Karyne Norton's Blog, page 2

Choose Your Own Science Fiction or Fantasy Adventure

It’s my birthday!

(pauses for everyone to wish me a happy birthday, but only hears crickets because none of you are actually with me)

Now, I know people usually get gifts for someone on their birthday, but instead I’m going to give you a gift! Over the last few weeks I created a Choose Your Own Science Fiction or Fantasy game on my website, and you get first crack at it!

[image error]

There are two sci-fi adventure paths and two fantasy adventure paths with dozens of different endings and intersecting paths. If you grew up reading the Choose Your Own Adventure books, I think you’ll get a kick out of it. And if you didn’t grow up reading those, I’m so so sorry for you. But you’ll still find it fun!

So go check it out, play it as many times as you want! If you run into any glitches or confusing parts, PLEASE let me know. Because even though this is my gift to you, I’m also using you all as my guinea pigs. 

And…by testing it, you essentially ARE getting me a birthday gift! There. I just saved you the trouble of coming up with a gift idea. Win-win!

PLAY THE GAME HERE!

When you’re done, let me know if you survived, if you liked it, and which world/story you’d like to see more of. 

The post Choose Your Own Science Fiction or Fantasy Adventure appeared first on Author Karyne Norton.

Choose Your Own Science Fiction or Fantasy Adventure

It’s my birthday! (pauses for everyone to wish me a happy birthday, but only hears crickets because none of you are actually with me) Now, I know people usually get gifts for someone on their birthday, but instead I’m going to give you a gift! Over the last few weeks I created a Choose Your Own Science Fiction or Fantasy game, and you get first crack at it! There are two sci-fi adventure paths and two fantasy adventure paths with dozens of different endings and intersecting paths. If you grew up reading the Choose Your Own Adventure books, I think you’ll get a kick out of it. And if you didn’t grow up reading those, I’m so so sorry for you. But you’ll still find it fun! So go check it out, play it as many times as you want! If you run into any glitches or confusing parts, PLEASE let me know. Because even though this is my gift to you, I’m also using you all as my guinea pigs. 

via GIPHY

And…by testing it, you essentially ARE getting me a birthday gift! There. I just saved you the trouble of coming up with a gift idea. Win-win!

When you’re done, let me know if you survived, if you liked it, and which world/story you’d like to see more of. 

Until next time,

Want to get this in your email instead? Sign up for my newsletter here.

The post Choose Your Own Science Fiction or Fantasy Adventure appeared first on Karyne Norton Author.

Think the Giver was the Start of the Dystopian Genre? Think again!

Have you heard of Universe 25? I’ve been working on a fantasy book for a while now, but I always have science fiction ideas brewing in the back of my mind. The other day Jon (my husband) told me about a crazy experiment done in the 1960’s that got my brain going down lots of strange sci-fi paths. 

I’m going to nerd out on you for a couple minutes, but trust me, even if you’re not a sci-fi fan you’ll find this interesting.

Technically Calhoun’s mice utopia experiments started in the 40’s, with the most well-known Universe 25 being studied in 1968. He put 8 mice in a luxurious habitat with ample food, nesting supplies, etc and watched what they did. At first they thrived, doubling their population again and again, but then their social structure broke down.

A group split off, and he referred to them as “the beautiful ones,” because they spent all their time grooming themselves and didn’t care about any of the other mice.Some males became domineering and took out their aggression on male and female mice, even to the point of cannibalism.Mice families would move nests and leave their young behind.

There are tons of articles and videos about it (here is one to get you started down the rabbit trail), and you can’t help reading it all and picturing them as humans. Eventually their societal structure broke down so completely they stopped reproducing and died out.

It sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, and yet…it also sounds a bit like our western culture. Do I think it accurately predicts society’s downfall? No, they’re mice in a lab experiment in the 60’s. BUT it’s interesting and eerie to look at the comparisons. 

And it clearly explains why the dystopian genre even exists. 

Okay, technically it was based on the book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, and the BOOK was based on the experiment, but still. The author visited the lab and it’s suspected he evened named Mrs. Frisby (who was Mrs. Brisby in the movie) after the blue frisbee the scientists threw around to relieve stress in their lab environment.

Now I need to rewatch the movie and check out the book, but the point is, I’m clearly not the first person to think Universe 25 is fodder for a good story.

Also, there is an oddly high number of rodent movies made for kids in the 70s/80s/90s – am I right? 

A Symphony of Stars by Barbara Kloss is out today! It’s the third in a series, so if you haven’t read either of the first two, check out Gods of Men (which is free on Kindle Unlimited) first!

[image error]

Here’s the back cover blurb for Gods of Men (I’d put in the blurb for A Symphony of Stars, but SPOILERS):

Sable hated the gods. She hated what men did in their name.

Magic is forbidden throughout the Five Provinces; those born with it are hunted and killed. Sable doesn’t know her music holds power over souls–not until, at age nine, she plays her flute before the desert court and accidentally stops her baby sister’s heart, killing her. Horrified by what she’s done and fearing for her life, she flees north, out of Provincial jurisdiction and into the frigid land of exiles and thieves, known as The Wilds. There, Sable lives in hiding, burdened by guilt, and survives as a healer. But now, fifteen years later, someone–or something–is hunting her.

On the run again, Sable’s best chance for survival is Jos, a lethal man from the Five Provinces, who claims to need her skills as a healer to save his dying father, and she needs the large sum of money he’s offered. There’s something about him Sable doesn’t trust, but she doesn’t have many options. A spirit of the dead is hunting her, summoned by a mysterious necromancer, and it’s getting closer.

Sable soon discovers she’s just the start of the necromancer’s plan to take over the Five Provinces, and she’s the only one with the power to stop it. But harnessing her forbidden power means revealing it to the world, and the dangerous Provincial, Jos, she’s beginning to fall for.

Fans of Brandon Sanderson, Sarah J. Maas, and Amy Harmon’s “The Bird and the Sword” will love this dark and epic fantasy adventure.

I splurged on her book box as a reward for finishing my NaNoWriMo novel in January, and it’s supposed to arrive April 2! Expect to see that on IG soon!

The post Think the Giver was the Start of the Dystopian Genre? Think again! appeared first on Author Karyne Norton.

Think The Giver was the start of the dystopian genre? Think again!

Have you heard of Universe 25? I’ve been working on a fantasy book for a while now, but I always have science fiction ideas brewing in the back of my mind. The other day Jon (my husband) told me about a crazy experiment done in the 1960’s that got my brain going down lots of strange sci-fi paths.  I’m going to nerd out on you for a couple minutes, but trust me, even if you’re not a sci-fi fan you’ll find this interesting. Technically Calhoun’s mice utopia experiments started in the 40’s, with the most well-known Universe 25 being studied in 1968. He put 8 mice in a luxurious habitat with ample food, nesting supplies, etc and watched what they did. At first they thrived, doubling their population again and again, but then their social structure broke down.A group split off, and he referred to them as “the beautiful ones,” because they spent all their time grooming themselves and didn’t care about any of the other mice.Some males became domineering and took out their aggression on male and female mice, even to the point of cannibalism.Mice families would move nests and leave their young behind.There are tons of articles and videos about it (here is one to get you started down the rabbit trail), and you can’t help reading it all and picturing them as humans. Eventually their societal structure broke down so completely they stopped reproducing and died out. It sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, and yet…it also sounds a bit like our western culture. Do I think it accurately predicts society’s downfall? No, they’re mice in a lab experiment in the 60′s. BUT it’s interesting and eerie to look at the comparisons.  And it clearly explains why the dystopian genre even exists. Okay, technically it was based on the book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, and the BOOK was based on the experiment, but still. The author visited the lab and it’s suspected he evened named Mrs. Frisby (who was Mrs. Brisby in the movie) after the blue frisbee the scientists threw around to relieve stress in their lab environment. Now I need to rewatch the movie and check out the book, but the point is, I’m clearly not the first person to think Universe 25 is fodder for a good story. Also, there is an oddly high number of rodent movies made for kids in the 70s/80s/90s – am I right?   A Symphony of Stars by Barbara Kloss came out this week! It’s the third in a series, so if you haven’t read either of the first two, check out Gods of Men (which is free on Kindle Unlimited and only 99¢ to buy) first!  Here’s the back cover blurb for Gods of Men (I’d put in the blurb for A Symphony of Stars, but SPOILERS): Sable hated the gods. She hated what men did in their name.

Magic is forbidden throughout the Five Provinces; those born with it are hunted and killed. Sable doesn’t know her music holds power over souls–not until, at age nine, she plays her flute before the desert court and accidentally stops her baby sister’s heart, killing her. Horrified by what she’s done and fearing for her life, she flees north, out of Provincial jurisdiction and into the frigid land of exiles and thieves, known as The Wilds. There, Sable lives in hiding, burdened by guilt, and survives as a healer. But now, fifteen years later, someone–or something–is hunting her.

On the run again, Sable’s best chance for survival is Jos, a lethal man from the Five Provinces, who claims to need her skills as a healer to save his dying father, and she needs the large sum of money he’s offered. There’s something about him Sable doesn’t trust, but she doesn’t have many options. A spirit of the dead is hunting her, summoned by a mysterious necromancer, and it’s getting closer.

Sable soon discovers she’s just the start of the necromancer’s plan to take over the Five Provinces, and she’s the only one with the power to stop it. But harnessing her forbidden power means revealing it to the world, and the dangerous Provincial, Jos, she’s beginning to fall for.

Fans of Brandon Sanderson, Sarah J. Maas, and Amy Harmon’s “The Bird and the Sword” will love this dark and epic fantasy adventure. I splurged on her book box as a reward for finishing my NaNoWriMo novel in January, and it’s supposed to arrive April 2! Expect to see that on IG soon! Until next time, Want to get this in your email instead? Sign up for my newsletter here. 

The post Think The Giver was the start of the dystopian genre? Think again! appeared first on Karyne Norton Author.

Weird Words and a Little Gift For You

Do you get anxious reading out loud in a group? I know writers are supposed to be experts on words, but sometimes I think we’re the worst. We’ve learned a lot from reading fiction, which is kind of like someone saying they’re an expert on WWII because they read a dozen Wikipedia articles on it.

The best example of my lack of word knowledge is in pronunciation. There are a lot of words I would be mortified to read out loud because even if I know what they mean, I’m ninety percent sure I’ve been saying them wrong inside my head all my life. Words like indignantly and mischievous. But they aren’t all big words.

Recently my daughters have become obsessed with Billie’s Yummy Bakery Adventure. In this book, they use the word waft, TWICE.

Do you say it with an “ah” so it rhymes with soft? Or do you make it rhyme with raft? I said it one way all my life, then discovered I was wrong, so now when I read it to my girls I overemphasize the word because this “correct” way sounds wrong to me.

But guess what? Since it bothered me so much, I looked it up again, and I learned that BOTH ways are correct. And now I’m irritated that somewhere, somewhen, someone made me feel wrong for saying it the way I did.

Where am I going with this? Your guess is as good as mine. There’s probably a moral in here somewhere. Don’t worry about what other people think about you, trust your instincts, purposely say words wrong to irritate people.

It’s probably that last one.

What words have you pronounced wrong all your life? Or which ones are you afraid to read out loud?

This last month I put together a fun little freebie. Some of you were faster than me and you already signed up for my newsletter to get the link. I’m impressed. But if you haven’t gotten it yet, here’s the link!

I’d love to hear which of this tips you already incorporate in your reading life and which you plan to try!

The post Weird Words and a Little Gift For You appeared first on Author Karyne Norton.

Weird words and a little gift for you

Do you get anxious reading out loud in a group? I know writers are supposed to be experts on words, but sometimes I think we’re the worst. We’ve learned a lot from reading fiction, which is kind of like someone saying they’re an expert on WWII because they read a dozen Wikipedia articles on it. The best example of my lack of word knowledge is in pronunciation. There are a lot of words I would be mortified to read out loud because even if I know what they mean, I’m ninety percent sure I’ve been saying them wrong inside my head all my life. Words like indignantly and mischievous. But they aren’t all big words. Recently my daughters have become obsessed with Billie’s Yummy Bakery Adventure. In this book, they use the word waft, TWICE. Do you say it with an “ah” so it rhymes with soft? Or do you make it rhyme with raft? I said it one way all my life, then discovered I was wrong, so now when I read it to my girls I overemphasize the word because this “correct” way sounds wrong to me. But guess what? Since it bothered me so much, I looked it up again, and I learned that BOTH ways are correct. And now I’m irritated that somewhere, somewhen, someone made me feel wrong for saying it the way I did. Where am I going with this? Your guess is as good as mine. There’s probably a moral in here somewhere. Don’t worry about what other people think about you, trust your instincts, purposely say words wrong to irritate people. It’s probably that last one. What words have you pronounced wrong all your life? Or which ones are you afraid to read out loud?

This last month I put together a fun little freebie on my website. Some of you were faster than me and you already signed up and got the link. I’m impressed (and welcome again!). For those of you who were already loyal subscribers, I wanted to make sure you got the freebie too! And from now on, I promise all freebies will go to you first. Because if you put up with these emails, you’ve earned it.

I’d love to hear which of this tips you already incorporate in your reading life and which you plan to try!

Until next time,

Want to get this in your email instead? Sign up for my newsletter here.

The post Weird words and a little gift for you appeared first on Karyne Norton Author.

Are you an expert on sailing?

Any chance you have some sailing experience? If so, I might need to send you a question…or twenty. This week I’ve been researching ships and sailing. It’s not because I really like ships and sailing. It’s because my character insists on loving them.  In fact, I despise the ocean. More specifically, sand. I think it has something to do with an unfortunate childhood experience when a wave knocked me down and I spent the next half hour crying while my mom tried to use the public bathroom hoses to spray sand out of places sand should not be. Anyway, my character loves ships and sailing, so I have to learn the basics and sound like I know what I’m talking about when it’s his turn to tell the story. Only this type of research usually involves me traveling down a rabbit trail of useless information. For example, did you know a nautical mile is different than a mile on land? It has to do with the curvature of the earth, which makes sense until you see that the official definition of a nautical mile isn’t even in miles. It’s in kilometers – 1.852 kilometers to be exact. Then you have to factor in knots, which is how sailors measure their speed. One knot equals one nautical mile per hour, which is actually 1.1508 miles per hour on land. Or 1.852 kilometers per hour… I came away from this research thinking that sailors are probably far better at math than me. And I didn’t learn anything that applied to my story. Instead I’ll probably watch Pirates of the Caribbean or Master in Commander. And of course I need to finish reading Oathbound by Victoria McCoombs. It’s much more fun to watch/read the product of someone else’s research than it is to do my own. But I’m not actually writing an extra post this month to talk about ships and sailing. I’m writing it to let you know about two great deals I found that are for this week only. The first is a box set that I’m actually buying for myself because it’s a smoking deal and I’ve heard such great things about the author.

This next one is only 99 cents and it’s written by one of my favorite authors who also happens to be my friend and critique partner. I’m currently reading the third book in this series (which comes out in May!), so I highly recommend snagging this deal now so you have time to read the the first two before the third one comes out. Buy it here!

If you read either one, let me know. I always love talking about books!

Until next time,

Want to get this in your email instead? Sign up for my newsletter here.

The post Are you an expert on sailing? appeared first on Karyne Norton Author.

“The End” is a good thing

Is it quiet at your house? It’s quiet here…for now. This is the calm before the storm, because March will usher in Little League. So for now I can pretend life with kids isn’t as chaotic as it seems, and I can actually check things off on my to do list. 

Speaking of to do lists, last month I got to check off a very big item on my list by writing two of my favorite words: 

I always try to let a book rest for at least a month between drafts so I can come back at it with fresh eyes, so I’m back to drafting my fantasy while I let this one marinate. 

I also did a fair amount of reading this last month (I told you this was the calm before the storm)!

Crown of Coral and Pearl by Mara Rutherford: This is my favorite book for the month. This hit my fantasy wish list for YA in so many ways – a unique water village, royalty, twins, magic, mystery. I highly recommend it and I’m eager to read the second in the series (which is already out and available)! The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes: I’ve been waiting to read this book for FOREVER because I read the first one last year without realizing it wasn’t a standalone, and I hate reading a series before it’s finished because I’m not patient (and I have a terrible memory). Only I was fooled again because it’s not a duology, it’s a trilogy! So I still recommend it (mystery, puzzles, crazy families, love triangles etc), but you might want to wait until the third one comes out in August.  A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson: I can’t even remember why I got this one from the library – probably a post I saw from someone else on IG. I would describe it as a modern day Nancy Drew, with a high school senior trying to prove a murderer innocent in a local crime from five years ago. There’s lots of twists and turns and it makes me equally excited and nervous for the next book in the series. I hope it lives up to the first!  You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao: This is a hard one to recommend because I think it might be depressing for some, but I also think there’s a lot of hope to balance it out. It deals with grief and a girl’s inability to move on from her boyfriend’s death because she’s still able to talk to him on her phone. I love the speculative aspect, and I love the emphasis on making sure your loved ones always know how much you love them.  A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab: I spent a lot of last month listening to this one on audiobook, and the narrator is fantastic! Such a wide range of accents and voices – I always find that impressive. If any of you are behind the ball on books like me and haven’t read this yet, it’s a great book with parallel Londons, magic with hefty prices, and flawed but likable characters.   The Final Six by Alexandra Monir: This book surprised me because I let it sit on my shelf for ages before I read it, and now I’m desperate to read book two. It had some Europa vibes and some Hunger Games vibes with a group of 24 kids all vying for the 6 spots on a mission to colonize Europa.   On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness : This was a fun and fast audiobook. If you’re a fan of MG adventure/fantasy, you’ll want to read this one (and I’m assuming the whole series is just as good). I love that it’s been set up as a unique world that clearly has lots more secrets to reveal in the coming books with strong family bonds and creepy creatures and mysteries. Also, the author did his own narration, and I’m SO impressed! Have any recommendations for me? I actually read most of these books at the beginning of the month and spent the rest of the month trying to find something I could really get into. Hasn’t happened yet… Until next time,

Want to get this in your email instead? Sign up for my newsletter here.

The post “The End” is a good thing appeared first on Karyne Norton Author.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! As much as I love the holidays, January is quickly becoming my new favorite month. I love fresh starts and checklists, and it helps that the kids are still fairly interested in the Christmas presents they got. It’s also the only month in Arizona where I’m not sweating in my sweaters.

This month I’m (hopefully) wrapping up the first draft on my YA speculative rom-com. I love finishing first drafts because if I’m honest, first drafts are my least favorite part about writing. It’s much more fun to see the story get stronger and stronger than it is to see it raw and bare. 

It’s also been really fun to add in connections to Alice and Wonderland because my book’s Alice has a virtual Wonderland her dad created for her before he died. Have you set any reading goals this year? I use Goodreads pretty consistently, but I haven’t bothered using their goals before, so I decided to try it out. According to Goodreads, in 2021 I finished reading 40 books, so I’m going to push myself a bit without being unreasonable and set a goal of 52 books in 2022. One per week sounds reasonable, right? Come find me on Goodreads and set some goals with me! Books I read and loved this month: The Holiday Switch by Tif Marcelo: If you’re still on a holiday break and you’re in the mood for one last YA Christmasy story, this one would fit the bill. The setting was an adorable little Christmas town that thrived on holiday tourism, and that was my favorite part of the story.   Renegades by Marissa Meyer: This one took me a bit to get into because it started out with a lot of cheesy superhero talk. I listened to it on audiobook, so maybe that was the problem. But once I got deeper into the story I really enjoyed it and I look forward to finishing the series.  I know – only two?! Yes. I read a couple others I didn’t love and then I read a couple non-fiction books, but it was also December, and free time was spent doing family stuff. Have you read any good books lately? If you’re like me, you made an impossible number of New Year’s resolutions and you’ve already broken half of them. I intended to write 1000 words a day, every day, in 2022. I failed on day one because we were driving back from the mountains and the day got swallowed up with family activity. Whoops. What resolution have you already broken? Or, even better, what one have you still kept? Either way, give yourself some grace and remember every day is a fresh start – you don’t need January 1st to roll around to do better at something.  Until next time,

Want to get this in your email instead? Sign up for my newsletter here.

The post Happy New Year! appeared first on Karyne Norton Author.

Merry December!

Is December taking you by storm? Or providing a soothing way to close out the year? For me it’s been surprisingly relaxing (so far). I’ve been done Christmas shopping for awhile (although not wrapping – ugh).  All our big events were last weekend, so now we’re settling into a lot of nights snuggled up with books and hot cocoa by the tree. With screaming kids running around. It’s very peaceful. Did any of you win NaNoWriMo last month? I did! For those of you who don’t speak NaNoWriMese, it means I wrote 50,000 words. I’m pretty happy about it, but there’s still plenty more to write! I’m hoping to juggle this NaNo project along with a fantasy project over the next few months, but we’ll see how that goes.  The older I get the less I do multi-tasking well.  Please tell me I’m not the only one. Books I read and loved this month: Fly With the Arrow by Sarah K L Wilson: Sarah is a friend of mine, and while that might seem like I’d be biased toward recommending her books, I think I’m actually more critical of books when I know the authors simply because I’m used to critiquing for my writer friends. It’s a hard habit to break. So trust me that this is a good one! This book is the first in a series of four (only two are out yet and she is all about cliffhangers so read at your own risk!) and it’s a mysterious, eerie story with lots of great twists.  The Fates Divide by Veronica Roth: I enjoyed listening to this, but not quite as much as the first one in the series (Carve the Mark). A third point-of-view was added in and I found my mind wandering a lot when I read that new POV, but I enjoyed getting closure on the rest of the story.  Empire of Dreams by Rae Carson: I’m kind of annoyed that I didn’t keep reading Rae Carson after I finished her Fire and Thorns trilogy YEARS ago. So now I have to go back and read the books she’s written between then and now. I was so glad this book didn’t require me to remember much from the original trilogy because my memory is terrible. But the book was SO good.   Wool by Hugh Howey: This is one that surprised me. I LOVED the opening chapters, and without giving away aspects of the story, something happened that made my attention stall from the ¼ mark to the ½ mark. Usually I drop books like that, but the beginning had been SO good that I stuck with it and I’m so glad I did. I’m looking forward to reading the rest in the series.  House of Salt & Sorrows by Erin A. Craig: This one surprised me too! I thought it was a pirate/sailing book. Still not sure why. But it’s not. At all. It’s spooky and haunting and I wish I’d read it in October instead. In fact, I might save her next book for next October, which probably sounds crazy, but when I have a million books on my TBR list it makes sense to me. Please send me any book recommendations! Despite what I just said, there’s always room for more on my TBR list.  We don’t do Christmas cards, so this is the closest I can get to sending one out. Enjoy our family photo!

I hope you all get lots of bookish gifts for Christmas and find some time to enjoy your family. Praying the season brings you joy!

Until next time,

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.                               Isaiah 9:6

Want to get this in your email instead? Sign up for my newsletter here.

The post Merry December! appeared first on Karyne Norton Author.