Ravin Tija Maurice's Blog, page 5
July 16, 2013
Smashwords 2013 Summer/Winter Promotion
Are you interested in reading Rebirth, but haven't got a copy yet?
Well, do I have some great news for you!
Rebirth is FREE from today until July 26th as part of Smashwords's 2013 Summer/Winter Promotion!
It's a site wide promotion, so make sure you check out the other great books that are available!
Type in the coupon code SW100 at checkout to get your free copy!
And don't forget to please review, tell your friends, share it around!
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/287087
July 8, 2013
Leading up to
Next week will be the six month anniversary since I released Rebirth. And, I must say, what a ride!
Being an Indie author (some say self published, but I prefer indie. Tomato, Tomatoe, in my mind) is definitely an interesting part of this journey. When you do everything on your own you have to wear many different hats, and some of those hats take time to adjust to get a good fit, but I feel like I'm in a groove.
I'm constantly trying to learn and evolve, not only from my mistakes but from watching others, and I'm working on filling the holes of things that I don't know.
When I started I never ever thought I would be doing this all on my own. During college, I had forgone the idea of choosing my own cover and other simple, little things that a first time author would never get to do with a large company. There was a time when writing courses really pounded the idea that you need an agent or else into young writer's minds, and if you couldn't do that you were essentially screwed. Self publishing meant that you weren't good enough, that for whatever reason no one would touch you, and if you did end up putting your work out yourself you could kiss the idea of ever finding an agent goodbye.
But then. something changed.
I don't know exactly what it was, or who. So I won't try to say that I do. All I know is that something happened, and there was a shift. Self published authors became recognized and noteworthy, enough to develop a name change to indie. And now that a bit of the shame has been removed big things are happening, and books like WOOL are paving the way for new and exciting things in the world of publishing. Authors will have more control.
Why did I decide to go indie? I've talked a bit about what happened with me, the name change, the shift over. The Rebirth, if you will. I decided to give this way a try because I could connect with my own work and the way it was being put out into the world in a different way. And while I have to rely on myself, I have no one to disappoint and no one or nothing to be disappointed by.
It's just me, and only me, and somehow that makes sense right now.
May I try something else? Maybe. I'm not a one trick pony. I do have other stories, The Afflicted is just where my focus is at this present moment. What's important to me is producing the best product I can and being able to connect with my readers.
So, enough of me, I have some news! I'm planning a free promotion leading up to July 20, the six month anniversary. I haven't figured it all out yet, but I will post more when I have more information.
Keep checking back, it's your chance to pick up a copy of Rebirth for absolutely free!!
July 5, 2013
Writer's Block
I think they have been so brutal because writing has been where I have turned when things have got crazy in my life. When I couldn't deal with the world I would escape into my own, and after my Mother died the last place I wanted to be was in the regular world. But, I would put a blank screen or, more often, a blank page in front of me and nothing would want to come out. An idea would pop into my mind and quickly fizzle out, and I would be left with nothing other than frustration.
As most writer's have, I've read a lot about writer's block. What causes it, how to beat it, and how to never get it again. There isn't really a consensus on any of those subjects because it's different for everyone. And I've tried many things, and this current bout I decided to try to write through it. It doesn't matter if it sucks, just keep writing and see if it lifts.
For the most part, it's worked. I've been working on fresh material and doing more self editing of Book 2. I've been able to self edit during writer's block, its the fresh material I've had difficulty with.
So, dear readers, I put out a question to you.....what do you do for writer's block? Do you have any tips or tricks that you'd like to share with the world, because I'd love to hear them!
And, as I have said before, thank you to all of those who came to check out my blog, and who keep coming back. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be coming up to 2500 page views! I am so excited!
July 2, 2013
WINNERS!
April Parmelee
Tori Whitaker
Donna Clerkin
Please contact me to collect your prize! Thanks again to everyone who entered, come back soon for more contests!
June 21, 2013
Giveaway!
Enter here to win one of four ebook copies of Rebirth!
a Rafflecopter giveaway Thanks for entering, and good luck!!
June 11, 2013
Research
I have to say that with historically involved fiction research is a constant and ongoing process. It does not end, because as the story evolves you have to be able to keep it going and you need information to do that. So your mind is constantly spinning and things are constantly growing. And it is absolutely not true that you can find anything on the internet.
When it comes to Countess Bathory there was not a lot of information to begin with, and not very much in English. Raymond T McNally's book 'Dracula Was A Woman', at one time the book about the Countess, was released in 1984 (for a little perspective, I was two years old) and I was desperate for something more current. I found some of what I needed in Tony Thorne's book 'Countess Dracula' and Valentine Penrose's book 'The Bloody Countess', but I still felt like I was missing something.
I started work on Rebirth anyway, and left some blank spaces where I needed more information. And when I was about knee deep in it, I stumbled upon Dr. Kimberley Craft's biography 'Infamous Lady'. Since then she has also released 'The Private Letters of Countess Erzsebet Bathory', and my depiction of the Countess was shaped because of both these books.
Both books include translations of documents that have never been in English, Infamous Lady has trial transcripts and Private Letters has correspondence written in the Countess's own words. Infamous Lady is easy to read, unlike most royal biographies that are chalked full of the politics in the country at the time and very little about the actual person, you get a real sense of who this amazing woman was.
I spent a lot of time thinking about the moment the Countess enters the book. After watching this video of Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies, and the amazing historian David Starkey and listening to them talk about the moment Henry VIII enters is really amazing, and I found it inspiring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRQbyjvpYwU
After Rebirth, writing the second book was a bit different. I'd developed habits, good and bad, for writing and researching and I fell into a groove and things began to gel rather well. I took on some new challenges for the research aspect, I had them going to new places and experiencing new things that I knew nothing about so I had to give myself a crash course in things like food, customs, and regional changes in Europe at the time. Because borders have changes, place names have changed also.
I have had amazing luck with a series of children's non fiction books published by DK. You know those great kids books that are full of pictures and laid out beautifully? I've used those quite a bit, for small details like names of weapons and clothing and little details that DK books are so amazing for.
I guess what I am getting at is when it comes to research you have to do what feels right for you. Someone may be able to recommend a book to you, but how you go about researching your work is a style all your own. Whatever works for you is exactly how you should do it.
May 2, 2013
The Indie in the Indie
My only complaint about moving to the suburbs is the lack of really cool indie bookstores. I'm sure they will come eventually but, as of now, if I want to do the indie bookstore crawl I have to come into downtown Toronto.
Luckily the really good ones are all very close to each other so I can hit a few, then sit in one of my favorite coffee shops and peruse my purchases.
Today's hawl includes:
The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo Graphic novel Book 2 - I admit I have a bit of an obsession with this series (all versions), visually. Its darkness, and the avante garde look of Lisbeth Salander really speaks to a deeper part of my being.
The Queen's Pawn by Christy English - after reading many glowing reviews of this book I finally found a copy of it and I am very excited to crack it. Its hard to find a depiction of Eleanor of Aquitaine that's generally liked by everyone.
When We Were Gods by Colin Falconer - a novel about Cleopatra that is hard to find. I debated over this but when I went to put it back I physically couldn't because I knew I would regret it, and if I came back looking for it it would probably be gone. I am fascinated by Cleopatra and her sister, Arisone.
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran - children of infamous parents? Yes, please! I have been looking at this book for years and always had something more pressing to pick up, but now was the perfect time. Moran is apparently brilliant, I have Nefertiti and Madame Tussaud on my TBR pile.
I also do a lot of people watching in these stores because I'm curious about what other people pick up in a non mainstream situation.
And indies are my people. Its important for me to support the community, especially the locals.
So, if your ever in Toronto make sure you hit up BMV books, and Seekers Books on Bloor Street between Bathurst and Spadina. BMV has an enormous range, and a graphic novel section that can't be beat, and Seekers is eclectic and amazing, also with a wide range but not as much floor space.
Do you shop at indie bookstores? Give them a shout out any way you can!
April 11, 2013
2000 and my thoughts on The Rising by Kelley Armstrong
The counter is just a few off from 2000, and I can't believe it! Thank you again to everyone for coming by, and for continuing to come back and read my ramblings. I appreciate it, and it means the world to me. Thank you.
I put up a review of The Rising on Goodreads for anyone who's interested, but I thought I'd write a bit more here.
The Rising, to me, really felt like 'the end', more then the end of Armstrong's adult series Thirteen did. The Rising is, really, the last of the Otherworld books for the foreseeable future and I am ok with that. Not that I wasn't ok with Thirteen and the way that it ended, I was. But this really felt like more of an ending for me. It left everyone in a comfortable place, with the possibility of more to come.
The Rising, for me, was really a book about the kids in the series deciding what to do. I won't get into too much detail because I don't want to give anything away, but readers of the series will know that these kids have had some crazy shit (for lack of a better phrase) thrown at them and they're still standing, with two Cabal's chasing after them. (Cabal's are huge multi national corporations run by supernaturals in Armstrong's world....have you read the series yet? You should, if you like the genre. She also has mystery books, but that's another post altogether).
So, it's really come down to what do they do? Their parents think they are dead, and they either get to keep running or come to some kind of of a decision on how best to deal with the Cabal's. I liked the resolution, and I think it really gave a taste of how much power these Cabal's really have.
Now, readers who know of Armstrong's series know that you aren't always going to like every narrator but that doesn't mean that you're going to stop reading. Maya wasn't my favorite, but neither was Hope and that's ok. I think that's part of what makes this series so amazing.
Armstrong really changed the game in so many ways with her supernatural series on so many levels. There are so many things that I'm not even sure I can name them. And in terms of a Y.A supernatural book, there is nothing silly about her work. The romantic aspect isn't in your face all the time, and it's not a bunch of bitchy teenage girls complaining about their problems. It's all very realistic and I like that. That was a key element throughout all her work that I think makes it so accessible and is something that I strive for in my own work.
So, supernatural fans should take a look at Armstrong's series, I think all the adult books are available in paperback now and the first Y.A trilogy, The Darkest Powers, is available in an omnibus as well. Totally worth it.
April 5, 2013
What I'm Reading
Hi!
I have The Rising by Kelley Armstrong in my lap, waiting to crack it, and I thought I'd write a little post about what I am currently reading, and why I read how I read.
Well, I'm sure you all know that there are never enough hours in the day to read. Because of that I got in the habit of reading more than one book at a time (I just had a vision of myself with a book in each hand....its not like that!). The key to doing that is to make sure that they are different genres, or if you are a person who only reads one 'type' of book make sure the story is different enough that you won't get confused.
Right now I am reading A Game Of Thrones, this is my second attempt. The first time I didn't have the patience to really sit with it, but I am glad I finally did. It took about 100 pgs for the story to really pick up for me and now I am a bit obsessed with it.
I also have started The Painted Girls, about Degas's ballerina's. So far its very good, but I admit Game of Thrones has been taking my attention and I have to get back to it.
Now, with The Rising, it'll take me a few days if that. Armstrong has a way of keeping you sucked in, and its the last of her Y.A books so I am excited to get into it.
What are you reading? Any recommendations for me?
If your interested in what I love, check out my recommended reading section and/or my Goodreads pages.
Happy Reading!
March 28, 2013
Interview Links
I recently had the opportunity to do an interview with the lovely Catherine Gardiner over at Books and Bites. Here's the link so you can check it out, make sure you show Catherine some love:
http://booksandbites.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/author-interview-ravin-tija-maurice/
This is my first interview for Rebirth, so go check it out!
