Colleen Houck's Blog, page 17
June 6, 2016
June Contest of the Month
Summer is officially here and what better way to ward of boredom, escape the mundane and hot lazy afternoons than with an amazing page turner and a tall glass of lemonade.
For those of you who are dying to get their hands on the next Colleen Houck book in her latest Egyptian series, here’s yet another chance! This contest is for a chance to win an ADVANCED READERS COPY of RECREATED, the sequel to REAWAKENED, and not just one book but THREE FREE BOOKS (two surprise fun reads).
How do you enter?
It’s simple, just take a selfie (or have a friend take your pic) of you reading any of Colleen Houck’s books and post it on Twitter or Facebook using hashtag #PictureYourselfReading and link it to Colleen Houck.
Once you’ve taken your pic and posted it, leave a comment below describing your very own perfect reading setting (feel free to include favorite snacks/drinks).
You can submit up to three entries (that’s three pics posted on either Twitter or Facebook AND at least one comment in comment section below).
Ready, set, go!
June 4, 2016
Winner of RECREATED song contest !
It’s getting closer. . .
That’s right, the official release of RECREATED is three (strike that) TWO months away, I know I know… that feels like FOREVER but to keep you excited, we have one lucky winner who will get their hands on an arc of RECREATED and a bonus book for FREE! Plus, the BIG RECREATED PLAYLIST REVEAL is coming soon (some of which you get to find out here)!
To recap, the contestants chose song(s) they felt really voices one or more of the characters in the story. They were able to use Reawakened for inspiration, such as these word themes: STARS, UNDERWORLD, AFRICA, SEPERATION, LOVE, AND HEART and the Recreated book teaser.
Recreated, the second book in the epic Egyptian-inspired Reawakened series, in which a seventeen-year-old must literally go to hell to save the love of her life.
Lily Young thought traveling across the globe with a reawakened sun prince was a grand adventure. Now she’s about to embark on the journey of a lifetime.
When Amon and Lily part tragically, he transports himself to the Netherworld—what mortals call hell. Tormented by the loss of his one true love, he’d rather suffer in agony during Lily’s mortal years than fulfill his duty to protect humanity.
Heartbroken, Lily seeks refuge on her grandmother’s farm. Yet she can feel Amon’s pain, and she has been having dreams—dreams of Amon continually suffering.
For before he departed, Amon gave Lily something very special, an item that connects them even though they are worlds apart. Now Lily must use this object to free him, and to free their realms from darkness and utter chaos. She will do whatever it takes.
There were SO MANY GREAT suggestions, so thank you! As such, we decided to not just have the top 4 but the top 8 with one getting the number one spot.
Here’s the top 8 songs which will be included in the RECREATED PLAYLIST!
Starting the countdown with #8
Loved me back to life by Celine Dion
Submitted by Celine
#7
Bound to you by Christina Aguilera
Submitted by Allie Haskins
#6
A year without rain by Selena Gomez
Submitted by Kate Pierson
#5
You’ll be in my heart sung by Teddy Geiger
Submitted by Helen Chang
#4
Two worlds collide by Demi Lovato
Submitted by Rachel
#3
Submitted by Ashlyn Cramer
#2
I won’t give up on you by Jason Mraz
Submitted by Anna West
And finally, the top song as #1 is . . .
submitted by Veronica M.
Congrats Veronica M.! You are the lucky winner of an advanced readers copy of RECREATED!
Stay tuned for the RECREATED PLAYLIST REVEAL!
June 2, 2016
May’s Book Club Chat Winner Announced & June Book Club
A huge thanks to all who participated in the Goodreads chat during the month of May. The topic was over the featured book of the month by Julie Kagawa entitled ROGUE.
As promised, one lucky participant is randomly chosen to win each month. What is in this month’s prize package? The winner will receive a copy of Julie Kagawa’s Soldier, Rogue, and The Immortal Rules books as well as one of Colleen Houck’s books of their choice (Tiger’s Curse, Tiger’s Quest, Tiger’s Voyage, Tiger’s Destiny, Tiger’s Promise, or Reawakened). That’s FOUR FREE BOOKS!!!
And. . . the winner is
Elaine C. from Brooklyn, New York
Congrats!
Now, it’s time to announce our June featured book of the month!
Welcome to …
If you’re just tuning in, or are new to this online book club, it’s super easy to join. I host the club on Goodreads and each month you get the chance to ask authors questions. You can ask anything from what they like to eat to what they’re writing right now. You don’t have to read the book to participate and every month I choose one lucky person from the chat to win a prize! The prize includes the book or books I’ve read from that author that month as well as your pick of any of my books as well and some extra fun stuff I throw in! What’s the catch? There is none, this is just a great way for us authors to network and for you, the readers, to branch out and have fun! So, for our next book pick, I’m excited to feature . . .
Smash and Grab
by author Amy Christine Parker
A little teaser
Ocean’s Eleven meets the star-crossed lovers of West Side Story. Grab some popcorn and get ready for an adrenaline-filled heist!
LEXI is a rich girl who loves a good rush. Whether it’s motorcycle racing or BASE jumping off a building in downtown Los Angeles, the only times she feels alive are when she and her friends are executing one of their dares. After her father’s arrest, Lexi doesn’t think twice about going undercover at his bank to steal the evidence that might clear his name. She enlists her hacker brother and her daredevil friends to plan a clever heist.
CHRISTIAN is a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. The local gang has blackmailed him and his friends into robbing banks, and he is desperate for a way out. When the boss promises that one really big job will be the last he ever has to do, Christian jumps at the chance for freedom. In fact, he’s just met a girl at the bank who might even prove useful. . . .
Two heists. One score. The only thing standing in their way is each other.
Told in alternating points of view, this caper is full of romance and fast-paced fun. Hand to fans of Perfect Chemistry, The Conspiracy of Us, and Heist Society.
Learn more about this author and her books at http://www.amychristineparker.com/. To get your hands on your own copy, click here.
I’m very excited to check out this author and her novel! Also, you can participate in an ongoing chat with Colleen and Amy asking just about anything you’d like on Goodreads throughout June!
Also, remember that you don’t need to read the book to participate. It’s a GREAT opportunity to get to know the authors and ask any questions you’d like!
For fun there will be a GIVEAWAY for one lucky participant!
Happy reading everyone!
June 1, 2016
Word Clouds
I’ve had a lot of fun playing with word clouds recently on a website called Tagul. I’ve been able to download my entire book into a program that looks for the most common words in the manuscript and then creates a word cloud for it. This just proves there is an app for pretty much everything.
It’s pretty cool to see what words rise to the forefront. I’ve kept these clouds pretty much intact and just threw out hyphenated words that don’t make sense and then moved the title of the book to the highest setting so you’d see that first.
Tiger’s Curse
I chose a tiger paw for this word cloud shape for obvious reasons. What’s interesting to me about this one is the fact that the gada ranked so high and that Phet is almost up there with Kelsey. Incidentally, the gada is the only weapon in the tiger series I’ve been able to find in the cloud. Black is bigger than white though Ren is more used than Kishan. Hair has been a word I’ve used a lot in the tiger series as well. This is the only one where I can find Fanindra and fruit which is interesting.
Tiger’s Quest
Even though I chose a tree shape for this word cloud I had to change the colors to match the book. I think an orange would have matched a bit better but the black is easier to see. I was shocked to see that Li is so much bigger than Artie. Artie has a weight to his character that I feel each time I read about him but I guess I didn’t showcase him as much as I thought. Bird is big in this one which makes sense and even though I didn’t add Tiger’s Quest on this one, tiger is still prominent. Date is bigger than black or white in this book and I like that love is an important word.
Tiger’s Voyage
For this one I used a water drop since water is a main feature of the book. There are a lot of words given equal amounts of weight here but what stands out to me are the words ship, boat, Wes, and water. Dragon is right up there which is appropriate and then there’s hand. I must do a lot of hand holding or touching in my books for the word hand to be so big. Again I added black just so you could see the words better. Oh and I noticed the word golden is easier to find than green or blue or red. The golden dragon is my favorite.
Tiger’s Destiny
I chose a flame to represent this book but the shape makes it harder to read all the words. Mr. is easy to find but I don’t see Kadam which is strange. Durga and Lokesh are both prominent and for some reason Li is back in there. Not sure why unless it just needed a short word to fill in. Kiss has been a word that pops up in each cloud which is appropriate. I can’t find Phoenix or Rakshasa. They must be too small for me to see. The green flames don’t seem natural but I wanted to match the colors of the book.
Tiger’s Promise
I am exceptionally proud of Tiger’s Promise. If you haven’t read it because it’s a novella you need to ignore that and check it out anyway. Right now I’m writing a novella for the Reawakened series and if you skip that one you’re not going to understand the end of the series. Because it is a smaller book, the words are more easily found. I like that Rajaram is so big as is the word family. This is the first time Dhiren comes up instead of Ren. No black or white here since the princes aren’t tigers yet. Veil is a big theme in this book since Yesubai trains herself to veil her emotions and her father likes to hide her beauty behind veils. I like the words home, girl, and mother. Then you’ll see flower and garden and beautiful. Yesubai loves flowers. Prince is large and wish being a word I emphasized is pretty cool since this book has a lot to do with wishes.
Reawakened
For this one I chose a pyramid for the shape and added the word Reawakened so you’d know the title. Right away I noticed dark and light which is a theme I play with a lot in this book. Asten and Amon are pretty equal which surprises me. Ahmose is slightly smaller but that’s to be expected since he doesn’t appear until halfway through. Power shows up a lot which is different from the tiger series. I think Lily is about equal to Kelsey in mentions. This book, like the tiger books, are in first person, so Lily and Kelsey are the narrators which means their names aren’t used as often. I never realized before that Hassan and Kadam sound very similar. Interesting. And there’s hair again. Apparently, I have a thing for hair.
Recreated
For Recreated I chose a star to symbolize the book. You’ll notice that Asten features as prominently as Amon in this book. Heart and Eye are also very important. Arm and Head are coming up more frequently than Hand this time so not as much hand holding as I usually do. You’ll also notice Tia is very large. Tia is a new character you’ll be meeting in Recreated. Power is back and Feel is usually a big word for me. If you look really closely, you might find Horus in there somewhere. Nephthys and Isis make an appearance as well. Amun-Ra and Ma’at were kicked out due to punctuation, it seems but they are important in this book as well. Also there a character called the Devourer. The program only kept devour so you might see that but not her name.
Check back and I’ll add more books as we get ready to publish them!
May 17, 2016
Do you love books?
Are you an avid reader? Have you ever wanted to rub shoulders with your favorite author? Do you have any aspirations of being a writer? Do you like getting FREE stuff? Odds are pretty good that if you are reading this blog then the answer is an affirmative YES.
Well, there are a number of events designed specifically around those of us who love the world of books and the magic they add. Unfortunately, we may not be aware of the what, when and where. So, that is why I’m writing this blog to share some amazing events available to us.
Did you know that there are lots of ways to “meet” your favorite author or find new favorite books or get expert one on one advice on becoming a writer?
Here are a few:
Comic Con events
Book Expo of America
Romantic Times Book Convention
Author book tours
Author school visits (did you know you can contact your favorite author and request a local signing or school visit. You could get lucky!)
Blog book tours
Online book clubs
Many of these events are not only fun and educational, but you get free stuff like books, swag, gift certificates, etc.! Sounds great right? I wish I’d known about these things before which is exactly why I’m sharing them now with you!
For today, I’d like to highlight just one of these awesome venues, the Romantic Times Book Convention.
So what is Romantic Times? In a nutshell, it is a week packed full of seminars and panels discussing anything and everything related to books ranging from the social media side of running your business to how to world build to ways to get published to how to write a killer love scene. Mixed throughout the week are what is referred to as reader parties. These are ones you do not want to miss because you not only get to meet authors but you also get to bring home TONS of free books (and these are not just adult romance, the event includes all genres of Young Adult books as well which is what you see in the pics below)! Don’t believe me? Just look at what four attendees brought home!
(RT 2014)
(RT 2016)
Also, at the parties they typically have a theme (Steampunk, Fairies, Masquerade, Western, etc.) where you get all dressed up, have formal dinner or desserts and drinks, and dance the night away. These events are our favorites and have created wonderful memories every time.
(This model attends Romantic Times every year and is so fun to watch. 
May 14, 2016
Micellar Water an Old Beauty Secret
The French have been using Micellar water and it’s a new way to gently cleanse your face here in the United States. It’s as gentle as water even on sensitive skin. It washes away dirt and make-up and it attaches to the cotton ball instead of just being smeared around your face. It doesn’t sting like toner, and doesn’t leave your face moist and oily like cleansing oils. Your face feels clean, soft, and you only better.
Many brands are starting to create their own version of micellar water. Some are as expensive as $59. 00 called the Guerlain
Eau de Beauté Micellar Cleansing Water at Sephora to my favorite from Target for $5.99 called the Simple Micellar Cleansin
g Water. There are exploding into the market and if they are doing so well I decided to try it out. Target alone has eight different bottles to try including on in a make-up remover wipe form. Some claim to brighten complexions, remove waterproof mascara, all say they can replace your face wash and toner. All you need is a cotton ball or an exfoliating round and a fresh bottle of Micellar Water. I have used it morning and night and my face felt clean, soft, and it didn’t burn my sulfate sensitive eyes. That is the beauty of this product. It’s simple, it works, no rinsing needed, and it’s inexpensive.
May 4, 2016
May Colleen Houck Book Club
Our last book we featured for book club was The Sleeping Prince by Melinda Salisbury. If you’re just tuning in, or are new to this online book club, it’s super easy to join. I host the club on Goodreads and each month you get the chance to ask authors questions. You can ask anything from what they like to eat to what they’re writing right now. You don’t have to read the book to participate and every month I choose one lucky person from the chat to win a prize! The prize includes the book or books I’ve read from that author that month as well as your pick of any of my books as well and some extra fun stuff I throw in! What’s the catch? There is none, this is just a great way for us authors to network and for you, the readers, to branch out and have fun! So, for our next book pick, I’m excited to feature . . .
ROGUE, book two from the Talon Series
by author Julie Kagawa
A little teaser
You burn so hot, and so bright, you set everything around you on fire.
Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But Ember can’t forget the sacrifice made for her by the human boy who could have killed her—Garret Xavier Sebastian, a soldier of the dragon slaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he’d signed his own death warrant.
Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order’s headquarters. With assassins after them and Ember’s own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George.
A reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day…or start an all-out war?
Learn more about this author and her books at juliekagawa.com.
I’m very excited to check out this author and her novel! Also, you can participate in an ongoing chat with Colleen and Julie asking just about anything you’d like on Goodreads throughout May!
Also, remember that you don’t need to read the book to participate. It’s a GREAT opportunity to get to know the authors and ask any questions you’d like!
For fun there will be a GIVEAWAY for one lucky participant! Simply enter the Rafflecopter below. It’s easy!
Happy reading everyone!
~Till next time,
Linda Louise Lotti
May 2, 2016
May Contest of the Month! Win BIG!
That’s right, the official release of RECREATED is three months away, I know I know… that feels like FOREVER but to keep you excited, how about a chance to get your hands on an arc of RECREATED as early as June?
If that doesn’t have you jumping up and down, then what if I said you could win not one but TWO FREE BOOKS plus swag to kick of your summer reading with a bang!
Some of you lucky fans may already have gotten your hands on an arc of RECREATED if you were able to see Colleen in Las Vegas for the Book signing or Teen Day in April! If not, there’s still a chance to snag an early copy!
So, here’s how the contest will work,
Simply chose a song you feel really voices one or more of the characters in the story. You can use Reawakened for inspiration, these word themes: STARS, UNDERWORLD, AFRICA, SEPERATION, LOVE, AND HEART and the Recreated book teaser.
Recreated, the second book in the epic Egyptian-inspired Reawakened series, in which a seventeen-year-old must literally go to hell to save the love of her life.
Lily Young thought traveling across the globe with a reawakened sun prince was a grand adventure. Now she’s about to embark on the journey of a lifetime.
When Amon and Lily part tragically, he transports himself to the Netherworld—what mortals call hell. Tormented by the loss of his one true love, he’d rather suffer in agony during Lily’s mortal years than fulfill his duty to protect humanity.
Heartbroken, Lily seeks refuge on her grandmother’s farm. Yet she can feel Amon’s pain, and she has been having dreams—dreams of Amon continually suffering.
For before he departed, Amon gave Lily something very special, an item that connects them even though they are worlds apart. Now Lily must use this object to free him, and to free their realms from darkness and utter chaos. She will do whatever it takes.
Then, leave a comment below including both the name of the song and the artist that sings it.
*You may submit up to ten song choices, yep that’s right, up to ten entries! Contest runs through the month of May so don’t delay!
One lucky winner will be chosen early June so stay tuned to see if you win!
Have fun and good luck!
~ Linda Louise Lotti
April 16, 2016
Black and White: Eyeliners for your Waterline
*WARNING*
If you have eye phobias you might want to skip this post. 
BLACK EYELINERS
Layering eyeliner in your waterline adds a sophisticated flare to your make-up. You can also tightline, or get the liner in a thin layer as close as you can on your lash line, your eyeliner on your upper and lower lashes it make them appear fuller and frames your eye in inky mystic.
Your waterline is that thin piece of skin above your lower eyelashes, and the skin right below your upper lashes.
As you can see below the eye appears larger and the lashes thicker.
If you don’t like the look of black liner on your bottom waterline try it on the upper water line. Just that little bit of extra black liner adds the illusion of thicker wispy eyelashes.
WHITE or NUDE EYELINER
I’ve seen many actresses and actors with white or nude colored liner on their bottom water line to brighten and create the look of a larger eye.
Some make up artists feel a pure white liner is too harsh and instead opt for a nude eyeliner that is more flesh toned. A very popular nude eyeliner is Rimmel London ScandalEyes Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner.
How to Videos & Favorite Liners to Buy
Colored Liner Ideas
Tips for Eyeliner in your Waterline
1. Dry out your waterline with a Q-Tip before you put liner on your waterline.
2. Use the soft tip of a regular eyeliner to dip into a pot of long lasting gel liner. The pencil is easier to use than a make up brush. Don’t blink, and let it dry.
3. If you wear contacts put your eyeliner on first and let dry for a minute so your contacts don’t get coated in eyeliner.
4. Liner in your waterline needs to be touched up. It can goop up in the corner of you eye so use a long wearing waterproof liner, and check on it often.
5. Be careful…you are super close to your pretty eyes and they don’t want to be poked by a sharp eyeliner.
April 9, 2016
Modern Ink Society-April 2016
FEATURING GUEST
Melinda Salisbury
Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before Getting Published
Welcome to the twenty-sixth session of
THE MODERN INK SOCIETY!
“Your value doesn’t decrease
based on someone’s inability
to see your worth.”
— Unknown
Introducing Melinda
Her Featured Book is
Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before Getting Published
Growing up, I didn’t even dare to dream of being a published author. It seemed like a goal too far, like aspiring to be an archangel, or a mermaid. You see, I grew up on a housing estate, I got free school dinners. We were poor, and I thought writing novels was for rich, well-connected people who had spent long years at Oxford or Cambridge studying, or were somehow related to Dickens. People like me weren’t given that kind of opportunity. Obviously something changed, or I wouldn’t be writing this post. What changed is a story for another time, but it involved a Harry Potter conference, a cross-US trip to San Francisco, severe airplane turbulence, a magic candle, and getting fired. After all that, I had no choice but to try and become a writer. All or nothing.
I just wish I’d know the following beforehand:
1) Everything in the publishing industry happens waaaaaaaaaaaaay in the future. People are genuinely excited about things planned for two years from now. People are panicking about things they only have a year to work on. I saw the cover for my second book before I’d even finished writing it. I would advise all authors – budding and old timers – to get a hobby that gives you something to focus on in the here and now. Otherwise you might miss out on cool stuff happening around you while you’re looking into the distance.
2) Everything is a secret. I am currently keeping over ten publishing secrets, some of them are mine, some of them belong to author friends. Every single stage of my career has been wrapped in secrecy for a while. So you need to make sure your poker-face game is A+, and that you have a few trustworthy friends to gush at. Or you’ll explode.
3) Writer friends are very important. At the start, I didn’t have any writer friends and I didn’t think it mattered too much, after all, I’d known my other friends for ages; they knew me. But writing can be very lonely, and very confusing, and sometimes your non-writer friends just don’t care that you had a really tough day making stuff up in your head, when they had to deal with real people, and broken equipment, and nasty customers. That’s not to say that writing is less important, or less hard work, than any other job, but it’s all relative: a surgeon isn’t going to understand why a barista finds their job challenging, a teacher isn’t going to think a banker deserves sympathy for working long hours.
And it’s not to say non-writers don’t get that you’re under pressure. It’s just good to have people around you who understand why you’re freaking out because your character won’t do what you want them to. And who know what you mean by it. And who have also been there too.
4) People can be cruel. We live in an age where it’s easy to broadcast thoughts and feelings. And a lot of the time, that takes place in a medium that removes the physical interaction from an exchange. Which makes it easy for people to be nasty. I thought the hardest part of being published would be getting an agent to believe in me, but it was actually reconciling myself to the fact that people will be cruel, as though by having a book published I’m somehow fair game. They will include me in exchanges where they’re negatively critical of my books. They will message me anonymously on Tumblr. They will comment on photos I’m tagged in on Instagram. They do not seem to care that I am a human, and that their words might hurt me. And that came as a hell of a shock. I wish I’d known to brace for it.
5) Which leads me to DO NOT LOOK AT YOUR REVIEWS. EVER. Even if you are tagged in them, it doesn’t make them “safe”. And you will gain nothing from scrolling through the creative use of GIFs chosen to express just how much someone hated your book. I’m sure there are some people who can read negative reviews and shrug them off, accepting maturely that they can’t please everyone.
I’m sure there are some people who take valuable insight away from them. But if you are like me, you will read them and you will end up having anxiety attacks in the middle of the night, that culminate in you lying in a bath of ice-water in a bid to slow your heartrate down. You will email your agent telling her you understand if she wants to fire you, because you are worthless. You will refuse to leave the house for a week. Read a review if your agent sends it to you. Don’t read any others.
6) That said, book fans are more incredible than I could have ever imagined. That there are people who are invested in my world is the most amazing feeling I’ve ever had. I get emails from France, the Czech Republic, Poland, the US, India, as well as the UK, from people who did like my books. Who LOVED my books! Who loved my characters and who are desperate to know what happens next!
I’ve seen fan art of my characters, and people cosplaying them, and people making playlists for them! In the first ever panel I did, I was asked what I thought would be the best thing that could happen, and I said it would be someone telling me that my books were their favorite. And that has now happened and I was right, it is the best thing that happened.
7) You might end up being a source of comfort, without ever setting out to. When I wrote The Sin Eater’s Daughter, I ended up writing about what it means to have very little control over your life, and what a gargantuan task it is to overcome that. I wrote about a girl discovering who she is, and what she wants, in a world that’s never considered she may be anything more than what it chooses for her. And so it hurts when I receive emails from girls who identify with Twylla. Who have very religious parents, or very strict, controlling ones. Girls who are manipulated, and threatened by the people that claim to love them. Girls who want to leave their homes but don’t have the money, or anywhere to go. I once got a Tumblr Ask from an Anon who wanted to know why Twylla ‘doesn’t do anything to help herself… it made her weak and unlikeable’, and I was astounded; she’s 17 years old, she has no money, no friends, and nowhere to go. She’s been abused by her mother, and then by her guardian – what part of any of that suggests she’s the weak one? And how does that mentality help the real-life girls and boys in Twylla’s position?
So I’m glad I have a platform where I can say to these young people that they’re not alone, and it’s not their fault they’re in the places they are, and that it’s not their responsibility to ‘save themselves’. I think that the vast majority of fiction depicting ruthless, strong, fighting teen characters is amazing, and much-needed, but it’s not always possible for someone to wield a sword, or shout and scream, and for it to make a positive difference. I never planned to write something that would resonate in such a way, I thought I was writing a fairy story. But for some people Twylla’s life is a reality.
8) You have responsibilities and you need to step up to them. As stated above, you have a platform where you can do good, or bad, with your work, and people are watching. So it’s your job to do good. The best thing you can and should do is show a diverse society, including people of different colours, abilities, class, gender, and sexuality, where possible in the confines of your world. My first book is very white; the series is set a pseudo-Nordic country, in the very north of their world, and Twylla only meets one new person throughout. Everyone else is native nobility or staff. Despite that, it felt wrong for me to not include more diverse characters, but I had to obey the rules of my world, and the fact is Lormere is a pretty bigoted country. Kind of a North Korea, to Tregellan’s South. But in book two, the world opens, and therefore so does the spectrum of people. That’s my job, to reflect the world I live in in my writing. To make sure anyone who reads my books would feel they had a place in that world. Not that they’d necessarily want one…
9) From the moment you sign a contract your book is not YOUR book anymore. It’s also your agent’s book, and your editors’ book, and your publicist’s book. Your book is no longer your precious baby, but something a lot of people – including people you haven’t met, and may not meet – all feel very strongly about. All of them are as invested in your book as you are. All of them are passionate about it, and want good things for it. You are part of a big, warm, scary machine. It takes a village to raise a kid, etc.… At first, when I met publishing people, and they told me they loved my book, I’d be like “Yeah, sure, you have to, you paid for it.” This was bad of me. I didn’t get how deeply book people love books. How much they need to love your book to even want to pay for it. No one in publishing is doing charity work – they believe absolutely in you, and your project. Some days they love it even more than you do. But that means you have to let it go a little. You have to listen to them when they tell you something isn’t working. Or that you need to cut something. You’re not messing around, neither are they. Use them, and their love, and their expertise. They know what they’re doing.
10) That it’s the best job in the world. I get to make stuff up and I get paid to do it. I wish I’d known it earlier, I might not have spent so much time messing around doing other things.
Wow, very informative and eye opening, thanks Melinda for sharing! If you’d like to learn more about her and her books you can check her out at melindasalisbury.com.
Also, don’t forget to participate in the ongoing chat right here on this blog with Melinda and Colleen through the end of this month! Don’t forget, there will be a GIVEAWAY!
~Till next time,
Linda Louise Lotti
