Elizabeth Guizzetti's Blog, page 16
January 22, 2014
From the Embers (Born in Flames Trilogy #3) Cover and Release Date Reveal
From the Embers (Born in Flames Trilogy, #3) is set to release on Wednesday of January 29th, 2014. It will be released through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, & 48fourteen.com in ebook and paperback format. This beautiful cover (just as with the other of Candace’s books) was created by Ravven
From the Embers Synopsis:
I am the Progeny. The one deemed to carry this weight. The weight of knowing too much. Of knowing there is a darkness in me. Of knowing that even The Fates can screw things up.Aurora Megalos knew becoming the Progeny meant great sacrifice, but what she wasn’t prepared for was sacrificing herself. Since the day of her birth, she has been set on a path she couldn’t control; a path conceived by The Fates. And after discovering she is mortally connected to her Arch Enemy Zordon-a son of a Fate, Aurora is now left with a path that seems hopeless.
Until she discovers a revelation in the prophecy.
With war on the horizon, she must now find a way to defeat the one who threatens to take everything and everyone she has ever loved from her, without destroying herself. The barrier between both realms is broken, The Fates have been overrun by Zordon, and his darkness now spreads throughout the lands. The odds are stacked against her. Will Aurora and Fenn find a way to undo the work of The Fates in time to save the realms from complete destruction?
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Candace’s Blog
January 20, 2014
Never Give up, Never Surrender–my opinion of how to behave at a book event
Never give up, Never surrender is a line from the film Galaxy Quest, That is how I look at how to behave at an author event.
The truth is being an author is hard. Anyone who tells you different is lying or selling you a book about how to be a best-selling author.
For myself, events are a great way to make contacts and sales. If you have any chance to sell your book at a event– no matter how small– you need to have a “never give up” attitude.
If you want to make sales, you can’t give up. You can’t complain. Too often, I see people editing, playing on their phones, reading or a variety of other activities. When at an author event, your job is to inform people about your book and network. Hopefully, with a maniacal smile plastered on your face.
I was at an event recently that a good number of folks gave up, you could tell, they didn’t get up on their feet. They were focused on their laptops and phones–not the customers. They read within their booth. The reason that doesn’t work is the moment one gives up, bitterness creeps in. They start slouching, frowning. They seem unapproachable.
Here is my advice:
1) Act excited. Remember what I said about smiling above? Do that. . Some people say, just be yourself, be genuine. However, many authors are introverts. Many authors get nervous with public speaking. Even if you don’t feel it, even if you are scared, you should act friendly. Eventually it will feel more natural.
Here is me dressed as an elf at ECCC 2010 (debut of Faminelands #2) Our booth babe, Matt, is in the background.
1.a) If like me you get a nervous tummy, know where the bathroom is, in regards to your booth/table. Never wait. Just put a sign up on your table and go.
1.b) Drink lots of water and eat fruit or what will ever make you have a happy tummy.
2) Don’t be late and don’t leave early. Empty tables look bad.
3) Be kind to all. Not becauce they bought your book. I don’t care if they buy my books or not. Be kind to children. Be kind to their parents. Thank the sponsors/organizers of the event.
4) If your budget allows, purchase a few books that interest you. Remember, it’s a hard world out there.
4a) Don’t go over budget for any event, no matter how much you want to be supportive to your new friends. You will see them again.
4b) Never assume that just because you bought someone’s book that they have the budget for your book–even if they are making sales. You don’t know what they are going through. Sometimes, my budget is focused on purchasing Christmas or Birthday Presents, sometimes I’m scrapping money together for my next run of comics and need every dollar. If I am interested in your book, I will buy your book. As I said, I will see you again.
5) Set Goals, make it a game. Challenge yourself.
Good Luck, my friends!
January 13, 2014
RustyCon here I come…
Rustycon, January 17 -19, is an annual science fiction and fantasy convention, held in Seatac. It’s a great smaller convention. They have lots of fun things such as a dealer’s room, an art show, and a hospitality room for the general membership. They offer programming about games, film, television, technology, writing, science, filk singers and music, art, poetry, legal issues.
My speaking schedule is as follows
Friday
Broken Wings-Writing Damaged Characters
We love our damaged heroes! (and heroines) But how do we write great characters without indulging in pop psychology or falling into `movie of the week` syndrome? This panel will focus on developing believable characters who will capture your readers imaginations.
Start 2014-01-17 14:00:00
End 2014-01-17 15:00:00
Room Salon I
Saturday
Sequential Storytelling: Designing a comic
Learn how graphic novels are written and produced by independent comic book author and artist Elizabeth Guizzetti. Topics will include developing ideas, character design, plotting, storyboarding and more!
Start 2014-01-18 10:00:00
End 2014-01-18 11:00:00
Room Snoqualmie 2
Do you need a science background to write science fiction?
Discussion about researching for writing science fiction and asks do you need a science background to write science fiction?
Start 2014-01-18 15:00:00
End 2014-01-18 16:00:00
Room Salon I
Gaming as Grown-ups
Our panelists will cover everything from finding time for gaming when you have a job, a commute, and possibly kids to handling adult subjects in your play. Gaming does not have to end when you graduate.
Start 2014-01-18 16:00:00
End 2014-01-18 17:00:00
Room Salon H
And best of all: I get a reading!
Elizabeth Guizzetti Reading from Other Systems!
I will be reading Chapter 7, 8, & 9 from my debut hard science fiction novel Other Systems. Trailers will be shown and swag will be handed out! (And though it is not in the program: I might be even reading from The Light Side of the Moon!)
Start 2014-01-18 18:00:00
End 2014-01-18 19:00:00
Room Spokane
I hope to see you there!
January 9, 2014
Write with passion
I never know if you should follow my advice, but here’s some advice about writing which I am pretty sure you should not follow. Make your lives easy.
Most successful authors generally talk about knowing one’s market. I have a problem, I never know about markets. Though I talk about it, the truth is I don’t know who my market is. I write the story, I want to write.
For me, that means writing stories that I believe needs telling. When I see injustices, I mirror it in my longer works. The world is not simple. In many books, there is a problem and when the problem is fixed the story is over. That isn’t how I write.
There are problems we may fix in our lifetimes, and problems we might not. So it is within the story. There are problems, some which will be solved and problems for the main characters to overcome, but not everything will be overcome. Part of the problem is that I write angry. I see a news article about an injustice, and I shove it directly into my writing.The entirety of the Other Systems Series deals with poverty, fear of an other, ignorance. Each book has different issues. The Light Side of the Moon will deal with economic slavery, homelessness, antibiotic resistance, the loss of pollinators, the acidification of the ocean, power struggles within the prison system.
Finally, I write about people with morals that may or may not be yours. They aren’t even always my own morals. Some are religious. Some of them are idealists on a crusade. Some are just people just trying to get by in an immoral world.
Mostly, the series revolves around characters who must challenge the system in which they are born and become more. I write these stories, because I am passionate about these types of stories.
January 4, 2014
Reviews The Shining and Dr. Sleep by Stephen King
What was on my Christmas list this year? Dr. Sleep. And what did Dennis get me?
A hardback volume of three Stephen King Novels and a hardback of Dr. Sleep. I love reading a beautifully bound book with big letters. I’m old fashioned that way I guess. And yes, I do plan on re-reading the other two novels in the volume which if you can’t tell from the photo are Carrie and Salem’s Lot.
Great Christmas Gifts!
Also in book related Christmas Gifts, my parents bought us bookends. We needed bookends, we love that they are little mice sitting on cheese reading books.
But on to the reviews…
My Review of The Shining
Even if you haven’t read the book, most people know the premise. Jack Torrance, the struggling author and recovering alcoholic, gets a job as the Winter Caretaker of the Overlook Hotel. He and his wife and son go stay there. His son Danny has the shining and the Overlook wants him. The Hotel weaves its way into Jack’s subconscious and he goes crazy.
What I didn’t remember from the first book is what a great job King does a great job letting the reader know that there isn’t something right, but it is eerie and easily explained away. There is another reason that this book works. The Torrences have had some setbacks due to Jack’s temper and drinking, but are looking for away to make it work.
There is time for them to escape before the hotel is strong enough to hurt them, but Wendy and Danny are financially bound to Jack or they must live with Wendy’s emotionally abusive mother. Jack hates his physically abusive drunk father and tells himself that is not how he is. He is not abusive.
Now on to my review of Dr. Sleep.
Okay so now Danny is all a grown up. He is Dan now.
First of all, I really enjoyed the antagonists, because people who follow my reviews (and my writing) know, I love a “justified” villains. (Do not misunderstand me, I am not saying anything they do is good, because these people are evil, I’m saying they have their own moral code and follow it) The True Knot live on the essence of kids with the Shine. They torture and kill kids to get it, they drink it in order to survive. However in the book, they believe they are the humans, all of us are just rubes, kids with the Shine are food.
Secondly, as with the first book, there was so much “real life” horror mixed in with the “supernatural” horror.
Thirdly, while seeing Dan Torrance grown up and how he moves through his life was interesting and Abra Stone was a great counter point. In my opinion, one of the most interesting aspects, since I just read The Shining is also interesting to think about how much the world changed between when Dan was a child and today when Abra Stone is growing up.
Yes Danny Torrence’s family was extremely poor due to his dad’s drinking, while the Stones are upper middle class, but it is more than that. The world has changed. Child raising has changed. The toys kids play with have changed. King refers to plenty of technology that is here right now since the book is set in the present day. Google Earth for example.
King repeated enough of the story from the first book, that if you haven’t read The Shining, you will understand both characters. However I suggest read (or reread) The Shining. Due to it’s constant feeling of rising dread, I felt it is the better of the two. Maybe I’m a bit jaded, but with so many modern convinces and wealthier parents and just more people rooting for Abra, while she was in greater danger, yes, but she never seemed as she was in much danger.
I am not saying they are both not five-star books, because they are, but they are five-star books in different ways.
December 31, 2013
Happy New Year
Happy New Years!
I hope everyone is excited to see what this year will bring. This is just a quick blog post to share my resolutions and schedule for the upcoming year.
Personal Goal:
I will do my best to be a good person and help to make this world a better place. I will work on my temper and be kind to everyone.
Career Goals:
It’s not really a resolution at this point since it is already my daily habit, but I will continue to write and draw each day.
I would like to find homes for two finished projects including The Martlet, The Light Side of Moon, and the short story, Orbital Junk.
I plan to finish up the Out for Souls&Cookies Series so it could be released at Emerald City Comic Con.
After that, I plan to get started on the serialization of Unintentional Colonists.
Current Schedule:
Rustycon January 17-19 : Science Fiction and Fantasy convention
Radcon February 14-16 : Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention (Tentative)
Out For Souls&Cookies #5 released on March 28th.
Emerald City Comic Con March 28-30 : Comic Book Convention
December 27, 2013
Review: Zachary Bonelli’s Voyage Embarkation
Voyage Embarkation
by Zachary Bonelli
The Blurb:
At the age of twelve, Kal sprang from the starting block into the pool, his teammates cheering him on. He felt the rush of the air, the crash of the water, but he never finished the heat. He awoke two years later on a world that was Earth, but also not Earth, and discovered that he could never return home. After four years of exile, he can finally escape into the metaxia, the unspace between universes, and realize his dream of exploring alternate realities. Supremely advanced cultures and natural wonders of immeasurable beauty await him. However, there exist also worlds mired in social decay, and those filled with dangerous, exotic forms of life. Armed only with defensive nanotechnology and a computer pad, Kal travels from one alternate Earth to another. Navigating the infinity of possibilities, he embarks on a new kind of voyage, a voyage along the catastrophe of notions.
My Review
Voyage is a thought-provoking science fiction novel. With playfully energetic and intelligent writing, Bonelli proves young adult science fiction can be full of adventure yet, still serious and thoughtful. He builds intricate societies each with their own environment, government, and philosophical values as the protagonist Kal visits multiple Earths through the metaxia.
Bonelli’s style is easy to read. He puts his technical data in the plot in an easy to understand way without bogging down the story with extraneous details.
Readers should know that by design this novel is episodic. It is was originally released as episodes which have now been bound together. There is a story that weaves its way through the novel, but it is secondary to the worlds which Kal and his brother Tria are exploring.
Voyage Embarkation is a brilliant debut novel.
Finally: I love the beautiful illustrations by Aubry K. Andersen.
December 24, 2013
A vivid childhood Christmas memory
To all my readers, if you celebrate Christmas I hope you have a merry Christmas! If you don’t, have a wonderful December 25th. To celebrate Christmas, I thought I would tell the story of my most vivid childhood memory. While we had a few Christmas traditions in my home and I have many memories of family time, opening presents, watching Christmas specials, but one of my most vivid memories is going to candlelight service.
You see, when I was a child, my family often spent Christmas Eve and Christmas mornings opening presents at my maternal grandparent’s house then went to my paternal Grandparents home for a large Italian Family Christmas dinner.
Candlelight service was special to me, perhaps even magical. Say church and people always think it’s about God, but for me, it wasn’t. I don’t remember any of the sermons. What I loved was holding the candle. My parents didn’t allow me to play with matches. I wasn’t normally aloud to hold a lit candle, but for one evening of the year, I had to take the flame from the candle of whoever sat beside me on the pew and then give the light to the next person. It made me nervous, I knew fire was dangerous, but there I was, holding a white candle with a white paper bobeche to catch the drips of wax. For a short time, I was in control. I was responsible for it. I had to make sure I did not drop it or let it get to close to my little sisters or the hymnals. In fact, since the pews were also wood, I thought I had to keep it safe from the pews too. The magic happened, because for that short period of time, I was a grown up.
So that is my most vivid Christmas memory. What’s yours?
December 19, 2013
Upcoming Author Appearance: Indie Book Fair December 20 & 21, 2013
Here we go, my final event of 2013!
If you are in Seattle and looking for a last minute Christmas Gift check out the
Indie Book Fair
A/NT Galley
2045 Westlake Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121
December 20 & 21, 2013 — 11AM – 8PM
Meet the authors and find books for kids, teens and adults of all genres: science fiction, fantasy, romance, young adult, mystery, memoir, and so much more.
I will be giving away bookmarks and pins from Other Systems.
On Saturday, I will be raffling off a drawing of Lord Fluffcakes from Out for Souls & Cookies and a paperback copy of Other Systems! Also at my table there will be a special activity: Draw your favorite demon!
Authors in attendance include: Ksenia Anske, Leeland Artra, S.C. Barrus, Laurie Blauner, Zachary Bonelli, Kate Bracy, Jamie Brazil, Paddy Eger, J. Glenn Evans, T.M. Franklin, Jerry Gold, David D. Horowitz, Paty Jager, Sibyl James, A. Ka, Kay Kinghammer, Susan Lute, Maggie Lynch (Maggie Jaimeson, Maggie Faire), Michele Makinson, Mark Matteson, John B McIntyre, Robert R. Mitchell, Old Nod, Northwest Independent Writers Association, Chris Patchell, D.E.S. Richard, Laura Kelly Robb, Susan Schreyer, Valerie Stein, Lisa Stowe, Jeff Suwak, Griffith H. Williams, Windtree Press, Joyce Yarrow, Matt Youngmark and me!
December 14, 2013
New pans and a book review of Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan
Over the course of my marriage, I have become the chef of the house, because I love to cook and Dennis doesn’t. Rosie and Tycho can not reach the knobs on the stove.
So I got new pans for “Christmas.” We had a set of KitchenAid non-stick pans, but as the Teflon had begun to peel, so I wanted stainless steel. I also wanted something made in the US. (Or at least something built without sweatshop labor) I chose AllClad Stainless Steel. They are absolutely gorgeous. When we bought a small set, we got a lasagna pan, pot holders, and a lovely hardback book Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. I’ve been using them since I got them, we didn’t wait for the holiday.
Okay on to the book review. This is simply one of the best cookbooks I’ve come across for simple, delicious, and authentic Italian food. The book is filled with recipes, but my favorite part is the the descriptions of ingredients and their uses in the beginning of the book.
As for the recipes, the step-by-step instructions are easy to follow. Many of the recipes have personal stories attached to them. Each recipe I have made so far— which has only been a few since I only have had it for a few weeks–have been fantastic. It’s been cold, so I’ve made mainly the soups and pastas.
For readers, I should point out there are only illustrations rather than photographs of the dishes. But the fonts and illustrations are beautiful.
Tomorrow, I’m using a few friends as Guinea Pigs… I mean I am hosting dinner guests so I can make pasta with cream and butter sauce and the pan roasted lamb on page 411 which is an old recipe from Lombard. The recipe talks about how this method of cooking makes even older lambs tender which is a good idea since I am purchasing lamb in winter.
