Julie E. Czerneda's Blog, page 18
January 15, 2013
Contest!
And bookstore love! If you live in North America and would like to win a free advanced reading copy of A Turn of Light, go to http://www.bakkaphoenixbooks.com/ now! Today and every Tuesday until publication, this outstanding (and world's oldest) bookstore is holding a contest for you!
I'm now considering how one HUGS a bookstore. Honestly.
Spread the word, folks. There are SEVEN chances to win!
I'm now considering how one HUGS a bookstore. Honestly.
Spread the word, folks. There are SEVEN chances to win!
January 5, 2013
Read the next installment now!
Because it's up at www.czerneda.com!
Along with my author note.
There'll be one more of these, folks, before the book is released March 5th. I hope you've enjoyed following the past year with me. A reminder, even if you don't want to read ahead of the book, you might like to download the pdfs so you can read my notes later.
Along with my author note.
There'll be one more of these, folks, before the book is released March 5th. I hope you've enjoyed following the past year with me. A reminder, even if you don't want to read ahead of the book, you might like to download the pdfs so you can read my notes later.
January 3, 2013
Saturday the 5th of January
Second to last installment for A Turn of Light will go up this coming weekend at www.czerneda.com, complete with author note.
There will be one more, Feb. 5th.
March 5th? Oh, that's when you can get the entire book!!! YAHOO!!!!
Authors get very excited about book releases. I can tell you it's even more exciting when it's been a few years between (and took a few years to write!). C'mon Spring!
There will be one more, Feb. 5th.
March 5th? Oh, that's when you can get the entire book!!! YAHOO!!!!
Authors get very excited about book releases. I can tell you it's even more exciting when it's been a few years between (and took a few years to write!). C'mon Spring!
January 1, 2013
The Year Ahead ...
I happen to love beginnings. Mondays. First days of the months. New Year's Day. Mornings.
And the start of a new story, that absolutely.
I'm now at work on A PLAY OF SHADOW, next in the Night's Edge series that began with A TURN OF LIGHT. Work? Really? Because starting this one is pure delight. Admittedly, some of that is due to TURN being so well received. Whew!! Doesn't matter how many books I've written to date, this was something new and daring. Knowing I've managed to write a fantasy that works is such a relief, it shows me just how much pressure I'd put on myself to do it.
Writing another?
Whee!!!
There's also a Secret Project and some other stuff ahead. Plus a great deal of happy celebrating around the launches for TURN this March. Stayed tuned for contests and events!
While I settle back, the fireplace roaring, to pen the first chapters of my fresh new story.
Happy New Year!
And the start of a new story, that absolutely.
I'm now at work on A PLAY OF SHADOW, next in the Night's Edge series that began with A TURN OF LIGHT. Work? Really? Because starting this one is pure delight. Admittedly, some of that is due to TURN being so well received. Whew!! Doesn't matter how many books I've written to date, this was something new and daring. Knowing I've managed to write a fantasy that works is such a relief, it shows me just how much pressure I'd put on myself to do it.
Writing another?
Whee!!!
There's also a Secret Project and some other stuff ahead. Plus a great deal of happy celebrating around the launches for TURN this March. Stayed tuned for contests and events!
While I settle back, the fireplace roaring, to pen the first chapters of my fresh new story.
Happy New Year!
December 19, 2012
FB contest
If you're on Facebook and would like to win an advanced reading copy of A TURN OF LIGHT, go to the page "Marrowdell" and look for the "Toads for the Holidays" post. The idea is for you to put up an image, website (credited please), or write a limerick or poem, anything short and creative, depicting a house toad as he might appear for the holidays. If you've been reading the installments at http://www.czerneda.com you'll have a pretty good idea what a house toad is like, but you don't need anything more that Toad + Sparkle for this contest.
Good luck! Happy Holidays!
Good luck! Happy Holidays!
December 5, 2012
The Next Big Thing meme!
My turn!
1. What is the working title of your next book?
A Turn of Light, coming from DAW Books March 2013. It’s written as if it’s the only one, but there’s now a series called Night’s Edge and I’m at work on A Play of Shadow, the next.
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
I’ve had the idea for over a decade, writing little notes about it in fountain pen, in a small notebook. I love reading fantasy -- always have -- but the notion of writing it was daunting. I love fantasy with lyrical language and a magical landscape that calls to me. Also, I wasn’t finding quite the sort of story I wanted. Romantic, fun, gentle. With wonder you wouldn’t expect.
Unlike my other stories, this one started with a girl, sitting in a meadow. I wrote a couple of paragraphs about her and her invisible companion, now part of the first chapter of Turn. So character came first. The story? Jenn Nalynn, the girl, longs to see the world beyond Marrowdell, the pastoral valley of her birth, but mustn’t ever leave. She was born at the turn of light and thus unknowingly and forever bound to the magical realm called the Verge. Her companion, Wisp, is a disgraced dragon from the Verge whose duty it is to kill her should she try. There’s a handsome stranger about to arrive who can see the truth. And toads. Jenn, being a determined young lady, manages to turn Wisp into a man, hoping a husband will convince her family she’d be safe away from home. All manner of problems ensue. There are letters. And pie.
And peril.
From the start, I wanted two things from A Turn of Light. To produce a heart-warming book worth rereading on those dull, rainy days, with a cup of cocoa. Oh, and to see if I could write fantasy at all. That was the hardest part.
3. What genre does your book fall under?
It’s light-hearted, romantic fantasy, set in a pioneer village. Other than that? I’m waiting for readers and reviewers to tell me, since I really don’t know. It’s not like other stories I’ve read -- which is why I wrote it, I suppose.
4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
I can’t say I’ve given this thought. Hmm. Bannan Larmensu could be played by Seamus Dever (from “Castle”). He has the eyes, and the ability to convincingly switch between fun/vulnerable to serious. Karl Urban would do a fine job too -- his “Bannan” would be different, but interesting. The other characters, including Jenn Nalynn? No idea. Maybe readers will help me there too!
5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Stardust meets Jane Austen.
St.
6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
A Turn of Light will be released in trade paperback and ebook by DAW Books, NY. It will also be published as an audiobook by Audible.com. We’re waiting to see, but rumour has it there’ll be other versions. Exciting times. Inquires on foreign rights should go to DAW; for film rights, them or directly to me. (Wouldn’t that be nice?)
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
A little longer than usual. I started writing September 28, 2009 and finished December 17th, 2011.
8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
None? Which isn’t helpful, I realize.
If you like Patricia McKillip’s way with words, which I do, very much, I hope some of Turn may remind you of her fine work. The Sorceress and the Cygnet. The Riddlemaster of Hed. etc. That said, I wrote about farmers and millers, so much of Turn is pretty earthy and straightforward, on purpose. I can’t think of another modern book quite like it. The Borrowers Afield, by Mary Norton, has something of the same matter-of-fact wonder and tone, which is an older book, while some of Pratchett’s Guards!Guards! humour, love it all, could have snuck in. Oh, and the original Beauty by Robin McKinley has something of the same flavour as A Turn of Light.
9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
A Turn of Light is the book it is because of our daughter, Jennifer. Not only was she the inspiration for Jenn Nalynn, but Jennifer read the manuscript for me as I wrote and was a huge help. (See #7)
10. What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
I loved playing with light, having it reveal what was magical within Marrowdell at sunset, using it as magic at other times. I love Wisp, my dragon. If you liked the dragon in Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. MacAvoy, well, you’ll like Wisp too. There’s romance aplenty and what I feel are whole and interesting “folks” to meet, but there’s also an underlying seriousness to some of their stories, as it should be. I’ve Aunt Sybb, who has a saying for any situation, and house toads, who strive tirelessly to matter. I’ve made Marrowdell into a place I think readers will want to stay a while. And they’ll get to -- the book is, coughs, almost a thousand pages long.
—
Now I have to tag 5 other authors for you to check out and enjoy—alas, with the busy time of year, I’ve only one, but a GEM, confirmed for next week’s a “The Next Big Thing” post next week on Wednesday 12th December. I hope to add a couple more later today so check back. Just click on the author’s name to go to their site:
• Doranna Durgin http://www.doranna.net/- author of pretty much everything, who writes everything well. I’m a huge fan. Right now she’s in the midst of writing her next shapeshifter romance for Harlequin Romance.
A Turn of Light
1. What is the working title of your next book?
A Turn of Light, coming from DAW Books March 2013. It’s written as if it’s the only one, but there’s now a series called Night’s Edge and I’m at work on A Play of Shadow, the next.
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
I’ve had the idea for over a decade, writing little notes about it in fountain pen, in a small notebook. I love reading fantasy -- always have -- but the notion of writing it was daunting. I love fantasy with lyrical language and a magical landscape that calls to me. Also, I wasn’t finding quite the sort of story I wanted. Romantic, fun, gentle. With wonder you wouldn’t expect.
Unlike my other stories, this one started with a girl, sitting in a meadow. I wrote a couple of paragraphs about her and her invisible companion, now part of the first chapter of Turn. So character came first. The story? Jenn Nalynn, the girl, longs to see the world beyond Marrowdell, the pastoral valley of her birth, but mustn’t ever leave. She was born at the turn of light and thus unknowingly and forever bound to the magical realm called the Verge. Her companion, Wisp, is a disgraced dragon from the Verge whose duty it is to kill her should she try. There’s a handsome stranger about to arrive who can see the truth. And toads. Jenn, being a determined young lady, manages to turn Wisp into a man, hoping a husband will convince her family she’d be safe away from home. All manner of problems ensue. There are letters. And pie.
And peril.
From the start, I wanted two things from A Turn of Light. To produce a heart-warming book worth rereading on those dull, rainy days, with a cup of cocoa. Oh, and to see if I could write fantasy at all. That was the hardest part.
3. What genre does your book fall under?
It’s light-hearted, romantic fantasy, set in a pioneer village. Other than that? I’m waiting for readers and reviewers to tell me, since I really don’t know. It’s not like other stories I’ve read -- which is why I wrote it, I suppose.
4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
I can’t say I’ve given this thought. Hmm. Bannan Larmensu could be played by Seamus Dever (from “Castle”). He has the eyes, and the ability to convincingly switch between fun/vulnerable to serious. Karl Urban would do a fine job too -- his “Bannan” would be different, but interesting. The other characters, including Jenn Nalynn? No idea. Maybe readers will help me there too!
5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Stardust meets Jane Austen.
St.
6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
A Turn of Light will be released in trade paperback and ebook by DAW Books, NY. It will also be published as an audiobook by Audible.com. We’re waiting to see, but rumour has it there’ll be other versions. Exciting times. Inquires on foreign rights should go to DAW; for film rights, them or directly to me. (Wouldn’t that be nice?)
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
A little longer than usual. I started writing September 28, 2009 and finished December 17th, 2011.
8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
None? Which isn’t helpful, I realize.
If you like Patricia McKillip’s way with words, which I do, very much, I hope some of Turn may remind you of her fine work. The Sorceress and the Cygnet. The Riddlemaster of Hed. etc. That said, I wrote about farmers and millers, so much of Turn is pretty earthy and straightforward, on purpose. I can’t think of another modern book quite like it. The Borrowers Afield, by Mary Norton, has something of the same matter-of-fact wonder and tone, which is an older book, while some of Pratchett’s Guards!Guards! humour, love it all, could have snuck in. Oh, and the original Beauty by Robin McKinley has something of the same flavour as A Turn of Light.
9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
A Turn of Light is the book it is because of our daughter, Jennifer. Not only was she the inspiration for Jenn Nalynn, but Jennifer read the manuscript for me as I wrote and was a huge help. (See #7)
10. What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
I loved playing with light, having it reveal what was magical within Marrowdell at sunset, using it as magic at other times. I love Wisp, my dragon. If you liked the dragon in Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. MacAvoy, well, you’ll like Wisp too. There’s romance aplenty and what I feel are whole and interesting “folks” to meet, but there’s also an underlying seriousness to some of their stories, as it should be. I’ve Aunt Sybb, who has a saying for any situation, and house toads, who strive tirelessly to matter. I’ve made Marrowdell into a place I think readers will want to stay a while. And they’ll get to -- the book is, coughs, almost a thousand pages long.
—
Now I have to tag 5 other authors for you to check out and enjoy—alas, with the busy time of year, I’ve only one, but a GEM, confirmed for next week’s a “The Next Big Thing” post next week on Wednesday 12th December. I hope to add a couple more later today so check back. Just click on the author’s name to go to their site:
• Doranna Durgin http://www.doranna.net/- author of pretty much everything, who writes everything well. I’m a huge fan. Right now she’s in the midst of writing her next shapeshifter romance for Harlequin Romance.
A Turn of Light
November 28, 2012
Author Tags Author!
Nothing's more fun than cheering on another author's "Next Big Thing" -- or more than one -- because hey, it's easier to do that for someone else.
Unless you count having other authors cheer on your "Next Big Thing" too!
Enjoy this week's at http://helenlowe.info/blog/2012/11/28...
Mine goes up December 5th. Most likely in here.
Cheers!!
Unless you count having other authors cheer on your "Next Big Thing" too!
Enjoy this week's at http://helenlowe.info/blog/2012/11/28...
Mine goes up December 5th. Most likely in here.
Cheers!!
November 19, 2012
Reading for the joy of it
Most of the time, I don't get to read as much as I'd like. Luckily, November has proven so far to be an exceptional reading month. Lucky me, I have a HUGE pile of great things waiting. If you check out my reviews, you'll see I've been busy. (And in case you wonder, it's not that I love every book, I simply won't bother commenting on a book I don't. Life's too short!)
Among my latest happy reading experiences this month? New work by Charles de Lint. Doranna Durgin's sizzling and fun Nocturne romances. Terrific younger adult books by Sean Williams and Garth Nix. I've discovered at long last the marvels of Violette Malan. Also read something not yet published but AWESOME! (One day I'm sure I'll be able to tell you about it.)
And the goodness isn't about to end. I've Tanya Huff's new fantasy, THE SILVERED on my desk. Oh look. An advance reading copy of Anne Bishop's WRITTEN IN RED.
I love my life.
Happy reading, folks!
Among my latest happy reading experiences this month? New work by Charles de Lint. Doranna Durgin's sizzling and fun Nocturne romances. Terrific younger adult books by Sean Williams and Garth Nix. I've discovered at long last the marvels of Violette Malan. Also read something not yet published but AWESOME! (One day I'm sure I'll be able to tell you about it.)
And the goodness isn't about to end. I've Tanya Huff's new fantasy, THE SILVERED on my desk. Oh look. An advance reading copy of Anne Bishop's WRITTEN IN RED.
I love my life.
Happy reading, folks!
October 31, 2012
Finding me at World Fantasy - and TREATS!
Hi Folks,
I'm off to World Fantasy in Toronto tomorrow. To find me? I've a reading at 11 am on Friday, but otherwise I'll be attending panels, hanging out with my model at the art show (yay!), or roaming the dealer's room. Feel free to come up and say hello.
Besides -- there are TREATS! Yes, I'll be bringing advanced bound reading copies of A TURN OF LIGHT to give away. Information on how you can go home with one of these GIANT beauties will be available at the Bakka-Phoenix Table, from me, and possibly at the art show too. (Not sure I can leave a little sign with the model, but I will if allowed.)
And I'll be giving out the first TURN bookmarks, lovely if I do say so, to any who'd like one. Don't hesitate to approach me, by the way. Not scary, am I, and I'm happy to sign books etc unless running for a bio break.
Looking forward to the convention very much.
See you there!
I'm off to World Fantasy in Toronto tomorrow. To find me? I've a reading at 11 am on Friday, but otherwise I'll be attending panels, hanging out with my model at the art show (yay!), or roaming the dealer's room. Feel free to come up and say hello.
Besides -- there are TREATS! Yes, I'll be bringing advanced bound reading copies of A TURN OF LIGHT to give away. Information on how you can go home with one of these GIANT beauties will be available at the Bakka-Phoenix Table, from me, and possibly at the art show too. (Not sure I can leave a little sign with the model, but I will if allowed.)
And I'll be giving out the first TURN bookmarks, lovely if I do say so, to any who'd like one. Don't hesitate to approach me, by the way. Not scary, am I, and I'm happy to sign books etc unless running for a bio break.
Looking forward to the convention very much.
See you there!
October 24, 2012
Page Proofs
Yay!! They've arrived!
I'm sure some here are wondering what I mean. I know I did, back when.
Page proofs may have evolved in format -- more on that later -- but the principle remains the same: pages as they will be printed are shown to the author. A last chance to catch authorly mistakes, yes, but mostly a chance to catch typesetting mistakes. For the people who make the physical book happen are not the people who read a word of it. They don't have time, nor are words their responsibility.
Important to know, that. Because words are the author's whole reason for being on the page.
The manuscript -- having been edited, revised, reviewed for fact if nec., copyedited for grammar and house style, and, with any luck, being complete and ready for press -- next goes to design. Font style and size. Page numbers. Headers, footers, title page, copyright page, chapter heads, any little dingbats for scenes. The way the material will appear to readers. This step matters whether ebook, billboard, or print book. The editor in charge and sometimes, not always, the author, will comment and ask for changes in the design if necessary. Sometimes marketing or another dept. weighs in. There are reasons YA books have the amount of white space between lines and words that an adult book does not etc. None of this, btw, requires reading a word.
Once the design has been approved, the book can go "to press." These days, we're talking (most often) about a digital file that will communicate with the printing presses, rather than type set by hand. Because yes, for my first books, each letter was set by hand.
We used to call "blues" the galley pages that were basically a first printing from the typeset, although authors would be sent white paper copies. (I was a production editor in a previous incarnation, so blues were my mainstay pre-fiction.)Today, it's simply a printout of the way each page will be printed.
Page proofs.
The task, for me as author and for my editor, is to ensure nothing's slipped up during the whole "no one's reading" part of the process. Things do. Over the years (and printers) I've seen the wrong author name on the headers, the same paragraph repeated in several odd locations, and my personal favourite, the text from the wrong book entirely, but with all the front parts the same. So this is a vital stage.
While software can do a great deal, there are also preferences to be applied. DAW (and I) don't like names to be split across lines or pages (and thus hyphenated). So those bad breaks are noted and will be fixed. Reading page proofs can also point out other embarrassing text problems. I just noticed I've overused "rebellion" on consecutive pages and need to replace one with another word of similar length. At this stage, changing a word can bump lines down and, worse, over a page break. When that leaves one line on a page and moves everything over? yuck!
The how of "marking up" proofs has changed greatly. I used to write on the pages in red, sign each page, then courier the originals (keeping a copy). Later, I wrote on the pages, scanned any with changes, made a summary list, and email the pdfs to the publisher.
Today? Still writing on the pages (it's important), but now I transcribe to a fabulously neat pdf with comments that automatically creates a list. Whew! All hail tech!
It's all worth it. Page proofs are my chance to reassure myself that yes, these are the words I meant to say and yes, they're all here. I've made notes of things to be VERY SURE were fixed and so far, all have been.
Best of all?
Page proofs are my last job. Once done, what comes next is hugging the real book.
Something I hope you're looking forward to as well.
(And, in the meantime, feel free to read A TURN OF LIGHT on my website. In raw manuscript, of course.)
Ta for now!
I'm sure some here are wondering what I mean. I know I did, back when.
Page proofs may have evolved in format -- more on that later -- but the principle remains the same: pages as they will be printed are shown to the author. A last chance to catch authorly mistakes, yes, but mostly a chance to catch typesetting mistakes. For the people who make the physical book happen are not the people who read a word of it. They don't have time, nor are words their responsibility.
Important to know, that. Because words are the author's whole reason for being on the page.
The manuscript -- having been edited, revised, reviewed for fact if nec., copyedited for grammar and house style, and, with any luck, being complete and ready for press -- next goes to design. Font style and size. Page numbers. Headers, footers, title page, copyright page, chapter heads, any little dingbats for scenes. The way the material will appear to readers. This step matters whether ebook, billboard, or print book. The editor in charge and sometimes, not always, the author, will comment and ask for changes in the design if necessary. Sometimes marketing or another dept. weighs in. There are reasons YA books have the amount of white space between lines and words that an adult book does not etc. None of this, btw, requires reading a word.
Once the design has been approved, the book can go "to press." These days, we're talking (most often) about a digital file that will communicate with the printing presses, rather than type set by hand. Because yes, for my first books, each letter was set by hand.
We used to call "blues" the galley pages that were basically a first printing from the typeset, although authors would be sent white paper copies. (I was a production editor in a previous incarnation, so blues were my mainstay pre-fiction.)Today, it's simply a printout of the way each page will be printed.
Page proofs.
The task, for me as author and for my editor, is to ensure nothing's slipped up during the whole "no one's reading" part of the process. Things do. Over the years (and printers) I've seen the wrong author name on the headers, the same paragraph repeated in several odd locations, and my personal favourite, the text from the wrong book entirely, but with all the front parts the same. So this is a vital stage.
While software can do a great deal, there are also preferences to be applied. DAW (and I) don't like names to be split across lines or pages (and thus hyphenated). So those bad breaks are noted and will be fixed. Reading page proofs can also point out other embarrassing text problems. I just noticed I've overused "rebellion" on consecutive pages and need to replace one with another word of similar length. At this stage, changing a word can bump lines down and, worse, over a page break. When that leaves one line on a page and moves everything over? yuck!
The how of "marking up" proofs has changed greatly. I used to write on the pages in red, sign each page, then courier the originals (keeping a copy). Later, I wrote on the pages, scanned any with changes, made a summary list, and email the pdfs to the publisher.
Today? Still writing on the pages (it's important), but now I transcribe to a fabulously neat pdf with comments that automatically creates a list. Whew! All hail tech!
It's all worth it. Page proofs are my chance to reassure myself that yes, these are the words I meant to say and yes, they're all here. I've made notes of things to be VERY SURE were fixed and so far, all have been.
Best of all?
Page proofs are my last job. Once done, what comes next is hugging the real book.
Something I hope you're looking forward to as well.
(And, in the meantime, feel free to read A TURN OF LIGHT on my website. In raw manuscript, of course.)
Ta for now!
