever had a day like this? Tell me. I’m happy about every comment I get.

Podcast Interview with me – funny accent for free

Hi,

Yesterday, I was interviewed by Voice Over artist Katie Adler. Before the show started I wondered, “How will we fill a whole hour? I’m not really that interesting.” Man, was I wrong. Time flew by, and I even surprised myself with some of the answers I gave. Truth be told, you only get a good interview if the interviewer knows how to ask good questions. I had a lot of fun and highly recommend her site. She has this kind of podcast every first Sunday in the month (mine was a week late due to technical problems).

You can find the short stories I wrote (two 500 word flash stories) on Katie’s site:

Short Story Sunday with Katie Adler

and while you’re there listen to the replay, or listen to it here:

Have a great day,

my first ever audiobook

Finally! I finished my first ever audiobook. Of course, I didn’t read it all by myself. I haven’t got the time or the equipment for that, but it turned out quite nicely (in my opinion).

I already uploaded it to the retailer who will distribute it to the most important audiobooksellers (amazon, audible und iTunes). It wasn’t easy. My Internet connection is so slow, it wouldn’t upload the audio files (around 50MB each). I had to visit my parents (150km either way) to sucessfully upload the files. Their connection is faster (not thrillingly so, but faster then mine). I think it’s sad that the German Telekom puts so little effort into connection the more remote areas properly.

Well, I’ll let you know when the audiobook is available. The retailer needs 2-3 weeks for approval to make sure that the quality is appropriate for audiobooks.

Until then, I wish you all the best,

P.S.: While you’re here, tell me, which one of my novels would you like to see as an audiobook? I’m thinking about doing more audiobooks in the future, depending on whether you’re interested or not.

Heroes Wanted, 99ct

When I tried to set up the audiobook I prepared, I found out that I have to have the eBook in place first. So I used most of the week to publish a two-story collection (roughly 25 pages) outside my normal schedule. The eBook “Heroes Wanted” contains two short stories:

Life™ – Divisions of Myths and Legends

or How to order a dragon

Mondays are hard in any office. When Siegfried von Xanthen is calling before opening hours, the day at Life™ – Divisions of Myths and Legends goes downhill for Rose.

A Different Perspective

Romans attack, and Freyja flees with the women of her clan while the men fight, including her beloved Thordal. Can Allfather Odin help Freyja to save Thordal’s life?

As an eBook, “Heroes Wanted” is only 99ct — as an audiobook it’s bound to be much more expensive (but you get nearly a full hour of audio for the money). I’ll post a link as soon as I know when the audio will be available. It will take some time to get approved and everything.

Have a great day,

Full Steam Ahead!

No, I’ve not gone naval. I’m working like mad to get the next few releases out. After running into a couple of problems with the cover of Swordplay (still free on Wattpad), I found the perfect picture for Urchin King which I will be re-releasing on August 31st (I’ll do a cover reveal next week, promised).

You might wonder why I want to re-release “Urchin King”. Well, the answer is simple. The old version doesn’t have a table of content, so newer eBook readers can’t navigate the book easily. I’m working on that (and will get it done in time easily). Also, the German version is finally finished (I’m currently coding it for eBook and PoD book release), and I thought it’d be nice to release them both at the same day.

Just in case you can’t remember the cover text, here it is:

I promise I’ll post the new cover next week.

Until then,