Marissa Farrar's Blog, page 10
October 6, 2012
The Hardest Part about Writing a Series...
I'm now about two-thirds of the way through my final edits for the fourth book in the Serenity series, 'Dominion'. My editor already has the first half of the book and is working away on it, so I'm well on track to have the book out for the 30th October, as promised.With the end approaching, I have to admit that I'm nervous about the publication of this book. I was nervous about 'Captured' but 'Dominion' is even worse, nerve-wise. The reason for my nerves? Well I just don't want to let the readers down! There are so many readers who have been waiting months for this book and I want them to love it just as much as the others.
All too often the ratings for series books tend to go like this: first book has slightly lower ratings because the first book has weeded out all those people who didn't like the style or the storyline, or perhaps they found the main character annoying. That's fine, they just go on to read something different. Now the second and third books should have higher ratings. All those people who loved the first book have gone on to buy the next in the series and (hopefully) they love the books as much as they first.
But, what tends to happen in a series, is, as the series goes on the average ratings start to go down. People end up disappointed in the books. The characters start to get annoying, the storyline stale. THIS is what I'm most worried about.
As with each of my books, I've pushed the boundaries of paranormal romance in 'Dominion'. I've always had graphic violence, and yes, even horror in my books, and 'Dominion' is no different. I wanted to push the reader out of their comfort zone and I'm hoping they'll thank me for that in the end, leaving them with a story that will keep them thinking long after they finish.
Even so, I have to admit that the tradition of lower ratings the further on a series goes does leave me worrying. It's partly for this reason that only plan one more book in the series after 'Dominion' (though never-say-never!). I want people to finish the series wanting more, not wondering when the hell it will end.
Worries about people starting to dislike the books aren't my only reason for stopping the series at five books, of course. I already have another two series' planned - a Young Adult spin-off of the Serenity series, and another paranormal romance series, 'The Spirit Shifters'.
So I'm hoping everyone loves 'Dominion' as much as the first three books. I guess in a few weeks I know for sure!
September 29, 2012
My New Release - Underlife!
Today is the day, folks! 'Underlife,' the novel I started three years ago, is finally available to buy.
I got the idea for the novel during my years living in East London in my early twenties. On a journey on the London underground, I was waiting at a station for the next train. While waiting, I noticed someone had graffitied the wall with the words, ‘Help me.’ Straight away the thought of ‘what if that message was written for someone in particular’ came to me. What if people were trying to communicate with someone via these messages in order to tell them something? I’ve always found the London Underground to be a spooky, strange place and wanted to set a story in the location. There have been many nights when, after working until late at night, I’ve caught the last train home and have been inspired by the creepy atmosphere.Not long after seeing this message on the wall, I watched a documentary about the underground homeless in New York. Right away the two different ideas blended and the storyline for ‘Underlife’ was born.
Here's the blurb...
Thomas Young has no idea where he comes from. Found living on the streets as a child and put into foster care, he always dreamed of having a family of his own. Now a grown man, he has his much longed for family, but his life is tinged with sadness. His son, David, has leukaemia.
One night, as he's driving home from the hospital, he hits a homeless man, Mack, with his car. Mack knows Tom from his childhood and tells Tom he was once part of London's underground homeless and his son's leukaemia is not all it seems.
In a desperate bid to save his son's life, Tom heads down into the miles of abandoned tubes lines and stations. But he quickly discovers something far more sinister waits for him than the giant rats, drug addicts and fast trains. There is also something dark and shadowy, and it wants out...
Underlife is available to buy from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, and Smashwords. The book will be available on other sites such as Apple and Barnes & Noble very soon.
And if you'd like to 'try before you buy' you can get the prequel short story, 'Go Back' together with the first few chapters of Underlife, for free from numerous ebook stores such as Smashwords, Kobo, Barnes & Noble (currently still $0.99 on Amazon).
In other news, I know the majority of you are eagerly awaiting the publication of the next ‘Serenity’ book, ‘Dominion’. I’m thrilled to tell you that the first chapters have been sent off to my editor today, so the book is well on track for its predicted release at the end of October.
Enjoy everyone! I'm off to crack open a beer to celebrate!
I got the idea for the novel during my years living in East London in my early twenties. On a journey on the London underground, I was waiting at a station for the next train. While waiting, I noticed someone had graffitied the wall with the words, ‘Help me.’ Straight away the thought of ‘what if that message was written for someone in particular’ came to me. What if people were trying to communicate with someone via these messages in order to tell them something? I’ve always found the London Underground to be a spooky, strange place and wanted to set a story in the location. There have been many nights when, after working until late at night, I’ve caught the last train home and have been inspired by the creepy atmosphere.Not long after seeing this message on the wall, I watched a documentary about the underground homeless in New York. Right away the two different ideas blended and the storyline for ‘Underlife’ was born.
Here's the blurb...
Thomas Young has no idea where he comes from. Found living on the streets as a child and put into foster care, he always dreamed of having a family of his own. Now a grown man, he has his much longed for family, but his life is tinged with sadness. His son, David, has leukaemia.
One night, as he's driving home from the hospital, he hits a homeless man, Mack, with his car. Mack knows Tom from his childhood and tells Tom he was once part of London's underground homeless and his son's leukaemia is not all it seems.
In a desperate bid to save his son's life, Tom heads down into the miles of abandoned tubes lines and stations. But he quickly discovers something far more sinister waits for him than the giant rats, drug addicts and fast trains. There is also something dark and shadowy, and it wants out...
Underlife is available to buy from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, and Smashwords. The book will be available on other sites such as Apple and Barnes & Noble very soon.
And if you'd like to 'try before you buy' you can get the prequel short story, 'Go Back' together with the first few chapters of Underlife, for free from numerous ebook stores such as Smashwords, Kobo, Barnes & Noble (currently still $0.99 on Amazon).
In other news, I know the majority of you are eagerly awaiting the publication of the next ‘Serenity’ book, ‘Dominion’. I’m thrilled to tell you that the first chapters have been sent off to my editor today, so the book is well on track for its predicted release at the end of October.
Enjoy everyone! I'm off to crack open a beer to celebrate!
August 16, 2012
Are There Any Original Titles Left?
I'm currently doing final edits on my novel Underlife, which will be out in a couple of weeks, and then after that I'll be writing the final couple of chapters and starting edits for the fourth Serenity book, Dominion. But I've always been one to plan ahead!
I have a new series planned--a paranormal series based around spirit guides and the ability of their humans to shift into the shape of their animal. The series title will be 'The Spirit Shifters' (this met with polar responses when I first put it out there, but it fits the series best), but I'm struggling with a title for the first book.
I'm planning on writing this novel during NaNoWriMo. Because 50K in a month isn't much of a challenge to me (I write full time now and so producing 2K a day should be fairly easy if I've set my mind on something) I've decided to set myself the rough draft of the full novel (about 70K) as my NaNo goal.
I love writing, but I also like to write knowing what my book is as a whole. I'm not a huge plotter, but because I want to write this book as a series, I've found myself plotting more than normal. Of course this is not my first series. However, when I wrote Alone, it was only at the suggestion of my then publisher that I wrote book two. Book two ended in such a way that it was impossible not to write book three... and so the story continues.
This novel, however, will be a series, and I want to learn from mistakes I've made from NOT planning the Serenity series--such as certain 'world building facts' that have made certain plot lines difficult to work out. I'd like to put this planning into good use by also planning ahead to link the covers and the book titles.
The main reason for this post is that I'm struggling for a title for the first book, which ultimately makes it impossible for me to plan for any future books as well. It's not that I haven't thought of one--believe me, I have! Several in fact! But none of these titles are original and, even worse, some belong to series novels already.
So what do you think? Does a title need to be completely original, or is it okay if a couple of other books are named the same?
I have a new series planned--a paranormal series based around spirit guides and the ability of their humans to shift into the shape of their animal. The series title will be 'The Spirit Shifters' (this met with polar responses when I first put it out there, but it fits the series best), but I'm struggling with a title for the first book.
I'm planning on writing this novel during NaNoWriMo. Because 50K in a month isn't much of a challenge to me (I write full time now and so producing 2K a day should be fairly easy if I've set my mind on something) I've decided to set myself the rough draft of the full novel (about 70K) as my NaNo goal.
I love writing, but I also like to write knowing what my book is as a whole. I'm not a huge plotter, but because I want to write this book as a series, I've found myself plotting more than normal. Of course this is not my first series. However, when I wrote Alone, it was only at the suggestion of my then publisher that I wrote book two. Book two ended in such a way that it was impossible not to write book three... and so the story continues.
This novel, however, will be a series, and I want to learn from mistakes I've made from NOT planning the Serenity series--such as certain 'world building facts' that have made certain plot lines difficult to work out. I'd like to put this planning into good use by also planning ahead to link the covers and the book titles.
The main reason for this post is that I'm struggling for a title for the first book, which ultimately makes it impossible for me to plan for any future books as well. It's not that I haven't thought of one--believe me, I have! Several in fact! But none of these titles are original and, even worse, some belong to series novels already.
So what do you think? Does a title need to be completely original, or is it okay if a couple of other books are named the same?
August 8, 2012
August 5, 2012
Jumping Genres by Stacy Eaton - 'Whether I Live or Die' Blog Tour!
Today I'm thrilled to welcome Stacy Eaton to my blog. Stacy is a full time Police Officer, so she's able to write her fiction from a real hands on perspective.
Stacy has a couple of things in her fiction that tie into mine - her first novel 'My Blood Runs Blue' is a paranormal novel about both law enforcement and yes, you guess it, vampires! The second is that her latest novel, Whether I’ll Live or Die, which was released on July 13th, is a fictional story about a young woman named Amanda who deals with the pain and emotional issues of Domestic Violence. As most of you know, this was also the situation of my own main character, Serenity. Anyway, Stacy is here today to talk about jumping genres, so I'll shut the hell up and let her talk! Take it away, Stacy!
Jumping Genres by Stacy Eaton
I met Marissa Farrar after I read her novel “Alone”. A paranormal novel that I really enjoyed! The fact that it contained aspects of domestic violence really interested me too.
As a writer in the paranormal genre with two book published in the “My Blood Runs Blue” series, I jumped genres to write a more general drama fiction novel called “Whether I’ll Live or Die”. Some people don’t believe in genre jumping, but I actually enjoyed it!
Since my life as a police officer is filled with everyday drama, I enjoy writing in the paranormal world. Taking a step away from real life and adding in tidbits of fantasy helps me alleviate the stresses in my life. So why did I jump genres and write a general fiction novel when I am already known in the paranormal world? Because this story needed to be told… that’s why.
Marissa did a great job in her paranormal series weaving the victim of domestic violence into her story, and I have praised her both personally and publicly with reviews. I needed to take this topic a step further and dig deep to make sure that people understood the seriousness of this problem in today’s society.
I found that one of the biggest differences in writing the two different genres was keeping my mind in real life. Not adding bits of fantasy that are so regularly a piece of my thought process was a bit difficult at times, but this story is so intense and emotional that after I started moving through it, I never thought again about adding fantasy to it. This was a story that needed to be real, 100%!
There are some writers that don’t believe in jumping genres. They believe that you can only stay in one. To me that is saying, Hey… This is your ride at the amusement park, and I know when you are up at the top of your roller coaster, you can see all the rest of the rides, but you’re not allow to get on them. You have to stay here and keep riding this one.
Guess what… NOT! If I want to jump off this coaster and go jump on that twirling thing that spins me so fast I want to puke, then guess what I’m gonna do it! And guess what… I did!
Whether I’ll Live or Die is a very emotional and gripping story about Amanda, a young woman, who is pulled from one relationship to another, always looking for love, but finding abuse instead. As her years pass, the abuse because much harsher. Officer Nicole Nolan is a new police officer who has to learn the ropes of life on the streets and the legal ramifications of domestic violence in our society.
The story is intense… and there is one final destination, but will it be Life or Death?
As a paranormal fan, when was the last time you stepped off your roller coaster and tried a different ride? Don’t you think it might be time to try itThanks so much, Stacy! I know I'm a bit of a genre whore and not only write in different genres, but even in different names! It's a great way of stretching your writing muscles! I hope everyone will check Stacy's books out at Amazon: or Barnes & Noble:
You can find out more about Stacy by following these links to her Website: www.stacyeaton.com
Twitter: @StacySEatonBlog: http://stacyeatonauthor.blogspot.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stacy-Eaton/191880767522183Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4826711.Stacy_EatonVideo Trailer Link to You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg6hnujjhmk&feature=youtu.be
July 27, 2012
Gone Fishing!
The local beach in Chiclana, SpainNot literally, of course! No, instead I'm heading off at a ridiculously early hour tomorrow morning to catch a flight with my two girls over to my parents house in Spain. While there, I'm planning on lazing around by the pool, eating lots of tapas and drinking lots of Sangria, while my parents take care of my kids (I'm kidding, Mum, honest!).Last year, I took my laptop and only opened it once, so this year I'm leaving it at home. Instead, I'm taking my lovely kindle, which is currently crammed full of TBR books, and a brand new notepad. I'm planning on working out some details of a new series idea that has recently inspired me, and maybe even a short story or two!
As for the projects I'm leaving here, well I know everyone is waiting to hear news about the next Serenity book! The good news is that the first draft is almost done. I've literally just got the final few chapters to write. However, I don't plan on going back to the book until my next novel, Underlife, has been published. I want to be able to focus purely on the Serenity book and I've needed to spend the last month rounding off some open projects. I'm still on for an October release of Dominion though - so don't panic!
So I won't be around for a while, but I will still be checking in (yes, they do have the Internet in Spain!). Hope you all have a great couple of week - I know I will! :-)
July 23, 2012
My experience with Kobo Writing Life so far...
A few days ago, I wrote about how Kobo had launched its first e-book publishing platform - Writing Life -one that may eventually come to rival Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing. I was excited and eager to get my books up on the site as I love to see my books sales in 'real' time and not have to wait until Smashwords decides to report them.So, how have I been getting on?
The answer to this would be 'slowly.' It turns out my tried and trusted formatting for Smashwords doesn't work so well for the epub conversion on Kobo. Or at least it does... for some books... not so much for others. And considering all the books have been formatted in exactly the same way, I've no idea why this is! So, I've been playing around with different formatting, using 'Heading 1' to create an automatic TOC, but again, in some books this is working fine, in others it isn't! I'm sure the formatting experts around won't be struggling with this at all, but I'm finding it a bit of a head-ache.
Secondly, I'm finding the actual publishing process (that is, the time I've hit the publish button to when it actually appears on the site) to be very slow. Two of the books I already had published on Kobo (the Serenity series) and had removed by Smashwords, went up quickly, but a new book, which I published on Thursday, is still not showing on the site.
One final negative, before I start on the good stuff, is the lack of categories Kobo has available to choose from. For romance - which is the biggest genre out there - they only have four categories, and one of those isn't paranormal romance! Considering this is the second category in which I would normally place my vampire series (after Contemporary Fantasy) this leaves me in a bit of a quandary.
However, on a positive note, apart from the conversion issues (which are more due to my lack of knowledge than any fault of Kobo's) the upload process is pretty simple. And - the best part! - you are able to download the epub file to use as you wish, which is fantastic. I also like the ability to over-ride the automatic conversion price to either round up or round down in Hong Kong, and Australian, and New Zealand Dollars, among other currencies.
But here is the big thing, so far, sales have been (drum roll please) a big fat Zero! Now I admit I've only got a couple of books up so it isn't really a fair comparison, but considering my sales on Amazon, B&N, and Apple are easily enough for me to support my family on, not having sold anything yet is a little disappointing.
However, I'm planning on looking at this long term. Kobo are only just starting to build their own sales platform. If they're going to be the next big thing in self-publishing, I plan to be right there beside them!
July 16, 2012
Kobo's new 'Writing Life' Platform is Open for Business!
Just now I received the email to alert me, along with numerous other indie authors and publishers, that the new 'Writing Life' platform from Kobo is open for business! This platform has been heralded as the next big competitor to Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon) so I was keen to jump on board.
The first thing I did was register (a quick process) and then I went and removed all my books from the Kobo Smashwords channel. I've seen a few sales come through this channel, but Smashwords are so slow with upload and sales reporting, I'd much rather see the sales come in real time directly via Kobo.
Kobo are paying 70% royalties on higher priced books, so are a good competitor as far as comparing them to the other big publishers (Amazon pays 70%, but Barnes & Noble Pubit, only 60%). I believe they're also saying (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that they're happy for you to take their ePub conversions for you to sell and use as you wish. For me this is a big draw. I struggle with getting ePub files properly converted, and Smashwords doesn't allow you to use their conversions anywhere else.
Well it's ten-thirty at night here in the UK, so I don't intend on starting any uploads tonight. However, tomorrow I'm going to be getting right on it. I'll be sure to report back if their upload and conversion processes are as easy as I've heard from the hype!
The first thing I did was register (a quick process) and then I went and removed all my books from the Kobo Smashwords channel. I've seen a few sales come through this channel, but Smashwords are so slow with upload and sales reporting, I'd much rather see the sales come in real time directly via Kobo.
Kobo are paying 70% royalties on higher priced books, so are a good competitor as far as comparing them to the other big publishers (Amazon pays 70%, but Barnes & Noble Pubit, only 60%). I believe they're also saying (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that they're happy for you to take their ePub conversions for you to sell and use as you wish. For me this is a big draw. I struggle with getting ePub files properly converted, and Smashwords doesn't allow you to use their conversions anywhere else.
Well it's ten-thirty at night here in the UK, so I don't intend on starting any uploads tonight. However, tomorrow I'm going to be getting right on it. I'll be sure to report back if their upload and conversion processes are as easy as I've heard from the hype!
July 7, 2012
Manually Creating a Table of Contents for your eBook.
Creating a Table of Contents with active links in Word is actually pretty simple, but took me forever to figure out. It was only thanks to another author, Danielle Gavan, that the ball finally dropped, and then I wondered what all the fuss was about! I know there are ways to create a TOC using headings, etc. but this is simply the way I do it.
This is the one part of the document where I might use a 1.5 sentence line spacing instead of single.
1. Create a title: i.e. ‘Table of Contents’! Underline or make the title bold.2. Hit ‘return’ a couple of times. Type in your chapter numbers or titles, hitting return after each one.3. Go through your document and ‘bookmark’ each chapter title. You do this by clicking right before the chapter title, then going to the tool bar at the top and simply clicking ‘bookmark’. Don’t put a space in your bookmark name as the whole bookmark box will grey out. You also need to remember to bookmark your table of contents as ‘TOC’ so you can link back the chapters to the TOC.4. Go back to your TOC. Now you have all your chapters bookmarked, linking them is easy. Start at the top and work your way down. Select the chapter title in the TOC, so it is highlighted. Then right click and select ‘Add Hyperlink’. This will open another text box. Now select ‘add to place in this document’. All your bookmarks will pop up, so simply select the one that matches your chapter title. If it’s active, the link will turn blue and underlined. Hold down ‘ctrl’ and click on the link to make sure it takes you to the place in your document that you want it to!5. Repeat this for the whole of your Table of Contents.6. Now you want all of your chapters to link back to your TOC heading. Go through your document and on each chapter heading, select, then right click. Choose Hyperlink and link each chapter back to your bookmarked TOC heading. You can even use your newly created links to hop back and forth between your chapter titles and the table of contents so you don’t have to scroll through the document every time. After you click on the link, the colour of the link will change from blue to purple, but don’t worry, it doesn’t make any difference to how it works!7. Ta-da! Your Table of Contents is done!
This is the one part of the document where I might use a 1.5 sentence line spacing instead of single.
1. Create a title: i.e. ‘Table of Contents’! Underline or make the title bold.2. Hit ‘return’ a couple of times. Type in your chapter numbers or titles, hitting return after each one.3. Go through your document and ‘bookmark’ each chapter title. You do this by clicking right before the chapter title, then going to the tool bar at the top and simply clicking ‘bookmark’. Don’t put a space in your bookmark name as the whole bookmark box will grey out. You also need to remember to bookmark your table of contents as ‘TOC’ so you can link back the chapters to the TOC.4. Go back to your TOC. Now you have all your chapters bookmarked, linking them is easy. Start at the top and work your way down. Select the chapter title in the TOC, so it is highlighted. Then right click and select ‘Add Hyperlink’. This will open another text box. Now select ‘add to place in this document’. All your bookmarks will pop up, so simply select the one that matches your chapter title. If it’s active, the link will turn blue and underlined. Hold down ‘ctrl’ and click on the link to make sure it takes you to the place in your document that you want it to!5. Repeat this for the whole of your Table of Contents.6. Now you want all of your chapters to link back to your TOC heading. Go through your document and on each chapter heading, select, then right click. Choose Hyperlink and link each chapter back to your bookmarked TOC heading. You can even use your newly created links to hop back and forth between your chapter titles and the table of contents so you don’t have to scroll through the document every time. After you click on the link, the colour of the link will change from blue to purple, but don’t worry, it doesn’t make any difference to how it works!7. Ta-da! Your Table of Contents is done!
June 30, 2012
Formatting an eBook in Word - Creating a Clean Document.
This post is going to be the first in a number I plan to post on formatting in Microsoft Word. I know a lot of people who hate Word, but it’s the only thing I’ve ever used. I know nothing about any other formats! So far, I haven’t had any complaints about the formatting of my ebooks, and my books look good on my kindle, so I guess I’m doing something right! I hope this will be a simple explanation about how I do things and will be helpful to others. I'm the least technical person in the world, so if I can figure this one out, you should be able to as well!
1. If you’re unsure of your formatting from the start, or the document has been through a couple of different computers or editors, copy and paste the whole document into something like Word’s OneNote. This removes all the horrible little formatting issues (some of which may even be hidden when you have the formatting sign on) such as change in font sizes. These things ruin the look of your ebook.2. Copy and paste the cleared of formatting piece from OneNote back into a new Word document.3. Hit ‘Select All’ on the top tool bar.4. Decide which font you want to go with. I tend to use Georgia. So, with the ‘select all’ highlighting your document, choose the Georgia font (or whatever one you want).5. Again, with the whole of the document selected, right click and select ‘Paragraph’. Here you need to make a number of selections. Start at the top and work down. Check Alignment is ‘Left’. Check indentation is ‘0’ for both left and right. Choose Special, first line by ‘0.8cm’. (This is the indentation I prefer. You may want to make it bigger or smaller.) Line Spacing needs to be ‘Single’. (Again, some people prefer 0.5, but this is your choice). Finally, check the ‘Don’t add space between paragraphs’ box. Now hit ‘OK’.6. This should give you a good looking document with no nasty formatting surprises!7. Start to personalise your document. If you want certain things centered, you need to highlight that title and center it. Same with any changes in font, etc. If you want a line to be perfectly centered in the document, you need to right click and select ‘Paragraph’ again. This time make sure everything is the same as above, but change the ‘Special’ to ‘None’ and this will make it perfectly centered.
The next post will be on making your eBook look good on an e-reader, so stay tuned!
1. If you’re unsure of your formatting from the start, or the document has been through a couple of different computers or editors, copy and paste the whole document into something like Word’s OneNote. This removes all the horrible little formatting issues (some of which may even be hidden when you have the formatting sign on) such as change in font sizes. These things ruin the look of your ebook.2. Copy and paste the cleared of formatting piece from OneNote back into a new Word document.3. Hit ‘Select All’ on the top tool bar.4. Decide which font you want to go with. I tend to use Georgia. So, with the ‘select all’ highlighting your document, choose the Georgia font (or whatever one you want).5. Again, with the whole of the document selected, right click and select ‘Paragraph’. Here you need to make a number of selections. Start at the top and work down. Check Alignment is ‘Left’. Check indentation is ‘0’ for both left and right. Choose Special, first line by ‘0.8cm’. (This is the indentation I prefer. You may want to make it bigger or smaller.) Line Spacing needs to be ‘Single’. (Again, some people prefer 0.5, but this is your choice). Finally, check the ‘Don’t add space between paragraphs’ box. Now hit ‘OK’.6. This should give you a good looking document with no nasty formatting surprises!7. Start to personalise your document. If you want certain things centered, you need to highlight that title and center it. Same with any changes in font, etc. If you want a line to be perfectly centered in the document, you need to right click and select ‘Paragraph’ again. This time make sure everything is the same as above, but change the ‘Special’ to ‘None’ and this will make it perfectly centered.
The next post will be on making your eBook look good on an e-reader, so stay tuned!
