Christine Norris's Blog: Christine Norris' blog, page 18

Jumping the Shark

So I was talking to someone the other day, and we were discussing a certain book trilogy. Now, it's one of my FAVORITE series, and I adore the books, but I mentioned that I thought the final book 'jumped the shark' just a little bit. (If you don't know what that means, Google it)

She said 'how can a book like that jump the shark? It's a fantasy, the whole thing is a ridiculous concept. Rather than get into a discussion (or, more likely, an argument) I let it go. This person is not a writer...

Counting down

Whoops! I didn't mean to drop the ball an leave you all hanging here. Come to think of it, I really meant to put up my picture here too, and haven't done it yet either. It's all this holiday insanity. I also meant to extend the Weekend of Words to include the newest Library of Athena book, THE MIRROR OF YU-HUANG, but just never got around to it. 

But, there are three days until Christmas, and this is the last day at the day job before the break, so hopefully I'll be able to put up some cool...

Weekend of Words #4 – The Ankh of Isis

I won't even explain this one. I'll let it stand on its own, and if you want to know more, you'll just have to buy the book

 

The three of them stood in a stretch of golden desert. In the distance, barely visible, was a grove of palm trees. The treetops swayed gently in a breeze that Megan did not feel. The sun reflected off the white sand, nearly blinding them; it beat down on them with brutal ferocity. Behind them was more sand, and along the horizon ran a ragged mountain range. The peaks l...

Weekend of Words #3 – The Ankh of Isis

I know you've all been waiting on the edge of your seats for the next excerpt, right? Right? Well, sorry it's so late, I got caught up doing weekendy stuff that involved a Christmas lighting crisis. We're going to move on to Book Two of the Library of Athena series, The Ankh of Isis.  Megan is learning to like life at The Parthenon, and having survived her first adventure, is hoping for a nice, relaxing Easter holiday…

Megan sat on a stool in front of the kitchen's center island and rubbed...

Weekend of Words #2 – The Crown of Zeus

So Megan's all settled in at the Parthenon, when she faces her first of many challenges – the first day at a new school…

 

Megan slowly put on her uniform—a blue and gray plaid kilt, white knee socks, white button-down shirt and navy blue tie. She picked up her blazer; also navy blue, with the crest of St. Agatha's College for Girls embroidered on the left breast. She pulled it on.
Megan leaned down in front of the vanity mirror to adjust her hat, a wool beret the same color as the blazer. She l...

Weekend of Words #1 – The Crown of Zeus

This little bit is from Book One of the Library of Athena series, The Crown of Zeus. Here's the setup: Megan Montgomery has been forced (due to her father's job transfer) to move from awesome New York apartment to a gloomy, lonely manor somewhere in the wilds of England. She, understandably, is not happy about this. Now we find her and her father arriving at The Parthenon, the estate  where she will be held captive living. They are greeted by Bailey, the dour and impeccably dressed butler...

Weekend of Words!

I know how it is. It's two weeks until Christmas, and you are beginning to panic because you thought you were nearly done with shopping and then realized…

you aren't.

I have the same problem. But maybe I can help you out just a little. You see, I have three books that are published, and available in many formats, from dead tree to Nook and Kindle and .pdf, whatever you could possibly want. Maybe you have a reader on your holiday list (it could happen). And maybe you look at my books on my...

Blogging field trip

In addition to this blog, I run a fun little group blog, made up of YA authors who have books with small presses. It's my day to blog today, so I thought I'd share. Come on over!

YA Authors You've Never Heard Of: Writing Time-out… OVER!.

How to Turn off a Prospective Agent « Writing and Illustrating

This kind of goes hand in hand with my post the other day about the emotional stages of submitting  your work to an agent. Kathy is wonderful, and finds the best stuff. Pay attention!

How to Turn off a Prospective Agent « Writing and Illustrating.

Why no, I did not NaNo. And I don't feel badly about it either.

It's December. I know, right? November is gone, and with it the memories of turkeys gone by, family gatherings, football games, and the insanity that is NaNoWriMo.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNo), is the event held every year where writers, published and aspiring alike, try to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Nutters. Don't get me wrong, it's a noble pursuit, and I cheer on anyone who tries. But my Novembers are so full of…life… that I just can't manage to squeeze it in and keep my sanity.

Bu...