Kayla Curry's Blog, page 15

NaNoWriMonday Update!

Hey guys! sorry the post is so late. I was too busy writing last night to remember to do this post!

Anyways, I have 12,079 words so far. I'm a little behind, but I plan on getting caught up over the next few days. I worte like a crazy person yesterday.

Some great news: I have a new found direction. Things have FINALLY clicked into place and I know how the book I'm working on and how the series is going to end!! I am so excited about that. I think anyone who reads the Mystic Stones Series will LOVE how it ends.

I struggled for a few days because I was feeling inspired in a different way than writing inspired. It's something that I deal with all the time. I start a project and then I just have an idea or a desire to do something else. Eventually, I was able to vent the other creative side of me and then I put down about 4,000 words after that.

So, how are you doing? Have you gotten stuck? How did you get unstuck, or have you yet? A great way to get inspiration or seek help is to go to the forums! NaNoWriMo is about helping out each other!

Challenge Me! Cover Design!

I've been feeling in a creative mood lately, but I have no where to vent my creativity. Sure I'm doing NaNoWriMo, but I'm talking about the urge to create a piece of visual art. The problem is, I have no direction. That is what I need from you.

Send me your covert art challenge. This can be a cover for your upcoming work or a cover for a  book that doesn't even exist. I need the title, the author's name, a description of the story and your concept of the cover.

I will pick one of these concepts and create an original cover to the best of my abilities. Whoever comes up with the cover I choose will get to work with me through the process. I will send you mock ups and you can tell me what changes to make and once the final cover is complete you will take ownership of it for FREE!

So, send in your concepts to pepperpress (at) hotmail (dot) com and I will be choosing a cover within a week or two!

In honor of Bram Stoker

Today would have been Bram Stoker's 165th birthday!

So in honor of Bram Stoker, I pulled out Dracula and skimmed over some of my favorite scenes. I've read Dracula a few times in my life and of course seen the movies. Stoker was a great novelist and had a great mind.

His many novels are now considered classics and I believe he is responsible for the vampire we see in literature today. I know he didn't invent them or anything, but Dracula is perhaps the most famous vampire story there ever was.

Have you read Dracula? Have you read other Bram Stoker works? What do you think about Bram Stoker and his work?

Character of the Week

Apparently, I somehow skipped Character of the Week this week. I think it's because I had someone who was unable to do Character of the Week, so I moved someone up and never filled the blank spot.

So, instead of doing a specific character this week, I want to hear from YOU! Who is your favorite character of all time? Mine is Sherlock Holmes. I think Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did a great job in creating a memorable character who has lived in the minds of so many people.

So, let me know! Who is your favorite character and why?

Cover Reveal for Robert Zimmermann's From Where I Stand

Today we are taking a little break from the paranormal and instead we'll be helping with the cover reveal of From Where I Stand, a book of poetry by Robert Zimmermann. Rob is a very kind and talented guy who is always eager to help others, so when he was looking for people to reveal his awesome cover, I jumped at the chance! He's been very hard at work on this project, and I can't wait until it's finally released!


 

BLURB:
From Robert Zimmermann comes From Where I Stand, an emotional debut poetry collection. Zimmermann explores strained parental relationships, loss of life, and the despair associated with grief. Alongside these darker themes, he delves into the small areas of life that often go unnoticed but become the hope we are searching for.

Expected release November 2012

Example’s of Robert’s poetry can be found in the poetry section on his blog. He also has poems published by Albany Poets.

QUOTES:

"Rob writes with an incredible sense of observation and feeling made all the more poignant by his struggles. Every verse is genuine and every poem is a journey toward understanding the soul of a poet." – Ben Ditmars, author of Night Poems


“Zimmermann has achieved something rarely seen in modern poetry. Each poem is a personal and detailed story that will strike the heart of the reader with a torrent of emotion. Zimmermann balances the dark and light beautifully and without a hint of hesitation.” – Jessica Fortunato, author of The Sin Collector Trilogy


"Rob's poetry has a very real tone to it and in some ways creates a tragic yet poetic story." – Paulina Ulrich, author of the Flightless Bird Series

 
"Honest, heartfelt and moving" – Amber Jerome~Norrgard, author of In The Gloaming


BIO:  

Robert has been writing poetry since the eleventh grade. His writing started as impulsive rambling, but soon became a passion. A few years later he attended SUNY Potsdam where he received a B.A. in Creative Writing.
His main focus is poetry, but at times you can find him dabbling in short fiction. Robert has also created the blog A Life Among The Pages, where he posts his writing as well as book reviews.

When he’s not reading or writing, Robert enjoys spending time with his dog, Deuc. Deuc ran out of the woods in August 2011 and that have been inseparable ever since.


LINKS:
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads


 

What Kills Me . . . kills some trees.

What Kills Me...kills some trees. Wynne Channing’s top-rated bestselling novel, What Kills Me, has being released as a paperback! Since its debut as an ebook this summer, it has shot up to #1 in occult last month. Wynne decided to put out a book version so more people could go on the adventure. (She says: “Maybe finally my father will read the book now that it's in a form that he recognizes.”)
 

Check out the new book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIV90wJll4Y




Buy What Kills Me
Paperback!



For your E-Readers:
Amazon US | Amazon UK | B&N | Kobo | iTunes | Goodreads



About the book: An ancient prophecy warns of a girl destined to cause the extinction of the vampire race. So when 17-year-old Axelia falls into a sacred well filled with blood and emerges a vampire, the immortal empire believes she is this legendary destroyer. Hunted by soldiers and mercenaries, Axelia and her reluctant ally, the vampire bladesmith Lucas, must battle to survive. How will she convince the empire that she is just an innocent teenager-turned bloodsucker and not a creature of destruction? And if she cannot, can a vampire who is afraid of bugs summon the courage to fight a nation of immortals?



About Wynne: Wynne Channing is a national newspaper reporter and award-winning young adult novelist. Wynne loves telling stories and as a journalist, she has interviewed everyone from Daniel Radcliffe and Hugh Jackman to the president of the Maldives and Duchess Sarah Ferguson. The closest she has come to interviewing a vampire is sitting down with True Blood‘s Alexander Skarsgard (he didn’t bite). She briefly considered calling her debut novel “Well” so then everyone would say: “Well written by Wynne Channing.”



Connect with Wynne
Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads


Google+ | Pinterest |YouTube |Amazon Author Page

NaNoWriMonday My weekly update on how it's going!

Okay, so I've been pretty good. My current word count is 7362. I made my goal on Day 1. Didn't do any writing on Day 2. Day 3 and Day 4 I played catch-up.

So far it is going well. I did run into a little snag when I was trying to write a scene that I hadn't fully researched, but I used the AWESOME forums and posted a question after finding nothing in a google search. Less than 30 minutes later I had an answer. Which is amazing because it was a really difficult and specific question about infrared and amethysts, so THANK YOU to the man who answered my question, you rock!

So, NaNoWriMo is definitely helping me get a good start on book #3. I can't wait to see what the rest of the month holds for me. I did a really basic outline that I'm sticking to pretty well so far, but I usually hit about 10,000 words before I come up with other directions for stories to go.

How are you coming along on NaNoWriMo? Remember, any word count is better than no word count at all!

Obsidian is going on tour!

Hey everyone! I'm organizing a blog tour for Obsidian: Mystic Stones Series #1! I have some spots to fill on the tour, so if you want to be a part of it please let me know! I'm planning lots of fun posts that go off the beaten path, so to speak. I just finished making digital character cards for all the key characters and they'll be revealed on the tour!

I'm also working on a few video type "tours" for the blog tour and some awesome guest posts! I'll have one giveaway for everyone to post and it should be tons of fun!

If you'd like to host me, please contact me at lil87blue (at) hotmail (dot) com! Thank you! Oh! The tour begins January 7th!

Today we have a guest post from Brooklyn James, author of...

Today we have a guest post from Brooklyn James, author of Vigilare, Vigilare: Hell Hound and The Boots My Mother Gave Me. She's here to tell us about how she created her awesome new book trailer for Vigilare.

BOOK TRAILERS are a relatively new concept, following the promotional success of the movie trailer. Without a movie trailer, advertised on national television, how else would we know of the latest blockbuster or quiet Indie film coming to a theater near us?

By virtue of movie trailers, we get an average of two and a half minutes to determine whether the concept, actors and overall theme appeals to our film palate. I LOVE a good movie trailer! One movie in particular I want to watch, REACHER, is based on the fantastic Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child. I was not aware they were making such a movie until I saw the movie trailer. From this movie trailer, I can deduce the film involves the city of Pittsburgh, a red Chevelle with black racing stripes, mystery, suspense and a kick butt antihero played by Tom Cruise. As a Pennsylvania native, a Steelers fan and a lover of all things with horsepower, the city and the car alone, are enough to stir my curiosity about this film.

Some authors and publishing companies have taken to promoting their books in much the same way, by virtue of a book trailer. Usually these book trailers are quite short, on average thirty to ninety seconds in length. From the modest to the grandiose, I have viewed book trailers of all sorts. Some even include real actors. I am inclined to believe most of these 'higher-end' book trailers are produced by larger publishing companies. As the majority of author produced book trailers I've watched simply depict images, illustrations, animation, narration and/or a musical score to get the general point across.

My curious nature winning out, I had to attempt a book trailer myself. After several months of imagining a storyboard, contemplating the worth of a book trailer in my promotional efforts and tracking down an illustrator, I've released my first official book trailer for my supernatural thriller trilogy, VIGILARE:
 

I hope you enjoy, as it took a good dose of time, and a little cash from my operating budget in producing. As most Indie authors, once I try something, I like to share with other authors, readers and inquisitive minds my experience, with the intent to offer some insight and my overall impression. For those of you interested, I have outlined below my experience in producing my first book trailer.

Step 1: I researched book trailers, simply by googling the term. I found numerous productions, from the most simple to what appeared quite complex. Some of these book trailers had very few views, while others, more popular, such as the Hunger Games and Twilight series had upwards of 300,000+ views. This is quite understandable considering their popularity and promotional machines. However, there were some self-published authors who attained reputable views, such as Ley Mesina's 'Reborn' book trailer. 'Reborn' enjoyed 11,000+ views, and is a great example of a very basic book trailer, featuring a haunting musical score with only words and background images depicting the story line. No complicated graphics, animations or actors. 'Reborn' is a successful example of what an Indie author may be able to create on any home movie editing system, such as Windows Movie Maker. You can watch this book trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJm87xoZIqE Researching was enough to drive me to attempt making my own book trailer.

Step 2: Coming up with the idea, the storyboard, so to speak. I sat down with my book description, from the back cover of Vigilare, and began drawing a storyboard. I am no artist, so my storyboard consisted of stick figures and a general idea of how I saw my characters and their environment. Vigilare is a supernatural thriller, inspired by movies such as The Punisher, V, Batman and Sin City. It's dark and comic-esque. Therefore, I figured black and white illustrations would suit it best. You know, the images one may see in a graphic novel or a comic book. I knew I was working within a budget, therefore, I figured I could allocate enough resources to cover 7-images/illustrations. Most illustrators will charge per illustration. From my research most illustrations range from $20-$70/each, depending on the detail and the time required to draft them.

Step 3: Once I had my 7-illustrations in mind, I began researching illustrators and graphic artists. Calling on an acquaintance from PR By The Book, here in Austin, Texas, I was referred to Jeff Hebert of AFD Studios, otherwise known as Hero Machine. Jeff has quite a nice portfolio. You can view his portfolio at http://www.jeffness.net or visit his site at http://.www.HeroMachine.com, where you can experiment with making your own superhero visuals. There is a Contact Us section on Hero Machine, where you can submit an email for inquiries, quotes, etc. Jeff and I met at a nearby Starbucks to discuss the book trailer. I shared with him my humble storyboard, talked about how I saw the characters and the city in general. I gave him a copy of Vigilare, so he could envision the characters, their motivations, etc. All of this was necessary to effectively convey what I had in mind.

Step 4: Jeff constructed drafts of each of the 7-illustrations based on my initial storyboard. From there we went back and forth over a period of a few months in locking in the illustrations, the characters and their mannerisms. Mind you, this process could have turned around much sooner...we simply did not set a deadline as both of us were busy with other projects at the time. We agreed upon our first meeting that this would be something that would resolve over a few months. Therefore, depending on your time frame, that will gauge the urgency of the book trailer production.

Step 5: After the 7-illustrations were finalized in their complete form, a decision which Jeff and I were in agreement upon, as both illustrator and client, Jeff transported them into a Flash program which is the factor that gives them their animation...their movement within the frame. I know nothing about illustrating and Flash animation. Therefore, this responsibility was Jeff's, essentially the service for which I paid. Jeff exported the Flash movie as a Quick Time file for me. That was the end of his responsibility. To recap, I paid him to illustrate and Flash animate my 7-illustrations/images.

Step 6: From there, I took the Flash movie, imported it into my very basic, free, home Windows Movie Maker program compatible for my PC. In that program, I was able to add my book cover, titles, captions, transitions, musical score, narration and credits. I then exported my Windows Movie Maker file to the recommended YouTube mp4 movie, which I then uploaded to YouTube. This is the version you viewed above as the OFFICIAL book trailer for Vigilare.

Step 7: Weighing my odds. Time will tell as to whether the book trailer is worth the promotional expense. I've included the link on my Facebook fanpage, my Blog, my Website, Goodreads, Twitter, etc. I am currently looking into book trailer promotion services, to see if there is a way I can capitalize on the efforts in promoting the video. No one will know about it unless they know where to find it.

Obviously book trailers come in many forms, some produced completely by the author, others by large production companies. I hope you enjoyed the OFFICIAL book trailer for Vigilare, and my commentary here. My advice would be do what you can, and outsource the rest per your budget and promotional goals. As a singer/songwriter here in Austin, I am quite accustomed to the DIY mentality. However, seeing how I do not have the gift of illustration nor Flash animation, I outsourced what I needed to, while kicking in my own experience where I could. In doing so, it made the production of this book trailer affordable for me as an Indie author.

One more piece of advice: If you decide to make a book trailer, somewhere within your video or on the description section in the YouTube upload, make sure you offer the link where folks can find your book (ie. http://www.amazon.com/Vigilare-ebook/dp/B005W4YEEC)

If anyone has any questions or advice about book trailers (production, promotion, etc.), please feel free to join the conversation.

For those of you may want to see the collection of all 7-illustrations before Flash animation was applied to them, as you viewed in the book trailer for Vigilare, here they are (Illustrated by Jeff Hebert of AFD Studios and HeroMachine.com): [image error]
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NaNoWriMo. How to use it to your advantage . . .

Okay. I have done NaNoWriMo one year (2011) and I'm doing it again this year. I did "win" last year, and I've been pretty happy with what I wrote. I had a lot of re-writes to do, but that is not related to NaNoWriMo. It was my own fault for not checking dates and not having a definitive plan for the witches in my series.

I've seen that a lot of people who do NaNoWriMo are having problems with what they have to work with AFTER NaNoWriMo is over. I've heard that they have "won a mess" of a manuscript and they aren't sure what to do with it.

Here is my advice on NaNoWriMo:

Don't push yourself too hard. If your writing seems to be coming out like crap, pace yourself. You don't have to win. If you happen to hit the 50,000 mark, then that is great! If you don't, then that's okay! At least you have a start. NaNoWriMo is about motivation.

USE the forums! If you get stuck, take it to the forums! While you're there answer question other pepole have posted. One of my favorite things about NaNoWriMo is the support in the forums. NaNoWriMo is about supporting eachother.

Once you have written that 50,000 words, or at least have gotten a start on that total, keep in mind that the approximate length of a novel is 70,000 or more. That means you still have some writing to do once you hit that mark whether it be during or after NaNoWriMo. Don't fret! That's okay! Any number is good and will give you a foundation to work with. NaNoWriMo is about writing.

I'll be letting you know my progress each Monday (I'll be calling it NaNoWriMondays: A Progress Report) this month, and I'll do a wrap up post on the 30th, so make sure you return to see progress and additional advice!

Oh, and my username is lil87blue if you want to become writting buddies!