Rachel Haimowitz's Blog, page 23
November 4, 2010
OMGYAY! (Translantion: Counterpoint Now Available on Kindle!)
I suppose the title says it all on this one :) Counterpoint is now available on the Kindle.
I know a lot of you have been downloading the epub version from Guiltless Pleasure and converting it via Calibre or the like, and that does make for a very smooth and lovely reading experience on the Kindle. But if you've been waiting for Amazon's official version, this post is for you.
For those who are technically inclined to make the epub-to-Kindle conversion, I'd still encourage you to buy directly from the publisher's site because that gives you access to all sorts of extra goodies, but for many--myself included--I know nothing beats the ease and convenience of wireless whispernet magic :)
I know a lot of you have been downloading the epub version from Guiltless Pleasure and converting it via Calibre or the like, and that does make for a very smooth and lovely reading experience on the Kindle. But if you've been waiting for Amazon's official version, this post is for you.
For those who are technically inclined to make the epub-to-Kindle conversion, I'd still encourage you to buy directly from the publisher's site because that gives you access to all sorts of extra goodies, but for many--myself included--I know nothing beats the ease and convenience of wireless whispernet magic :)
November 2, 2010
Votetastic! (And a giveaway!)
A plug to my US peeps: no matter your party affiliation (or lack thereof), your thoughts on the state of our nation or the power (or lack thereof) of our government, I hope you'll go out and vote today. A participatory democracy can only work, after all, if we participate.
And since goodness knows that voting isn't always the most exciting thing in the world, let me spice it up. If you do vote today, come back and say "I voted!" in the comments section, along with your congressional district (but NOT who you voted for). I'll pick one of you at random tomorrow and send you a free book.
Good luck and happy voting!
And since goodness knows that voting isn't always the most exciting thing in the world, let me spice it up. If you do vote today, come back and say "I voted!" in the comments section, along with your congressional district (but NOT who you voted for). I'll pick one of you at random tomorrow and send you a free book.
Good luck and happy voting!
October 31, 2010
50% Off Sale at Fictionwise.com
For those of you who haven't heard, all books but those from Samhain Press are 50% off at Fictionwise today only. Use coupon code "spooky2010" to get the discount. Alas, Counterpoint isn't listed there, but tons of other great books are; I just bought about 30 of them that have been sitting on my TBR shelf for a while now.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
October 30, 2010
Extra(s), Extra(s)!
Apologies for my long silence here on GR, but I've been on vacation these last two weeks, resting and recharging my batteries for Book 2 of Counterpoint, on which I did a fair amount of writing while away.
Something fun for everyone happened while I was gone, though: my publisher put up a whole raft of extras for those who purchased the Counterpoint ebook or the print and ebook combo directly from the Guiltless Pleasure Publishing website. All you need to do is click the link and log in to see original concept cover art, trivia, and a bunch of deleted scenes. Be sure to check back often as more extras are added! And for those of you who did not purchase the Counterpoint ebook through GPP, here's a freebie (warning: spoilers ahead!):
***SPOILERS BELOW THIS LINE***
OUTTAKE: EATING STRAWBERRIES
An early "tender moment" between Ayden and Freyrík. This originally took place during their time together in the palace, before the arrival of the First Wife. Some parts of this scene have been reworked into a battlefield meal they now share toward the end of the war (with apples and honey instead of strawberries and cream).
Here's the original:
Lunch was a light and leisurely affair, three simple courses in the tiny trellised south corner of the bailey, red and pink and white and yellow roses blooming all up and down the latticework that hid their little table from curious eyes. For once, Freyrík did not feel the press of time as a great weight upon his chest; battle plans had been drawn and put into motion, his subjects had been heard, and preparation for Harvest Fest had already begun outside the castle curtains. He was content now to relax, to drink in the sun and the fresh air and the heady scent of a thousand flowers, to watch the bees floating in their clunky zigzags from one rose to the next . . . but only, of course, in those rare moments when he could pry his eyes from Ayden.
Ayden's focus seemed just as agreeably scattered as Freyrík's, and as he drew his attention to one thing or another, it seemed almost as if he were drawing its attention to him as well: a rose petal drifting onto his plate, a songbird perching on the arm of his chair, a ladybug crawling across his thumb. Even a dog showed up from somewhere—a ropy-haired, lap-sized creature that had presumably escaped from one of his cousins or nieces—and laid contentedly at Ayden's feet. Ayden fed it from his plate with the sort of wistful smile that made Freyrík wonder whether he had a pet of his own back home.
They finished their meal in amicable silence. Servants cleared their plates away, then brought out sliced strawberries and little bowls of cream and sugar to dip them in.
Ayden bit into one and made a noise that went straight to Freyrík's cock. "Gods," he said, eyes fluttering closed as he dipped another and popped it into his mouth. "I'd forgotten how good these are. Ours won't ripen for weeks yet."
"Yes, well," Freyrík cleared his throat, hooked his feet behind the legs of his chair lest he launch himself over the table and steal the next berry straight from Ayden's mouth with his tongue, "the Aegean empire is vast, and the southern climes are very different from our own. Trade thrives between our nation states."
Ayden licked a drop of cream off his finger, and Freyrík balled his fists into his thighs and spelled the names of all sixteen Aegean trade ministers backwards in his head until he no longer feared to pop the buttons on his breeches.
"So," he blurted when he was done, loud enough to startle Ayden . . .
Something fun for everyone happened while I was gone, though: my publisher put up a whole raft of extras for those who purchased the Counterpoint ebook or the print and ebook combo directly from the Guiltless Pleasure Publishing website. All you need to do is click the link and log in to see original concept cover art, trivia, and a bunch of deleted scenes. Be sure to check back often as more extras are added! And for those of you who did not purchase the Counterpoint ebook through GPP, here's a freebie (warning: spoilers ahead!):
***SPOILERS BELOW THIS LINE***
OUTTAKE: EATING STRAWBERRIES
An early "tender moment" between Ayden and Freyrík. This originally took place during their time together in the palace, before the arrival of the First Wife. Some parts of this scene have been reworked into a battlefield meal they now share toward the end of the war (with apples and honey instead of strawberries and cream).
Here's the original:
Lunch was a light and leisurely affair, three simple courses in the tiny trellised south corner of the bailey, red and pink and white and yellow roses blooming all up and down the latticework that hid their little table from curious eyes. For once, Freyrík did not feel the press of time as a great weight upon his chest; battle plans had been drawn and put into motion, his subjects had been heard, and preparation for Harvest Fest had already begun outside the castle curtains. He was content now to relax, to drink in the sun and the fresh air and the heady scent of a thousand flowers, to watch the bees floating in their clunky zigzags from one rose to the next . . . but only, of course, in those rare moments when he could pry his eyes from Ayden.
Ayden's focus seemed just as agreeably scattered as Freyrík's, and as he drew his attention to one thing or another, it seemed almost as if he were drawing its attention to him as well: a rose petal drifting onto his plate, a songbird perching on the arm of his chair, a ladybug crawling across his thumb. Even a dog showed up from somewhere—a ropy-haired, lap-sized creature that had presumably escaped from one of his cousins or nieces—and laid contentedly at Ayden's feet. Ayden fed it from his plate with the sort of wistful smile that made Freyrík wonder whether he had a pet of his own back home.
They finished their meal in amicable silence. Servants cleared their plates away, then brought out sliced strawberries and little bowls of cream and sugar to dip them in.
Ayden bit into one and made a noise that went straight to Freyrík's cock. "Gods," he said, eyes fluttering closed as he dipped another and popped it into his mouth. "I'd forgotten how good these are. Ours won't ripen for weeks yet."
"Yes, well," Freyrík cleared his throat, hooked his feet behind the legs of his chair lest he launch himself over the table and steal the next berry straight from Ayden's mouth with his tongue, "the Aegean empire is vast, and the southern climes are very different from our own. Trade thrives between our nation states."
Ayden licked a drop of cream off his finger, and Freyrík balled his fists into his thighs and spelled the names of all sixteen Aegean trade ministers backwards in his head until he no longer feared to pop the buttons on his breeches.
"So," he blurted when he was done, loud enough to startle Ayden . . .
October 14, 2010
Writing Tools
I've been having some fascinating talks about writing with Aleksandr Voinov lately, and one of our recurring topics has been the research writers do (or don't do, or don't but should do) for a book. That got me to thinking about some of the tools I used to research Counterpoint--some of which I literally had open on my desktop for six straight months--and I thought I'd share some here for the writers among us.
1. The MVP of Counterpoint was the Online Etymology Dictionary. Given the texture and music of the book, I decided early on not to use any words that haven't been in circulation since at least the 1600s--with, I believe, two exceptions (Challenge: see if you can identify the exceptions!). Conservatively, I looked up a thousand words there. One of the more common editing notes on Counterpoint ended up being "etymo!fail," which was shorthand for "this word's too new; find another one." Oh, how frustrating that could be :p
Anyway, this is a great resource for anyone, even if you're not constraining your language like I did. It's a ton of fun (for word geeks like me, anyway) just to see where your favorite words come from and how they've been used throughout the years. Sometimes that even helps you to understand their nuance better. Check it out!
2. Another critical--and useful-to-everyone--site for Counterpoint was Thesaurus.com. I think this one's self-explanatory :)
3. A third site I visited often was the Norse-English Online Dictionary. Elves are a part of Norse mythology, and I went back to their roots to name people and places and create the slang of this world.
This probably won't be of any specific help to most of you, but it's good just to know that these kinds of resources are out there, for whenever you have a need for any foreign language (even dead ones :p).
4. Rooms In a Medieval Castle was also useful for helping to set the scene. I visited a number of other similar sites to paint the most complete picture I could, and I highly recommend that anyone working in this sort of setting pursue similar resources.
5. Since music was such an important part of Counterpoint's world, I bookmarked this Wikipedia page, and I visited it often. Even though I've been singing all my life, sometimes professionally, I still found this site to be useful, as I don't have much formal music training.
6. Speaking of Wikipedia, this one was invaluable too for determining the roles and titles of castle staff and courtiers. So was this one. And so were a great many of the links found on both of those pages.
Well, that about covers it! If you're giving some websites a workout in the process of your own writing, share the links in the comments!
1. The MVP of Counterpoint was the Online Etymology Dictionary. Given the texture and music of the book, I decided early on not to use any words that haven't been in circulation since at least the 1600s--with, I believe, two exceptions (Challenge: see if you can identify the exceptions!). Conservatively, I looked up a thousand words there. One of the more common editing notes on Counterpoint ended up being "etymo!fail," which was shorthand for "this word's too new; find another one." Oh, how frustrating that could be :p
Anyway, this is a great resource for anyone, even if you're not constraining your language like I did. It's a ton of fun (for word geeks like me, anyway) just to see where your favorite words come from and how they've been used throughout the years. Sometimes that even helps you to understand their nuance better. Check it out!
2. Another critical--and useful-to-everyone--site for Counterpoint was Thesaurus.com. I think this one's self-explanatory :)
3. A third site I visited often was the Norse-English Online Dictionary. Elves are a part of Norse mythology, and I went back to their roots to name people and places and create the slang of this world.
This probably won't be of any specific help to most of you, but it's good just to know that these kinds of resources are out there, for whenever you have a need for any foreign language (even dead ones :p).
4. Rooms In a Medieval Castle was also useful for helping to set the scene. I visited a number of other similar sites to paint the most complete picture I could, and I highly recommend that anyone working in this sort of setting pursue similar resources.
5. Since music was such an important part of Counterpoint's world, I bookmarked this Wikipedia page, and I visited it often. Even though I've been singing all my life, sometimes professionally, I still found this site to be useful, as I don't have much formal music training.
6. Speaking of Wikipedia, this one was invaluable too for determining the roles and titles of castle staff and courtiers. So was this one. And so were a great many of the links found on both of those pages.
Well, that about covers it! If you're giving some websites a workout in the process of your own writing, share the links in the comments!
October 6, 2010
Last Day to Win a Free Copy of Counterpoint
Howdy folks. Just a quick reminder that tomorrow at 7PM CDT is the last opportunity to enter the drawing for a free ebook copy of Counterpoint.
You can enter at the Stumbling Over Chaos blog (www.stumblingoverchaos.com/archives/9550) by leaving a comment on the post. It's that simple :)
Oh, and while you're there, be sure to poke around the site. It's good fun, with lots of other free ebook drawings, industry news, and of course cat pictures, because no corner of the internet would be complete without them :D
Good luck to all!
You can enter at the Stumbling Over Chaos blog (www.stumblingoverchaos.com/archives/9550) by leaving a comment on the post. It's that simple :)
Oh, and while you're there, be sure to poke around the site. It's good fun, with lots of other free ebook drawings, industry news, and of course cat pictures, because no corner of the internet would be complete without them :D
Good luck to all!
September 30, 2010
Free Ebook Giveaway!
Short and sweet today . . .
The lovely folks over at Stumbling Over Chaos are hosting a giveaway of Counterpoint, courtesy of Guiltless Pleasure Publishing! You can enter the contest here just by commenting on the blog post. Good luck :)
The lovely folks over at Stumbling Over Chaos are hosting a giveaway of Counterpoint, courtesy of Guiltless Pleasure Publishing! You can enter the contest here just by commenting on the blog post. Good luck :)
September 28, 2010
Happy BD to Me, a Present for All of You!
Yes, it's BD time. And no, not the fun latex-and-leather kind of BD, but rather the one where I'm officially 33 today. (Though if anyone wants to lend me their hot leather slave for the party, I certainly wouldn't say no :D)
My wonderful publisher is helping to celebrate the day by offering all you great folks here on Goodreads a $3 coupon for the Counterpoint book-and-ebook combo. (Regular price for the combo is $17.95; with the coupon it will be $14.95.) That's like buying the print book at regular price and getting the ebook (in the file format of your choice) plus online book access for free! So if you were contemplating buying the trade paperback, now's the perfect time to do it; and if you were contemplating buying the ebook, you can get that plus the paperback for only $5 more!
The coupon code is RACHELBD2010 and is good until October 10. Enjoy!
My wonderful publisher is helping to celebrate the day by offering all you great folks here on Goodreads a $3 coupon for the Counterpoint book-and-ebook combo. (Regular price for the combo is $17.95; with the coupon it will be $14.95.) That's like buying the print book at regular price and getting the ebook (in the file format of your choice) plus online book access for free! So if you were contemplating buying the trade paperback, now's the perfect time to do it; and if you were contemplating buying the ebook, you can get that plus the paperback for only $5 more!
The coupon code is RACHELBD2010 and is good until October 10. Enjoy!
September 23, 2010
Harsh Truths . . .
I created a page on AuthorsDen.com the other day, and one of the things they ask for is a personal slug--and no, not those slimy-adorable little mollusks. A slug is a summary headline, 15 to 25 words, the kind of thing you'd write to lead off an online dating profile (you know . . . "Single white dominant female, 33, ISO submissive male to take beatings for her pleasure and manage social media campaign for her new book" :-p).
I thought quite long and hard (sigh, mind goes instantly to gutter there) about it. After all, this is the first thing people see, the only space I have to convince them that my profile, and Counterpoint, are worth clicking on. So what did I end up choosing? A harsh truth:
"Here's hoping I'll never meet one of my characters in a dark alley; they have every reason to hate me, the poor dears."
:D
So, who else is that true for? (Aside from Stephen King.) Would your characters all hate you? :)
I thought quite long and hard (sigh, mind goes instantly to gutter there) about it. After all, this is the first thing people see, the only space I have to convince them that my profile, and Counterpoint, are worth clicking on. So what did I end up choosing? A harsh truth:
"Here's hoping I'll never meet one of my characters in a dark alley; they have every reason to hate me, the poor dears."
:D
So, who else is that true for? (Aside from Stephen King.) Would your characters all hate you? :)
September 18, 2010
Book 2 Has Begun!
Greetings all, and thanks so much for checking me out following me here on Goodreads :)
Just a quick note to share my joy with you all: after many a long discussion with my editor on the direction of the sequel to Counterpoint, I finally sat down today and wrote the first scene. It felt great to get back to Ayden and Rik, their banter, the flow of the language and the world's unique expletives . . . I was even geeking out over once more having the etymology dictionary open nonstop on my desktop.
Perhaps what I'm most looking forward to as I complete the chapter is painting a whole new setting. I'll not spoil it for anyone, but those of you who've finished Counterpoint know what I'm talking about. Now off to watch The Tudors to get in the mood!
Just a quick note to share my joy with you all: after many a long discussion with my editor on the direction of the sequel to Counterpoint, I finally sat down today and wrote the first scene. It felt great to get back to Ayden and Rik, their banter, the flow of the language and the world's unique expletives . . . I was even geeking out over once more having the etymology dictionary open nonstop on my desktop.
Perhaps what I'm most looking forward to as I complete the chapter is painting a whole new setting. I'll not spoil it for anyone, but those of you who've finished Counterpoint know what I'm talking about. Now off to watch The Tudors to get in the mood!
