Krista D. Ball's Blog, page 9

A to Z April: "A" is for Animals

So, I know that I'm supposed to wait until April 1st to start this April Blogging Challenge ™. But, see, I wrote this fun story and it's been killing me not to share. So, here is the blog post and story a little early [image error]

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For the month of April, I decided to do spice things up a little by participating in the "A to Z Blogging Challenge." The notion behind this is to get bloggers to write a post Monday-Saturday in April for each letter of the alphabet. I'll be doing a bundle of different things throughout the month, each represented by the letter of the day.

And so…today's blog post is brought to you by the letter A for Animals.

NO MORE ANIMALS by Krista D. Ball

Once upon a time, Krista lived in an apartment with two cats, Sputnik and Worf. Krista and her kitties were happy in their one bedroom place, with lots of windows and cozy chairs to curl up and enjoy the sunny afternoons.

But all was not well. Krista's friend, The Engineer, also had a kitty, Sam, and a very weird thing called a dog, named Star. The Engineer and Krista were at PetSmart, where they saw an abandoned kitty up for adoption. The Engineer brought the kitty home and named her Lin.

Sputnik and Worf accepted this, as they only visited The Engineer on weekends. They didn't seem to care too much. Sam and Star decided that four cats was a good, solid number for weekends.

But, then the most dreadful thing happened! The Engineer got a call. A friend could not keep his two cats, Salem and Gypsy.  Krista and The Engineer took one each. Things were snug in Krista's apartment, but there were plenty of places to sleep still. And, they only visited the other kitty tribe on weekends.

Everyone was settling into their kitties lives again. Humans, kitties, and dog all declared, "No more animals!" But, that changed when the phone rang. The lady from far away said they found our cat. There was a head count. Nope, no cats were missing.

"But, but, but!" she cried, "we have a cat with a microchip where that is named Tigger and is listed as yours."

The Engineer was shocked! Tigger had been gone seven years! The Engineer jumped into his car and rushed to the far away town. Tigger immediately recognized The Engineer! Tigger had a very bad hip now, was really skinny, and had lost both his ear tips to frostbite. The Engineer brought Tigger home to fatten him up.

And then, Krista and The Engineer decided to merge their kitty household! It was dreadful! There were seven cats now and a dog! All of the kitties absolutely hated this new arrangement and went on strike. Krista bought them a giant cat home, with lots of perches and houses. This allowed the kitties and dog and humans to all live in harmony again.

But everyone agreed: no more animals!

Then, a horrible, dreadful thing happened. The Engineer's neighbour, who he'd known forever and ever, died. And, he had a kitty named Twinkie. No one wanted Twinkie and there was no way that Krista and The Engineer could allow their nice neighbour's kitty to be put at the Humane Society for something that wasn't her fault.

And so, Twinkie moved in.

And everyone agreed: no more animals!

 

Book review: Pock's World

Some of you might know that I review books over at Sleepless eReader. However, the caveat there is that it has to be epublished. Dave Duncan's "Pock's World" isn't available in ebook, but I really wanted to review it…so here we are.

The back-of-the-book blurb:

Pock's World, long settled by humankind, is accused of being infected by humanoid aliens. It has been quarantined and may have to be sterilized. Five people are chosen to go there and examine the evidence: saintly but ruthless Father Andre; Ratty Turnsole, a muckraking reporter ripe for romance; ambitious politician Athena Fimble; manipulative bureaucrat Millie Backet; and shady billionaire Linn Lazuline. Some of them carry grudges – all have their own agendas.

Pock's World surprises them all. Nothing is what they expect. Quickly entangled in love, politics, religion, and deceit, they discover that the clock is already ticking and the fate of humanity itself is at stake.

Frankly, this book exceeded my expectations. I found myself engrossed and unable to put it down. I thought about it at night and got back up to finish up the chapter. The science was fantastic,  the ethics an excellent shade of grey, and everyone just a bit selfish and self-absorbed.

Some questions remained unanswered, which is a near requirement for any Canadian-published book. After all, we have a literary reputation to uphold. But, in all seriousness, I love this book. Simply outstanding. Thrilled me for hours.

 

New format for April

I'll be participating in the A-Z blogging challenge. The goal? To blog Monday to Saturday, themeing each day after a letter of the alphabet.

April 1 will be "A is for Animals" and a short story for everyone to enjoy called "No more cats!".

Looking forward to it!

Liked Harvest Moon? Consider Nominating it…

…for an Aurora Award!

The nomination period is still open for the 2011 Aurora Awards, the official awards of the Canadian SF and Fantasy Association. This year, Harvest Moon is eligible under the category "Best Short Fiction." If you enjoyed Harvest Moon and are Canadian or a permanent resident, a nomination note in my direction would mean a lot.

Interesting? This is how you nominate!

Register – This is free and a one-time thing.  All registration information is solely for the  Aurora voting and will never be shared. After you register, you'll receive a confirmation email. Click on the link in the email and you'll be sent back to the registration page. The page will now have a link to the nominating page.
Nominate - Fill in your choices on the ballot. To nominate Harvest Moon, scroll down to "Best Short Fiction" and enter the following :

Title = Harvest Moon

Author = Krista D. Ball

Publisher = MuseItUp Publishing

Canadian citizens (not necessarily living in Canada) or permanent residents may nominate. The nomination period closes April 30, 2010.

Thanks!

 

Krista

 

Drunk Cats

[image error][image error]Bea, uber book lover, asked me to share the drunken kitty story.

Before I moved in with The Engineer, I had a small apartment and three cats (Sputnik, Worf, Salem). I was on vacation and decided to make myself a Baileys hot chocolate for breakfast. The hot chocolate was way too hot to drink, so I put it on the coffee table. I brought the garbage outside, saw I needed to shovel the walks, and got distracted by that.

Some time later, I head into the house and remember the hot chocolate. However, the glass is nearly empty. However, on and under the sofa are three snoring cats, covered in brown chocolate stains.

[image error]I attempt to wake the cats. I was very worried about Sputnik, who was 18 at that time (he's 21 now…he's zombie kitty!). He was upside down, snoring like a freight train. I couldn't wake him up.

Several hours later, the cats finally woke up and en masse staggered to the water dish and drank it dry. There was some staggering and some looks that I know all too well.

The moral of the story: My cats are binge drinkers.

Race, sexual orientation, and publishing: the line in my sandbox

The blogosphere was abuzz today about Jessica Verday's refusal to change the sexual orientation and gender in a story, so that it would become a M/F relationship. While that was shocking, it wasn't at the same time. Even writing "Road to Hell," I often got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that I might be asked to change Captain Katherine Francis's sexual orientation. I already knew what my answer would be. Since my family reads my blog, I won't repeat what the answer would have been. Use your imagination.

If Verday's post didn't upset me enough, later in the comments section someone mentioned an author who lately twitter about her agent requesting a race change of a character. That's right – change a character of colour to be *drum roll* white. And, again, I was horrified, but not really. This has been the fourth instance of me hearing this in the last 5 weeks.

I don't have an agent. To be completely truthful, I've never submitted anything to an agent or tried to hire one. At this point in my career, I haven't needed one. So, I don't say any of this as a person spurned by an agent or someone unable to "land" one (I use quotes, since I believe an agent is a contractor who works for you, not the other way around).  And, this isn't an anti-publishing rant, since I have a publisher for some of my work already and am currently seeking another for my fantasy series. I'm good right now.

I would not change the sexual orientation or race or gender of my characters simply because an agent said so. In fact, I would immediately fire any agent who advised me to do such a thing. Change a main character to be white, because black main characters don't sell well? Oh please. Make a character straight so that it doesn't offend people? Really? Are we really fussing about this? What century is this again?

When I look at a publishing house – and, if I ever go on the hunt, an agent – I will look at these things. I will not work with bigots, racists, or sexists. I don't do that in my day-to-day life. I will not tolerate it there, so why the hell would I tolerate it in my writing career?

There are those who will tell me that this rant will stay on my blog forever and will hinder my future chances at publication or hiring an agent. Whereas I say, any publisher who thinks I should only write straight, white people really does not want to work with me. Further, any agent who thinks they have the power to tell me that gay or black or plaid doesn't sell, isn't someone I want working for me.

Call me crazy, but even I have standards.

 

ETA: MuseItUp did *not* even mention any concern about Katherine's sexual orientation in Road to Hell, nor Bearclaw's in Harvest Moon. Because, you know, they have ethics.

Feeling Down and Out

The last couple of weeks, I've been staring at my manuscripts and wondering why the hell I'm bothering to be a writer. Who cares about what some insignificant hack in the cold Canadian frontier is writing? All of the best of my work is behind me. I might as well sell shoes at Aldo's.

I go through this every time I start editing a piece, especially something that I've written a long time ago. I went through it with Road to Hell and Tranquility's Blaze. Now, I'm going through it with Tranquility's Grief. This edit is turning into a rewrite, since the early parts were written over a year ago and, really, aren't up to par anymore. So, it's hard reading something old and trying to fix it.

I took the weekend off writing, which really helped a lot. I gave myself permission to not write and I didn't. I played video games, read Rebecca M. Senese's novella, cleaned the house, played Descent with the kids, fed the cats canned food instead of kibble, cooked a cornish hen…basically, nothing big. And it was glorious.

I joke a lot about being lazy, especially at my part-time job. "I only work 21 hours a week" is the most common phrase I utter there whenever I'm asked to work extra. They laugh, I laugh, and it's all good. But, the fact of the matter is that I am a workaholic. I have to be really careful, or else I'll end up pulling 100+ hour weeks and not even notice. I've done this at nearly every job I've worked at. I'm happy when I'm working.

And I'm really happy when I'm writing. However, like all workaholics, eventually the brain shuts down. There is no more autopilot. And the "I hate my writing" is usually what I get before the crash.

Last night was my first day back at writing. I wrote another chapter of "Sisip Becomes a Shapeshifter" (working title), and this morning I rewrote Tranquility's Grief Ch 1, Sc 1 and fully edited it.

I'm not ruling out the shoe sales as a possible career choice. I'm just saying that I might keep this writing gig after all…

Six Sunday – and a sale!

TODAY ONLY MuseItUp Publishing is having a 50% off 1st Year Anniversary Sale! That means, you can purchase Flying Kite Crashing Ship AND Harvest Moon for only $2.50 total!

Also, are you interested in being a participating blog for my summer Adventures in SFF blog and book tour? I'll be doing guest post blogs and giving interviews, plus I'll be giving out a few review copies of either of my work for people to review during the tour. Interested in getting involved? Pop over and fill out the handy dandy form. I'll be contacting folks over the next month to arrange dates, topics, and get review copies out. Thanks!

Here is a little from Harvest Moon, a paranormal fantasy set in northern Alberta.  Dancing Cat openly defiles a sacred item in a dangerous attempt to see the future. She meets with a rather patronizing spirit…

The spirit shrugged. "Pounding berries is important. It keeps everyone from starving when the snow is up to your waist."

Dancing Cat frowned. Even her ancestors spoke to her like a child. Perhaps she really was one, fantasizing about a world that no longer existed for her.

"Perhaps you haven't learned your lesson yet, little one."

"Adventures in SFF Blog & Book Tour"

I am organizing a review and blog tour for the summer. Sometimes, a blogger needs to get out of the house and go visit other people. So, that's what I'm going to do!

Want to be involved? Perfect because I want you involved, too! I'm offering some copies of Harvest Moon and Flying Kite, Crashing Ship for reviews to be posted during that period. If you don't want to review, I'm also up for guest blogging and interviews.

Still interested? I have a nifty form that you can fill out!

I read your book because of the cover

Thanks to JoJo at http://jojosbookcorner.blogspot.com/ reviews for the idea!

I know it's shallow and is probably the reason publishing will sink and fail, but I generally do judge books by their cover when I don't know an author. This is doubly so, sadly again I admit, if you are self-publishing or making up a publishing imprint to publish under that name.

There are authors that I will buy their stuff no matter what the cover looked like. Baen, who has crappy covers, fulfills my shoot-'em-up yearnings, so I don't care what any of their covers look like. I expect romance covers to be cheesy and, the more cheesiness and less clothes, the more sex the characters will have.

However, if I've never heard of you, the cover is what draws my eye to your book when it's on a book shelf or on a page of book covers online. And, due to associations that the image conjures up with other books, I may or may not pick up your novel to read the back cover. I know, I know, I'm evil.

Here's a good example. There is a trend now amongst some YA books to look like the Twilight covers. Minimalist with hands or objects, dark glossy covers, with a couple of vibrant colours to snap off the cover. But, see, that reminds me of Twilight and I just walk on by.

Likewise, if I see a poorly designed cover from a small press or a self-published author, I generally assume that they haven't bothered to put the time into making a cover. Then, I have to wonder if that same attitude went into editing the book, too.

As an author, I know all too well how little say we often have in our covers. I've been fortune with MuseItUp Publishing that I have some latitude in the covers; from what I've heard in talking to other authors, significantly more latitude.  And, I wish that I could say I read every single back-of-the-book blurb out there and ignore the cover.

But that would be a lie. I do judge if I'm going to pick up your book to read more simply by your cover (and, sometimes the titles..if it has the word Dragon anywhere in it, I walk on by, too).

Am I the only one?