Kate M. Colby's Blog, page 22

Guest Post: Author Kate Evans on Writing Crime Fiction

I’m back from my traveling/holiday hiatus, and I’m thrilled to bring you a guest post from author Kate Evans. Kate E. writes crime fiction — a genre which I couldn’t write to save my life! — and she was kind enough to share what attracted her to crime fiction, some tips for researching for your crime novels, and the scoop on her newest book The Art of Survival (follow up to The Art of the Imperfect, which I reviewed here). Over to Kate E.!

Why Crime?

A couple of years ago I embarked on a project to write/publish a crime series. I had already written five novels during the preceding thirty years, some of which I had tried to find an agent/publisher for. The last of these five was a long, rangy affair which lacked structure and clarity. I knew I wanted to re-tell this story and take it further, I also recognized I needed to find a shape for it, which would engage the reader. At some point in the middle of a deep sleep, my unconscious brain gave my conscious brain the solution; I woke up knowing I was going to write a crime series.

It was the obvious answer for me, for a number of reasons. Firstly, I read a lot of crime novels, so I was already aware of many of their characteristics. Secondly, I enjoy reading crime novels, which meant I was excited and motivated to get on with it. Thirdly, since I thought I would probably have to indie publish my novel, I wanted a clear genre to help with marketing and crime fiction is a popular genre certainly here in the UK. Finally, I agree with crime writer Val McDermid, when she says hers is the perfect genre for putting up a mirror to our society and asking questions about it. My novels explore ideas around what is good mental health and how the vulnerable and marginalised are treated.

In the UK there was an era of what was considered to be ‘cosy crime’ writing. It came after the First World War, and at first sight, it may seem odd that people would want to immerse themselves in more violence and death. However, it is often argued, these crime novels offered an antidote to the indiscriminate carnage of war, in that they gave a sanitised version of murder and there was always a tidy resolution.

I’m not entirely sure this was the case then, and I certainly don’t think it is now. I’m with writer Melanie McGrath when she suggests the attraction of crime fiction to both readers and writers is that it allows us to experience and explore emotions which would normally be unacceptable in polite society. She said, in The Guardian Books Blog June 30th 2014: ‘Crime fiction gives us permission to touch on our own indecorous feelings of rage, aggression and vengefulness, sentiments we’re encouraged to pack away somewhere… where they won’t offend.’ As a psychotherapeutic counsellor I would add it could also be healthy to do this safely through literature, rather than leaving our shadow side un-investigated, giving it the potential for erupting into our every day lives.

So that’s the why write crime, here’s a little bit about the research which I did to get me going. Initially, I read and re-read a variety of crime novels, this time really focusing on the plotting and structure. My novels are character-led, and I am not writing a police procedural, however, I do want the way the investigation unfolds to be believable. The sources of information I have used are: books, fiction and non-fiction, there are more and more handbooks for writers, including a recent one on forensics by Val McDermid; the court reports in the local paper especially as my novels are based in my home town; TV programmes, there’s been a recent fly-on-the-wall documentary about the police which proved invaluable; I have a couple of personal contacts within the police and legal profession; and the internet.

There’s more I’d like to do, for instance spending some time in the public gallery of a court, maybe having a tour of the local police station and asking a few questions. However, I remember seeing a more successful/famous crime writer than me at a literature festival and he said when he spoke to his law enforcement contacts he’s not interested in whether something has happened or is likely to, just whether it could possibly happen. I understand most police officers hate reading crime novels, so I don’t expect any will read mine, and what I have to do is make the story-telling authentic within the world of the characters I have created.

One of my main characters is a trainee and then qualified psychotherapeutic counsellor. This is a universe I am very familiar with. I enjoy depicting it honestly, and more accurately, than the vast majority of fictional versions I’ve come across to date.

I believe my strengths in writing are in creating believable layered characters and a strong sense of place through sensual descriptions. Up to now, I have, perhaps, been less skilled at structuring and pace. The crime novel with its moments of tension, red herrings and movement towards a resolution offers a solid format, not to be followed blindly, but to be played with and subverted. It has been invigorating to discover how it can be tailored to the stories I want to tell.

New novel launched

The Art of Survival asks: What will fear push ordinary people to do?  What happens when little girls get lost? DS Theo Akande is investigating the disappearance of eight year old Victoria Everidge. Her mother, Yvonne, is a desperate woman. What is she capable of? Eminent journalist and newspaperman, Stan Poole, dies leaving a filing cabinet full of secrets. As these leak out, his daughter, Hannah, begins to question her own girlhood. She is losing her way. Her best friend, Lawrence, newly an item with Theo, finds it hard to remain supportive. Instead Hannah clings to her work as a trainee counsellor and to her client Julia. Julia is apparently no little girl lost, but appearances can be deceptive. Then a body is found.

About the author

This is the second novel by Kate Evans. Her first, The Art of the Imperfect, was long-listed for the Crime Writers Association debut dagger in 2015. Kate Evans is a writer of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Her book, Pathways Through Writing Blocks in the Academic Environment, was published by Sense Publishers in 2013. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Sussex University and teaches on the Degree in Creative Writing at the University of Hull, Scarborough campus. She is trained as a psychotherapeutic counsellor. She loves walking by the sea and afternoon tea, and has an inexplicable drive to bring a new generation to the poetry of Edith Sitwell. For further information, see: www.writingourselveswell.co.uk

Praise for The Art of the Imperfect

‘The first thing to mention is the writing style is incredibly strong. … The description through this book is brilliantly constructed so that I really felt completely immersed.’ Lizzy, My Little Book Blog

‘The book … retains its readability on a second or third reading and beyond. It is written by an unobtrusively gifted creative talent, whose gifts will assuredly go on expanding and enlarge their range … The novel is convincing enough to haunt us, and graze us into deeper thought.’ Dr Heward Wilkinson, UKCP Fellow, UKCP Registered, Integrative Psychotherapist.

Filed under: General Writing, Guest Posts Tagged: author, book launch, crime, crime fiction, crime novels, fiction, guest post, indie author, kate evans, the art of survival, writing, writing research, writing tips

Mid-Month Check-In: November 2015

2015 is almost over — only a month and a half left. On one hand, this makes me very excited, as I love the “fresh start” mentality that comes along with the new year. However, on the other hand, the older I get, the more the speedy passage of time unnerves me. I think that for every single Mid-Month Check-In, I’ve marveled at how fast the time has flown. I guess that means I’ve been having lots of fun?

WRITING

Despite my hectic schedule and common sense, I’m doing NaNoWriMo this month. For the challenge, I started rewriting the sequel to The Cogsmith’s Daughter, and I’m now about 20,000 words in (meaning I’m behind for NaNo, but ahead of where I was in the draft prior to November). I’ll post more on this later, but this novel is just fighting me every step of the way. With The Cogsmith’s Daughter, all the words just came to me, as if Aya were telling me the story and I were merely dictating, but this one is like squeezing blood from a stone. But hey, “they” say the second novel is always the hardest. So once I’m over this hump, it’ll be smooth sailing, right? RIGHT?!

BUSINESS

After last month’s book launch, I’m letting the business side simmer down while I focus on writing. Mostly, I have read a few indie publishing/marketing books and watched a couple free video training series. I have been making plans for marketing as well as a production schedule for 2016, but overall, I’m trying to focus on drafting. It’s much easier to market the first book in a series when there are others to follow it. Or so I’m told.

MARITAL

“Real life” is relatively consistent. Daniel is plugging away at school work, while I spend my days at work work. He’s found a good place for himself in the Yale community and is really thriving here. I’m just trying to be supportive and taking it all one day at a time.

HEALTH/WELLNESS

I’m getting decent walking in still, thanks to my environmentally friendly commute. However, I have been feeling the sluggish effects of the professional writer’s life, and I want to start exercising beyond my normal walk. We’ve been eating relatively healthy, and my stress levels haven’t been any higher than normal. I would say that I haven’t had a migraine in the last month, but I won’t say that, because that would jinx it…

Anyway, I think that’s about all I have to report for November. I hope you all have a productive month (and slay NaNoWriMo, if you are participating).

How are your new year’s resolutions going? Have you been keeping up with your own writing goals? Share your progress and/or commiserate as needed!

Filed under: Writing Updates Tagged: Author Business, blogging, book, book launch, dystopian, fiction, goals, health, marriage, NaNoWriMo, novel, personal life, reading, steampunk, writing, writing goals

Indie Book Review: No Quarter by Helen Jones

No Quarter (The Ambeth Chronicles #2) by Helen Jones

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

No Quarter (The Ambeth Chronicles #2) by Helen Jones is the sequel to Oak and Mist (The Ambeth Chronicles #1), which I reviewed in this post. In effort to prevent spoilers (for both No Quarter and Oak and Mist), I’ve intentionally kept this review a bit vague and focused more on my experience as a reader than the novel itself.

No Quarter continues Alma’s journey in Ambeth and her quest to recover the lost Regalia. The story picks up literally where Oak and Mist left off — on the same evening and at the celebration where the reader left the characters. I found this an interesting choice, but having read Oak and Mist recently, I was able to get right back into the world. I do wonder if this would be jarring for those that read Oak and Mist when it first came out.

Most of the action of No Quarter revolves around Alma’s romantic and other relationships, with the search for the Regalia relegated to the background. While I appreciate a good romance story and love triangle as much as anyone, I admit this disappointed me a little. Don’t get me wrong — the story is still plenty entertaining and the novel provides a lot of great character building — but I would have preferred more about the quest for the Regalia and the “fantasy” elements of this young adult fantasy romance.

However, the end of No Quarter changes the tone of the novel entirely. Again, to avoid spoilers, I cannot be specific. What I will say is this: as a reader, I was simultaneously surprised, saddened, and excited by the twist at the end. It sets up a lot for the next book, and I cannot wait to see how the quest for the Regalia plays out given these changes. As an author, I applaud Jones for the bold (and probably difficult) choice she made with the end of the book.

Once again, Jones proves herself to be an excellent storyteller. No Quarter is a (mostly) light read, and it is delightfully easy to be captivated by the world of Ambeth and the emotions of the characters. Jones expresses several themes through her characters (young love, growing up and finding one’s self, loss, etc.) and gives the reader the opportunity to explore and think on how those experiences have changed the characters (and perhaps the reader, herself).

Overall, No Quarter is a light, fun read with a rather surprising twist at the end. It definitely leans more toward the romance side than the fantasy, but I have a feeling that this will be welcome for most readers. The ending, while shocking, sets up several exciting possibilities for the third book in the series and will likely leave the reader anxious for another trip to Ambeth.

View all my reviews

If you are interested in reading No Quarter and would like to help sponsor my writing and research, you can purchase it through my Amazon Associates Store. By doing this, you will not pay a cent extra, nor will the author receive a cent less, but I will receive a small commission on the sale. Simply click the book’s title or the book’s image.

 

Filed under: Fiction Book Reviews Tagged: amreading, book, book review, books, fantasy, fiction, magic, reading, romance, self-publishing, YA, young adult, young adult romance

How to Approach Your Long Term Goals

Despite the “how to” title of this post, I’m not going to offer a series of steps to reaching your goals. Obviously, each goal, each person, and each situation is unique, and frankly, you shouldn’t need me to tell you the steps to meeting your aspirations. But what I do want to discuss is the mentality involved in reaching long term (or just plain big) goals.

My favorite tree on my commute

Autumn is past its prime in New England. Slowly, the ratio of leaves-on-branch to leaves-on-sidewalk is tilting out of the trees’ favor. Every morning when I walk to the bus, the sidewalk is littered with more and more leaves. And yet, every morning, there is a city worker there with her trusty leaf blower and rake to clear the sidewalk.

The first time I saw her, my thoughts were relatively unimportant. Being from the country, where we just let leaves fall and biodegrade where they will, my reaction was something like, “Oh, yeah, they do that in the city. Strange.”

When I saw the city worker the next day, cleaning the exact same swatch of sidewalk, I thought, “Man, that sucks. She just cleared those leaves yesterday, and the sidewalk is full again.”

On the third day, my brilliant analysis was along the lines of, “I think that would drive me insane.”

But then, realization hit me all at once. I already do that every day. Or, well, I do something extremely similar in my own way. I have my own metaphorical sidewalk and leaves.

My long term goal for my writing is to make a living as a full time writer. I want sharing my stories with the world to be my primary source of income. I want to live my dream. In pursuit of that goal, I have to repeat almost everything I do. You see, in theory, my word count should never dry up. Even when I finish writing one book, if I want writing to be my job, I have to write the next one. There is always a new book to replace the one I already wrote.

Likewise, in my constant battle against obscurity, I have to keep slogging through the internet world. Every day I don’t write a blog post, don’t have a social media presence, etc. a layer of obscurity is reapplied to my name. It never ends. Even J.K. Rowling could fall off the face of the virtual world if she just stopped everything…and one day, long after she’s gone, she just may.

I think is particularly true for those of you who are doing NaNoWriMo at the time of this writing. Today, you write your 1,667 words and clear your sidewalk of all the leaves. But tomorrow, the challenge begins anew and you have another 1,667 word deficit to fill. Maybe one day it rains and the leaves are extra sticky and your leaf blower doesn’t work. All of the sudden, you’ve got to figure out an entirely new way to approach your goal.

It’s exhausting. But that’s how all long term goals are. Whether you want to be able to run a marathon or learn a foreign language or knit a quilt — it all takes repetition. You’ve got to keep at it, day after day, doing basically the same thing over and over until you finally hit that milestone. It takes daily effort, it takes patience, and it takes a hell of a lot of time.

But, if you really want to reach that goal, you have to do it. Moreover, if it’s your actual job (like the city worker) or your career aspiration (like me), you really have to do it.

Don’t worry. There’s good news! You can take it one day at a time or, to paraphrase Anne Lamott, you can take it “leaf by leaf.” Break your long term goal down into manageable, easy (or easier) steps, and just take them one at a time. If you do this, and I mean really do it (whatever your personal “it” is), then eventually the leaves will stop falling. The proverbial tree of life will stop showering tasks upon you, and you will have reached your goal. Then, you can spend three seasons basking in the brilliance of accomplishment…until you find your next autumn and the leaves pile up on you again. But, hey, where’s the fun in life without dreams?

What goals are you working toward? How do you keep yourself motivated to reach them? Share your dreams and tips below.

Filed under: Musings and Fun Things Tagged: aspirations, author, autumn, dreams, goals, inspiration, long term goals, motivation, writer, writing

Author of the Month… Kate M. Colby!

Kate M. Colby:

I’m featured on Kev’s Great Indie Authors as the “Author of the Month!” Head on over to check out my guest post and this great site for independent authors and aspiring writers.

Originally posted on Kev's Great Indie Authors:

Author of the Month

Kate M. Kolby!

For those of you who are new to Kev’s Great Indie Authors, this means Kate’s book, The Cogsmith’s Daughter  which is a Steampunk Dystopian novel with a mixture of conspiracy and romance, and the first of Kate’s Desertera series will be displayed in widget column with a direct link to buy it for a whole month!

Check it out… It’s there now!

If you missed Kate’s interview last month, here it is: Kate‘s Interview.

Congratulations, Kate!

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Filed under: Guest Posts Tagged: author, author of the month, desertera, dystopian, indie author, steampunk, writer, writing

Month-End Update: October 2015

As most of you know, October revolved around the launch of my first novel. If it weren’t for my commute, which allows me ample reading time, I probably wouldn’t have accomplished much else! But, overall, I think October was a successful month. My first book is out in the world, and so far, it’s been relatively well-received. Now, it’s time for transition. It’s time to get focused on writing again and steer my website in a direction that is more reader-friendly (Don’t worry, I’ll still write about writing from time to time, too!).

But, for now, here’s what I accomplished this month:

Writing/Drafting

Blog Posts Written — 17
Fiction Words Written — 0
# of Days I Wrote Fiction — 0
Outlines Written — None, but I did write out my production schedule for 2016!

Editing/Revising

Drafts Revised — Completed the final proofread of  The Cogsmith’s Daughter (Desertera #1)
# of Days I Revised — 4
Misc. Editing — N/A

Reading

Books Finished

Rise of the Storm (The Desolate Empire Book 1) by Christina Ochs
Supercharge Your Kindle Sales (Book Marketing for Authors 2) by Nick Stephenson
Crossings by Ashley Capes
No Quarter (The Ambeth Chronicles #2) by Helen Jones – review to come
A Time to Live (The Legend of Carter Gabel #2) by Jonas Lee
1001 Islands by K.T. Munson – review to come




Books Begun/In-Progress

On Writing by Stephen King
Fiction Unboxed by Johnny B. Truant and Sean Platt




Books Reviewed

Echo by Lorena Glass – read review
Rise of the Storm (The Desolate Empire Book 1) by Christina Ochs – read review
Crossings  by Ashley Capes – read review

Author Business Activities

Successfully published  The Cogsmith’s Daughter (Desertera #1)
Had a fantastic book launch blog tour – you can see all the posts here
Hosted a successful Goodreads giveaway
Did a few website tweaks, including PayPal links for readers to buy paperback copies
Downloaded Scrivener for my laptop (finally!)
Organized my production schedule for 2016 (and roughly for 2017 and 2018, too)

Goals for November

Win NaNoWriMo. That’s right, I am going down that rabbit hole again…even though I am fully aware that I do not have the time. I definitely will not be blogging every day like I did last year, but I’ll check in a few times to let you all know how I’m doing. You can also add me as a writing buddy, if you like. My username is KateMColby.

What have you accomplished this month? What are your goals for November? For the rest of the year?

 

Filed under: Writing Updates Tagged: Author Business, blogging, book review, books, dystopian, editing, goals, independent publishing, indie author, manuscript, revising, self-publishing, steampunk, writing

Indie Book Review: Crossings by Ashley Capes

Crossings by Ashley Capes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book I have read by Ashley Capes (the first was The Fairy Wren, which I gave 5 stars), and it was every bit as fantastic. Capes’s books straddle the line between genres – they are a unique blend of supernatural and thriller, with a dash of crime mystery. Point blank: readers who enjoy any one of those genres should be reading Ashley’s books.

Crossings follows Lisa, a volunteer wildlife ranger, as she investigates a local farmer’s claim that he saw a giant white kangaroo. As the novel unfolds, the mystery of the white roo grows increasingly more complex and is complicated by other troubling occurrences in Lisa’s life. Mainly, her abusive ex-boyfriend comes back into town, right about the same time as mutilated animal corpses begin showing up outside her house. Lisa must get to the bottom of these brutalities as well as the mystery of the white roo, all while dealing with the declining health of her elderly father.

As I raved in my other book review, Capes has a phenomenal ability to craft realistic, flawed characters. Lisa is not perfect – she sometimes lets her emotions get the best of her, but she has strong redeeming qualities (such as her compassion for animals), too. Likewise, the side characters are well-developed and complex, and they have established, significant relationships with Lisa and each other. One of my favorite qualities in a novel is when characters feel like real people, flaws and all, and Ashley Capes delivers.

I cannot say much more about the plot without revealing spoilers. However, for those plot-oriented readers, I will say this. The plot contains a few twists and turns – nothing comes out of no where, but the journey is still fun and you will be guessing several times. While the ending is satisfying, it does leave some questions unanswered. For me, this isn’t a bad thing, and I’m happy to come to my own conclusions. However, I imagine some readers will find this frustrating and feel a small lack of closure.

Overall, Crossings is a gripping cross-genre novel with the perfect blend of supernatural elements and thriller style. Once again, Capes has crafted realistic, flawed characters that lead the reader through a story with just the right amount of twists and turns. If you love supernatural, thriller, crime, or mystery and you haven’t read Capes’s work yet, you’re missing out.

View all my reviews

If you are interested in reading Crossings and would like to help sponsor my writing and research, you can purchase it through my Amazon Associates Store. By doing this, you will not pay a cent extra, nor will the author receive a cent less, but I will receive a small commission on the sale. Simply click the book’s title or the book’s image.

Filed under: Fiction Book Reviews Tagged: australia, book, book review, books, crime, crime fiction, fantasy, fiction, magical realism, mystery, reading, self-publishing, supernatural, thriller

The Apples and Oranges of Social Injustice

I’ve been having a problem ever since I moved to New Haven. I work out of the city, and in an effort to spare my old (and beloved) car the mileage, I take public transport. At one particular corner, the corner where I happen to get off the Yale Shuttle to walk the half mile to my apartment, a homeless man sits on a bench. He’s there almost every evening. He’s not a novelty in New Haven – the city has no shortage of poverty – but he tries to make himself one.

Every time I see him, without fail, he calls out to me. Unless, of course, he’s calling out to other women. Now, I get it (or at least, I assume I do). He wants his humanity recognized. I’m totally fine with saying “hello” or “good afternoon” or exchanging any other pleasantries. And we did that, this man and I, for the first week or so. But it didn’t stay that way.

He began commenting on my appearance. “Nice dress, honey.” “Looking good today, sweetheart.” “Man, that ass.” (The last one, I think, he believed I couldn’t hear.) That is where I draw the line.

Here’s a fact about me: I hate conflict. I started ignoring him – which earned me more comments about how rude I am. Then, when I wouldn’t respond, he would move onto whatever other woman happened to be walking near me. I’ve seen this guy nearly every day for two months, and he has never said anything to another man. Or, to a woman walking with a man.

So, loathing conflict as I do, I began calling my husband while on the shuttle, so that I would have the protection of a man in voice, if not in person, when I got off at the homeless man’s corner. Guess what? It worked. He’s never said anything to me when I’m on the phone. Maybe he’s just being polite, or maybe it just makes for a target less likely to respond. Or maybe, he respects another man’s ownership of me more than my right to not be objectified.

And all this time, I feel guilty. I mean, this man has obviously had a difficult life. He lives on the street. God knows when he eats or bathes or has any basic comforts. I’ve got it way easier. I should just let him make comments at me. Hell, maybe I should even say, “thank you” (as he points out, it wouldn’t kill me), if it would bring a little triumph to his day.

Then I remember, I’m a feminist. This man’s apparent need to harass me is not my fault, nor my problem. It’s his. My body, my words, my smiles, my very presence are not currency he can use to buy himself happiness or relief or whatever he thinks my reaction would give him. I deserve respect and just because my socioeconomic status is above his, that doesn’t mean I have to accept his sexism. We’re both humans, and we both have the right to be treated with dignity and respect in every capacity of our lives.

My conclusion? Social injustices are just shit, no matter which way you spin them. He gets the orange of homelessness. I receive the apple of misogyny. They’re totally different problems, sewed on totally different patches of our society’s quilt of ills. All I can do is be respectful and hope for the same in return. Maybe he’ll come around, maybe he won’t. Either way, I’m learning to accept that this “problem” isn’t really mine.

Filed under: Musings and Fun Things Tagged: culture, feminism, homelessness, misogyny, sexism, social injustice, sociology

The Cogsmith’s Daughter Book Launch Blog Tour Recap

Here’s a listing of all the posts from the blog tour. Thank you again to all of my wonderful hosts. Make sure you check out their websites if you haven’t already – they are full of great insights, wit, and of course, fantastic writing of their own!

Monday, October 12 | What the Heck is Steampunk Dystopian, Anyway?

In this post, hosted by the wonderful Kate Evans, I explain the basics of both the steampunk and dystopian genres, as well as what attracted me to a “steampunk dystopian” mash up.

Tuesday, October 13 | The Evolution of The Cogsmith’s Daughter: From First Draft to Final Product

Here, I’m hosted by Ula, and I share how I went about writing my first draft as well as some “trivia” about how the final book differs from my first draft.

Wednesday, October 14 | Desertera: Conception and Construction

Zach asked me how I came up with the idea for Desertera, my novel’s world, as well as how I went about building it. In this post, all is revealed!

Thursday, October 15 | How I “Became” a Writer (and Stumbled Upon the Idea for My Novel)

Charles wanted to know more about my background as a writer and how I came up with the idea for The Cogsmith’s Daughter. This one goes way back, folks.

Friday, October 16 | Author Hall of Fame Introduction

Chris the Story Reading Ape was kind enough to add me to his Author Hall of Fame. As my introduction, I talk about how my sociology background influences the purpose behind my writing.

Monday, October 19 | New Author Alert

A video interview, hosted by young adult science fiction author, Jonas Lee. Insights into my writing process, future plans, and general shenanigans.

Tuesday, October 20 | Take a Tour of Desertera

Because Helen crafted such an enchanting world in her own fiction, I wanted to take her and her readers on a tour of my world, Desertera – an old steam ship surrounded by villages.

Wednesday, October 21 | What It “Really” Takes to Write and Publish a Novel

I give Amanda the straight truth about writing a novel – both the intangible traits it takes and the hard facts and figures on stages, time, and personal cost.

Thursday, October 22 | The Religion of Desertera

Have you been wondering how the heck a steampunk world ended up in a desert wasteland? I tell all with Teri’s readers – including an excerpt from the novel.

Friday, October 23 | The Pros and Cons of Using Invented Words in Your Book Title

What exactly is a cogsmith? In this post on Kev’s Great Indie Authors, I explain – and describe the pros and cons of slapping such a word on your book cover.

Don’t forget! The blog tour Goodreads giveaway ends TODAY. Enter HERE for your chance to win one of three signed copies of The Cogsmith’s Daughter!

 

Filed under: The Cogsmith's Daughter Tagged: author, author interview, blog, blog tour, book, book launch, book tour, desertera, dystopian, fantasy, fiction, new author, sci-fi, science fiction, steampunk, steampunk dystopian, the cogsmith's daughter

The Cogsmith’s Daughter

Kate M. Colby:

For the last post of the blog tour, I share the risks of my title and what exactly a cogsmith is.

Originally posted on Kev's Great Indie Authors:

The Pros and Cons of Using Invented Words in Your Book Title

As an independent author, I have full control over every aspect of the book production process. That means every choice I make must be thought-out and intentional—because if it’s not, I only have myself to blame for any errors or misguided decisions. The end result is a novel that is uniquely mine, the exact vision I had in my head all those months ago when this journey began.

I’ll be honest. Some of my decisions have been a bit risky, and I have to trust my readers to really “get” this vision and take a chance on my novel. Nowhere is this truer than my title.

Despite what we were all told as children, readers (myself included) absolutely judge books by their covers. That doesn’t just mean the cover art. The title is right there, too. It’s the…

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Filed under: The Cogsmith's Daughter Tagged: blog tour, book launch, dystopian, fiction, novel, steampunk