L.R. Lam's Blog, page 34

The Shadowplay Blog Tour

The Shadowplay Blog Tour begins today, December 20, and runs until around January 12th. Last year I had 39 stops, which was a bit overwhelming, so this year I’m down to 23. Below are the places I will be appearing, and I’ll come back and edit as the posts go live.

Pantomime‘s Blog Tour round-up is here, if you’d like to go back in time and visit the posts I wrote nearly a year ago.

Here we go:

Some earlier posts:

11th December: 12 Days of Christmas Interview: Nicky Peacock

17th December: Winter Holidays in Ellada: Strange Chemistry/Angry Robot/Exhibit A

20th December: The Grey of Gender: Uncorked Thoughts

21st December: Making the Magic in Shadowplay: Curiosity Killed the Bookworm

22nd December: Interview: Rachel Monte

23rd December: The Micah Grey Series and Slipping Through Society: Catherine Lundoff

CHRISTMAS BREAK

27th December: Interview: Winged Reviews

28th December: The Post-Publication Roller Coaster: A Fantastical Librarian

29th December: Interview: It was Lovely Reading You

30th December: Diversity in Pantomime & Shadowplay: Readaraptor

31st December: 5 Favourite YA Fantasy Novels: Book Fairy Haven

NEW YEARS BREAK

2nd January: Shadow Plays and Shadowplay: Lost in Thought

3rd January: Magicians in Ellada: YA Yeah Yeah

4th January: Interview: Author Allsorts

5th January: 10 Magic Books: Bookshelves of Doom

6th January: Fitting Writing into the Rest of my Life: Author Allsorts

7th January: My Favorite Bit: Mary Robinette Kowal

7th January: 5 Things I Learned Writing Pantomime & Shadowplay: Diversity in YA

8th January: Interview: My Bookish Ways

9th January: From the Circus Tent to the Magician’s Stage – On Changing Settings: Feeling Fictional

10th January: 10 Questions on Shadowplay: Terrible Minds

11th January: A Brief History of Ellada and its Colonies by Professor Caed Cedar: YA-Sisterhood (date might be the 12th)

TBD: Exclusive Extract on Tor.com.

Additionally, I’ll be putting up 10 Shadowplay teasers on my blog in total.

Early Shadowplay reviews:

Lisa @ Over the Effing Rainbow: “You know those times when you read a book that leaves you wishing so sincerely that you’d been able to read it when you were a kid, or in your teens? That feeling might be a little bittersweet, but let’s focus on the sweet, because honestly – I wish I’d had this (and Pantomime) to read fifteen years ago.”

Leo @ Jet Black Ink: “In short: Lam is a genius, she writes beautifully and everything about this book was a complete and absolute pleasure. If you loved the circus, you’ll fall in love with the complex and fascinating world behind the stage of Shadowplay and the Kymri theatre Micah now calls home.”

Ellie @ Curiosity Killed the Bookworm: “Parts of Shadowplay reminded me of The Prestige, with old style illusionists gripped in an ancient grudge. I loved the atmosphere of the theatre and the images conjured up by their performances.”

Lyndsey @ Page After Page: “Not only do we have a dual between Maske and his rival magician but the new characters shed light into the world that Lam has created. Lam also tackles issues such as sexuality, politics and discrimination and they are all written about wonderfully. The plot is incredibly unique and one that had me hooked. I couldn’t stop reading this book and now that I’ve finished it, I want even more.”

Richa @ City of Books: “This series is a must-read for all fantasy lovers. I literally couldn’t put this one down! Shadowplay is captivating and enticing, with the most complex characters you’ll ever come across. I loved every bit of this, and I’m now impatiently waiting for the next installment.”

Nina @ Death Books & Tea: “Shadowplay, plotwise, is very different to  Pantomime. We learn a few things about Micah that you really don’t expect.”

Sam @ River & Sam: “Lam once again gives readers a wonderfully woven, extensively smart novel that handles topics of sexuality, discrimination and transition with such ease. It’s so easy to fall in love with her characters and follow their lives [. . .] I loved Shadowplay as much as I loved Pantomime, if not more, and I look forward to seeing where Micah’s adventure lead him.”

Leah @ Uncorked Thoughts: “I really enjoyed Laura’s first book but this one blasted it straight out of the water. It’s in this book that I fully fell in love with Micah and Drystan, Cyan and Maske. I feel like I’ve left some best friends behind in the pages of Shadowplay.”

Shadowplay Teaser 9: Mirror Maze

9. Mirror Maze

“I had to sell another of my automata today. Each time, I sell my least favorite, but that means that each time I part with the next, it grows harder. I sold the golden tamarind monkey, and it was a shame. I hope its new owner cherishes it.

“At least soon it will be the Night of the Dead, and I should have more bookings for séances. It will delay the date I must sell the next.

“I still have all of Taliesin’s automata. Those I shall never part with, no matter my finances. Someday I’ll figure out how he makes them tick. Then I’ll be one step closer to revenge.”

- Jasper Maske’s personal diary

Interested in more? Shadowplay, the sequel to Pantomime, will be released January 7, 2014.

Pre-order links:

UK: Amazon – The Book Depository - Hive

US: Amazon – Barnes and Noble – Indiebound – Powell’s

Canada: Amazon – Indigo

Australia: BookAdda

NZ: Fishpond

Free Fiction Friday: Sonnet: “My Love, a Glittering Vampire”

This was the first sonnet I wrote at university (and to date I’ve written the grand total of…two!). I decided to take the form, which can be quite formal (whoo iambic pentameter!), and poke a little fun at Twilight. I think it worked all right, and it got a few chuckles when I shared it with the class in 2008 (can’t believe I wrote this 5 years ago. My life is speeding up).

“My Love, a Glittering Vampire”

A Gentle Satire of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight

Laura Lam

Of marble, or the gilded monuments,*

his body is that of a statue, such as

the forgotten Adonis. His eyes, warm topaz,

gaze with intensity as he scents

my warm blood. How we wishes he could rend

the delicate skin of my neck. O, Edward,

how you fear you will slip, with me murdered

from your thirst. But how I wish our blood could blend!

Then you would never need to watch me sleep.

I could live forever, so that one day

it will not be so strange that you were born a century

before me. If you leave me, I will weep

and become a zombie, the wrong creature. Allay

my fears. How many books until you bite me?

*The slightly reworded first line of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 55

-

If you enjoyed this poem, please consider purchasing my full-length work, Pantomime & forthcoming Shadowplay. Thank you for reading.

Shadowplay Teaser 8: Shadow of a Shadow

8. Shadow of a Shadow

“A magician creates magic and mesmerizes the audience. But it is a pantomime, and the audience knows that it’s a ruse. It’s in the name: a “magic trick”. They play along when the magician tugs his sleeves to show there is nothing hidden within them, or that the top hat is empty of a rabbit, or eggs, or flowers. Beneath the façade there is only sleight of hand, wires and contraptions, misdirection at a key moment.

“But what the audience does not realize is that it’s not always trickery. Or at least, not quite.”

- The unpublished memoirs of Jasper Maske: the Maske of Magic

Interested in more? Shadowplay, the sequel to Pantomime, will be released January 7, 2014.

Pre-order links:

UK: Amazon – The Book Depository - Hive

US: Amazon – Barnes and Noble – Indiebound – Powell’s

Canada: Amazon – Indigo

Australia: BookAdda

NZ: Fishpond

Shadowplay Teaser 7: The Philosopher and the Fool

7. The Philosopher and the Fool

“Your whole life, you are told what is right and what is wrong. What you should do and what you should not do. What makes a good citizen and what makes a traitorous one. What happens, then, when you do everything you are not meant to do? Break down each and every barrier? Find out how good you are by how evil you can be?

“Some say this is how the Alder became great.”

-The Tyndall Philosophy, Alvis Tyndall

Interested in more? Shadowplay, the sequel to Pantomime, will be released January 7, 2014.

Pre-order links:

UK: Amazon – The Book Depository - Hive

US: Amazon – Barnes and Noble – Indiebound – Powell’s

Canada: Amazon – Indigo

Australia: BookAdda

NZ: Fishpond

Winter Holidays in Ellada, and Pantomime for £1

I have a guest post on the Strange Chemistry website about what winter holidays in Ellada are like. There’s also a brief Shadowplay snippet, and using the promo code, you can buy the DRM-free e-book from the Angry Robot Store for £1 today only, as it’s only a few weeks now until Shadowplay‘s release (egads), it’d be a good time to pick it up :-).

Winter Holidays in Ellada

Shadowplay Teaser 6: Moons, Clouds, Suns, Stars

6. Moons, Clouds, Suns, Stars

“I could list every magic trick in the book, and in intricate, infinite detail describe the reveal behind each one. And you could understand it. But that does not mean you are a magician. It means you know a few tricks. For a trick without context is only a fold of the fingers or a tuck of a prop up a sleeve.

“I could teach you how to switch objects. A clown may pass a cloth over a false bird and bring it away to show a live, cooing dove to delight a sideshow. But a charlatan soothsayer may perform the same trick using misdirection to change the sacrifice of a live crow for a dead one covered in maggots. The same trick for different purposes, with very different results in the audience.

“There is no one way to be a magician any more than there is only one way to be human.”

- The Secrets of Magic, The Great Grimwood

Interested in more? Shadowplay, the sequel to Pantomime, will be released January 7, 2014.

Pre-order links:

UK: Amazon – The Book Depository - Hive
US: Amazon – Barnes and Noble – Indiebound – Powell’s
Canada: Amazon – Indigo
Australia: BookAdda
NZ: Fishpond

How to Help Sophomore (or any) Authors (err, especially me)

Last year, I wrote a blog post of How to Help Debut Authors. It proved very popular and people still poke around on it, so I thought I’d write a follow up due to Shadowplay’s imminent release. I know a little bit more than I did last year, though I still feel like I have so much to learn! This was also inspired by Myke Cole’s recent excellent blog post “How You Can Help my Career” (which you should all read).

I need your help, and I’m not too coy to ask for it, though I do feel a little vulnerable doing so. Self-promoting can be difficult, but writing a frank post like this is different and even harder.

Writing is my dream. I’ve been wanting to do it professionally for the last ten years. I write for myself, because I love daydreaming and creating worlds and characters. I love fitting together pieces of plot and having the whole story come alive. But I don’t just write for me. I write for you.

I love telling stories, and I love that now people can read them. Pantomime might not have had stellar sales and become the next Harry Potter (not that I expected it to), but it was well-received critically and it was short-listed and long-listed for some awards, which I secretly hoped would happen but didn’t really expect would. I’ve received some beautiful bits of reader mail or reviews that have made me cry. I’ve had people say my books touched them to the core, that they wish they could have read it as a teenager, that they changed their viewpoint on gender and sexuality. I’ve had people say they stayed up all night to read it. That is so overwhelmingly wonderful. It’s a dream come true.

My biggest fear is that I’ll lose this dream, just after I grasped it. And some of that is irrational fear and anxiety, but writing is not the most predictable and stable of careers. I don’t make a living wage from my writing, and likely won’t for a while yet. And they say you’re only as good as your last book. And so that’s why I’m asking for help for my latest book. Please help me make Shadowplay thrive.

Micah Grey is an intersex, bisexual character, and the series also has several characters who are GLBT or POC. People have told me the books are too niche, that because of the GLBT angle it’ll never have huge sales or be considered commercial. Maybe that’s true. Maybe it’s not. I’d love to prove them wrong, but mainly I want my books to stay in print and be available to those who want to read them.

If you want to help me, my books, and my career, here’s what you can do:

1. Pre-order Shadowplay. As ever, supporting with your dollar/pound/currency of choice would help me the most. Debuts live and die by the numbers, and it’s just as important for further instalments in a series. I want to write more Micah Grey books. I’ve said before that my end-plan would be to write 6 Micah Grey books – three of him as a teen and three of him 10 years later. I mean, I’m pretty sure I’ll write them regardless, but sales numbers would perhaps impact whether they’re released by a publisher or self-published by me. First week sales will definitely, definitely make a difference to my career, and my publisher will pay attention to the first month’s sales especially. Any format is fine – e-book, Amazon, from a brick and mortar store. Anything would help. If you received an e-galley via Netgalley, perhaps consider buying a beautiful finished paperback copy, or a copy to give to a friend or family member? Pre-order links can be found here.

2. Purchase Pantomime. I’ve been noticing an upswing in Pantomime’s reviews and rankings and such recently, which is really good to see. It means that word of mouth is possibly spreading, or when people see stuff for Shadowplay they’re checking out Pantomime. Pantomime’s e-book was recently on sale for £1 and I think that helped get the word out. Christmas is coming up – I’m not above kindly asking if you wouldn’t mind purchasing a copy for a present for someone else if you enjoyed it? If you’ve never heard of me or Pantomime before but stumbled across this post, I hope you’ll perhaps consider starting at the beginning of the series and be drawn into Micah’s world and story. You can learn more about my first book here.

3. Cross-posting reviews. If you’ve written a review and put it on Goodreads/a blog, please consider also posting it to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, or anywhere else like that. A lot of casual readers only look at Amazon or other bookstore websites, and so having extra reviews would be useful. Also, evidently if there are more reviews, it can impact algorithms and make Amazon and other websites promote it more. If you haven’t written a review of Pantomime or Shadowplay, a quick little one or two line one would be very helpful, or even just leaving a star rating.

4. Help spread the word. My blog tour for Shadowplay is about to kick off. I’ve already started posting teasers of the opening quotes from each chapter here to my blog and cross-posting them to my FB author page, Tumblr, and Twitter and that’ll be ongoing (see them all here). Guest posts and interviews will start pretty soon. I’d greatly appreciate retweets, shares, blogs, and what have you to help spread the word further than my immediate online circle (who must be getting tired of hearing about my books by now).

But then there’s all the offline stuff – telling your friends and family members about my books. Telling librarians or teachers you know and seeing if they can order copies into their libraries. Going into a bookstore and if you don’t see it on the shelves, asking them to order it in, or telling booksellers that you really liked it. All that stuff can make such a huge, huge difference. I’m happy to do my own promo, but there’s really only so much I can do. I love doing guest blogs, interviews, school visits, book festivals, book signings and launches, and I’ll continue to do that. But really, readers are everything. You hold the power.

Obviously, this sort of thing can help any author, so even if my books aren’t your cup of tea, please consider doing some of these things for your favourite authors. Even if they never know you did it, they’ll be so grateful.

So, here’s me being frank, and open, and honest. In closing, I want to thank each and every person who read my books, whether in the end you liked them or not. Thank you so much for taking a chance on my words. Thank you to those who wrote reviews, took the time to tell me you enjoyed them, invited me to events, shared things around the internet, and told friends and family about my work. Thank you so very, very much. None of this would be possible without you, and I hope, so much, that it’s something I can keep doing for a long time.

Love,

Laura x

Shadowplay Teaser 5: Twisting the Aces

5. Twisting the Aces

“Twisting the Aces is the oldest magic shop in Imachara, and possibly Ellada. It began as a small stall in the marketplace, with the old fortuneteller, Fay Larch, selling amulets against the evil eye. She later diversified, selling all manner of magical apparatus.

“When attitudes toward magic shifted, her shop and wares likewise morphed. She bought the current premises and sold tricks to the early magicians of her day, from the simple cup and balls trick to the props for grand illusion. After her death, her son took over, and his child after him, and Twisting the Aces has continued for all these many years later.”

- Brochure for Twisting the Aces.

Interested in more? Shadowplay, the sequel to Pantomime, will be released January 7, 2014.

Pre-order links:

UK: Amazon – The Book Depository - Hive

US: Amazon – Barnes and Noble – Indiebound – Powell’s

Canada: Amazon – Indigo

Australia: BookAdda

NZ: Fishpond

Shadowplay Teaser 4: Penglass Peril

4. Penglass Peril

“Most Elladans have not travelled beyond the island. Some may have gone to Girit to visit family, but very few have been to the Temnes, Linde, Kymri, or Byssia. Thus, the Archipelago must come to them in the form of entertainment – circuses or magic shows, theatre or vaudeville. Of course, by nature of this entertainment, many Elladans still know very little about the native culture of each island, no matter how much they think otherwise.”

- Modern Ellada, Professor Caed Cedar, Royal Snakewood University

Interested in more? Shadowplay, the sequel to Pantomime, will be released January 7, 2014.

Pre-order links:

UK: Amazon – The Book Depository - Hive
US: Amazon – Barnes and Noble – Indiebound – Powell’s
Canada: Amazon – Indigo
Australia: BookAdda
NZ: Fishpond