Chris Strange's Blog, page 2
November 15, 2014
Nominations for the 2015 Sir Julius Vogel Awards are open!
Nominations for the 2015 Sir Julius Vogel Awards, New Zealand’s premier science fiction and fantasy awards, are now open!
Since my novel Mayday: A Kaiju Thriller was released in 2014, it is eligible for the Best Professional Novel category. But to get on the voting ballot I need your help!
If you read and enjoyed Mayday, I’d really appreciate it if you could take the time to send in an email nomination. You don’t have to be a New Zealander to make a nomination — the SFFANZ accepts nominations f...
October 31, 2014
5 Tips for Kicking Ass This NaNoWriMo
Welcome to Hell, boys and girls.
Today is the first day of NaNoWriMo. And if you’re signed up, you’ve got a long, crazy, awesome journey ahead of you.
To kick start you on your way, here’s a few tips that’ll help you have fun and avoid frustration this November.
1. Back Up Your Work
If you take one thing away from this post, make it this. Back up your novel. Do it every day. There is nothing more crushing than seeing three weeks of hard work and creativity go down the drain because you didn’t ba...
October 22, 2014
The Road to NaNoWriMo: Novel Prep (Part 2: Plot)
Welcome back to my series on NaNoWriMo preparation. Last time, we talked about planning out your characters before you start writing. Today, let’s look at a method for creating a basic plot outline for your novel.
Remember, this is just one possible way of outlining your novel. I think it’s a pretty good method, both for newbies and experienced writers. I’ve been using it myself more and more. But in the end, only you can figure out how you write best. Take what works, and leave what doesn’t.
I...
October 14, 2014
The Road to NaNoWriMo: Novel Prep (Part 1: Character)
November creeps ever closer, and with it comes that great and terrible event, NaNoWriMo.
Last time we discussed ways of generating story ideas. As we continue this series of posts about preparing for NaNoWriMo, we’re going to start getting our hands dirty, putting those ideas to use.
Loosely speaking, there are two ways of writing a book. The first is called discovery writing, or pantsing (as in: writing by the seat of your pants). With this method, a writer starts writing the book with little...
October 9, 2014
The Road to NaNoWriMo: What the Hell Am I Going to Write About?
So you signed up for NaNoWriMo (or you’re thinking about it). Now you have to figure out what you’re actually going to write about.
If you already have your story ready to go, great! But if you’re not quite there yet, I’m going to offer you a few tips for coming up with ideas and testing them for use in a novel.
The Three Questions
By the time November 1st rolls around there are only three questions you need to be able to answer, and they’re all pretty simple.
Who is your main character?
What do t...
October 1, 2014
Ever wanted to write a book? Join NaNoWriMo.
In one month’s time, half a million of the bravest and craziest people from around the world will participate in what is quite possibly the greatest writing event in the history of mankind: NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).
Most of these people aren’t professional writers. They’re just average folks of questionable sanity who thought it might be fun to write a book.
Each year, NaNoWriMo participants commit to writing 50,000 words of fiction between 12:01am on November 1st and midnight N...
May 23, 2014
Book Gems on Kobo Writing Life
My hardboiled urban fantasy, The Man Who Crossed Worlds, just got a mention on the latest Kobo Writing Life blog post, courtesy of the brilliant Maria Schneider of Bear Mountain Books.
Check the link if you’re looking for some more fantastic fantasy or mystery reads.
http://kobowritinglife.com/2014/05/23/book-gems/
May 20, 2014
Godzilla 2014 – My Thoughts
First up, my thanks to eBookSoda, who are featuring Mayday today. They’re a great little readers’ site like BookBub where they send you ebook recommendations tailored to your taste. www.ebooksoda.com. Check them out if you’re after some cheap books!
Now, onto my thoughts about Godzilla 2014. Minor spoilers ahead!
Oh man. It’s been a long time since there was a movie to split the kaiju fanbase like Godzilla 2014. For some people, it was the big budget version of the King of the Monsters they’d a...
May 15, 2014
MAYDAY: A KAIJU THRILLER is now available!
I’m very excited to announce that my hardboiled/giant monster mashup novel, Mayday: A Kaiju Thriller, is now available! If you’re excited about the new Godzilla movie, this is the book for you. It’s available right now in ebook forms on Amazon, Kobo, Apple, and Smashwords. Barnes and Noble are dragging their feet, but it should be up there within a few days. And if you prefer to read in paper, the paperback is also available on Amazon.
As a special thank you to all you fantastic folks, the ebo...
May 7, 2014
MAYDAY: A KAIJU THRILLER is coming May 16th 2014!
My giant monster/hardboiled detective mashup novel is about to be released! Get hyped!
For the first week or so, MAYDAY will be heavily discounted–my way of saying thanks to all you awesome folks. If you don’t want to miss the special price, sign up for my New Release Email List and I’ll send you an email as soon as the book is available.
Want a Free Review Copy of MAYDAY?
If you’ve ever reviewed one of my books before, either on your blog, a dedicated review site, Goodreads, or a storefront lik...
