Kate Noble's Blog, page 20

Times Two.

First of all, I have spread a little self-love. (ew, not like that.)  I have learned that Let It Be Me is a Romantic Times Top Pick!  I am bowled over by the honor and their lovely review (there’s a paywall, so I’m gonna post the pertinent part here):

Noble’s latest enchants with a tale that touches readers on many levels. The growth of her characters, the romantic setting and the addition of music to her deliciously passionate world demonstrates why Noble is a fan favorite. For those seeking a wonderful, meaningful love story, Let It Be Me is it.

I mean, come on.  That’s pretty great.  You know what is also great?  Announcing new winners in my website contest.

I missed the drawing last week, as I was out of town, but I am making up for it by drawing TWO winners!  And without further ado, said winners are…

KATIE RICHMOND and CHRISTY CAUGHIE!

Congrats to you both!  You have each won an autographed copy of If I Fall.  We’ll email, it’ll be awesome.  You know the drill.

As for everyone else, this contest is going to close soon, but very, very soon, there will be another!  So keep your eyes open for it.  And also keep your eyes open for some new updates and information on the website!  I’m going to be posting some events, and some tantalizing new Let It Be Me info in the coming days.

Until next time sweets, happy reading!

 

 

Extra Extra! Glitch Causes Contest Winner Overload!

Hello hello hello!  It’s been a little while since I drew a website contest winner, and that is my own darn fault.  It seems there was a glitch in the system, and I wasn’t receiving any entries.  But the glitch got fixed, the entries were recovered and now, to make up for the appalling lack of winners, I’m drawing FIVE.

Yes, that’s right.  FIVE.

So without further ado, here they are!

ALANA ABBOTT

and

JENNIFER ARNOLD

and

SHERRILL HUTCHINSON

and

ANNA AUER

and

ANDREA PRICE

Congrats everyone!  You will all receive autopgraphed copies of If I Fall (where you’ll first meet Bridget Forrester, the heroine of Let It Be Me!)  We’ll email, I’ll make runs to the post office, it will all be marvelous.

As for everyone else, fear not – I’m leaving the contest open a little while longer, and will be drawing more winners with hopeful regularity.

That’s all for today – I hope everyone is sitting back on the couch with some happy juice and the TV on, gearing up for the spectacle of commercials and a Beyonce show that’s surrounded by some football.

Until next time, sweets – happy reading!

Foreign Covers!

Hello everyone –

Here’s something to make that first day back at the office a bit more cheerful.  The German covers for Revealed and The Summer of You!  I think they are both lovely and evocative.  And if you can read German, I highly recommend these for an idyll.

Revealed (the title translates to “A Spy in Illustrious Society”) is out now, while The Summer of You will be out in May.

 

 

 

Books vs. The LBD

As most of you likely know, not only do I write romance novels, but I have been for the past several months writing for The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a modern-day web series version of Pride and Prejudice.  I have been massively enjoying working with such talented folks, and a few days before the holidays, we received word that, apparently a lot of other people have been massively enjoying the show too, and decided to nominate the show for six Streamy Awards!

A lot of people have asked me the difference between writing for the screen and writing novels, and how I split my time between each.  Well, as to the latter question, I don’t find splitting my time an issue, as it is I tend to always be working to the minute of my deadline no matter what (insert sheepish grin).  But as to the first question, I have found two major differences between writing for LBD and my books.

1.  Collaboration

Most people outside of the writing profession think of writers as solitary creatures, locked away in our rooms, attempting the Herculean task of wrestling our ideas out of our heads and onto the page.  And this may be true (we may also be playing a lot of Angry Birds, but I digress) for the individual novelist, but for The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, there are six writers.  And when we are breaking the story, we all do it in a room together.  Once we figure out what each episode is going to be, they are assigned to specific writers, and then we go off and do the Herculean wrestling on our own.  But even then, the scripts we turn in are subject to notes and opinions from our showrunner, Bernie Su, and other producers.  In fact, you are not trying to write the episodes in your own voice, but instead trying to write in the voice of the show, the tone of which is set by the showrunner.  (Just for the record, Bernie is awesome, and a great showrunner.  Hi Bernie!)

As for the second difference…

2.  Money

By money, I do not refer to my paycheck.  I am referring instead to the limitations of money.  (Money? Limiting?  How very odd!)

When writing a novel, the only limitations I have are my imagination. I can set scenes in the grandest of palaces, a ballroom full of guests.  Heck, I can set it in space, if I want to.  But when writing for a show, you have to bear in mind what the show is capable of producing.  And that is almost exclusively limited by what you can afford.  Every extra, every prop, every set, every actor, costs.  Take for example Episode 38, Tale of Two Gents, which I wrote.  I wanted to have a whiteboard, on which Lizzie would keep score between the two men.  It was actually cheaper for us to add the tally as an editing effect that to go out and buy a whiteboard, which is what we did.

Here's the cover of Let It Be Me -- you know, in case you forgot...

In many ways, the constraints of a budget make the writing better – it forces you to get creative.  That scene that was going to be in a grand ballroom between your hero and heroine?  It would be cheaper – and possibly more intimate, tantalizing – to set it in a darkened hallway, before you get to the ballroom.  Sometimes, I find it highly effective to think a bit more about how the novel would be produced as a movie (not that it ever would be) and how that would affect the story I’m telling.

There are of course other differences.  The format, the amount of prose versus the amount of dialogue, the RITA vs. the Streamy, etc… but all in all, I find that storytelling is storytelling.  And I hope you’re enjoying The Lizzie Bennet Diaries as much as I am… and anticipate the arrival of the next novel Let it Be Me, as well!

Until next time sweets – Happy reading/viewing!

 

Winner, Winner, Christmas Dinner

It’s time to draw another winner in my website contest!  To all those who have come before I thank you.  Your parents thank you.  Your children thank you.  But now, it is time for someone new to join your ranks, and that someone is…

…JULIE-ANN FORD!

Congrats, Julie-Ann, you have won an electronic copy of my eNovella, The Dress of the Season!  We shall email, but if you didn’t win, don’t worry, there is still one more chance left!  I’ll be drawing another winner before new years!  (And if you haven’t entered, better get on that…)

As for everything else, well, I’m thisclose to being done with my holiday preparations.  I’m eagerly awaiting Christmas vacation, and taking a minute or two to snuggle up and watch a movie, and then gather all my energy and direct it towards some fun and exciting projects I have for the new year!

Until next time, sweets – happy reading!

LET IT BE ME Cover!

It’s finally here!  After all the hinting, and the teasing, and the fingernail- biting, the cover for Let It Be Me is finally here!  And I can’t help but think that it’s GORGEOUS.

The gondola!  The green dress!  The parasol!  The Venice!  Its just so perfect, I can not describe it.

I’m very excited for you to read, so why don’t you head on over and check out the sneak peek?  And then maybe check out my contest?

Until next time, sweets, Happy Reading!

Stonecrest Book Club, and Another Winner!

This past week I had the pleasure of attending the Stonecrest Book Club in the great state of Maryland that took the time to read my latest, If I Fall.  But, you might say, don’t you live in the equally great state of California?  And the answer is… yes I do.  But I also have this wonderful technology called Skype, which allowed me to video conference in to their book club.  I’ve done this before, and as always, it was a lot of fun, and they asked some great, thought provoking questions.  Thank you ladies, for welcoming me and providing for an enjoyable evening.

I always enjoy skyping into book clubs, and if you are interested in having me virtually visit yours, please feel free to email me.  But right now, it’s time to draw a new winner in my website contest, so get ready, because the winner is…

Mary Chen!

Congratulations, Mary!  You have won a copy of my e-novella The Dress of the Season!

For those who did not win, take heart, there‘s still plenty of time left in the contest, and if you entered, you’re still entered.  (And if you haven’t entered, why ever not?  Get on that, would you?)

That’s all for me this week – I’ve got lots of irons in the fire and I hope to be able to share a few with you soon, but until then, Happy Reading, sweets!

Happy Thanksgiving Winner!

There is a brief wonderful tradition in this country where we all, regardless of origin, religion, race or creed, take a moment to pause, enjoy each other, watch a parade, and eat a lot of food.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday as it is a lot like Christmas, but without the credit card debt.  That comes 24 hours later, on Black Friday, but I digress.  This year, I am thankful for a lot of readers, a lot of friends, and a lot of stories I have to tell.  I’m also thankful that you all have been entering my website contest, because we have a new winner, and its:

TIFFANY SMITH!

Congratulations, Tiffany!  You have won a download of my eNovella, The Dress of the Season! We will email to set it up, and I hope you enjoy!

If you didn’t win – fear not, there is still plenty of time, and if you’ve entered, you will remain entered for the length of the contest.  (And if you haven’t entered, what are you waiting for???)

That’s all for now – short and sweet and time enough for us all to get back to our families and the football.  If you’re traveling, stay safe.  If you’re hosting, stay sane.  And for everyone – happy reading and Happy Thanksgiving!

17 Boxes

I am in the midst of packing up my entire apartment.  We are moving not terribly far, but much closer to my husband’s office, and as a good wife, I am giving up my spacious loft office so he can have a much better commute.

Boxes, boxes, everywhere!

I’m really excited about the move, albeit the packing is a herculean effort.  More so since I made the gruesome discovery that I have 17 (very large) boxes worth of just books.  The weight of these boxes far exceeds the contents of my kitchen, my closet, and my husband’s video games.  It is the bulk of my property.

Now, as a writer and prolific reader, this shouldn’t be surprising.  At least, it shouldn’t have been surprising 5 years ago.  But now, I have an e-reader.  And if I’m being honest, the books that I accumulated before that… yes, I read them, but I don’t know if I’ll ever read them again.  Even though I find their presence soothing, they are little more than decorative – a display of what I hope my mind reflects.  Is it strange that I am questioning keeping the bulk of my beautiful collection of books?

What say you?  In this digital age, what worth is there in a collection of physical books?

In the meantime, don’t forget about my website contest — I’ll be drawing the first winner next weekend!  And for those of you Nanowrimo-ing — happy sprint writing!

 

New Excerpt, New Contest!

Hello everyone!  I hope you don’t mind that I took the month of October off from blogging.  A lot has been happening that I hope to be able to share with you shortly, but for now, let’s revel in the fact that we are back together, shall we?  I missed you.  A month is too long to be apart.

And because I missed you, I have decided to give you something tasty.  Like pie, but with more awesome: how about an exclusive sneak peek of my next novel, Let It Be Me?  Yes, I thought you’d like that.

Have room for more?  Well, how about a brand new website contest?  I’ll be drawing a winner every two weeks, and have a fantastic prize up for grabs – a copy of my eNovella The Dress of the Season!  (Please be aware, this novella is available in e-formats only.) This novella was my last year’s NaNoWriMo project, and I think it turned out swimmingly.  So as I plunge into a new NaNoWriMo project this month, you all can enjoy the fruits of last year’s labor!

You want more you say?  Well golly, I thought you would have been full by now.  I wish I had something else to sate you with – but in the next few weeks, expect more goodies.  (Like a certain cover I have been teasing forever but I can not wait to finally be able to show you!)

Meanwhile, let’s just be happy that we are back together!  Happy reading, sweets!