Kait Gamble's Blog, page 19
May 22, 2012
Liar’s Game Release Countdown – Meri
First up:
Dr. Meriwether Prior
Whenever I think of Meri I see Jeremy Irons
Age: Early/mid 60s
Talents: Mechanical and medical knowhow
Weakness: Drug dependency
As the ship’s resident ‘mad’ scientist, Meri is undoubtedly the most brilliant among the crew. He’s the one they rely on for everything from healing up cuts and scrapes to building their gadgets and weaponry. His mind is always dissecting and reassembling leading him to endless tinkering with parts from the ships they ‘salvage’ providing them with a dazzling array of new inventions.
Not much is known about his past besides the fact that he once worked on projects for the government and survived the past two wars. Both are things he doesn’t often talk about. As far as anyone knows, Meri was jailed for colluding with a criminal when Bam was caught breaking into a military facility to obtain a drug that Meri needed.
The crew looks to him for advice and he gives it freely (even when no one wants to hear it). He’s also the conscience of the group, tempering the more impulsive tendencies of the younger crew members.
Auri looks up to him as a father figure, trusting him with things that she would never share with the others. But despite their many private conversations Meri never alludes to the devastating secrets of his own.
May 4, 2012
Well Hello There
So here I am. On my thirty-*coff*something*coff* birthday staring in awe at my book cover.
I still can’t believe in a few short months I’ll be published. And by an amazing publisher to boot.
A lot of people have these crazy stories about their path to publication. Mine is fairly simple. I started, like most of us, jotting down stories as a child. Letting my imagination run wild with tales filled with fantastical creatures and faraway places. Hoping that one day I could make up stories for a living.
Fast forward a… few years. I’d explored the fanfic world and sent out a few queries for a couple of YA novels that didn’t seem to want to find a home anywhere. And then I had an idea for a character. Her name came first and stuck with me for about a year before I wrote the first chapter. Unfortunately, it got put aside while I dealt with life but the story was always percolating in the back of my mind. Then one day I found out Carina Press was calling for submissions for their Christmas Steampunk Anthology.
A week and a half before the deadline.
Did I think I could do it? Not really. Did I go for it? Absolutely.
And thus Aurelia Popkiss and her crew took over my imagination with a vengeance. After nearly a week straight of no sleep, fevered panic writing (which I discovered at university was when I did my best work) and pestering my sainted friends to do a quick read over, I closed my eyes and hit send.
To be honest, I didn’t expect much. At worst, a form rejection. At best, a rejection with a few notes a kind editor might throw my way.
Then one morning I found an email from Angela James, Executive Editor with Carina Press, in my inbox. It took me a couple of reads to comprehend what it said. The story wasn’t right for the anthology HOWEVER she did like it enough for her to request a rewrite and resubmit.
So I did.
And now LIAR’S GAME will be out July 2.
Moral of the story:
Don’t give up
If you see an opportunity, seize it
If you work for it, you will get there
Childhood dreams can come true
