Alyssa Cooper's Blog, page 4

Another week in Sibu is over!

Well… much closer to two weeks, but let’s pretend that I didn’t forget to make a blog post last weekend.

This week Andrew treated me to an $8 haircut, of which I was in desperate need. Now I just need to freshen up my green, and my hair game will be unstoppable.



That day I even saw a double rainbow – it came out for the hair, I know it.



Andrew’s student Calvin treated us to dinner at a traditional Sibu seafood restaurant, which I forgot to take pictures of (I suck) and which I honestly didn’t eat much of – apparently I’m not a fan of traditional cuisine. Bring on the buns and noodles!

After dinner, Calvin’s friend Ricky took us for a second dinner of kampua and shaved ice (thank you, you’re a saint). Speaking of food (when did I start running a food blog?) Andrew’s been taking me to a lot of new restaurants, featuring pizza, rotti bread, fried fish that I’d be happy to eat daily, fried rice, and plum juice. I will miss plum juice more than anything when we leave – it tastes like Pez candy, if Pez offered a plum flavour.



We’ve started grocery shopping as well, as I find myself horrified by the amount of carbs and fats I’ve been packing in daily. The stuff in the picture below? All $8. We’ve also learned that milk here is much more milky than we’re used to – the closest I can find to my beloved 1%, is 8%. The only other option seems to be full cream. 8% tastes a lot like coffee creamer, and it’s still so wonderful after three weeks without it. I also found cute little glass Fantas!



Earlier in the week, we also met a couple from Kuala Lumpur, who were visiting Lucas to discuss installing a golf simulator in his new sports bar. Rich was from South Africa, and had spent a lot of time in Vancouver – it was surprisingly refreshing to be able to discuss Canada with someone who knew what I was talking about. Firdus studied art, and was sculpture major, and showed my pictures of the amazing parties she used to plan from scratch. They all went for massages – I say they because I still haven’t brought myself to let a stranger touch me – and we discussed the possibility of Andrew and I spending a weekend in their neck of the woods, and scuba diving. SCUBA DIVING!

I completely exploded at the mere prospect, and we’re going to make sure it happens before we leave. For a girl completely obsessed with the sea, I find it horrifying that I’ve never even seen it, except flying over top. Besides, I’ll need pictures of coral whenever I decide to finish off my leg tattoo, and how cool would it be to use pictures of coral in the ocean, instead of coral in an aquarium? (I will not admit this was my original plan.)



Tonight is the Night of the Hungry Ghosts here in Malaysia. At midnight, a portal will open that allows ghosts and spirits to wander. People will be leaving offerings on the roadside for them of food and incense, and a lot of our friends went in early tonight, to avoid being followed home by spirits.

So, of course, look for another blog soon! I plan to take lots of pictures. Andrew and I are going out at midnight to watch some locals make offerings at the crossroads, and tomorrow there will be a big festival that Lucas is going to take us to. Lucas said I’d be guaranteed to see the ghosts, if I rubbed a dog’s tears in my eyes. Unfortunately, we’re sadly lacking in the dog department, and even if I had one, I wouldn’t have the heart to make him cry.

Hopefully I’ve got the sixth sense all on my own!

Week One: Temples, Birthdays and Barbecues

My first week in Sibu has officially drawn to a close – and I still love it here. Andrew and I spend our mornings exploring, eating, shopping and (I won’t lie) lounging around our air conditioned apartment. On Friday morning I even had a radio interview with a news station back home – I had to get up at 6:30am to do it, but now Peterborough Extra listeners know all about the magic of the Witches of Armour Hill.

In the afternoon we go to the club, where he works and I enjoy the view, as well as the occasional feathered or scaly guest. The bird flew in the window one night, and couldn’t find his way out – the lizard lives in the hallway, and is completely adorable at less than an inch long. The moth… is just a moth.

I’m getting my head wrapped around the food – my boring Canadian palette is doing surprisingly well out here. Below you find, in order – stingray, sweet and sour fish and fried rice, a Chinese bun called bao (two pictures – it’s my one true love),  what Andrew calls “exploded bird,” some kind of clam, kempua, kompia, and scallops with cheese.

 

And of course, there’s my Lucky – he’s not at the cafe every night, but he always comes to see me when he is. I’ve also made a cat friend, at a different cafe – according to Lucas, Miss Kitty has an owner, and she does look a little too clean and fat to be a stray.

Andrew’s boss Lucas helps with the exploring part, and when I say touristy things like “Holy crap, look at that temple,” he stops to let me look around. His daughter has also introduced me to her dog Teddy, who wears little t-shirts and loves me (why are all my friends quadropeds?)

We were driving around with his wife (who got me the Hong Kong keychain pictured above, because she’s awesome) and daughter when he took me on a tour of this amazing temple.

These decorations were outside. The woman is some kind of mother goddess, and she’s meant to hold the bottle pictured beside her. Then there’s the great tortoise and her golden eggs, as well as some awesome dragons.

This little house was also outside, and is built in what’s called the rain tree – it’s gotten so old and twisted now that there are false trunks added to hold up the heaviest branches. You can read about the story in the photo of the plaque!

The temple was beautiful, full of lanterns and candles and classic art and sculpture, right down to door knockers and reliefs in the ceiling.

 

The guardian of the temple has his own dog – I think we’d be friends.

The walls were covered with dozens of panels, all with artwork of different gods and deities. Andrew was quite excited to learn that the monkey king was a true deity and not a cartoon character.

 

Lucas told us that these candles and lanterns can be purchased by worshipers – you write the name of a loved one or family member on the hanging cards, and it brings them good luck and fortune.

 

These two dudes guard the entrance – they flank you on either side as you walk through the gates, and it’s more than a little unsettling.

 

These were all near the entrance – a huge brazier for burning incense (the smell was everywhere, it was awesome) the dragon turtle, and the lions guarding the gates.

The temple was on the water, near the harbour, and they had dragons and birds overlooking the boats (you can see Lucas and his daughter on the docks).

We were also invited to a birthday party at a friend of Lucas’s wife – the birthday boy was only a year old, but the gathering was huge. Everyone there wanted to take pictures with Andrew and I (literally EVERYONE), and they were so friendly and welcoming. Liza told us later that we were the first white people they’d had to the house, and they wanted to take pictures for proof – apparently we’re a novelty!

Socially anxious creature that I am, it was a little nerve wracking having everyone taking pictures of me and talking about said pictures from afar while gesturing obviously in my direction, but they were all too friendly for me to even consider being offended.

 

And yesterday was barbecue day! Andrew has been telling me about this rooftop restaurant since he arrived five weeks ago, and I finally got a chance to try it out. The servers bring plates of coal right to the table, and you cook all your own meat and vegetables. The view was spectacular, and once the sun had completely set, there were bats flying around a nearby tower, and a plane that passed overhead at least three times, lit up all green and red.

It’s been an amazing experience already, and I’m left with so much time to read and write – and so much inspiration to do both! I’m always wondering what tomorrow will bring, and really, that’s the way I like it – complacency is death.

This, on the other hand, is life at its fullest.

My 60 Hour Trip to Sibu, or, “A very good reason NOT to fly overseas during a typhoon”

Well, I’ve officially been in Sibu, Malaysia for three days now, and I’m finally starting to feel like a real person again. No one should ever spend 60 hours straight travelling. That being said, I’ve having an amazing time already, and it was totally worth it.

I left Belleville on Thursday night to catch a plane that left Toronto Airport at 2am.

The flight was scheduled to arrive in Taipei 14 hours later, where I would catch a connecting 5 hour flight to Kuala Lumpur, and then a 2 hour flight to Sibu. All in all, including layovers, it should have taken about 26 hours. This plan was completely dashed to shit when typhoon Soudelor hit Taiwan.

Unable to land in Taipei, we circled Naho, Japan for a few hours before landing at the Naho Airport, where we stayed for 14 hours, waiting for the weather to clear.

When we were finally cleared to take off again, it was only a one hour flight to Taipei. Upon arrival though, I learned that my flight to Kuala Lumpur had been rescheduled for the next morning – 12 hours later.

I made my way upstairs to find a chair to sleep in, and await my morning flight.

The next morning, we learned that another airport in Taiwan had been damaged, so that all of the flights flying out of Taiwan were now relying on a single runway. Of course, my flight was delayed again. I made a friend, we went for lunch, and then languished in the airport until we were allowed to leave.

We landed in Kuala Lumpur, where – after hearing about my horrible, horrible time so far – my boyfriend had come to meet me. I spent two hours in immigration, and when I was finally allowed into the baggage collection area, it was to discover that 60% of the luggage belts were malfunctioning. It took a further two hours for my luggage to arrive, at which point I had missed my connecting flight to Sibu – the very last one leaving for the night.

Andrew and his friend Lucas (finally) met me on the other side of the gate in Kuala Lumpur, and after a quick tour of the city and (finally) a real meal, we spent the night at a hotel before (finally) catching a flight to Sibu.

All told, I was in transit for about 60 hours. And this, my friends, is a very good reason NOT to fly overseas during a typhoon.

Since then, though, its been a great time. I got to sleep away a day in a real bed, check out the city, see the gym where Andrew has been working and finally put faces to all the names I’ve been hearing since he left last month. Andrew bought me awesome phone cases and an adorable wooden crocodile before I got here, I’ve seen all varieties of strange birds, insects, and lizards. The food is great, I met a wonderful stray dog, the people are friendly as all hell ( I even got a present from a lovely girl named Laura – Hello Kitty cream!), and… it’s just great.



60 hour trip notwithstanding… I love it here.

Fiverr Social Media Advertising

I had heard good things, and I decided to try it out. My results weren’t spectacular, but they weren’t terrible either, and I thought I’d share my findings.

I purchased three basic deals from three different sellers, scheduled to run every couple days over the course of week, and used them to advertise Switch on Amazon.

BookAdvertiseMe
This deal offered a Twitter blast – two tweets went out on the scheduled day, one right after the other, and I saw no results whatsoever. This was the most disappointing of the three gigs, and I won’t be ordering from the seller again.

bknights
This deal offered a post on their website, digitalbookspot.com, which I had browsed in the past. I didn’t see huge results from this (barely measurable, in fact) but there was a slight increase in sales. There were no increases to the amount of lending library borrows. I did notice that most of the other books posted the same day were free or highly discounted, which may have been the reason. I’d consider ordering from this seller again, but only if I were running a Kindle Countdown special or other sale.

EDIT: I have to post an update to this gig, as I received a message from the seller this morning. It’s been three days since the promo post went live on their website – the seller had set the gig deadline for today, and I was waiting for the deadline to pass to leave my rating/feedback. bknights sent me a message this morning, not only noting the disappointing results, but offering a full refund. With this kind of integrity, I’d be happy to work with this seller again – preferably while running a sale, as I mentioned before, to increase the chances of a successful campaign.

MelRock
This deal was my favourite of the three. It was the best value, offering multiple posts on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest, as well as a post on their blog, proofpositive.com, and it had the best results. There was an increase in my sales as well as library borrows, which gave my author ranking a nice little boost. I would definitely order this gig again, and I’d love to see how the results would change if I were running a Kindle Countdown the same day.

Final verdict: I think if you could compile a list of trustworthy gigs, like MelRock’s, Fiverr advertising could offer a nice little boost now and then, though I wouldn’t rely on it exclusively. I ran these gigs on a relatively new book at regular price – I plan to try out a few more gigs later, on discounted books as well as books with a more established rating.

I’d really love to spend the next few months experimenting with some new advertising avenues. In the past, I relied exclusively on book blogs and book reviewers, as well as blogs and social media groups sharing Kindle free days. Although I’m still always looking for reviews, and I still write the occasional guest blog or book promo, I’d like to take a different approach with Switch.

…suggestions, anyone?

The Last Night at Young’s Point

When I first started writing The Witches of Armour Hill, my dad’s position on the Trent Severn Waterway had just been relocated to Peterborough. Living in Belleville with my mum, he bought a trailer at Young’s Point, so that he could avoid the long commute during the week. When summer came, we would all spend our weekends there together. It was that trailer that allowed me to so easily tour the lift lock, and the forests of Armour Hill, and all the surrounding parks, while I was still doing research and world building. I fell in love with Peterborough sleeping in that trailer.

This weekend was our last at Young’s Point. With my dad comfortably relocated back to Trenton, my parents have decided the sell the trailer. I’m having a lot of feels, so instead of words, have some pictures.

Okay, a few more words:

The animals above (except for the squirrel, who lives at Young’s Point) are located at the Riverview Park and Zoo in Peterborough. I choose to support them because they are a member of Canada’s Accredited Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA-AZAC), an organization that promotes the welfare of animals above all else, because they are a publicly owned company, and because they are constantly focused on conversation of local as well as exotic species at risk.

If you choose to support a zoo with your patronage, please do your research and only support facilities that put their animals first.


Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to go cry about my trailer.

Representation in Fantasy

I’m a member of a number of writers’ groups on Facebook – I love the cozy ambiance of a bunch of introverted, opinionated people all in one place – and although it’s a lot of chit-chatting and resource swapping for the most part, we can actually get into some really good discussions now and then. One of those discussions happened last week, in my fantasy based group, and – without naming names – I wanted to bring that discussion here. I want to explore the issue of representation in fantasy, and explain why every excuse that says it’s not an author’s responsibility is wrong.

Fantasy and science fiction have a particularly bad reputation when it comes to racial representation. I like to think that this is changing, as we move into a new era where more and more voices can be heard. I like to think that, someday, native New Zealanders won’t be told they can only play orcs in the Lord of the Rings movies, because their skin is too dark to be an elf, or even a citizen of Gondor (thanks for that, Peter Jackson). But the truth is that we’re not there yet, and it really is every author’s responsibility to make sure that this someday becomes a reality.

The discussion in question started with the excuse that we hear most often: But my setting is based on a Germanic/Nordic land – wouldn’t it be incongruous to add a character of colour?

There are two reasons that this is a terrible excuse. The first is the simplest – people travel a lot. Even ancient people. If you’ve based your setting on a real place that was historically white, that’s no excuse not to have POCs in your story. They could be travelers. They could be immigrants, or the descendants of immigrants. They could be mixed race with no connection to their foreign heritage.

The second reason is more complex, and more true to our genre – you’re writing fantasy, people.

Just because you’ve based your setting on a Nordic nation, doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to inhabit it with standard white Nords. It’s fantasy – why can’t the people who live in the area you’ve created look however you want? Why can’t they have slanted eyes, straight, dark hair, and an olive complexion – essentially looking Chinese? And in that same vein, for those of us that use paranormal creatures in our story, who’s to say that they have to match the ethnicity of the surrounding people? If you really want your humans to be based off of Nords, because your setting is based off a Nordic region, but you also have elves, fairies and Giants in your story – why do these creatures appear Caucasian? They’re not real, so they can look however you want them to look – why not have elves with black skin and frizzy hair, fairies with slanted eyes and dark hair, and Giants with brown skin and huge beards?

There are so many options open to us as writers of the fantastical, and with this excuse, you’re just choosing to limit yourself, as well as your writing. There are a lot of ways to make your readers – all of them – feel represented while still writing the settings you prefer.

Which led to the usual retort – But you’re not reading books from Asia, Africa, or South America. There isn’t a lack of diversity in fantasy, English readers just don’t see it!

I consider this to be a serious cop out. Representation isn’t about what’s happening in foreign countries – it’s about what’s happening here, in the country I call home, to the people I call my peers.

When I consider representation as an author, I’m considering my audience. My audience is 99% North American. BUT that doesn’t mean that my audience is 99% white. An English speaking American who is ethnically Chinese is not going to be reading Chinese books – they’ll be reading American books. And when they see that every human, elf and fairy in the story is white, they’re going to wonder where they, as a reader, fit into the story. Same for every other reader who is a person of colour. They don’t want to read stories written by authors in countries they’ve never been to to see a character that looks like them – they’re American. They want to read stories written by Americans.

To which we receive the standard response, But if you write a great character, people will love them regardless of their race!

This is true – to an extent. No character should be defined by their ethnicity – that’s how you end up with shallow caricatures that can be insulting as well as hurtful to the group they supposedly represent. But that doesn’t mean that a character’s race isn’t important at all.

If you’ve written a character that is totally, genuinely awesome, everyone is going to think they’re totally, genuinely awesome, regardless of their ethnicity – but if they’re totally, genuinely awesome and also happen to be black, then all of your black readers get to feel good about this awesome representation of their race. You don’t even have to be explicit about it – the only time J.K. Rowling ever mentioned Hermione Granger’s skin tone, she called her “very brown.” Although there were plenty of readers who assumed Hermione just had a tan that summer, there was also a huge sub-section of the fandom who coupled that line with Hermione’s famous frizzy brown hair, and now embrace her as a character of colour – and Jo didn’t argue with them! Everyone already loved Hermione, because she was smart, and brave, and perfectly flawed. But when they found out she was black, a group of fans loved her even more, in a whole new way.

If a character is totally awesome and just another white face, black readers will still like the character for being totally awesome, but they won’t get that chance to feel involved in the story. And when every totally awesome face you come across in a story is white, it can be really alienating for a person of colour who is trying to stay engaged in that fantasy world.

I think that this is a key part of the argument that fantasy authors tend to overlook – it’s not about you. It’s about your readers. It’s about your readers, and how comfortable they feel in the world that you created for them.

As a white reader in North America, it’s easy to take representation for granted. We don’t have to look hard to find it – generally, we don’t have to look at all. We are represented in every book and every news and media outlet we come across, and so we have no comprehension at all of what it’s like to feel completely out of place. Not just that, but completely unseen. Unacknowledged. To really understand the importance of representation, we need to set our privilege aside. We need to ask ourselves, what it would be like if I could never see myself in any of my favourite characters? What would it be like to see the world after world constructed, where people like me simply don’t exist? What would it be like to be erased from the collective narrative of the place I call home?

As white readers, we never have to feel that way. As white writers, maybe we’d have less excuses to make if we did.

Integrating WordPress and Shopify

A question has been posed, and I’m always happy to oblige my readers. So – how did I merge my WordPress blog with my Shopify website?

I’ve heard rumors of Shopify apps that will import the contents of your WordPress blog to your Shopify site, but they were either paid apps, a one-time transfer, or, based on the reviews, just plain non-functional. I opted instead to completely remove the blog portion of my Shopify layout, remove all additional pages from my WordPress layout, and link the two together using the navigation bars.

Step One: Find similar themes on WordPress and Shopify.

For me, this was the hardest part. You’ll need to find themes on WordPress and Shopify that flow together – you won’t get  two that are exact, but you can match elements such as the header, navigation bars and colour schemes to achieve the a nice flow.

I’m using the WordPress theme Gateway, and the Shopify theme Minimal, with plenty of changes to both to ensure they work well together.

You can see the same set up on J.A. Konrath’s website, though he uses Blogspot for the blog portion, and I’m-not-sure-what for the website portion. The layouts are not identical, but they are similar enough not to be jarring, and most importantly, they link together – which is what we’ll be doing next.

Step Two: Remove any additional pages and adjust your navigation on WordPress.

Once your WordPress blog is integrated into your Shopify layout, you’ll no longer need any additional pages you may have created through WordPress. My original WordPress blog had pages for book lists and contact info – that’s all gone now, leaving my WordPress as a single blog page.

Once you’re working with a single page, return to the Dashboard, select Appearance, and then Menus. Here you’ll find a Menu Structure editor, which is how we will link our blogs back to Shopify.

First, if there are any links to old WordPress pages in your navigation, remove them now. You’ll want to start with an empty menu. Once there, you can begin adding links using the Custom Links option to the left – you’ll want this navigation to match your Shopify navigation exactly. Add as many links as you have in your Shopify navigation, name them in exactly the same way, and link them to exactly the same pages.

For me, this means having links for Home, Catalogue, About the Author, and Blog, with the first three linking to Shopify pages, and the last, of course, linking to WordPress. Once this is complete, your visitors will be able to view your website directly from your blog – now you just need to make sure they can make it back.

Step Three: Remove your blog and adjust your navigation on Shopify.

One of the great things about removing your blog from Shopify this way, especially if you’ve been using it for a long time, is that your old blog posts are safe – my Shopify blog can even still be accessed if you have the URL, just not through the main site navigation.

To remove your blog, enter the Shopify Dashboard. Under the Online Store tab, choose Navigation. There, you’ll see options for both the main menu and the footer, unless you have either of them disabled/renamed. Click ‘Edit Link List’ in any list that includes a link to your blog, and more options will become available.

Where “Blog” is listed under ‘Link Name,’ change the ‘Links To…’ option to “Web Address” in the drop down bar. In the space provided, enter the exact URL of your WordPress blog.

That’s it! Your main navigation will now link to your WordPress blog rather than your Shopify blog – and since we’ve already reformatted your WordPress to link back to your Shopify page, the two sites are now integrated to work as one.

…I bet you thought it was a lot more complicated.

We’re back!

Hey everyone! A few months back I switched my website over to Shopify. While I love their templates and storefront, their blog system left something to be desired – so here I am, back on WordPress. I’ve integrated my WordPress blog into my Shopify website, and now I’m enjoying the best of both worlds.

So what have we missed?

In book news…

The most important book news is, of course, the release of the first installment of my magnum opus, The Witches of Armour Hill. Switch is now available on Amazon as an ebook and paperback, and is enrolled in the Kindle Lending Library, so that Kindle Unlimited users can read it for free!

Last weekend I was a guest at the Limestone Genre Expo in Kingston. I was a panelist in the fantasy discussion, and was able to attend both the horror and the gender roles discussions when I wasn’t manning my table – big thanks to my mum for looking after it in between. I met a lot of great people, and I’m hoping that the organizers can achieve their dream of making this a yearly event.

Give them your support! Facebook, Twitter

In reading news…

Most recently, I read a novel called The Forest of Hands and Teeth, which was an extremely unique take on the zombie post-apocalypse, and a novella called Passing Notes, which was a sweet young adult romance.

Both are highly recommended.

In life news…

Last month, I packed up my apartment and my cats and I moved everything into my parents’ conveniently spacious basement before seeing my partner off on a flight to Malaysia. I don’t talk about him nearly enough, but he’s an MMA fighter, and a BJJ blue belt, and he was invited to Malaysia to help establish an MMA team there. I had a few engagements to attend to before I could leave, including the expo, but as of August 7th, I’ll be bound for Malaysia.

There’s nothing better for my writing than a change of scenery, and what bigger change can there be than moving across the globe?

Wish me luck, everyone. I’m so excited.

Switch (The Witches of Armour Hill, #1) by Alyssa Cooper

Originally posted on My train of thoughts on...:

The author sent me an ARC (mobi format) in exchange for an honest review.

 

My rating:  4.8  of  5  stars

Plot
(by Goodreads)

Margaret May Reis knows how strange she is; people have been telling her for years. At sixteen years old, though, Maggie begins to realize that strangeness is only half the story. Maggie isn’t just strange – she’s a witch.

Sent to live with a cousin she’s never met, in a city she doesn’t remember, Maggie is sure that life as she knows it is over. It doesn’t take her long to learn that Peterborough is not at all what it seems. Her first week in the city, Maggie meets a stray cat named Elowen, who seems to appear out of thin air, and a strange girl named Rhosyn, who introduces her to a coven of witches, and assures her that life will never be the…

View original 625 more words

The Witches of Armour Hill is here!

I'm proud to announce that today, The Witches of Armour Hill: Switch is officially available as an ebook in the Kindle store, and as a paperback on Amazon.com - get your copy now!



"Margaret May Reis knows how strange she is; people have been telling her for years. At sixteen years old, though, Maggie begins to realize that strangeness is only half the story. Maggie isn’t just strange – she’s a witch."

Switch is the story of a witch coven, maintaining their magical culture in a modern world - to learn more about Peterborough, Ontario's most haunted city and the inspiration for The Witches of Armour Hill, please visit Armand Rosamilia's website - he was kind enough to feature my guest post about the history of the city's hauntings.

And don't forget to add Switch to your bookshelf!