Christine Rains's Blog, page 119

Teaser Tuesday with Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!I've heard a lot of great things about Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor, and so far, they're all true. This is one of the most unique stories I've read in a while. I love the cast of characters and the strange fairy tale that Laini weaves.
Here's your teaser:
It seemed impossible that this was the final moment of her life. She cocked her head to the side, desperately searching his features for some hint of... soul... and then, she saw it. (page 97)

My workspace

I love getting a peek into other writers' lives and seeing where they write. I thought I'd share with you my recently reclaimed office (which still remains a game and storage room too). I like having a neat workspace. I usually have a big cup of water there on the desk as I write. My thesaurus is right beside the keyboard along with a notebook for my current project. The bright colors and frog have absolutely nothing to do with what I'm writing, but it's a cute notebook!

The room is small. It's 6 x 8, but it's a nice calming moss green and right across the hall from the bathroom. The window is to my back as I write. I love to look out the window, and it can get distracting if I'm facing it.

This is the side of the room to my right as I'm sitting in my chair. The walls are covered with invaluable works of art. The artist, my son, of course! There's two old "gaming TVs" on the dresser and some geeky card games. I have the collection of anthologies I have stories in, and in the frame to the right of the lamp there, if you can see it, it's the first dollar I made selling a story. It was a drabble, and I was proud to have made a buck. The dresser is full of stationary, notebooks, manuscripts, games, games, and more games. The closet to the left of me when I sit in the chair is full of boardgames.

Saturday Six for June 23rd

1. I didn't get a chance for a Friday Five yesterday, so I added one and made it a Saturday Six. I had a good reason for it, though. Cherie Reich's Women of Foxwick is an awesome collection of fantasy short stories. You can read my review here.

2. I took the plunge. I made a Facebook fan page and opened a Twitter account. Twitter is a bit overwhelming. I managed to link it to my fan page, so that a Twitter update goes on there too. My Goodreads is linked to Twitter which then goes on to Facebook. I need to find a way to link my blog, LinkedIn, and Google to it now too. I'm getting dizzy just thinking about this! Anyway, yes. Please like my page on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

3. I haven't done much writing at all this week. I've done a lot of networking research and creation. We'll count that as productive.

4. I edited my short story for this month and sent it to The World's Greatest Fantasy Writing Contest. My critique partners and my writing group liked it. My group agreed I needed to tighten the tension at the end. So I pulled the laces tight and cut out a bunch of words. Ouch.

5. My son is becoming more clearly introverted. I'm not surprised since my husband and I are introverts, but I had hoped that our son would have it a little easier. When we go places with a lot of people, he'll tell me there's "too many people" and ask to go home. He doesn't like share space with other people either. He'll go to the emptiest spot at the library, park or pool. I know how he feels, but it's going to be rough. I've been reading up on raising an introverted child. I hope I can do right by him. I don't want to traumatize him with any social situation as I was as a child, but I don't want him to miss out. I want him to understand there's nothing wrong with being an introvert. We're cool people too.

6. No plans for the weekend. Maybe a stop at the library and a walk in the woods. Have a good weekend, folks!

Review of Women of Foxwick

Blurb:Follow five women from Foxwick in this five-story fantasy collection by Cherie Reich.

A bard will lose her head, if she doesn't find the correct notes. A dragon seer must decide whether to betray her dragons or her fair kingdom. An assassin will journey to the Shadowlands to destroy Death. Twins are selected for the Mage Game, and a princess will journey to Valdale in search of the sorceress who can save Foxwick.

My review: 
Women of Foxwick is a collection of five fantastic tales in a world of beauty, magic, and danger. In "Lady Bard," Lyrica must play the right tune to free a prince from a curse or else both of them will lose their lives. A young and kind girl named Vesta is dragged before the fearsome Queen of Wintermill to serve her destructive will in "Dragon Seer." "Lady Death" brings us into the dark world of an assassin named Umbria and her quest to kill Death himself. The twin sisters in "Mage Game" are as close as can be, and with their amateur skills, they must fight for the possibility of a better life through a challenge issued by the king. Finally, in "Magic Seeker," a princess' compassion and mysterious aunt help her to find a sorceress who might be able to save her realm.


Cherie Reich has created a rich and wonderful fantasy world with Foxwick. The people, land, and creatures are fascinating. I love how she links a few stories together, and how this collection intricately weaves with the stories in Flashes of Foxwick . Yet these can very much be enjoyed as stand-alone stories. There's never a dull moment, and each story has its own undeniable source of tension that will insure you don't stop reading. Cherie's writing is natural, poetic, and fluid, and reminds me very much of Juilet Marillier's books.


My favorite story of the bunch is "Lady Death." It begins with a sword fight and a plea to save the King's wife and child. The only way to save the woman and baby who are beyond any mortal's help is to kill Death. Umbria, the assassin and King's sister, cannot refuse him. She travels to the Shadowlands and faces the ghosts of loved ones before she meets Death himself. There's a lot of intensity and emotion packed into this short story, and I found myself holding my breath near the end. I had no idea what was going to happen. No one can kill Death, right? You'll have to read it to find out Cherie's clever twist.


I highly recommend Women of Foxwick for those of you who love fantasy, and for excellently written strong heroines.


Women of Foxwick will be released on June 26th. That's only four days away!


Until then, you can pick up A to Z Flashes of Foxwick for FREE on Amazon.


Please visit Cherie Reich's blog and say hello!

Social media and time

I've been doing some research on social media lately and how to use it to my advantage without giving up too much more of my free time. I already put a lot of time into my blog and connecting with people through here. For me, this has been the most effective tool in making connections.

I have a Facebook account, but it's my personal account. I check it twice, maybe three times a day. It's mostly for keeping in contact with friends and family, and bragging about my kid. I'm planning to make one specifically for Christine Rains the Writer. I haven't decided if it's best to create a fan page or open a new account for this purpose. Have any of you had the experience of both? And if so, what's your preference? If you use Facebook at all, how often do you check fan pages as compared to accounts?

I don't have a Twitter account. I'm going to start one when I open the new Facebook account. I was never a fan of Twitter, but I do admit that it has a large following and it would be beneficial for me. I've read in a few places that for Twitter to be an effective marketing tool, you have to tweet at least 25 times a day, but no more than 35 or else people will get annoyed. That's a lot. I don't have the time to do it either. For those of you that use Twitter, have you found it helpful in marketing yourself?

I have LinkedIn and Google+ accounts, but I rarely use them. I really like Goodreads, but I haven't done any promoting on there. I just like seeing what people are reading and their reviews. I have no interest in MySpace. My husband suggested Digg (a social news website). He works with marketing at his company and Digg is growing.

Even if I signed up with various sites, I don't have the time to maintain them. I considered a social media management site like Hootsuite. I'm afraid that it might make it all more complicated. Does anyone use any type of social media management systems? If you do, what has your experience been like?

I realize it's important to get your name out there. There are a lot of opportunities to do so on the internet, but it takes time. Time that I don't have. Time I should be writing. And the most important thing I need to be doing as a writer is writing.

I'd also like to give a big thank you to Tara Tyler for awarding me the One Lovely Blog Award. She passed it on in such a clever way too!

Wicked Wednesday - writing a series

Many paranormal romances these days are series. They're the most popular. The fans are hungry for them, like ravenous vampires. Goodness knows I love them. I read them and write them. Yet it's important to remember a few things when starting to write a series.
First off, does your idea need more than one book? It has to be a pretty dang big idea. Don't stretch out something that could fit into one book. You'll bore your readers. Examples: each book in the series could have different narrators, or you could follow the protagonist through vampire slaying school going year by year.
Every book must be able to stand-alone. It must have a story that is unto itself, but then make a strong connection to the overall story of the series. It can get tricky, because you want to have an amazing story within each book but you want to take away from the overall story.
Give yourself a lot of wiggle room. This is in case you carry on the series longer than expected or if you have to end it sooner than you thought.
You don't have to do all your world building in the first book. That's the nice thing about writing series. You can start small and expand on your world as you go along.
Finally, make sure you're ready for the commitment. Writing a series can take years. Are you willing to devote that much time to one world? To a couple of characters? Know yourself. Know what kind of writer you are. IF you jump from idea to idea, a series isn't for you.
Do you enjoy reading series? Do you write stand-alone novels or series?

Teaser Tuesday with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and extra news

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!I've been wanting to read Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith for a while now. The concept is so much fun, but it's dry reading so far. It's basically about what you think it's about: Abraham Lincoln killing vampires. Everything's a vampire conspiracy in this book. I think this is one case where the movie will be better than the book.
Here's your teaser:
There was talk of shadowy madmen. Of foreign spies.
There was even talk of vampires. (page 23)

I have some extra good news for you!

Stephen Tremp is giving away his newest novel, Breakthrough: The Adventures of Chase Manhattan for FREE! It's the first book in the Chase Manhattan sci-fi thriller series, and it promises to start with a bang!  Click here to get your Kindle copy on Amazon. Did I mention it's free?!

Also, a wonderful short story anthology, Ocean Stories, is now available on Amazon and B&N. My horror story, "A Ticket on the Train" is one of the great tales in it. The editor is giving away five copies on Goodreads. Click here to sign up to win!

Interesting e-book market info

This is good news for those of you who have e-books or plan to have one out in the near future. Click the link to paidContent and their article, "What will the global e-book market look like by 2016?" As much as some of us love our paper books, the world is going digital.

The article basically states experts project "that e-books will make up 50% of the U.S. trade book market by 2016." The rest of the world isn't moving toward digital as fast as the U.S., but there's a slow rise in numbers. The same company also estimated that in the first quarter of this year, "around 30% of adults (in the U.S.) had at least one portable reading device."

It's getting easier to self-publish. There are more and more opportunities for writers to put themselves out there. Having a publisher is nice, but we aren't reliant on them any more.

I'll be giving it a try this year. I'm nervous, but it's exciting. What about you? Have you published an e-book and what has your experience been like? Do you plan to?

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the dads and like-dads!This is for doing the silly stufflike riding on giant bees at the park! And for holding hands to give a bit of help,or just because.Thank you for everything.
Thank you so very much to my husbandfor being such a fantastic father.
To my dad and granddad,I miss you.

Friday Five for June 15th

1. I had a dream the other night that I had a beard. Not a long one, but short and neatly trimmed. It was a brighter red than my hair. Everyone really loved the beard. I was also very feminine in the dream. I was model thin and wearing a red sundress. That bit takes away from the beard being the masculine part of myself interpretation, unless the masculine side of me is more feminine than I usually am. And that wouldn't be a stretch!
2. I have my writer's group meeting tomorrow. I always get nervous about it even though I've been with them for nearly a year now. They've taught me so much about critiquing. So I can suffer with being anxious because I'm better in the end for being a part of this group.
3. My sci-fi flash piece, "Red" was accepted by Pill Hill Press yesterday evening. It will be in their collection entitled DAILY FLASH 2013: 365 DAYS OF FLASH FICTION. Hmm, my dream about a red beard and a red sundress. Coincidence?
4. I haven't written anything new this week other than blog posts. Not through lack of inspiration, but lack of time. Perhaps I should cut back to only three a week (and any special news ones!) until I have more time when the school year starts.
5. Father's Day is this Sunday. I had my son make my husband a card, but my husband hasn't made up his mind what he wants to do yet. Are you doing anything special on Sunday?