Kate Noble's Blog, page 19

doctorwho247:LEGO Doctor Who is now being reviewed and...

doctorwho247:

LEGO Doctor Who is now being reviewed and considered.

Last month, LEGO announced they were accepting submissions for Doctor Who on their Cuusoo site.

On Thursday, a collaborative Who project by GlenBricker and Kaminoan reached 10,000 supporters, meaning LEGO will now be officially reviewing and considering the set.

This is due to take place between May and September this year, and if successful, it will be eventually developed for release.

LEGO explains the process in full here.

I need this.

New Year, New Winner!

Hello everyone, and happy 2014!  I hope 2013 was enjoyable, productive, and lazy when necessary.  I had a pretty darn good year (in retrospect — when I was going through it it felt like a slog) but time to look ahead to all the fun stuff that 2014 could bring our way.

But first!  Some leftover 2013 business!  The holidays this year brought with it a FREE short story anthology, A Grosvenor Square Christmas, and with it, a contest! The time has come to draw the winner of that contest, and as such, that luck person is…

AMY RACK!

Amy, congratulations — you have won copies of books by myself and my fellow A Grosvenor Square Christmas authors — Anna Campbell, Shana Galen, and Vanessa Kelly.  I’ll email you, we’ll set this up.

With that done, it’s on to 2014!  I have quite the year laid out in front of me — there will be new books, new projects, and a great deal of writing to do (heck, maybe I’ll even blog a little).  Hopefully, I can fit some reading in there somewhere.  And hopefully, you can too!

Until next time, happy reading!

Holiday Time

Well, once again it’s the holidays and once again, I feel like I was caught off guard by them.  It’s not like I didn’t have warning.  There’s been Christmas decorations and Christmas music inundating the malls and grocery stores since the day after Halloween.  I should have known that this was coming.

But then again, up until last week, I was on a pretty intense deadline.  It’s for a very different kind of book, and one that I’m incredibly excited for, but it was a challenge to write — especially trying to squeeze it in before the end of the year.  So now, I’m finally coming out of my deadline exhaustion and starting to feel like a human being again, so now I can finally start noticing the holiday surrounding me.

And I do mean SURROUNDING me.  Christmas cards are coming in the mail.  Invitations to holiday parties and secret santa gifts to buy.  My cookie recipe book needs to be brushed off.  Travel plans solidified.  Family to shop for and what on earth do you get a ten-year-old boy?

In the midst of all this madness, its easy to forget what the holiday really means.  It’s tradition, and togetherness, and being appreciative of the people in your life.  Egg nog and warm fireplaces are a bonus, but incidental in the grand scheme of things.

So in that spirit, I say thank you.  Thank you all for reading my stories, for coming here on the rare occasions I post a blog, thank you for saying hi on Twitter and Facebook, and thank you for letting me be a part of your lives.  And may you all have a wonderful holiday season, and get ready for a fabulous book-filled (I’ll have 2 coming out, at least!) 2014!

Happy Reading everyone!

Kate

p.s.  to get into the holiday spirit, don’t forget about my FREE Christmas anthology, A Grosvenor Square Christmas — written with the estimable Shana Galen, Vanessa Kelly, and Anna Campbell.  Also, if you want to read more by us, enter my contest — the grand prize is a book from each authoress!

The Auspicious (and Protracted) Release of A Grosvenor Square Christmas!

“Hey guys – I know that we are all just SWIMMING in free time right now… wanna do a holiday anthology with me?”

That’s (basically) the email that Shana Galen sent to me, Vanessa Kelly, and Anna Campbell a few months ago, while we were all amid deadlines, project promotion, and just plain life craziness.  But for some insane reason, we all said yes.

The result is four funny heartwarming stories of one particular mansion on Grosvenor Square, and it’s mistress, Lady Winterson.  Over the years, her Christmas Ball becomes known for all the couples that fall in love in her ballroom and kiss under her mistletoe.

And we had this idea… that we would give it away for FREE.  Just think of it as our Christmas gift to you.  In October.

We are very very proud of our little anthology, and now it is finally out in the world!  A Grosvenor Square Christmas is available on almost all major e-retailers for absolutely 100% free!

(Caveat: Now, I say mostly, because Amazon does not price anything for free unless it’s reported as being listed as free somewhere else first.  And believe me, we’ve reported it.  So, while we wait for them to get on the ball, it’s still priced at 0.99 on Amazon.)

Intrigued?  Well why don’t you read an excerpt of my story in the anthology, The Last First Kiss?… and while you’re here, check out my contest!  The prize is books from each of us: me, Shana Galen, Vanessa Kelly, and Anna Campbell.  THAT would make for a very merry holiday, indeed.

Until next time, sweets – happy reading!

Back, and the Future!

Hello!  How was your summer?  All the kids back to school?  The humidity finally leaving the atmosphere?  Have we sweated through all the flimsy summer clothes and ready to embrace our starchy tweeds?  I know I am.

The big news of (my) summer is… that I wrote another book.  (Hence why I’ve been slightly absent from the blog of late.  My apologies.  But hey, Book!)   But the interesting thing about it is that I wrote it for a new publisher.  My next series of historical romances will be published by Pocket (Simon & Schuster).

“But Kate!” you say, feverishly clutching pearls, “you’re not going to publish the next set with Berkley (Penguin)?  Why?  Did something happen?  Tell me all the juicy details!”

Yeah, no.  No juicy details.  This happens all the time in publishing, folks.  I love the people at Berkley, and am so grateful to have gotten to work with them on my previous books.  And who knows, I may work with them again.  There are authors out there who publish with multiple houses, in multiple genres.  But at this point in time, it was the right move for me.

“But Kate!” you say, practically passing out at this point due to lack of air, “what does this mean for your books?”

Um, it means that there will be more books?  My release schedule will be vaguely the same as before?  So, no huge changes there.

“Oh Phew!” you say, collapsing languidly in relief, “I’m so pleased!  I’ve been dying to read Amanda Forrester’s story since the end of Let It Be Me!”

Uh, about that…

When publishing with a new house, they want new: new stories, new people, new life!  Which means that all the characters from my other books will have to stay put for a little while.  And unfortunately, this also means that Amanda Forrester (the little sister of Sarah from If I Fall, and Bridget from Let It Be Me) will not be getting her story told at present.   My next novel will have all new characters and all new storylines.  But again – who knows!  There may be a time in the future when Amanda can finally step out of her sisters’ shadows.

But right now, I’m incredibly excited to be working with my new editor (hi Abby!) and my new publishers.  And I hope you’ll enjoy reading the next book as much as I did writing it.

Once you get up off the floor, that is.  Really, the flailing is becoming unseemly.

Until later, my lovelies – happy reading!

Summer Adventure Giveaway!

The lovely and talented Alison Atlee (her debut The Typewriter Girl is in stores now!) doesn’t want summer to end.  So she gathered up some of her favorite authors and put together an Adventure filled giveaway!  And today is my adventure!  Or more accurately, it is Bridget Forrester’s…

10 Great Authors, 10 Unforgettable Adventures. With every “Today’s Adventure” post between August 1 and August 13, you can register to win the featured book and the grand prize of all 10 books. We’ll announce winners on August 14.  You may enter today’s contest by going to Kate’s Facebook page and liking it. Find links to all the authors below–follow any of them to keep up with the latest adventures.

Everyone needs the chance to be new, at one time or other.  The chance to experience different sights and sounds, the ability to be open to learning new things and new ways of being.  To let go of a (slightly) disastrous past and face the world with a fresh perspective.

That’s how Bridget Forrester feels, in Let It Be Me, when she takes advantage of a tree falling on her house to persuade her family to go to Venice for the season.  She needs a fresh start – last season was abysmal, living in her sister’s shadow. In Venice, she can be someone different, someone mysterious – and she’s been invited to study piano with the renowned composer Vincenzo Carpenini. It will be the grandest adventure of Bridget’s life.

The only problem is, when she arrives, Carpenini has never heard of her.  But his friend, theater-owner Oliver Merrick has.  He’s been writing letters on Carpenini’s behalf, and the minute he sees Bridget’s green, trusting eyes, he knows he’s only invited trouble to Venice.

But when Carpenini and Oliver get Bridget involved in a wager, she is thrust into the glittering and dangerous world of Venice’s musical elite, and she must work harder than she has ever worked in her life.  She must transform herself from an amateur into a master pianist.  But as difficult as it is, with Oliver at her side, it is something magical.

It becomes the grandest adventure of Bridget’s life.

Ready to join Bridget in Venice? Remember to like Kate Noble’s Facebook page, and you’ll be entered to win Let It Be Me and the other nine stories. Keep up with the latest adventures and get more chances to win through any of the authors:

Alison Atlee, The Typewriter Girl            Facebook

Jessica Brockmole, Letters from Skye              Facebook

T.J. Brown, Summerset Abbey: Spring Awakening  Facebook

Sarah Jio, The Last Camellia             Facebook

Susanna Kearsley, The Firebird             Facebook

Katherine Keenum, Where the Light Falls

Stephanie Lehmann, Astor Place Vintage             Facebook

Kate Noble, Let It Be Me              Facebook

Deanna Raybourn, A Spear of Summer Grass             Facebook

Lauren Willig, The Ashford Affair             Facebook

 

Life Revelations via Facebook

I’m supposed to be working on my novel right now.  I’m close enough to the end to see it – to know the maneuvers and the moments that are going to get my characters to their Happily Ever After and me to a nice few days of rest where I go on a movie-watching binge and maybe a hike.  But, like one does when one nears a deadline, I went on Facebook this morning. But instead of stupefying me with updates of cats and kids, today it lead me to a small revelation, which I wanted to share.

Scrolling through updates, a friend from an old job posted that it was her 10th wedding anniversary.  Now, this in and of itself is a truly stunning feat – having been married for approximately nine months, I can attest to this.  Another stunning feat is her beautiful family that has grown out of that decade.  But the heady realization was that I remembered her getting married, because we had worked together at the time.  And it is a job that is seared in my brain as one of the worst jobs I ever held.

It was a commercial production house, specializing in food commercials, and I was hired as a gopher. (Go-for-this, Go-for-that, etc.)  Now, I took this job frankly, because I needed it – and I did it efficiently, but not very cheerfully. I did not want to work in commercials.  I wanted to work in television and tell stories.  Not sell stuff.  This unsmiling chip-on-my-shoulder mentality made me, well… not the nicest person to be around. (I still have difficulty watching a certain Italian restaurant chain’s commercials without thinking of how the proverbial sausage is made, but I digress.)  But I was smart, responsible and organized.  I got the job done.  And I was friendly with a few people, like the aforementioned Facebook friend. The fact that I didn’t like it there was mostly because I would not let myself.

But not entirely because of that.  It was also… not the best job in the world. The office was just off of Astor Square in New York.  My desk – when I was at my desk, and not running errands — was in the basement.  The 4/5/6 train has a stop right on Astor Place.  So, since I was subterranean, every five minutes the walls would shake with a train rumbling either just beneath or beside me (I could never figure out which) and then – I kid you not – cockroaches would come out of the walls.  I eventually got used to the train rumbles.  I never got used to the cockroaches.

It also did not pay very well.  As in, at all. I was working a flat 40-hour week (no overtime, even when you worked it!) and I think I took home in the vicinity of $300/wk.  As I lived in Manhattan (in a 5th floor walkup 100 blocks away with roommates), this basically covered my rent.  And maybe some ramen noodles.  My mom kept sending me twenty dollars with every letter, so I could buy socks, when needed.

All of this is to say that I was pretty miserable.  (I don’t know many 23-year-olds who are not miserable, but again, digression.)  But that misery actually lead to something.  Since I had no money, I had no way of going to the movies, to buy books, to do the things that might dull the pain and frustration.  Instead, to keep sane, and from going into debt, I found a way to entertain myself.  I started writing a romance novel.

That romance novel eventually became Compromised.

Which, I was writing when my Facebook friend was planning her wedding.

Which means I have been writing romance novels for a decade.

It boggles my mind to type that.  I still feel very new, very novice to many, many things about being an author.  (I look at my royalty statements every six months and I need a translator.  It’s in Klingon, I swear.) Compromised hit the shelves five years after I started writing it, but in 2003, it was still the little thing I was doing to see if I could.  And that same Facebook friend who was deep into planning her wedding was also the first person to read and give me encouragement on it.  I would write a page during downtime at the office, and send it to my friend, and she would tell me “Write More!”

When I got an agent and then eventually sold Compromised, I was at a different job, one that I loved.  I was much nicer to be around then.  But what got me started was that moment when I didn’t have anything to lose by trying.

Right now, I am well on my way to finishing up my seventh book (eighth, if you count my novella The Dress of the Season).  When I turn it in, I get a few days of vacation, then I tackle number eight, then nine in the spring.  I have long since crossed the threshold into the world of a professional writer – in many different mediums.  And staring ahead into the next decade, I find myself looking forward to trying many more.

After all, what do I have to lose?

 

 

Longest. Contest. Ever.

Hello!  It has been a while.  Spring has melded into summer and I can’t believe it’s time already to draw a winner for my website contest – aka, the longest contest ever, because it ran for three months while I was busy bringing Let It Be Me out into the world.  (which by the way, I’ve updated the Let It Be Me page with some of the reviews, and have you seen the video yet?)

But, the time has come so, the winner of my website contest is…

RENEE BROWN!

Congratulations, Renee!  You have won an autographed copy of If I Fall!  We will email, it will be fun.   As for everyone else, thank you so much for your entries – I am actually giving myself a break from running contests –but just for the summer.  I’m on deadline right now for the next book and it’s taking up all of my brainspace (see how rarely I’ve blogged of late?  That’s why.)  Prepare yourselves for a big and awesome contest come the fall.

I hope everyone is gearing up for an amazing summer, and until after my deadline… happy reading!

 

 

Making a Book Trailer, Part Deux.

Well here we are, a week after Let It Be Me hit the shelves, and I am so freakin’ stoked by the attention it’s received.  It’s gotten some great reviews, not to mention that Romantic Times gave it a Top Pick, and it’s Seal of Excellence for April!  (Yes, I’m proud.  I’m getting that stapled on my forehead.)

As you may also know, I made a book trailer to whet your appetites, and as usual, I’m so gratified that you guys seem to like it.  Everyone also seems to be curious about how it was made, so I present to you:

How I made my second book trailer, for around $70

            Obviously, given the title, this is not my first book trailer.  And for the basics of making your own book trailer, I wrote that blog too – if you haven’t already, go give it a read and then report back.

Everyone back?  Good.  Now, I can tell you what I learned in the process of creating my second book trailer is that the basics haven’t changed.   The idea is still the most important thing, and having it line up with your abilities to execute it crucial.  I still wrote out a beat sheet of what I wanted to have my book trailer look like, and I planned exactly what I would need ahead of time to make a stop-motion animation trailer with construction paper.

But, here’s the thing I learned from both my book trailers, but especially this second one: no matter how prepared you are, you have to be ready and able to go with the flow.  For example:

While shooting this book trailer, I had taken my still, digital camera and put it on a tripod.  But I need it to shoot directly at a flat surface, not from an angle.  So I ended up scouring my apartment, finding some painter’s tape, and taping the camera to a table, aiming the camera to the floor, where I place the blue background.

Also, the dots that connect England to Venice?  Thought of in the moment.  It was originally going to be a cut-out drawing of a ship, moving in each stop motion frame.  But the ship was not reading very well on camera, so we (my friends Natalie and Erica helped me with the animation) took some construction paper and a three-hole punch, and voila!  Little colored dots.

Now for what you’re really curious about – money.  I spent about $70 on making this trailer.  Up from the $5 I spent on my last one, but still, pretty fiscally conservative when it comes to book trailers.  I spent, according to receipts, $28.56 on paper supplies and printing (I might have bought a fancy sparkle pen for fun as well and threw that cost in there) and $39.99 was spent on a royalty-free version of the Minute Waltz.  (I was unable to find a free royalty piece that suited my needs this time around.) Still, a pretty good return on investment.

I think it turned out well.  I hope you like it.  And as always, until next time, happy reading!

p.s.  and if I had to do it over again, I would only change one tiny thing:  I would properly white-balance the camera.

Let It Be Me Book Trailer!

Hello all — well, there’s three short weeks to go before Let It Be Me hits the shelves, and the antici……………… pation is killing me!  Thus, I decided to give you all a little prezzie to get you (and me) through the next 21 days.  I put together a book trailer for Let It Be Me — just to drive you guys a little nuts. (I troll because I love.)

Now, I do have some experience with book trailers, but each effort is it’s own challenge, and I had a lot of fun with this one.  So here it is — enjoy!