Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "haunted"
Bluebonnets, Bagpipes & Books podcast interview!
Last week, I was interviewed by Mark Rice (author of Metallic Dreams), and Deena Rae Schoenfeldt of eBookBuilders, on their Internet radio show, Bluebonnets, Bagpipes & Books!
We talked about my upcoming novel, Haunted, which I hope to release on Hallowe'en. We also talked about my experience with the Amazon KDP Select Programme. The show was fun to do.
You can listen to the podcast here: Bluebonnets, Bagpipes & Books
I hope you enjoy it!
Deena and Mark created their radio show so that they could discuss the ins and outs of the publishing industry with those in the know.
If you're on Facebook, you can keep up to date with the show here: http://www.facebook.com/Bluebonnets.B...
You can also follow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BBandBPodcast
The Next Big Thing
My good friend and fellow author, Darcia Helle, didn't think I had enough to do on a Monday, so she decided to tag me in a challenge called The Next Big Thing. I do actually love these challenges, so a big thanks to Darcia.
The rules of the challenge are:
1. Answer 10 questions about my current WIP (Work-In-Progress)
2. Tag five other writers and link their blogs so we can all hop over and read their answers.
The questions are:
1. What is the working title of your book?
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
3. What genre does your book fall under?
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?
10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
So, here we go...
1. My upcoming novel is called, 'Haunted'. It's not a working title, it will be the actual title. The working title was '3 Crimes', then that changed when the book changed direction, to 'Aftermath', but then that changed to the current title, which I think fits the story well.
2. The idea came from a road rage incident. It also encapsulates something that I had wanted to write about ever since seeing a news story on TV about 8 years ago. I know I am being very vague here, but I don't want to give too much away.
3. The genre: the short answer is I don't believe in genres, it is too restrictive for a creative person to be limited to one genre. The book has elements of crime fiction, psychological thriller, literary fiction, contemporary fiction, drama, and is paranormal-esque.
4. Who would play my characters in a movie? My main character, Nigel, is British, but I would love someone like Robin Williams to play him, as he is so talented and roughly the right age. For the female lead, Emily, maybe someone like Kate Winslett.
5. A one sentence synopsis of my book is: Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy.
6. I am self publishing this book. Indie authors are the best!
7. I actually don't remember how long it took to write the first draft, maybe about 6 months. I started writing it in January 2011, and it was written in pen, rather than directly onto the computer. I then spent ages typing up the draft. A few months ago, I finished the first couple of edits and sent it to an editor Susan Helene Gottfried (who is also an author friend of mine).
8. I don't know which books I would compare this story to, but can say that it was partly inspired by a Stephen King short film that I saw about 20 years ago, and also by the excellent movie A Beautiful Mind.
9. Who inspired me to write this book? I would have to say that the indie writers I have read over the past few years have been a big inspiration to me. By reading so many diverse and great novels and stories, I have become more confident in experimenting with different genres. I think that when I wrote Cutting The Fat with Jason McIntyre, it made me realise that writing crime fiction was something that I might be able to do. Also, I have recently blamed Darcia Helle for causing me to lean towards writing more crime fiction as her books are so good!
10. What else about my book might pique a reader's interest? When my editor read it, her comment was 'Man, this is dark stuff'... so if you like dark fiction, you may be intrigued now :)
Okay, here are the 5 authors who I would like to challenge:
1. Michael Radcliffe http://michaelradcliffe.wordpress.com/
2. Julie Elizabeth Powell
http://www.freewebs.com/julizpow/
3. Susan Buchanan
http://susancbuchanan.blogspot.co.uk/
4. Dionne Lister
http://dionnelisterwriter.wordpress.com/
5. Quentin Bufogle
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
I know all of those authors have a work-in-progress which I am very much looking forward to read!
The rules of the challenge are:
1. Answer 10 questions about my current WIP (Work-In-Progress)
2. Tag five other writers and link their blogs so we can all hop over and read their answers.
The questions are:
1. What is the working title of your book?
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
3. What genre does your book fall under?
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?
10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
So, here we go...
1. My upcoming novel is called, 'Haunted'. It's not a working title, it will be the actual title. The working title was '3 Crimes', then that changed when the book changed direction, to 'Aftermath', but then that changed to the current title, which I think fits the story well.
2. The idea came from a road rage incident. It also encapsulates something that I had wanted to write about ever since seeing a news story on TV about 8 years ago. I know I am being very vague here, but I don't want to give too much away.
3. The genre: the short answer is I don't believe in genres, it is too restrictive for a creative person to be limited to one genre. The book has elements of crime fiction, psychological thriller, literary fiction, contemporary fiction, drama, and is paranormal-esque.
4. Who would play my characters in a movie? My main character, Nigel, is British, but I would love someone like Robin Williams to play him, as he is so talented and roughly the right age. For the female lead, Emily, maybe someone like Kate Winslett.
5. A one sentence synopsis of my book is: Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy.
6. I am self publishing this book. Indie authors are the best!
7. I actually don't remember how long it took to write the first draft, maybe about 6 months. I started writing it in January 2011, and it was written in pen, rather than directly onto the computer. I then spent ages typing up the draft. A few months ago, I finished the first couple of edits and sent it to an editor Susan Helene Gottfried (who is also an author friend of mine).
8. I don't know which books I would compare this story to, but can say that it was partly inspired by a Stephen King short film that I saw about 20 years ago, and also by the excellent movie A Beautiful Mind.
9. Who inspired me to write this book? I would have to say that the indie writers I have read over the past few years have been a big inspiration to me. By reading so many diverse and great novels and stories, I have become more confident in experimenting with different genres. I think that when I wrote Cutting The Fat with Jason McIntyre, it made me realise that writing crime fiction was something that I might be able to do. Also, I have recently blamed Darcia Helle for causing me to lean towards writing more crime fiction as her books are so good!
10. What else about my book might pique a reader's interest? When my editor read it, her comment was 'Man, this is dark stuff'... so if you like dark fiction, you may be intrigued now :)
Okay, here are the 5 authors who I would like to challenge:
1. Michael Radcliffe http://michaelradcliffe.wordpress.com/
2. Julie Elizabeth Powell
http://www.freewebs.com/julizpow/
3. Susan Buchanan
http://susancbuchanan.blogspot.co.uk/
4. Dionne Lister
http://dionnelisterwriter.wordpress.com/
5. Quentin Bufogle
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
I know all of those authors have a work-in-progress which I am very much looking forward to read!
Update on my new novel, Haunted
My upcoming novel Haunted is now with my beta readers. I am still on track to publish the book on 31st October 2012, Halloween. I thought given that the title is Haunted that would be a suitable date for release!
Now would be a good time to preview the cover of the novel.
It's an acrylic painting that I did, inspired by the book's content. The main character, Emily, has bright red hair. It's night and there is a rather large eye, which is significant, but I don't want to give away the story, so I won't say anymore...
Here it is. I hope you like it:
Now would be a good time to preview the cover of the novel.
It's an acrylic painting that I did, inspired by the book's content. The main character, Emily, has bright red hair. It's night and there is a rather large eye, which is significant, but I don't want to give away the story, so I won't say anymore...
Here it is. I hope you like it:
My latest author interview is on Susan Buchanan's blog!
I've been interviewed by one of my favourite authors, Susan Buchanan. As those of you who follow my blog will know already, I really enjoyed Susan's book Sign of the Times, and am looking forward to her new release The Dating Game, coming in early November.
Susan has read two of my books; Coincidences, which I believe she enjoyed, and she was also one of my beta readers for my upcoming novel, Haunted.
After reading those, Susan had some questions for me about the books. She also likes to ask 'just for fun' questions, so she had me talking about Halloween and rock stars, too, among other things.
You can check out the interview here: http://www.susancbuchanan.blogspot.co...
Big THANKS to Susan for this promotional opportunity!
Susan has read two of my books; Coincidences, which I believe she enjoyed, and she was also one of my beta readers for my upcoming novel, Haunted.
After reading those, Susan had some questions for me about the books. She also likes to ask 'just for fun' questions, so she had me talking about Halloween and rock stars, too, among other things.
You can check out the interview here: http://www.susancbuchanan.blogspot.co...
Big THANKS to Susan for this promotional opportunity!
I've been tagged: U Got "The Look"
Fantasy author, Dionne Lister, has tagged me in a blog tagging event! Thanks, Dionne! :)
Here's how it works:
The Look is a writing prompt, a game, another tagging event. This is how U Got “The Look” works: you take your current manuscript, search for the word “look”, and post the surrounding paragraphs. Lastly, you tag 5 blogging authors who you think will be a good choice for the game.
Here's Dionne's blog showing her excerpt from Book 2 of her Circle of Talia series: Dionne Lister - U Got "The Look"
Here's my excerpt from my upcoming novel, Haunted!
Russell looked at her, his face telling her he thought she had lost her mind. ‘Fuck off, Ems. I’m not taking this stuff back. He’s probably reported it to the police by now. I’ll get nicked. Anyway, I don’t feel sorry for him. He can claim on his insurance.’
‘Take it when he’s not in. Just return it!’ she screamed.
‘No!’ shouted Russell. Then he walked towards her and put his face very close to hers. ‘Let’s get one thing straight here: you don’t tell me what to do, okay?’
‘This isn’t you, Russ!’ she said, moving away, slightly intimidated by the look in his eyes she didn’t recognise. He’d never looked at her like that before. There was a deep and dark void that used to be his pupils, as if he could swallow her up with just one stare.
He twisted around and walked back to the microwave. It had just beeped to let him know his food was ready. ‘Get used to it, bitch. This is the new improved Russell Banks.’ He turned and winked at her, a wide grin on his face. ‘Before you know it, we’ll be millionaires. Stick with me, baby.’ He laughed and breezed past her into the living room with a bowl of soup.
I am hoping to publish Haunted in time for Halloween. I will of course let you all know when I have a definite publication date!
Now I have to tag some authors. These authors have books they are working on, so I hope they'll take up the challenge as I'm looking forward to reading their excerpts:
Susan Buchanan
Mark Rice
J. Michael Radcliffe
Darcia Helle
Terry Tyler
Here's how it works:
The Look is a writing prompt, a game, another tagging event. This is how U Got “The Look” works: you take your current manuscript, search for the word “look”, and post the surrounding paragraphs. Lastly, you tag 5 blogging authors who you think will be a good choice for the game.
Here's Dionne's blog showing her excerpt from Book 2 of her Circle of Talia series: Dionne Lister - U Got "The Look"
Here's my excerpt from my upcoming novel, Haunted!
Russell looked at her, his face telling her he thought she had lost her mind. ‘Fuck off, Ems. I’m not taking this stuff back. He’s probably reported it to the police by now. I’ll get nicked. Anyway, I don’t feel sorry for him. He can claim on his insurance.’
‘Take it when he’s not in. Just return it!’ she screamed.
‘No!’ shouted Russell. Then he walked towards her and put his face very close to hers. ‘Let’s get one thing straight here: you don’t tell me what to do, okay?’
‘This isn’t you, Russ!’ she said, moving away, slightly intimidated by the look in his eyes she didn’t recognise. He’d never looked at her like that before. There was a deep and dark void that used to be his pupils, as if he could swallow her up with just one stare.
He twisted around and walked back to the microwave. It had just beeped to let him know his food was ready. ‘Get used to it, bitch. This is the new improved Russell Banks.’ He turned and winked at her, a wide grin on his face. ‘Before you know it, we’ll be millionaires. Stick with me, baby.’ He laughed and breezed past her into the living room with a bowl of soup.
I am hoping to publish Haunted in time for Halloween. I will of course let you all know when I have a definite publication date!
Now I have to tag some authors. These authors have books they are working on, so I hope they'll take up the challenge as I'm looking forward to reading their excerpts:
Susan Buchanan
Mark Rice
J. Michael Radcliffe
Darcia Helle
Terry Tyler
Haunted is featured in The Independent Paperback Gift Shop's Christmas Catalogue!
My new novel, Haunted, scheduled for release on 31st October 2012, is featured in The Independent Paperback Gift Shop's Christmas Catalogue!
The Catalogue is packed full of Christmas gift ideas for the book lovers in your life. You can download a pdf copy of the catalogue from my website. Just go to Http://www.mariasavva.com and scroll down to the bottom of the Home page. You'll find a link to download the catalogue in the bottom right hand corner of the page (in the box that says "I.P. Giftshop")
Please 'Like' the Gift Shop on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheIndependen... It helps to promote independently published books.
A brief update on Haunted:
As I write this blog, I am about a third of the way through the final edits. I hope to have a finished version by the end of this week. It will then be sent to my formatter eBookBuilders
I am still hopeful the Kindle version will be available by the 31st October. If not, I will update you.
I will have a paperback version available to buy through Lulu.com, in time for your Christmas gift purchases. For some reason, Amazon are taking a very long time to get around to making paperback books from Lulu available in the store, so I can't guarantee that the Amazon paperback will be available in time for Christmas. Lulu is a great site to purchase Independent books, however, and I actually get a higher royalty if you buy direct from Lulu rather than Amazon, so would encourage you to buy Independent books from there whenever you can. I know their postage prices can be off-putting, but there are often great discounts available.
Please tell all your friends about The Independent Paperback Gift Shop's Christmas Catalogue. I hope you find some great new books to read!
The Catalogue is packed full of Christmas gift ideas for the book lovers in your life. You can download a pdf copy of the catalogue from my website. Just go to Http://www.mariasavva.com and scroll down to the bottom of the Home page. You'll find a link to download the catalogue in the bottom right hand corner of the page (in the box that says "I.P. Giftshop")
Please 'Like' the Gift Shop on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheIndependen... It helps to promote independently published books.
A brief update on Haunted:
As I write this blog, I am about a third of the way through the final edits. I hope to have a finished version by the end of this week. It will then be sent to my formatter eBookBuilders
I am still hopeful the Kindle version will be available by the 31st October. If not, I will update you.
I will have a paperback version available to buy through Lulu.com, in time for your Christmas gift purchases. For some reason, Amazon are taking a very long time to get around to making paperback books from Lulu available in the store, so I can't guarantee that the Amazon paperback will be available in time for Christmas. Lulu is a great site to purchase Independent books, however, and I actually get a higher royalty if you buy direct from Lulu rather than Amazon, so would encourage you to buy Independent books from there whenever you can. I know their postage prices can be off-putting, but there are often great discounts available.
Please tell all your friends about The Independent Paperback Gift Shop's Christmas Catalogue. I hope you find some great new books to read!
Happy Halloween! Interview and giveaway of Haunted!
Happy Halloween everyone!
I will be publishing my new novel, "Haunted" in the next few days, thanks for bearing with me while I sort out the final glitches. I expect the Kindle version will be available in the next few days and the paperback will follow in Lulu.com shortly afterwards. Watch this space for all the details.
My good friend and fellow author, J. Michael Radcliffe, was one of my beta readers, and he very kindly offered to interview me and host a giveaway on his blog. Follow the link below to the interview where you can learn some more about "Haunted", and if you leave a comment on Michael's blog post you can enter a draw to win a copy of "Haunted". I will let the winner decide whether they would like a Kindle version or a signed paperback.
Click here to read the interview & for your chance to win!
Good luck!
Haunted - update
Formatting of the e-book version of Haunted is taking place as I write this. It is with eBookBuilders
I think it will take a couple more days to finish and will then be uploaded onto Amazon KDP.
I am also waiting for a proof copy of the paperback version from Lulu.com before I finally publish that.
While you're waiting, here's the blurb/description:
"Nigel Price has MURDER on his mind.
He can run but he cannot hide. Nigel's past has come back to haunt him. The truth is, his past has never left him... it follows him without remorse, catching him at every turn. There is no escape.
Regret, guilt, nightmares, despair... these fill his every waking hour and disturb his sleepless nights.
Take a trip inside Nigel's mind, in this dark, psychological thriller with a paranormal twist."
I think it will take a couple more days to finish and will then be uploaded onto Amazon KDP.
I am also waiting for a proof copy of the paperback version from Lulu.com before I finally publish that.
While you're waiting, here's the blurb/description:
"Nigel Price has MURDER on his mind.
He can run but he cannot hide. Nigel's past has come back to haunt him. The truth is, his past has never left him... it follows him without remorse, catching him at every turn. There is no escape.
Regret, guilt, nightmares, despair... these fill his every waking hour and disturb his sleepless nights.
Take a trip inside Nigel's mind, in this dark, psychological thriller with a paranormal twist."
Haunted is published on Kindle!
I am pleased to announce that my latest novel, Haunted is available on Amazon Kindle!
Haunted is a psychological thriller, darker than my other novels. It is about a man who is on a downwards spiral. He has kept a secret that now threatens to destroy him. There's a paranormal twist to the tale.
I hope you'll enjoy it.
You will notice that the Kindle version has been expertly formatted with an interactive table of contents and links included to my Amazon page and my other books. There are even images included at the end of each chapter. I was very impressed with the quality of the formatting and would highly recommend eBookBuilders which is the company I used to produce this Kindle edition.
The links to Amazon where you can purchase the book are below. If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow the book from the Kindle Lending Library for free!
Amazon.com (includes India): http://www.amazon.com/Haunted-ebook/d...
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Haunted-ebook...
France: http://www.amazon.fr/Haunted-ebook/dp...
Germany: http://www.amazon.de/Haunted-ebook/dp...
Italy: http://www.amazon.it/Haunted-ebook/dp...
Spain: http://www.amazon.es/Haunted-ebook/dp...
Japan: http://www.amazon.co.jp/Haunted-ebook...
Haunted is a psychological thriller, darker than my other novels. It is about a man who is on a downwards spiral. He has kept a secret that now threatens to destroy him. There's a paranormal twist to the tale.
I hope you'll enjoy it.
You will notice that the Kindle version has been expertly formatted with an interactive table of contents and links included to my Amazon page and my other books. There are even images included at the end of each chapter. I was very impressed with the quality of the formatting and would highly recommend eBookBuilders which is the company I used to produce this Kindle edition.
The links to Amazon where you can purchase the book are below. If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow the book from the Kindle Lending Library for free!
Amazon.com (includes India): http://www.amazon.com/Haunted-ebook/d...
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Haunted-ebook...
France: http://www.amazon.fr/Haunted-ebook/dp...
Germany: http://www.amazon.de/Haunted-ebook/dp...
Italy: http://www.amazon.it/Haunted-ebook/dp...
Spain: http://www.amazon.es/Haunted-ebook/dp...
Japan: http://www.amazon.co.jp/Haunted-ebook...
Read all about my inspiration...
To celebrate the launch of my new novel, Haunted, I have written a guest blog post for K.B. Walker's blog. Click the link below to read all about the recurring themes in my novels, and my inspiration:
http://nutsandcrisps.wordpress.com/20...
http://nutsandcrisps.wordpress.com/20...
