Selina Fenech's Blog, page 22

Competition- Win Free Ebooks

The release of Memory's Wake is fast approaching. Learning from the recent item-lost-in-the-mail delay, I'm not going to give a firm release date until the books are in my hands, but at this stage I'm expecting to launch the book officially in just two weeks time! As soon as the copies arrive, I will make an announcement for the official launch time and date, which will be just days from that point. Not much longer now, my pretties… Just can't wait? I'm going to give a few people the chance to start reading early! Leading up to the launch, I'm going to give away five copies of the ebook. How to Enter Show Memory's Wake some love, and leave comments around the Memory's Wake site. You can comment on this post, or any page or post on the memoryswake.com domain. Ask questions, give opinions, go crazy- the more you comment, the more chance you have to win. You get one ticket in the draw for every comment you leave at the www.memoryswake.com domain between the competition start and closing date and time. You could leave a comment on every page, ask questions, and when I reply, you can reply again and get another ticket in the draw. BUT- the comments must be actual comments. I'm not talking about strict content or word count limits, just actual comments rather than random words or spammy posts. But you guys know that of course! Prizes Five winners will receive a free copy of the Memory's Wake ebook. Prizes will be in the form of a coupon for free download of the ebook in the winners chosen format (for Kindles or Nooks, or other options like PDF or read on screen for those without e-readers). The coupon will be delivered at the end of the competition to the email address provided with your comment, at least a full week before the official launch. Draw Date The competition will end, and winners will be announced on Saturday 9th July, 10am Sydney time. Terms The winner will be selected with the help of Random.org.  Winner selection is final and at Selina's discretion. Entrants may only win once, and may not receive multiple prizes.

Illustration- My Sweet Pet

In a prime example of why I haven't jumped the gun on giving a firm release date yet, the hard copy proof of the paperback I needed to get to flick all switches to "GO!" has gone missing in the mail. Fingers crossed we'll still be having a July release, just a little later in July. Trust me, waiting is at least as hard for me as it is for you! So until then, have some more art! I showed this illustration on my facebook page ages ago, but it's had a little work done on it since then. This is the first full page illustration I completed for Memory's Wake that got me excited to do the rest of them digitally as well. While it's only really a minor spoiler, I'm going to continue keeping this male character's name a secret I like this guy, and he does tend to dominate the illustrations in the book just a little. Here's a decent sized snippet from the chapter this illustration appears in… "She was drunk," he growled low. Mina appeared behind him. Her fingers stroked around his neck and she spun herself in a pirouette to his front. She bent into his chest with a smile. "Of course she was, blind drunk. Why else do you think I let you prattle on how you did?" Her voice lowered as she spoke, both sultry and cruel. Prattle on. Saying even a word to her was the hardest thing he'd done for a long time. He wanted so badly to tell her everything, and when a chance finally came to speak to her without those others around, she was wasted. Absently, he pushed a hand up into Mina's fiery hair. The corner of his mouth pulled into a mockery of a smile. Never before had he been so aware of how little control he had over his own movements when close to Mina. Her hair felt like warm water between his fingers, and he bent his face toward hers.

Illustration- Meet Roen *Subscriber Only Content*

I spoke a bit about my main character Memory in my post "What Scares me Most" Now, I'd like to introduce you to Roen, the main male character of the novel (in "screen time" at least. I might have to admit I love the mysterious forest boy a bit more). We first meet Roen while he's working- "Squeezing through a small gap between two men, Roen muttered polite apologies. Decent weight, maybe some gold. I can easily do better. He slipped the coin purse into a concealed pocket in his long coat and adjusted his cravat to cover the movement." See the scene of Roen in the bustling marketplace in an illustration from Chapter Four below.

Memory's Wake- Chapter 2

There's a lot of chaos in Chapter One. Want to start finding out what's going on? Chapter Two will give you some answers… Memory's Wake – Chapter Two Earlier. Why has it become so hard just to keep my mind on a simple book? Focus, Eloryn ordered herself. Her eyes skimmed over words without absorbing any meaning. She pinched her forehead and flicked back a page, trying to find the last information she'd actually retained from The Principles and History of Infantry Warfare. Alward no doubt had his reasons for making this dull book part of her syllabus but she couldn't see how it would ever be much use to her, either for her teaching or in practice. If she was learning things she couldn't share with her own students, she'd prefer to be studying magic. Learning used to be easy. As a child, Eloryn already knew everything Alward taught the farmers' children. She went to classes with them anyway, enjoying being with the other students. They stopped coming at age ten, schooled enough for their lives tending fields. She became a teacher herself after that while her own education continued. Now at sixteen, teaching felt repetitive, and she rarely saw anyone her own age. Apart from her small clutch of young students she rarely saw anyone at all. They lived alone, just herself and Alward, here in the fortified old monastery high in the wooded hills, set apart even from the tiny rural hamlet; a place where no one might recognize Alward, or herself, for who they really were. A place they could be safe. Eloryn brushed against the pink flowers that spilt over the garden wall where she sat. They released a syrupy fragrance and she breathed it deeply, hoping to quell the unnamed ache in her chest. "Riddip." Grateful for a distraction, Eloryn smiled to the speckled frog who hopped up onto her knee. "Kiss you? Why do you want me to kiss you?"

Meet Roen *Subscriber Only Content*

I spoke a bit about my main character Memory in my post "What Scares me Most" Now, I'd like to introduce you to Roen, the main male character of the novel (in "screen time" at least. I might have to admit I love the mysterious forest boy a bit more). We first meet Roen while he's working- "Squeezing through a small gap between two men, Roen muttered polite apologies. Decent weight, maybe some gold. I can easily do better. He slipped the coin purse into a concealed pocket in his long coat and adjusted his cravat to cover the movement." See the scene of Roen in the bustling marketplace in an illustration from Chapter Four below.

Self Publishing Full Speed Ahead!

Everyone has been waiting so patiently for my book to be available. I'm not one of them! I'm notoriously impatient when it comes to projects. I want everything DONE and AVAILABLE- YESTERDAY! But publishing a book is probably the biggest project I've ever undertaken, so the best I can do at this time, is "Mid July '11!". What I can say is that I will be giving a firm release date as soon as I have stock of my paperback version in hand- and when I make that announcement, the wait will only be a week. And this is why I've chosen to self publish. Part impatience, part the ability to have complete publishing control, and part other factors I'll be revealing below… I started out this year planning to do my best to get traditionally published. I knew it would be hard work, the market is so competitive and it was only my first novel. I was going to give myself the entire 2011 year to work on it. I had some good responses from agents, but within the couple of months I tried the traditional process the book wasn't picked up for representation. Things in my own life changed at that point, and I thought to myself "Self, I could be stalking researching agents, sending out query letters and dying of suspense for years at this rate. Even if my book got picked up by an agent TODAY, they still have to get it sold to a publisher. And then it would be at least another year or more until it's available. I've got a deadline now- November- at which my life changes forever. Let's just get the book out there and shared with the world ASAP! Time to self publish!" So I refined my manuscript the best I could, had it professionally edited, did a final revision myself, and then another final revision (I'm going for Six Sigma quality baby!). I've decided to use a number of different print and distribution companies to release my book with, because who doesn't love to have the best of all worlds? And with self publishing, I can do it. Here are the different versions that will be available- Ebooks! Yes, I too was one of those people who thought I'd never go to ebooks over the joy of holding a real book in my hands. But I did, and I love it. Any book you want, yours in under a minute, for the price of a fancy cup of something-cinno? What's not to love? Memory's Wake will be available direct from Kindle, and through Smashwords for just about all other ebook formats (Nook, PDF etc). The ebook version however will NOT be illustrated. Illustrations are kept special just for the print versions. 6×9″ Illustrated Paperback - I received a proof of my paperback yesterday, reviewed, revised, and sent in new print files with some errors fixed. This has slowed the release date a little, but it's got to be perfect. I...

Free Content- Chapter One

Read the first chapter of Memory's Wake for free- Chapter One I'm falling, she thought. Rushing air tore at her like claws and her stomach churned. She knew only darkness and the horrible, hateful wind. She jolted into consciousness as if waking from a nightmare, one so real, so intense, it left her soul shaken. All she could remember from her dream was the noise; a furious, bellowing rumble, like the call of a hungry dragon from a dark and twisted fairytale. It turned her insides as much as the sensation of falling. Now awake, she couldn't understand why she could still hear it, why she still felt like she plummeted into hell. Some other sound teased her, unidentifiable, lost in the wind. "What's happening? Is someone calling me? Where am I?" Pain rampaged through her and the questions fell away. Her scream twisted into a whimper. A voice reached her. Persistent, hysterical, all static and unclear sounds. She called out, tearing her throat raw with effort, trying to reach through the gusting void to whatever had spoken. "Can't hear. Please help, it hurts!" The talking stopped. The wailing wind and painful rumbling continued. Her insides rattled as if her ribcage had been hollowed out and filled with marbles. She thought she might throw up. The feeling of hands grabbing her forced out a harsh scream. Then, like slamming a door on a windy day, the tearing air stopped and the world became solid. Her skin still tingled right to her fingertips but the pain had gone, replaced by burning in her chest. Panic crawled up her back, tugging at her with icy fingers. Stop. Look. Feel, she ordered herself, attempting slow breaths. Her eyes stung as they opened. Dark hair hung around her face, curtaining her vision. She lay on the ground, face down. Had she fallen? Her body hurt all over, so maybe she had. Old blackened leaves spread in front of her eyes and the smell of dirt and rot added to her lingering nausea. Sharp twigs poked through her jeans. She spat soil from her mouth. That other voice spoke again. "By the fae, what has happened? Can you hear me now?" A girl's voice, young, like her own. A strange accent made it curiously elegant and musical. The tremor of fear in it only made it more so. Fighting the weakness in her body, she nodded to the voice and managed to roll over. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked out into a twilit forest of wild briars and giant trees. Beside her, another girl crouched on the ground. Plump but strikingly pretty, with skin and hair so pale it was almost white against the shadowed woods. The long hair tumbled all around the stranger, making her look like a beautiful, scared ghost. Their breathing matched each other's; fast, labored, scared out of their minds. An intense frown of thought and calculation marred Ghost-girl's face, the look of a mind weighing options,...

Illustration- Memory First Sees Him

A sample illustration from within the pages of "Memory's Wake". This image illustrates a scene in the first chapter, read the excerpt below. Just a step away, a creature landed in front of her, blocking the cave entrance. The shock stole her precious breath in a gasp. It also stole her balance. Scrambling backwards she fell hard onto the forest floor. No, not a beast, she saw, looking up from the ground. The figure looked back down with concerned, human eyes. A young man. Dirty and tattered and animal in nature, but a man. Soil darkened his skin and earth brown hair hung down bare shoulders in knotted locks. His knuckles were reddened with blood. She lay there like a rabbit in headlights, unable to move.

Where it begins…

First, I guess I should say welcome to the new site! You're here to find out about my story, so let's start at the beginning. At the end of 2010, I finished the "final" draft of a novel (and then, went on to continue editing a "second final draft" and "third final draft", etc etc). Novel writing? But you're an artist? Where did that come from? "Memory's Wake" has been a project of mine for ten years now. It began as a concept for a comic book I planned to author and illustrate, back when I was really into comics. The original concept was pretty basic- girl from modern world lost in a fantasy realm, grouped with a bunch of stock fantasy characters (wizard, fighter, thief), adventures ensue. Somewhere along the way, my passions shifted away from sequential art, and I wrote a more fleshed out version of the story. Just under 30'000 words (not enough to technically qualify as a novel), it was, honestly, woefully bad. Full of plot holes, 2d characters and cliches. Somewhere in 2009, I picked up Robert McKee's "Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting". It changed my world, and I started taking writing more seriously. If I wanted Memory's Wake to ever become something good, I had to treat writing with the same drive and hard work as I did my art. I stripped the story down to the bones, cut, added to and edited the plot to fill every gaping hole, then started writing again from scratch. When I thought I had the plot under control, I then had to learn to "write" all over again. I'm indebted to the Online Writing Workshop http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com/ and my review buddies there for teaching me so much and helping refine my work. Memory's Wake has been extensively work shopped. It's been a very steep learning curve, but I now have a complete 80,000 word novel that I'm proud of. So, what's it about? "Memory's Wake" is the story of a lost girl. She's lost in a Victorian fairyland, but she's also lost who she is. She's given the name Memory because she has none of her own. All she knows is she's desperate to find out who she is and find her way home. It isn't an easy goal, when she gets caught up running for her life from wizard hunters, dark fae, dragons and ruling tyrants. She will make friends, and risk losing them again. From her scary ability to perform impossible magic, to the man with the glowing hand and the strange guardian-angel-cross-savage that follows her, there is more to Memory's life than she could ever have guessed. The story is full of twists and turns, so I'm keeping as close-lipped as possible! The publishing process- As of May 2011, Memory's Wake is off getting professionally edited to make sure it's as polished as possible. I still have a few artworks I want to finish for inclusion in the book, and then "Memory's...

Memory's Wake Trailer

  What do you think of my book trailer? The trailer features illustrations from the novel itself.