Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 161

Wednesday's writing related ramblings - June 24th 2015

It's possible I might have writeritis... I have many of the symptoms. Here are 20 symptoms of writeritis, in case you want to check if you have it too.

Here are some tips on twisting the plot, in case you could use some advice on how to add some exciting plot twists to your story.

Always remember... There are only so many hours in the day, and just because you're good at something, doesn't mean you have to be the one to do it all... Sometimes it's OK to ask someone else to do the things we're good at.

Finally, here are some annoying things only writers will understand.

Monday's random mutterings - June 22nd 2015

Yesterday (Sunday, June 21st 2015) was Fathers' Day. So, a belated happy Fathers' Day to my Dad, Kelly's Dad, and all the other Dads out there.

Yesterday was also the Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere, which would mean it was the Winter Solstice in the southern hemisphere. So, a belated blessed Solstice to all who read this.

***

That storm I said was coming broke far enough out to sea that we didn't see much evidence of it, so we've been enjoying some really nice weather all week; the temperature's been all over the place though.

Until today.

It started to pour with rain in the early hours of this morning, and it's still raining now.

***

I was meant to have my hospital appointment to sort my other wisdom tooth this past Wednesday, but I still wasn't feeling well when Monday rolled around, so I thought I better reschedule, since they like to have as much notice as possible if you can't make your appointment.

Unfortunately, the soonest they can fit me in again is the end of July.

My new appointment is for July 29th 2015 at 3:15pm.

Well, at least that gives me plenty of time to shake the last of this cold.

Luckily, the wisdom tooth this is about isn't really causing any problems at the moment, so at least I'm not in serious pain while waiting to be sorted (like I was with that other tooth). I get a slight twinge - which is more discomfort than pain - from it every now and then, but it doesn't happen very often, and it's mild enough to ignore. As long as nothing changes between now and the end of July, I should be able to have them get it out before I start having any real pain from it.

And, hey, if not, at least I won't be sufferring with it for nearly as long as I did with that other tooth... I still can't believe it took them six months to sort that one out!

***

Remember the giveaway I posted about a little over a week ago?

I won!

Well, OK, I wasn't the only winner; other people won stuff too. But, still...

I won my choice of a free copy of any of the books from the series. So, since I already have the first book in the series, I asked for the second... Evolution.

I'm really excited about reading it, since I really enjoyed the first book in the E series!

Also... YAY for winning a free book!

***

I've been a member of a group on Goodreads called Children's Books for a while.

It's never been a very active group, but lately it's been even quieter. I learned why when another member ealized the moderator had disappeared, so the group no longer had one, and he decided to pick up the reigns.

To cut a long story short... After I thanked him for doing so, and we exchanged a couple of messages, we decided to be co-moderators, so we're now both running the group, and working on attempting to breathe new life in to it by encouraging the members to start - and participate in - discussions.

Anyway, I just thought I'd mention it so that anyone who reads this can go check the group out if they like.

As the name suggests, it's a group for authors and readers of children's books, where people can hang out and chat about their favourite children's books from childhood, or children's books they've read more recently. Plus - in the case of members who are authors of children's books - have an oppertunity to talk about their books somewhere they have a chance of getting potential new readers.

I also plan to organize the ocasional reading challenge for the group members.

Furkid Friday - June 19th 2015

Hello humans, rodent types, and anyone of any other species who happens to be reading this.

This is Bilbo the gerbil.

The humans replaced the water bottle that I accidentally broke while checking if it was edible. Turns out it was quite edible, though the Mummy human says I shouldn't make a habit of sampling plastic; apparently it's not good for my tummy.

Anyway, the bit that atatches the new water bottle to the cage isn't so easy to chew, so for now I've given up on it, and decided to focus on the gnawing block and wooden items the humans give us to chew on.

Maybe I'll try again with eating the new water bottle atatchment another time.

Squeak soon,
Bilbo

Wednesday's writing related ramblings - June 17th 2015 (FD)

Guess what?

The following books are now also available as paperbacks from CreateSpace and Amazon:

*Bluebell The Fairy Guide
*Frank The Friendly Ogre
*Goodies For Grandmother
*Lonely Little Princess
*Rodent Rhymes And Pussycat Poems
*The Forgotten Angel
*The Great Tadpole Rescue
*Vinnie The Vegetarian Zombie

(Click on the book title for the CreateSpace link).

We're almost half way there, and more of my books will be available in paperback soon... At this rate it won't be many more weeks before we're all caught up with making my entire backlist available in paperback!

In the meantime... Here are some writing related links:

If you self-publish, like I do, here are some tips for staying sane in a self-publishing world. Also, these are the 10 things that really matter when it comes to judging your success.

Struggling to get your writing time in? Check out these productivity tips for writers.

Plenty of real life social activities involve food and/or drink: catching up with friends over coffee, ordering a pizza to share with your partner on date night, taking your kids out for a burger and fries on the weekend... You get the idea, I'm sure! In fact, some solo activities involve food and/or drink too. I mean, I bet most people reading this at least have a drink beside them right now... I know I do. So adding food in to your fiction can help to bring some life to some of your scenes. Here are some tips on using food in fiction, which explain this in more detail.

Should we stick to the old saying about writing what you know? Or should we be teaching a writed new tricks? Personally, I'm all for learning new things while writing; the research can be fun!

Speaking of learning new things... Are you writing for children? Be sure your character grows, so that your young readers can learn and grow alongside your character.

Formatting matters, so here are some tips on formatting your book. They're aimed at eBooks, but formatting matters in other formats too. I try to keep the formatting as simple as possible, while - I hope - making it easy to read my books; that's the advice I'd give you too.

If you've written your book, and think it would be the perfect book for someone to take on holiday with them, here are 7 top tips for promoting your novel as a holiday read.

Finally... What do we mean by selling? (A post for writers, not salespeople).

Monday's random mutterings - June 15th 2015 (FD)

We've had some awesome storms lately, but this was the view from our window this past Thursday...


The weather was really nice, the ocean was bluer and calmer than it had been in ages, and plenty of our neighbours - those who live close by, and those who live a little further away - were out there enjoying it; not that I blame them in the least.

I love listening to the people enjoying themselves on the beach. Especially when there are dogs or children involved; listening to the delighted squeals of children paddling and splashing in the ocean, or the excited barks of dogs playing fetch or trying to chase the waves, always makes me smile.

Another reason I enjoy listening to the children out there is because I love hearing some of the things they say, or the games they invent to play, many of which make me laugh when I hear them drifting up through my open window; children have excellent imaginations.

It's just a shame that some of it is interrupted by the sounds of traffic going past us on the road between our building and the promonade; the sounds of cars, busses, and trucks isn't quite as pleasant to listen to, as I'm sure you can imagine.

Anyway, the next day (Friday) it was really hot and humid, and the rest of the weekend was overcast and very windy (Well, Saturday was very windy; Sunday was quite nice). It's meant to stay nice all week, but personally I think there's another storm coming; it's been trying to break since Friday.

***

My Mam and a family friend named Jo came for a visit over the weekend.

They were supposed to arrive with us about lunch time on Saturday, and I was going to go out for coffee with them. Well, OK... I wouldn't have had coffee; I'd have had tea or a soft drink, since I don't really like coffee. But you know what I mean, I'm sure.

Except they decided to drive down Friday evening instead, with plans to stay somewhere nearby for the night, and then come to us to take us to breakfast on Saturday morning.

But, as it turned out, that also didn't end up happening, because they couldn't find anywhere with an empty room, so they ended up arriving with us around 2:00am Saturday morning.

Mam and I had trouble sleeping. Well, actually, Mam had trouble sleeping, and I just didn't manage to sleep at all, so we ended up going for a walk down to the ocean at around 5:00am. Those who have me on Facebook might already know this, since we messed about with the camera on my Mam's phone, and she posted the photos up on Facebook after we got back. I don't have copies, or I'd have put them in this post. Yeah, I know I could grab them off Facebook, but it's not very easy for me to do, and I don't feel like trying to do it; not for photos that were just us messing about.

Anyway...

After that, Mam managed to get a bit of sleep, while I read for a while, until it was late enough for us to go for breakfast; which Mam paid for.

We went to one of our favourite cafes, which is only about a block and a half away from us. Mam and Jo had full cooked breakfasts, I had an egg baguette, and Kelly just had to be different and have a burger for breakfast. But, hey, we all enjoyed our breakfasts, and that's what matters.

They didn't stick around after breakfast, since they wanted to go in to town and look around some of the shops. I expect they'd have been happy for us to join them, but I was just about ready for a nap, so they went to do some shopping, and Kelly and I came home.

I did go for a nap, but didn't sleep much.

But, anyway, after nap time, Kelly and I sampled the cheese scones Jo had made, and the peanut butter cookies my Mam had made; both of which were quite tasty.

We didn't see them again, even though they were in the area until Sunday, because they had other plans, and actually had somewhere to sleep Saturday night besides our living room; which I'm sure they were pleased about, since it meant they had beds, plus didn't have to share a room with the rodent gang (neither my Mam or Jo really like rats, and the rodent gang's cages are all in the living room).

It's probably just as well, since it was Sunday morning before I got any sleep worth mentioning.

"Eden" by Kate Wrath - includes giveaway!

Announcing the release of the third book in the E series, Eden, by Kate Wrath: THE THIRD BOOK IN THE E SERIES

Both friends and enemies are keen to get their hands on the information inside Eden’s head—information that could take down the Sentries and change the world. But there are costs that no one realized, and Eden’s not so sure she’s willing to pay them. Refusing to do so could create dangerous problems within the tribe she’s only just come back to.

Eden has her own agenda for learning Lily’s secrets. With hope refusing to die, she’s spurred forward by memories of Oscar and thoughts of finding him again. But Lily’s hold on her is greater than she knows, compelling her to chase after strange clues and confusing visions. With love and longing weighing on her, Eden must determine the reality of her fractured identity in order to decide which path to take. The choices she makes could tear her away from Jonas and Apollon, from everything she’s ever known.

Eden’s future will not be determined solely by choices. Fate has her own cards to play, and they just might take the game.


An excerpt from Eden:I glance at his face. He's not looking at me, but off down the street, taking in everything in that relaxed sort of way one does when everything is good and at ease. He looks at me now, sensing me looking at him. His smile is so easy. So real and natural. It's the perfect time to ask him, when he's like this. But that would bring all the weight back in. His smile would disappear. Maybe we'll walk just a moment more.

But a moment, and a moment, and a moment. It's not enough of this. When I let all my thoughts go—when I let them float away on the breeze like a cobweb—there's just the filmy sparkle of their passing. And behind, sunshine. Smiles. Something warm and good inside me that I don't want to give up. Yes, there are tuggings and pullings and longings deep within, but if I pay them no attention, I can just be here in this moment. I can just feel what it's like to be smiled at by him.

I sigh and lean into his shoulder as we walk. He murmurs something—some wordless something—an unimportant comment or offhand observation. I feel outside of language, right now. It's the tone that's important. The being.

So we walk, and I drink it all in.

Forever later—an instant later—we find ourselves at one of the warehouses with the trees.

"They're mostly in bloom," he says, drawing me through the door.

Inside is a secret forest of blossom and nectar and sunshine. We walk through the rows of trees, observing their flowers and the occasional fruit. It's a quiet place in and of itself, and our voices are gone for a long time.

There is a single orange dangling off the end of a branch, right at face level. We stop, and I caress it with my finger tips, leaning in to smell it. There is something about that smell. My eyes flutter closed as I inhale, drinking in the perfume of citrus. When I draw back, exhaling slowly, opening my eyes, Jonas is looking at me from the other side of the orange. A soft, soft smile is painted across his face.

And I don't want to let go of this moment. But I have to ask. He knows so much more about everything here, than me. "What can you tell me about oranges?"

His eyebrows go up a touch with surprise. He considers. "They're our main source of trade."

"Yes." I suppose I knew that. But what does it mean?

"...And you like them," he adds. "A lot." He takes hold of the orange and plucks it from the branch, holds it out to me. It rolls off his palm and comes to rest in the cup of his curved fingers.

I look at the orange for a moment, a little chill running up my spine. "Yes," I say again, taking it from him and raising it to my nose. I meet his gaze as I breathe in the lovely smell one more time, smiling behind the orange. "I do."

He laughs and turns away, touching a dangling branch of blossoms from the next tree over. "We used to come here," he murmurs, and though the words are quiet, I hear him well. He glances back over his shoulder at me, and a line has etched itself across his brow. "I wish we had a place just for us," he says. "That wasn't ever anyone else's."

"We have a river," I say, before I know what I'm saying. "And a spot on a raft in the morning, with the sun just rising."

An open-lipped smile stretches slowly across his face. "Next time I take you back there, it will be just you and me on the raft."

Now I laugh and move because I'm blushing and if I don't move I might pass out. And because there's too much pain in this joy. And too much uncertainty.

We walk for the door like we've made an unspoken agreement.

***

You can purchase Eden on Amazon.
It's also available on Amazon UK and Amazon Canada


About the Author:Kate Wrath lives in the Southwestern US. Much like other authors, she has both a [family] and a [pet].

[family = three crazy-but-lovable, exceedingly adorable people with longer eyelashes and better sense of humor than Kate]

[pet = lovable-but-crazy giant German Shepherd who seems to be able to read, but pretends not to understand when something is required of him]

Kate is the author of the E series: E (Book #1), Evolution (Book #2), Eden (Book #3, June 13, 2015), and Jason and Lily (prequel, July 23, 2015). She has also written two fantasy novels that are soon to be released.

Kate believes in literature as an art form, world peace, and animal rights, but aspires to write total trash that is full of senseless violence, with characters who eat house pets.



 

 

***Giveaway***

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Furkid Friday - June 12th 2015

Um... Hi everyone. This is Skye the rat.

I don't really have anything to say, if I'm honest. But I have a couple of photos of me and my sister, Star, to show you. So, here they are:





Enjoy!

Squeak soon,
Skye

Wednesday's writing related ramblings - June 10th 2015 (LBE)

As you'll no doubt already knowif you follow me on Twitter and Facebook, but may not if you don't...

The first of my books is available in print!

Here's me holding the first book to arrive:

(Sorry if I'm not looking too great in the photo; I wasn't feeling too well... Still not, really, though I'm feeling a lot better than I was. I had to have a photo of me with the first book to arrive though, didn't I?)

And here's a close-up of the book in question:


It's one of the books in my "Degu Days Duo" series; the series about my degu boys, Jacob, Jasper, Jenks, and Joshua.

"A Very Degu Christmas" is now available to buy from CreateSpace, Amazon UK, Amazon.Com, and a bunch of other Amazon sites.

"The Great Degu Round-Up" (the other degu book) arrived the following day, and is also now available to buy in paperback from CreateSpace, and Amazon.

They will also eventually be available for other bookstores (independant and otherwise) and libraries to order copies to stock - should they wish to do so, or should you request that they do so - though it will take a couple of months for that to be an option (CreateSpace say about six to eight weeks).


Thanks again to Kevin, and Alex, and Chris, for posting to tell everyone that my books are starting to become available in paperback; your help with getting the word out is very much appreciated.

By the way... Because of the way things work with ISBNs, most places will probably list the publisher as "CreateSpace" - like how most places list the publisher of my eBooks as Smashwords - but I actually got to pick a company name, and am publishing them under the company name "Keroberous Publishing" in honour of my beloved Westie, and it says "published by Keroberous Publishing on CreateSpace" on the copyright page of the paperback versions of my books.

Speaking of Kero...

The entire "Kero's World" series is also available in paperback from CreateSpace now too, and will be available on Amazon in the next couple of days.

The books for that series are:

1. Kero Goes Walkies
2. Kero Celebrates His Birthday
3. Kero Gets Sick
4. Kero Celebrates Halloween
5. Kero Goes To Town
6. Kero Celebrates Christmas
7. Kero Crosses The Rainbow Bridge

(Click on the book titles for the CreateSpace links).

More of my books will be available in paperback soon!

But... That's not all!

As you'll know if you saw my post on Saturday, the eBook version of "Zeena And The Dryad" is now officially released, and available from all the usual eBook retailers who stock my eBooks, such as Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Apple, and Kobo (among others).

It's been an exciting week!

Now for those writing links...

I don't have problems generating ideas, but if you could use a bit of help, here are 3 surefire ways to generate book ideas. Also, remember to pedal your bike to pedal your mind.

Are you thinking of making up an alien or fantasy language for your story? If so, check out this post entitled "thoughts on writing - creating fantasy languages" for some useful tips.

Ready to edit? Here are 8 tips for editing a manuscript, and a post called "for the Love of Comma" with some information on use of punctuation. Also, if you plan to use Beta readers, here are 6 tips for using beta readers.

Once your book is ready, it's time to figure out the price, and to answer the big question: "to offer it free or not" and, if not, how much to charge? Personally, I have one story available for free as an eBook, and have a pricing system I've worked out based on word count for the rest of them. I've tried to be fair with my prices - and also tried to be fair when figuring out a pricing system for my paperback versions - and hope people think I have been.

OK, so... You've published your book, and find yourself saying "I'm a published author, but no one in my family cares," while waiting for requests for autographs, etc. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but that's the most likely outcome for most writers. Don't get me wrong, I have some family members and friends who are very supportive, but I have to admit that the kind of comment made by the daughter at the end of the post I just linked to is about what I get most of the time; sometimes not even that. I wish you the best of luck with your books, but would like to remind you that most writers don't get lucky enough to become rich and famous, so if you're in it for fame and fortune, you should probably go do something else. Write because you love it, and that pleasure will be its own reward.

Last but not least, everyone loves a contest, so here are 9 tips for holding fun (and successful) contests to help you get the most of any contests you hold for your fans.

Monday's random mutterings - June 8th 2015

The above photo of the boats on the ocean was taken some time in May.

***

For May's monthly challenge on one of the groups I'm a member of over on Goodreads, we had to complete at least one of the following:

- Spell the month of May (Using either title or author name).
-Rate 4 books using each of the ratings (4 stars, 3 stars, 2 stars, 1 star)
-read 1500 words
-Read 2 books of the same series

I went with the option of reading two books from the same series. These are the books I read:
*Precipice (Star Wars Lost Tribe of the Sith, #1) by John Jackson Miller
*Skyborn (Star Wars Lost Tribe of the Sith, #2) by John Jackson Miller

I probably read the 1500 words and then some too, considering how much I read (I read 28 books in May).

Anyway, this group gives out badges, so here's my badge to say I completed the challenge:


***

Yesterday (June 7th) was my Grandma's birthday.

I don't know if she'll see this - sometimes she reads my blog posts, other times she doesn't - but I'll say it anyway...

Happy birthday for yesterday, Grandma!

It's also my Mother-In-Law's birthday tomorrow (June 9th) and my Dad's birthday on Saturday (June 13th).

Like with my Grandma, I don't know if they'll see this or not... Probably not, to be honest. But I'll say it anyway...

Happy birthday for tomorrow, Mom!

And...

Happy birthday for Saturday, Dad!

***

This will be short, because I've not really done anything much worth mentioning (other than book related stuff, which I'll tell you about on Wednesday). Unless you want to hear about boring stuff like household chores?

Yep, my day to day life is quite boring at the moment... The non-book related parts of it are, anyway.

Besides, I'm not feeling 100% at the moment. Nothing serious... I just have one of those annoying types of colds. You know? The ones that get just bad enough that you feel really yucky, but not so bad that you can't just about function.

I've had it for a little over a week now, but started feeling a bit more human recently, so hopefully it will go away soon.

Actually, I could really do with it being gone by next week, since I have the appointment to have my other wisdom tooth removed next week, and really don't want to have to reschedule; it's taken long enough to get this done as it is.

Zeena And The Dryad

Zeena Dragon Fae, Book 1: Zeena And The Dryad

Genres: Fairy Tales And Fables/Fantasy & Readers/Chapter Books

Description: "Zeena the faerie dragon doesn’t think she’s special, even though she’s the only one of her kind to have mastered the magic for all five elements equally. But when a dryad named Kishi comes to her for help, she doesn’t hesitate. Together with her best friend – a mischievous pixie named Saarik – Zeena sets off to free Heidi the earth fairy, as well as to save the woods and the creatures of Earth."

Published: 6th June 2015

ISBN: 9781311814449

Buy it from Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...

Available elsewhere soon!