Celine Kiernan's Blog, page 6
July 11, 2016
a little defiant, sparkly, strutting love
Because the world needs a little defiant, sparkly, strutting love today
(Erasure: The Innocents: 1988)
May 10, 2016
Sorry for the Silence
I’m writing Begone the Raggedy Witches 2…
April 8, 2016
Animated BookCover INTO THE GREY
To celebrate INTO THE GREY being £1.09 as part of the Kindle spring sale, I made a little animated bookcover. Sadly I can’t share the swf here, so I made this wee AVI of it.
Hope you like it
March 19, 2016
testing animations stuff
Don’t mind me a moment, I’m just testing my new wacom tablet and software… also animating things for fun…
December 16, 2015
New Spanish Translation of El Trono Envenenado
Hi guys! Boy have I been busy lately. SO much so that I haven’t even had time to finish inking in the art work for the so called ‘Halloween’ competition *blush* I still intend going ahead with it, but work is such that I have no idea when. SORRY TO ALL WHO’VE ENTERED SO FAR! I’ll be back to you. I promise.
I’ve so much book news for you, but I can’t share most of it yet. Soon.
In the meantime, I’ve finally got the answer to a question which has been haunting me for the last couple of years. Many Spanish readers who loved El Trono Envenenado were disappointed to discover that the sequels weren’t available in Spanish, and they’ve contacted me to ask when the translations might be ready. I only recently received yet another lovely such message. I didn’t reply straight away as I was waiting for news from my publishers, but I just learned that the new Spanish language publishers (EditionB) are in the process of re-translating The Poison Throne (a new translation, how cool!) It’s very likely they’ll go on to translate The Crowded Shadows and The Rebel Prince too (though I don’t know when)
I’m very excited that the Trilogia Moorehawke may finally be complete! As soon as I hear any more about release dates I’ll get back in touch and let you all know.
Please see below for a Spanish translation of the reply I sent to the latest query. (Many thanks to lovely Moorehawke fan (and all round cool guy), Luis, who reached out on facebook & translated this from English for me)
Hola!
Muchas gracias por contactarme. Estoy encantada de escuchar que disfrutaste El Trono Envenenado. Siento mucho que la respuesta haya tomado tanto tiempo, pero la verdad es que he estado esperando para responderte una vez escuchara noticias de mi publicador.
Tengo entendido que el nuevo publicador en español (Edición B) están en procesos de volver a traducir El Trono Envenenado (¡Una nueva traducción! ¡Genial!), y eso es todo lo que ellos han avanzado en cuanto a traducción. Sé que La Amenaza de las sombras y el Príncipie Rebelde también (Pero la verdad es que no sé cuándo). En el momento en que sepa las fechas de lanzamiento te escribiré de vuelta.
Un abrazo enorme y gracias de nuevo.
C
October 9, 2015
Halloween Giveaway (Resonance & Into the Grey)
My dear hearts,
The time of long nights and foggy evenings is upon us. What better time to win a scary, scary book! As you know, Resonance hasn’t yet been released outside of Ireland & Australia but this giveaway is INTERNATIONAL, so it doesn’t matter where you are, there’s a signed copy of Resonance AND an Audio book of Into the Grey up for grabs.
All you have to do to win is suggest text for the text box & speech bubble in the graphic novel page above. It’s a scene from Resonance, but you can add whatever text you like – funny, sad, scary – just go mad. You can email the text to me (celinekiernan1ATgmail.com SUBJECT LINE: Halloween giveaway) or you can leave it in the comments below.
The picture above is just a rough pencil sketch. As you can see it’s actually a wee flyer which I’ll be bringing to the OCTOCON FANTASY CONVENTION this weekend. Folks there will be free to enter the competition too.
Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be inking in this artwork. When the inks are done I’ll post them here, the prize will include a high quality print of the final artwork with the winning text added.
The competition is open until October 31st. Winner will be announced first week in November so get cracking, folks!
September 20, 2015
Bye bye, Raggedy Witches
So, Raggedy Witches is finally finished (and only a scant year and ten months in the writing! Remember when I thought it’d take me six months? LOLOLOL)
It’s with my agent now* and I’m awaiting editorial notes.
I think I’m going to kick back for a good long rest now. I mean it this time! One year off. One whole year in which I’m determined to do nothing but read, knit, research and try and decide which of my projects I’d like to get started on next (Oh… and promote Resonance of course)
I’ve been writing non-stop for over a decade now, rolling from one project to the next without any kind of break. It’s been great, a huge outpouring of creativity. But I’m shattered. I need to build up some steam again. I need to climb back out into the world for a bit without that hazy gauze over my vision where I’m looking at everything from far away because half my brain is lost in a reality of my own making. I need some fuel for the next bonfire.
Anyway, I’ve two whopping great manuscripts to edit. Come See the Sky and Begone the Raggedy Witches are very different properties. I may very well end up working on both edits simultaneously (how interesting!) I love editing, it’s without doubt my favourite part of the writing process. It’ll be super to have the space to do so without the ‘I’ve-not-done-my-homework’ feeling that I should also be writing.
BTW, do you fancy meeting up? It’s no secret that I do very few public appearances, but I’ll be one of the panelists at Octocon this year. Come along and say hi, get some books signed by the best in Irish SFF, have a nice time at one of the friendliest cons in the world :)
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*It’s actually been with her for over a month. I’ve just been too busy to print the MS!
September 4, 2015
July 17, 2015
Junior Cycle Video Interviews All In One Place
Gosh the blog has been quiet, hasn’t it? I’ve been so busy trying to get Raggedy Witches finished for my August deadline that I simply haven’t had a moment to share all the lovely literary things that have been going on (right now, my twitter account might best for staying in touch with my ramblings)
To make up for my recent lack of blabbering, here are a series of videos I recently made as part of a support package for the Junior Cycle English Curriculum, of which Into the Grey is part.
Much and all as I detest seeing my ugly mug on screen – I think these are terrific interviews. They asked such interesting questions and I got to explore some deep stuff about why I think writing is important and what it was like being in school as a dyslexic and the thought process behind some of my work.
I hope you enjoy!
May 5, 2015
The Writing Life (an Interview with Sarah Webb)
The wonderful Sarah Webb recently interviewed me about Resonance, and my writing in general:
Celine, can you tell us about your latest book and where the idea came from?
Resonance is a gothic mix of sci/fi and supernatural, set in 1890���s Ireland. It follows two separate sets of friends as they try to build lives for themselves in a harsh and uncaring world.
Seventeen-year-old seamstress Tina, her suitor Joe, and an American magician called Harry, are determined to carve out a future for themselves, despite the hardships of the Dublin tenements they inhabit, and the insecurities of the theatre where they earn a living. However, a trio of ruthless immortals, Cornelius, Vincent and Raquel, have other plans for them. The immortals know they cannot survive much longer; not unless they find food for the angel they have trapped in the dungeons of their remote stately home. Tina, Harry and Joe may be just the food the angel needs, and the immortals won���t hesitate to use them up in order to eke out another few centuries of life.
The idea for this book grew, as most of my books do, from my wanting to explore a particular idea to its maximum: what is it that keeps human beings going? How is it that some people manage to get joy and fulfillment from life on their own terms ��� perhaps despite illness or adversity or lack of social acceptance ��� while others retreat or give up or fade away? Also what does it really mean to love someone? What kind of actions are statements of true love, as opposed to acts of possessiveness or control?
These philosophical questions grew for me into a pretty exciting, dark adventure featuring immortal pirates, captured angels, best friends, broken hearts and a supernaturally attuned young woman. (I see no point writing a philosophical story if it���s boring.)
How long did it take you to write?
I think the first draft took me two years. Then I spent approximately four more years slicing it down and down and down from its original unwieldy 170k words to the slim trim volume it is now.
How did you get your first book published? Was it difficult?
Read��remainder of interview here
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Australians interested in reading Resonance can buy it from Allen&Unwin
Non-Aussies can buy it from The O’Brien Press
