Jen Minkman's Blog, page 6
February 16, 2014
My first audiobook
a Rafflecopter giveawayNewsletter for New Releases here: http://eepurl.com/x1X9P
To celebrate the release of my first audiobook and at the...
a Rafflecopter giveawayNewsletter for New Releases here: http://eepurl.com/x1X9P
February 13, 2014
Audible, here I come! :)
A while ago, I joined ACX and put up my books for audition. Within 2 days, people had auditioned for all of my books except Shadow of Time (which is understandable, because the book is a whopping 120,000 words and contains many words in the Navajo language). Very soon, one of my poetry chapbooks will be available on Audible too, but for now, there's just The Island - and what an awesome edition of my book this is! When the narrator auditioned for the book, I immediately accepted her offer, because her voice is so well-suited for the story. I would have narrated my book like that (if I sounded remotely American, of course, which I don't :). Anyway, if audiobooks are your thing, I suggest you check out The Island. If audiobooks aren't your thing yet, just click on the sample and let Coco Bell's narration and my writing skills convince you otherwise. ;)Newsletter for New Releases here: http://eepurl.com/x1X9P
How exciting: my first audiobook is now available on Audi...
A while ago, I joined ACX and put up my books for audition. Within 2 days, people had auditioned for all of my books except Shadow of Time (which is understandable, because the book is a whopping 120,000 words and contains many words in the Navajo language). Very soon, one of my poetry chapbooks will be available on Audible too, but for now, there's just The Island - and what an awesome edition of my book this is! When the narrator auditioned for the book, I immediately accepted her offer, because her voice is so well-suited for the story. I would have narrated my book like that (if I sounded remotely American, of course, which I don't :). Anyway, if audiobooks are your thing, I suggest you check out The Island. If audiobooks aren't your thing yet, just click on the sample and let Coco Bell's narration and my writing skills convince you otherwise. ;)Newsletter for New Releases here: http://eepurl.com/x1X9P
November 3, 2013
December Giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveawayNewsletter for New Releases here: http://eepurl.com/x1X9P
Come one, come all! Grab copies of these cool Fantasy & R...
October 6, 2013
I broke my own rule! I wrote a sequel...
September 17, 2013
A trip to a world I have dreamed and written about
Every writer knows that it is best to write what you know. And yet, I ignored that pearl of sacred wisdom when I started work on my first full novel Shadow of Time three years ago, because I decided to set it on the Navajo Reservation - a place I had never visited.
A Carefully Planned Road Trip
My husband and I saved up for a full year before setting out for the US West Coast. My main goal during our road trip was to make it to Navajo Nation. I'd written about Antelope Canyon, the town of Page, Lake Powell, Lone Rock Beach, Canyon de Chelly, as well as a couple of villages that didn't even really exist. The villages of St Mary's Port and Naabi'aani were invented by me; however, I knew exactly where they were supposed to be on the map.
Time For Some Visuals!
People who've already read the book know that St Mary's Port is close to the beach of Lake Powell, between Page and Wahweap. The actual place is completely empty, but there's plenty of space to build a village, in my humble opinion! :) 
In 'Shadow of Time', the two main characters go on their first date in this slot canyon: Antelope Canyon. I used a picture of this canyon on the first English edition of the book, and Antelope Canyon is still on the front cover of the Dutch and Chinese edition. Visiting this place and being able to get in there before the hordes of tourists showed up was truly majestic. 
In Chapter 1, Hannah runs into Josh at a gas station without realizing it's him (she knew him as a young boy). I imagined the station to be next to South Lake Powell Boulevard, but alas, there was no gas station... however, there is a square spot of soil that LOOKS like they're going to build something there, so there might be one in the future! 
A pivotal moment in the book comes when Josh tells Hannah his secret. They are sitting right here, on Lone Rock Beach, when he tells her his story. 
For the historical flashbacks in the book, I used the location of Canyon de Chelly. This is what the canyon looked like at seven o'clock in the morning, just as the sun was rising. Visiting this place was one of the highlights of the vacation for me. 
And this is Spider Rock. In the book, Hannah keeps having nightmares about the rock plateau overlooking this part of the canyon. Why? If you haven't read Shadow of Time yet, I suggest you should! :) 
Newsletter for New Releases here: http://eepurl.com/x1X9P
July 11, 2013
Welcome to the Book'em Danno Book HopThis event is hosted...
Welcome to the Book'em Danno Book HopThis event is hosted by The Review Wire and is dedicated to book lovers everywhere. Whether it's hardback, paperback, eBooks or gift cards to buy a book each blog participating is offering you some kind of reading adventure! After you enter my giveaway make sure to hop on down the list to see what each blogger has to offer. Also, you can enter The Grand Prize over at The Review Wire. Two prize packs will be offered to two winners that include all children's titles and both valued at over $110 dollars! 
Hello everybody! To celebrate the recent publication of my YA dystopian novella The Island and the fact that I have already sold 350 copies, I am hosting a giveaway so you can win a copy of The Island :) Enter below!
Leia lives on the Island, a world in which children leave their parents to take care of themselves when they are ten years old. Across this Island runs a wall that no one has ever crossed. The Fools living behind it are not amenable to reason – they believe in illusions. That’s what The Book says, the only thing left to the Eastern Islanders by their ancestors.
But when a strange man washes ashore and Leia meets a Fool face to face, her life will never be the same. Is what she and her friends believe about the Island really true?
Or is everyone in their world, in fact, a Fool? a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclaimer: This giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST on July 26, 2013. The Book'em Danno Event Bloggers are not responsible for shipment of prize or sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes. Companies and bloggers, if you would like to participate in group giveaway events like this one, sign up to be emailed about future events hosted by The Review Wire.
May 29, 2013
The Island - prologue
The clothes I’m wearing feel uncomfortable. They’re grown-up clothes: rough-textured and of practical cut. Made to last for a long time.
“I go my own way,” I say softly. The words that every child utters at age ten – the words my brother will say after me today – don’t sound as if I’m sure of them. But I am, because I know this is right. I clear my throat and speak up. “I stand on my own two feet. No one takes care of me but me.”
Father nods solemnly. Mother looks pale and is staring down at her hands. Why won’t she look at me? Is this her way of saying she wants nothing more to do with me? I haven’t even moved out yet. Dull disappointment grows in my stomach like a heavy brick.
The door next to mine swings open, and Colin steps over the threshold. My twin brother. He’s wearing brown pants and a simple shirt. Slung across his shoulder is a bag containing a few possessions he doesn’t want to leave behind. Almost all of our things will be destroyed after our departure, our rooms cleared, so we won’t ever be tempted to return. Not that I would want to. I’m done here.
Colin coughs. “I go my own way,” he says with a quiver in his voice. His eyes search our mother’s. “I stand on my own two feet.” A tear rolls down his cheek. He’s having a hard time with this. Oh well – he’s the youngest, after all. There’s a half hour between us.
“No one takes care of you but you,” father finishes the speech, when Colin can’t go on.
When I pass my mother, she suddenly puts a hand on my shoulder. “Leia,” she says, pulling a simple bead necklace from her dress pocket. It has a painted and glazed walnut for a pendant. “For you.”
My heart skips a beat. That’s the necklace my mother got from her mother when she moved out. And now she’s giving it to me.
“Thanks,” I whisper. Just for a moment, I imagine her giving me so much more than this. I feel this can’t be the end, but just then my father pushes open the front door for us. I walk out after my brother, into the early daylight, away from my mother.
Colin is waiting for me and grabs my hand. “You coming?” he mumbles.
We walk down the path without looking back. We’re going to the manor, where we will live until we get married and have children ourselves.
The front door slams shut. A new life has begun.
The novella will be out in Kindle & paperback format in two days' time! Newsletter for New Releases here: http://eepurl.com/x1X9P
