Elle Casey's Blog, page 19

Prologue for new series: Apocalypsis (Book 1 of 3)

Thought you might like to read the prologue for my new series.  My 15-year-old daughter gave me the thumbs up, which is always a good sign.  You’ll have to let me know if it’s enough to keep you reading!

Apocalypsis-Prologue-ElleCasey

 

The Executioner Ups the Ante

Well, Jason Brant thought he had it in the bag with his cover art entry. But Aidan “The Executioner” Brindley from down under takes him down a notch. Or eighty. With this…    Whoot!!!

First entry for cover picking contest has arrived. Thank you Jason _____ Brant.

I was trying to decide as I wrote the title of this blog post out, whether I should just use Jason Brant’s name as-is, or whether I should modify it a bit to fit his cover entry, pictured below.  My two choices were:  Jason “Madman” Brant and Jason “Muskrat Head” Brant.  Which do you think is better?

In any case, I did come to the conclusion that my favorite part of the cover idea was not the muskrat on his head, the devil horns from 1987, or the imbibing of alcohol.  No, my favorite part was the blurb at the bottom:  “Going America All Over Your Ass”.

Yes, that Jason ____ Brant is a genius.

Apocalypsis cover submission by none other than Jason ___ Brant.

Want to help me pick my next book cover designs?

Hello readers.  I thought I’d try something a little different with my next series.  Maybe it’ll be fun and totally work and maybe it’ll be a disaster.  But hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

So here’s the deal:  I usually have my covers made quite simply.  I go on www.istockphoto.com or www.dreamstime.com and find a good photo and then have a guy I know put a font I buy on the cover for the title and author name.  No fuss, no muss.  This time, I figured maybe some of you might want to help me find the cover stock art.

If you’re interested just hunt around the web for photo or art stock I can buy (that includes the ability to use it “royalty free”).  If I like it, I’ll go buy it and use it, and then put you in the acknowledgments of the book.  Cool?  Cool!

Another good option that I haven’t used yet, but would consider, is to find someone on www.Deviantart.com who will sell me an image they’ve created to use as the cover.  Also, another good option, is to find some already “pre-made” cover art, where a graphic arts expert/Adobe Photoshop guru has already made a book cover and has put it up for sale.  You can find these doing a google search for “pre-mades” or “pre-made book covers”.  The only issue is that they must agree to not sell the same image to another author after I buy it.

So, in summary, if you want to help me find the covers for the next series of books (3 of them, so we need 3 in the same vein), use any of the above methods to find me something and send me a link to the art and your idea via email at “me {at} ellecasey [dot] com”.  You could also put it in the comments below, if you prefer (in fact, it might be fun for other people to see your stuff!)

I guess you need to know about the book to pick good cover art.  So here’s a synopsis of the series:

Apocalypsis

This is a post-apocalyptic/dystopian, 3-book series, set in 2020.  An event has rid the world of everyone over the age of 18 and most kids younger than 5.  Those teens who are left are doing their best to survive, but some of them are taking things to the extreme, as resources become more and more scarce, putting the rest of the survivors in danger.  So a group of them, led by a kick-ass female heroine (a theme in my work, yes), ban together to set up a new life and find ways to fend off attacks by these “others”.  The setting is South Florida.  Think Everglades.  These books will be darker than those in the War of the Fae series, and meant for older teens and adults.

 

Books: Journies or Destinations?

I never really thought about reading books in this way before, but today I am, so permit me to blather on about it.

I read a review today by a reader who said he (“he” meaning “he or she” throughout) only read the first part of a book and then stopped, because he could already predict what was going to happen to the characters and the plot and didn’t like it.

Putting aside the issue of whether his predictions were correct (I’d bet they weren’t for the most part – I mean, come on, who can predict all the twists and turns of a three hundred page book?), I think there’s an underlying problem with the view of what the whole purpose for reading a book is, that this review calls to mind.

Why do you read a book?

I read the Hunger Games series last year.  I loved it, devouring the series in three days.  Did I like the ending?  No.  But does that make the whole series stink?  No!  Of course not.  Because for me, the reading is not about the destination- the ending; it’s about the journey.

I love as the mysteries unfold, the action sequences play themselves out, and I get to know and love (or hate) the characters based on their choices, conversations, foibles, diction and tone, and on and on.  Every paragraph brings a new step in the journey for me.  Some books are so much fun to “travel” that I don’t even care about the ending.  I can always fill in the one in my mind that I like better if I’m not happy.

I almost feel sorry for this person, who views books with such a jaded eye.  But I’m glad I read the review because it made me think of how I approach new books and new authors’ works.  I think now, I’ll be able to do it with new-found appreciation for the joy that I find in it.  Books take me on voyages to other places that I’d never be able to go to in real life (particularly since I’m a fan of fantasy!).  I’m so glad I can appreciate them for that, even more now than before.

 

My website is ALL messed up.

If you try to go to any of the pages on this site right now, all you’ll get is a black screen. It’s not normally like that! I’m working on getting it fixed. Sorry for the inconvenience.

A funny guy, that Jason Brant …

Do you guys know Jason Brant?  Until a week ago, I didn’t.  But then someone tweeted something about his thriller/action novel that they just gave 5 stars to, so I went and read the reviews and blurb.  Every review mentioned how funny the MC (main character) is, and they reminded me a lot of the reviews given to the War of the Fae series, referring to Jayne Sparks.  I don’t read a lot of this genre anymore, but I used to.  I’m a fan of Jason Bourne, both on paper and on film (Come to me, Matt Damon!)

So I downloaded his ebook Echoes and gave it a read.  Now I can see why so many people commented on the humor.  And the story’s original and cool.  I want to see it as a movie.  I’m now getting his blog posts by email, and they never fail to crack me up.

Check him out!  He’s an indie like me and needs fans (like me). 

 

Such a cool cover too!!  Click on it to go to it on Amazon.com.

 

The Sometimes Frustrating Book Review – Factual Inaccuracies

I love reader reviews of my work.  I think I’ve said that enough times here and in the back of my books to have started sounding annoyingly repetitive.  I just want to be perfectly clear how I feel, before I speak my mind on a related issue.  I love, love, love reader reviews!!

I read a review of my work recently that made me a little crazy.  And this reaction is not unique to me, as many authors I know have voiced frustration over this issue.  Some authors have done bad things after reading a review like this, by commenting unprofessionally on the review or getting friends to go comment on it.  That’s not good; in fact, it’s very, very bad.  And that’s not why I’m writing this blog post.  I don’t need or want anyone to join me on a crusade against this person’s review.

So what is the problem?  To be clear, it’s not the star assignment of this review that bothers me.  It’s the fact that it’s full of inaccuracies.

I’m cool with a reader complaining that they didn’t like a character, or that they thought my writing style sucked, or they speculate (incorrectly) about how I developed the plot.  That’s an opinion and everyone’s entitled to one of those.  But when they claim that I didn’t specify a certain fact in the book, when I clearly did, it makes me cranky.

This particular review listed several things that they felt were missing, but those facts that they claim aren’t there, are in the book!  I wanted nothing more than to go find them in the book and point them out to this reviewer, so he/she would see that they were misinforming possible future readers. I have no interest in changing anyone’s opinion, but I do want people who are considering reading the book to see “opinions” and not “inaccuracies” as they decide whether to become one of my readers.

Opinions and facts are different things, and facts should be accurate.

As cranky as I was to see those inaccuracies, I didn’t say anything about them to this reviewer, ‘cuz that’s a big no-no in my world.  So I have to sit on my hands and rant about how the world is so unfair.  Woe is me!  I’m a writer with an inattentive reader!

In my opinion, the two best things that can come out of a review are:

other readers can make better-informed purchasing decisions, and
writers can improve their craft based on the feedback.

I’ve received a couple of reviews like this, and I know other authors who’ve also gotten them.  It’s just part of the world I live in now, and knowing that does make it a little easier to accept.  In the end, by writing this article, I hope I’m able to express the importance of reader reviews for both readers and authors.  I guess the best solution for people reading reviews is to read a few of them to get an overall feel for the writing, and not to just rely on one review, since it may contain inaccuracies.  And the best solution for writers like me is to just ignore them.  Which I will now be able to do since I have vented on my blog and gotten it out of my system. 

xoxo Elle

Books opening up dialogs

I had a reader leave a review for WRECKED today on Amazon that really got me thinking … about how books can open up dialogs about different things.  Sometimes important things.

If you’ve read WRECKED, you know that issues of teen survival and teen sex come up, along with social cliques and other high school junk kids often have to deal with.  I must confess … I just wrote the book from the perspective of my former teenage self, not really thinking about all the ways this story might get parents, kids, teachers, friends and family talking about stuff.  But I think it’s pretty cool that someone might do that after reading my books.

If you’ve read WAR OF THE FAE, you’ll probably see a couple underlying themes there too.  Maybe even things to talk about.  I won’t say what they are here, but if you want to discuss it, by all means comment below.

I didn’t put any themes in my books on purpose; I can’t take credit for being that organized or that “deep”.  But I can see for myself that they ended up there anyway.  My characters have minds of their own.  And I guess I believe that deep down, whether you’re human or fae or “other”, you’re going to deal with a lot of the same problems and conflicts that will naturally arise in a place where people have different belief systems, morals, codes, environments, etc.

Whoa!  So, that’s enough of that philosophical stuff for today!  Hope you’re enjoying all the freebies I’ve given away over the last few days.  Now I’m off to write another series …  Apocalypsis…

One day of FREE … let’s end May with a BANG!

War of the Fae: Book 1, The Changelings will be FREE for one day only, Friday, May 25, 2012.  Spread the word!!