D.D. Chant's Blog, page 8
April 13, 2013
Update Time!
So I think it's time for a quick update!
First of all just to let everyone know that Momma Says Read is having a HUGE book giveaway to celebrate launching it's new site. Free copies of 'Broken City, The Promise and Fracture are up for grabs so don't miss out!!! ;-P The link is below.
Momma Says Read
Next 'The Promise' is currently 25th in historical romance on wattpad and 49th in the watty awards!!! I'm super excited about that!
I'm 10.000 words in to 'The Vow' and things are hotting up!!! I've already made a few changes to how I *thought* the story was going to go and I'm having fun introducing Rafe's mother and sisters into the story. Finan is turning out to be a hard man to thrust into the spotlight, but I'm going to manage it despite his reluctance to take centre stage!
Broken City received another 5* review from Cyristal at Books Are Sanity. This has given me a huge boost as she says that she's dying to review Broken Truce the second it's finished!
Fracture received a 4* review from Emily at Musings From An Addict Reader. Launching a new book is always a slow process but I think it's starting to get easier, I have a few reviews yet to come.
Must love you and leave you because The Vow awaits and I left Finan in a decidedly sticky situation, now I've got to get him back out of it!!! ;-P
Have a good weekend, people!!! ;-D
First of all just to let everyone know that Momma Says Read is having a HUGE book giveaway to celebrate launching it's new site. Free copies of 'Broken City, The Promise and Fracture are up for grabs so don't miss out!!! ;-P The link is below.
Momma Says Read
Next 'The Promise' is currently 25th in historical romance on wattpad and 49th in the watty awards!!! I'm super excited about that!
I'm 10.000 words in to 'The Vow' and things are hotting up!!! I've already made a few changes to how I *thought* the story was going to go and I'm having fun introducing Rafe's mother and sisters into the story. Finan is turning out to be a hard man to thrust into the spotlight, but I'm going to manage it despite his reluctance to take centre stage!
Broken City received another 5* review from Cyristal at Books Are Sanity. This has given me a huge boost as she says that she's dying to review Broken Truce the second it's finished!
Fracture received a 4* review from Emily at Musings From An Addict Reader. Launching a new book is always a slow process but I think it's starting to get easier, I have a few reviews yet to come.
Must love you and leave you because The Vow awaits and I left Finan in a decidedly sticky situation, now I've got to get him back out of it!!! ;-P
Have a good weekend, people!!! ;-D
March 25, 2013
Big News!!!
DeeDee has finished the first draft of Broken City 2!
I can't believe it, and I'm terribly excited about the whole thing! I still have to edit but just for now I'm wallowing in that just finished feeling of smugness!
I was rather surprised by how the story has turned out, only 1/3 is told from Deeta's POV and the rest is in the third person. We get to know Tom's brothers much better, particularly Jayden and Cayden, the twins. Deeta's has also changed a lot since the first book, she's no longer so trusting, she's grown up and developed a side to her character that she is a little scared of.
But no more spoilers!
Here is the synopsis for the book, I hope it grabs your interest!
Life isn't turning out the way that Deeta thought it would. With the Lewises defeated and peace between the tribes, she had believed that the dark times were a thing of the past.
But troubles between the tribes continue, and the Andak council have selected Tom as their ambassador and spokesman to the other tribes.
Deeta knows that there is still much resentment against the Andak, and that Tom is in danger every time he leaves the safety of Andak City.
Struggling with her own complicated feelings against the tribe that she is now a part of, Deeta tries to ignore the changing attitudes growing within her.
But when Tom is betrayed and they are thrust into great danger, Deeta finds that reality can't be ignored forever.
Now I just have to settle on a title!
I can't decide whether to stick to something plain: Broken City 2.
Or whether to enlarge on the 'Broken' theme: Broken Truce.
Or maybe just combine the two: Broken City: Truce.
Decisions, decisions!!!
Thanks for reading!
I can't believe it, and I'm terribly excited about the whole thing! I still have to edit but just for now I'm wallowing in that just finished feeling of smugness!
I was rather surprised by how the story has turned out, only 1/3 is told from Deeta's POV and the rest is in the third person. We get to know Tom's brothers much better, particularly Jayden and Cayden, the twins. Deeta's has also changed a lot since the first book, she's no longer so trusting, she's grown up and developed a side to her character that she is a little scared of.
But no more spoilers!
Here is the synopsis for the book, I hope it grabs your interest!
Life isn't turning out the way that Deeta thought it would. With the Lewises defeated and peace between the tribes, she had believed that the dark times were a thing of the past.
But troubles between the tribes continue, and the Andak council have selected Tom as their ambassador and spokesman to the other tribes.
Deeta knows that there is still much resentment against the Andak, and that Tom is in danger every time he leaves the safety of Andak City.
Struggling with her own complicated feelings against the tribe that she is now a part of, Deeta tries to ignore the changing attitudes growing within her.
But when Tom is betrayed and they are thrust into great danger, Deeta finds that reality can't be ignored forever.
Now I just have to settle on a title!
I can't decide whether to stick to something plain: Broken City 2.
Or whether to enlarge on the 'Broken' theme: Broken Truce.
Or maybe just combine the two: Broken City: Truce.
Decisions, decisions!!!
Thanks for reading!
March 13, 2013
What's In A Name?
What's in a name? That which we call a rose,
by any other name would smell as sweet.
At least that’s what Will Shakespeare tells us, but is it really true??? L.M. Montgomery protests in Anne of Green Gables that if a Rose were called a skunk cabbage it couldn’t possibly smell so sweet.
I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
I know what you’re wondering: where is she going with this? I know she has ‘Random’ in the title of the blog but there are limits!!!
I promise I have a point, so stick with me!
Yesterday I watch ‘John Carter’. If you haven’t seen this film I’d like you to stop here and think about the genre that title inspires in your mind…
…
…
…
…
Got it? Good!
Now when I heard the title I was immediately resistant to watching the film: to me it sounded like a 70's thriller full of ugly people in grungy, seedy settings discovering all manner of filthy scandals in an underworld setting.
What did it bring to your mind? I’d love to know so please leave a comment in the comment box bellow!
Anyway, back to ‘John Carter’. It turned out that this film was set during the American civil war and had the titular hero transported to Mars where, due to the difference in gravity, he is able to jump like the hulk! Imagine my surprise!!! Add a heroine that strides about in very little and wields a sword and I think you’ve pretty much got every angle covered.
That sounds like something I could be entertained by!!!
The story is told in flashback as John Carter’s (who is now deceased) nephew Edger Rice Burroughs reads the diary his uncle left him, the diary details an incredible story that has his uncle the savior of an alien planet, Mars to be exact. We learn that poor old John, filled with fervor for a just cause, signed up for the army and left his family (wife/daughter) only for them to be killed. Now John has no hope left and no meaning to his life, and this is when he gets transported to Mars.
And that is as far as I’m going to ‘spoil’ it for you!
Now back to my original point: ‘John Carter’ tanked at the box office and I can’t help thinking that the title was part of the problem.
Is this the best film ever made?
No of course not! That would be ‘Thor’! ;-P
Was it a clever commentary on corruption and the blame culture in our society that left the audience deep in thought?
Did you read the synopsis???
The heroine wears a form fitting armor bustier! Of course it wasn’t!
Was it fun?
Yes! It was huge fun! Just because it wasn’t ‘serious’ or ‘deep’ it doesn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable.
Was Batman Begins/Knight/Rises ‘serious’? Was the Avengers ‘deep’?
Of course they weren’t, characters can’t (no matter how hard they try) make pertinent points when wearing Lycra and pleather!
But I think that the target audience heard the name and thought ‘sounds like a boring film’ and all those people that like deep and serious went and watched it and got... well... fluff!
I could be wrong, but somehow I don’t think so.
Think about the names of hero/heroines in stories. How many times have you heard someone say:
1. Oh yeah! I loved that book, but the hero’s name just made me cringe! Who would call their hero that???2. Oh yeah! But the heroine had a weird name; does anyone even know how to pronounce it???
I think names make a HUGE difference: they give you an idea of genre, time period, characteristics and so on. And, a the beginning of a book, when you know nothing about the characters you can find yourself drawn to a character purely because their name sounds like a 'good' name and disliking a character because they have a 'baddie's' name.
Or is this just me???
As for John Carter, I liked it a lot. I would watch it again, if there was a sequel I'd watch that too (they left room for one). I do think James Purefoy kinda stole the film though...
by any other name would smell as sweet.
At least that’s what Will Shakespeare tells us, but is it really true??? L.M. Montgomery protests in Anne of Green Gables that if a Rose were called a skunk cabbage it couldn’t possibly smell so sweet.
I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
I know what you’re wondering: where is she going with this? I know she has ‘Random’ in the title of the blog but there are limits!!!
I promise I have a point, so stick with me!
Yesterday I watch ‘John Carter’. If you haven’t seen this film I’d like you to stop here and think about the genre that title inspires in your mind…
…
…
…
…
Got it? Good!
Now when I heard the title I was immediately resistant to watching the film: to me it sounded like a 70's thriller full of ugly people in grungy, seedy settings discovering all manner of filthy scandals in an underworld setting.
What did it bring to your mind? I’d love to know so please leave a comment in the comment box bellow!
Anyway, back to ‘John Carter’. It turned out that this film was set during the American civil war and had the titular hero transported to Mars where, due to the difference in gravity, he is able to jump like the hulk! Imagine my surprise!!! Add a heroine that strides about in very little and wields a sword and I think you’ve pretty much got every angle covered.
That sounds like something I could be entertained by!!!
The story is told in flashback as John Carter’s (who is now deceased) nephew Edger Rice Burroughs reads the diary his uncle left him, the diary details an incredible story that has his uncle the savior of an alien planet, Mars to be exact. We learn that poor old John, filled with fervor for a just cause, signed up for the army and left his family (wife/daughter) only for them to be killed. Now John has no hope left and no meaning to his life, and this is when he gets transported to Mars.
And that is as far as I’m going to ‘spoil’ it for you!
Now back to my original point: ‘John Carter’ tanked at the box office and I can’t help thinking that the title was part of the problem.
Is this the best film ever made?
No of course not! That would be ‘Thor’! ;-P
Was it a clever commentary on corruption and the blame culture in our society that left the audience deep in thought?
Did you read the synopsis???
The heroine wears a form fitting armor bustier! Of course it wasn’t!
Was it fun?
Yes! It was huge fun! Just because it wasn’t ‘serious’ or ‘deep’ it doesn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable.
Was Batman Begins/Knight/Rises ‘serious’? Was the Avengers ‘deep’?
Of course they weren’t, characters can’t (no matter how hard they try) make pertinent points when wearing Lycra and pleather!
But I think that the target audience heard the name and thought ‘sounds like a boring film’ and all those people that like deep and serious went and watched it and got... well... fluff!
I could be wrong, but somehow I don’t think so.
Think about the names of hero/heroines in stories. How many times have you heard someone say:
1. Oh yeah! I loved that book, but the hero’s name just made me cringe! Who would call their hero that???2. Oh yeah! But the heroine had a weird name; does anyone even know how to pronounce it???
I think names make a HUGE difference: they give you an idea of genre, time period, characteristics and so on. And, a the beginning of a book, when you know nothing about the characters you can find yourself drawn to a character purely because their name sounds like a 'good' name and disliking a character because they have a 'baddie's' name.
Or is this just me???
As for John Carter, I liked it a lot. I would watch it again, if there was a sequel I'd watch that too (they left room for one). I do think James Purefoy kinda stole the film though...
February 17, 2013
D.D Chant is interviewed by Sara Boyd!
So this is my newest interview! Thank you to Sara Boyd, goodreads pal and fellow author, for having me on your blog. I had a great time!
Sara is the author of coming of age romantic novel Nothing Else Matters.
Sara Boyd Author: Books I Read: Broken City, by DD Chant I enjoyed this dystopian novel very much and, since I know the author from a Goodreads group I decide to inte...
Sara is the author of coming of age romantic novel Nothing Else Matters.
Sara Boyd Author: Books I Read: Broken City, by DD Chant I enjoyed this dystopian novel very much and, since I know the author from a Goodreads group I decide to inte...
February 14, 2013
'Caire' Is Live!!!
Both 'Claire and the Party' and 'Claire and the haircut of Doom' are now available on Amazon!!!
Woot, Woot!!!
Claire and the haircut of Doom will be free from 18th to the 20th of Feburary so please check it out an be sure to tell your friends to check it out too!!! ;-P
They are both short (hopefully humourous!!!) stories under 4000 words each. So far the response has been good so I'm hoping to add more stories to the series at a future date. I still have a few embarrassing situations it would be fun to make Claire face!!! ;-P
Add them to your Goodreads 'to read' list here:
Claire and the haircut of Doom
Claire and the Party
Buy (or down load for free) from Amazon here:
Claire and the haircut of Doom
Claire and the Party
Woot, Woot!!!
Claire and the haircut of Doom will be free from 18th to the 20th of Feburary so please check it out an be sure to tell your friends to check it out too!!! ;-P
They are both short (hopefully humourous!!!) stories under 4000 words each. So far the response has been good so I'm hoping to add more stories to the series at a future date. I still have a few embarrassing situations it would be fun to make Claire face!!! ;-P
Add them to your Goodreads 'to read' list here:
Claire and the haircut of Doom
Claire and the Party
Buy (or down load for free) from Amazon here:
Claire and the haircut of Doom
Claire and the Party
January 27, 2013
'Claire' Unveiled!!!
I've been thinking about putting some short stories up on Amazon for a while now for the express purpose of entering them in to KDP select. But I've been holding back wondering if it's a good idea or not. Finally yesterday I decided to go for it, I would upload 'Claire And The Party' (previously published in 'A Splendid Salmagundi') and write a new adventure for Claire as well: 'Claire And The Haircut Of Doom'.
So today I've been making covers!!!
And I have to say I'm very proud of them, and I want to show them off and see what you think!!! So here they are:
And...
So today I've been making covers!!!
And I have to say I'm very proud of them, and I want to show them off and see what you think!!! So here they are:
And...
January 18, 2013
A Random Lesson Learnt.
Okay, so I broke a rule. I started work on 'Severance' while in the middle of writing 'Truce'.
I know, I know... bad DeeDee!!!
The thing was that I had it right there, it was in my head, writing itself and I was scared of losing it! It's a sad peace of writing, a letter written by an older brother who knows that he's going to die, to his only sibling, also a boy, who will be left all alone when he is gone.
It was hard to write for a lot of reasons. It is an emotional subject, yet the purpose of the letter is to comfort and 'be there' for the brother that will be left alone. Then there was the fact that it was a letter written by a man and I am a woman. I didn't want it to be too emotional, Jae Shin has accepted that he is dying and wants to help Di Ye accept it too.
Fortunately I have a brutal honest 'editor' who read the letter through and, after some thought, drove a neat red line through my most cherished passages the more maudlin phrases. I have to admit that the letter is better for the corrections.
It's also half as long.
With the sentiment stripped away, you really get a sense of Jae Shin's character, his personality springs from the page; strong, clever, a little bitter that his frailty has limited what he sees as his purpose in life, but not uselessly so. He sees a way to make a difference, even after death, by guiding his brother. He seems more vibrant, more alive somehow. You understand why Di Ye thinks so much of him, why he has allowed the letters his brother left behind to have such an impact on his life.
I think for the first time I understood that 'less is more' can apply in writing too. The bald facts, set out starkly and without emotion, gave a much clearer picture of the man Jae Shin was than all the extra information I had added to the narrative in the form of feelings. It also re enforces my belief that having someone, that you trust completely to be honest, look over your work is a must. Because there is always more to learn, and sometimes the only person who can teach you is a reader.
I know, I know... bad DeeDee!!!
The thing was that I had it right there, it was in my head, writing itself and I was scared of losing it! It's a sad peace of writing, a letter written by an older brother who knows that he's going to die, to his only sibling, also a boy, who will be left all alone when he is gone.
It was hard to write for a lot of reasons. It is an emotional subject, yet the purpose of the letter is to comfort and 'be there' for the brother that will be left alone. Then there was the fact that it was a letter written by a man and I am a woman. I didn't want it to be too emotional, Jae Shin has accepted that he is dying and wants to help Di Ye accept it too.
Fortunately I have a brutal honest 'editor' who read the letter through and, after some thought, drove a neat red line through my most cherished passages the more maudlin phrases. I have to admit that the letter is better for the corrections.
It's also half as long.
With the sentiment stripped away, you really get a sense of Jae Shin's character, his personality springs from the page; strong, clever, a little bitter that his frailty has limited what he sees as his purpose in life, but not uselessly so. He sees a way to make a difference, even after death, by guiding his brother. He seems more vibrant, more alive somehow. You understand why Di Ye thinks so much of him, why he has allowed the letters his brother left behind to have such an impact on his life.
I think for the first time I understood that 'less is more' can apply in writing too. The bald facts, set out starkly and without emotion, gave a much clearer picture of the man Jae Shin was than all the extra information I had added to the narrative in the form of feelings. It also re enforces my belief that having someone, that you trust completely to be honest, look over your work is a must. Because there is always more to learn, and sometimes the only person who can teach you is a reader.
January 14, 2013
Showing Some Love For 2013!
So far I'm loving 2013!
Some really great things have happened so far:
'The Promise' placed 3rd in 'Indie Book Bargains' best indies of 2012 awards and 'A Splendid Salmagund', an anthology that had a short of mine in it, won best anthology! So I now have two lovely badges to show off on my side bar!!!
At this point I would like to say thank you to everyone who voted, I really appreciate it! ;-D
'Blood, Sweat and Tears' book blog listed 'Broken City' 8th in the best books read in 2012! (Wish I had a badge for that!!!)
And I received a 4 star review of 'Broken City' from an Amazon vine voice reviewer.
Due to my 2013 challenge I've been busy writing, I'm now 34.000 words into 'Broken City: Truce' and I'm getting really excited about it! I'm already starting to think about the cover and hope a friend of mine will take the job on. If she says no I'm going to be in deep trouble!!!
I've just started sending out pre - release review copies of 'Fracture' to a few blogger friends of mine, I'm looking forward (with nervous excitement!) to their reviews!
Also you may have noticed that I've been blinging out my blog! I thought it was time for a bit of an 'update' and it kind of got out of hand!
Some really great things have happened so far:
'The Promise' placed 3rd in 'Indie Book Bargains' best indies of 2012 awards and 'A Splendid Salmagund', an anthology that had a short of mine in it, won best anthology! So I now have two lovely badges to show off on my side bar!!!
At this point I would like to say thank you to everyone who voted, I really appreciate it! ;-D
'Blood, Sweat and Tears' book blog listed 'Broken City' 8th in the best books read in 2012! (Wish I had a badge for that!!!)
And I received a 4 star review of 'Broken City' from an Amazon vine voice reviewer.
Due to my 2013 challenge I've been busy writing, I'm now 34.000 words into 'Broken City: Truce' and I'm getting really excited about it! I'm already starting to think about the cover and hope a friend of mine will take the job on. If she says no I'm going to be in deep trouble!!!
I've just started sending out pre - release review copies of 'Fracture' to a few blogger friends of mine, I'm looking forward (with nervous excitement!) to their reviews!
Also you may have noticed that I've been blinging out my blog! I thought it was time for a bit of an 'update' and it kind of got out of hand!
December 28, 2012
Self Challenge For 2013!!!
I've made a decision.
Things need to change.
I'm going to cut down on brownies and fluffy pillows, stop taking sugar in my coffee, get up at 6.30am every morning and jog 4 times a week.
Okay, okay: so I have no intention of doing any of those things!
But I DO need more motivation and I have got a challenge for 2013!
So now I know you're all wondering HOW I intend to motivate myself???
By scaring myself silly!!!
I am going to post this challenge for everyone to see, in the hope that it will pressure me into accomplishing my goal:
In 2013 I will attempt to write the sequels to all three of my series!!!
'Truce'
'The Vow'
'Severance'
That was actually scarier than I thought it was going to be!!!
I'm not sure if I can do this but I'm going to give it a go, if I manage to complete 'Truce' and get half way through 'The Vow' I'll be pleased.
If I manage to complete both 'Truce' AND 'The Vow' I'll be VERY pleased.
But if I manage to complete ALL THREE I'll be ECSTATIC!!!
I'm already 25.000 words into 'Truce' so I'll have a bit of a head start there, but this is a HUGE ask and although I decided to do this some time ago I wasn't going to tell anyone.
Soooo...
I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing, I predict a LOT of fluffy pillows and brownies in the next 12 months!
Here's to trying new things!!!
O.O
What is your 2013 challenge???
Things need to change.
I'm going to cut down on brownies and fluffy pillows, stop taking sugar in my coffee, get up at 6.30am every morning and jog 4 times a week.
Okay, okay: so I have no intention of doing any of those things!
But I DO need more motivation and I have got a challenge for 2013!
So now I know you're all wondering HOW I intend to motivate myself???
By scaring myself silly!!!
I am going to post this challenge for everyone to see, in the hope that it will pressure me into accomplishing my goal:
In 2013 I will attempt to write the sequels to all three of my series!!!
'Truce'
'The Vow'
'Severance'
That was actually scarier than I thought it was going to be!!!
I'm not sure if I can do this but I'm going to give it a go, if I manage to complete 'Truce' and get half way through 'The Vow' I'll be pleased.
If I manage to complete both 'Truce' AND 'The Vow' I'll be VERY pleased.
But if I manage to complete ALL THREE I'll be ECSTATIC!!!
I'm already 25.000 words into 'Truce' so I'll have a bit of a head start there, but this is a HUGE ask and although I decided to do this some time ago I wasn't going to tell anyone.
Soooo...
I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing, I predict a LOT of fluffy pillows and brownies in the next 12 months!
Here's to trying new things!!!
O.O
What is your 2013 challenge???
December 13, 2012
Cover Reveal: Fracture.
So I have BIG NEWS!!!
The cover for 'Fracture' is finally ready!!!
Yay!
So here it is and I'd love to hear what you think of it! ;-P
Please take a look at Fracture's goodreads page:
www.goodreads.com/book/show/15745015-fracture
The cover for 'Fracture' is finally ready!!!
Yay!
So here it is and I'd love to hear what you think of it! ;-P
Please take a look at Fracture's goodreads page:
www.goodreads.com/book/show/15745015-fracture
