Konn Lavery's Blog: Posts from konnlavery.com, page 51
February 15, 2017
Horror Author Konn Lavery at NSF Con
I am pleased to say that the first event of the year will be Calgary’s NSF Con (Not Safe For). I’ll be at booth 20A for the 1 day event on Saturday March 25th. This event has guests, exhibitors and a costume contest, while being for adults making it a mature fandom experience.
Looking forward to seeing you all there!
I’ll have copies of Seed Me and the last remaining first editions of Mental Damnation. In addition I’ll have Seed Me shirts by SANE Clothing and the World Mother: Seed Me Novel Score.
Where is the NSF Con?
Grey Eagle Resort and Casino
777 Grey Eagle Dr,
Calgary, AB T3E 3X8
Saturday, March. 25th 2pm-2am
I’ll be at booth 20A
See you all then!
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February 14, 2017
Suzy Vadori – Young Adult Author of The Fountain
This month’s guest is Suzy Vadori, a YA author whose novel The Fountain was a 2016 Aurora Award Nominee for the Young Adult category. Residing in Calgary with her husband and three children, she is greatly involved with the literary community.
Without further ado, let’s get to know Suzy.
Suzy Vadori, introduce yourself to us.
Hi Konn, thanks for having me! I’ve been a writer all my life, first as a tween with lots of half-written novels, then as a business writer these past twenty years as part of my operations career, and now as a Young Adult (YA) author. My first novel The Fountain was published just over a year ago.
What was your primary inspiration for writing The Fountain?
When I finally sat down and decided to write seriously, The Fountain came together out of several ideas. Firstly, I’ve always loved reading boarding school novels. There’s something about the setting that I find very inspirational, though I never went to boarding school – never even lived in a college dorm, since I went to university in Calgary where my parents lived and I lived at home during my studies. But somehow, the idea of living on a campus at a young age, with no parental guidance is a captivating subject for me. So, I had a setting for the book.
The main idea for the plot came from me becoming a parent and watching my own kids grow. I want my kids to grow up having every advantage that I can give them – I do – but I worry that having everything you’ve ever wanted isn’t good. So, the fountain that gives kids whatever they wish for at St. Augustus school was born. In The Fountain, Ava wishes that one of her classmates had never existed, and her wish coming true turns her whole world upside down.
The Fountain is your debut novel, have you written other books in the past?
The Fountain was the first novel that I ever finished, so I’m thrilled that it was published by Evil Alter Ego Press.
Do you plan on writing a sequel for the novel?
The Fountain Series is a planned trilogy. Book two in the series is coming out in 2017. It is called The West Woods, and takes place the year before The Fountain. It’s Courtney’s story – the story of the girl who was wished away in The Fountain.
The number one question I got from early readers of The Fountain was why Courtney acted the way that she did. In short, she wasn’t very nice. But far from being a one dimensional mean-girl, Courtney has a complicated reason that she became who she is when we meet her in The Fountain and we go with her on that journey in The West Woods.
The number two question I get by readers of The Fountain is what happens to Ava and her love interest next? For that, readers will have to wait until book three in the series.
Related to the previous question, what is your next project?
Right now, The West Woods is in editing with Evil Alter Ego Press, but book three of the series is also well under way, it’s keeping me busy.
Do you have a preferred genre to write in? Or possibly one you do not like?
I love writing for young adults for lots of reasons. First and foremost, I wanted to write books that I could share someday soon with my own kids (ages 10, 8 and 5). I also have great memories of being a teen myself and those memories seem crystallized in time, which makes it easy for me to relate to the characters I write. Lastly, the pace of young adult books is exciting. Sometimes when I do a read through of my own books, I get so engrossed that I can’t stop. That’s when I know it’s good.
I do have a project I’m working on with a plot that lends itself better to adult fiction. But I love my young adult readers so much I’m working on a way to adapt the story for YA. It’s proving tricky, but I’m hopeful I’ll find a way, because I’m really excited about writing it.
What started you to pursue your writing career?
I’ve always wanted to be a writer. While on maternity leave with my third child, I finally sat down and started typing. That project became The Fountain and I haven’t stopped writing since.
Thank you for joining us Suzy to talk about your writing!
You can find Suzy’s work on her website and on Amazon or Indigo:
https://suzyvadori.wordpress.com
You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Goodreads at:
https://www.facebook.com/suzyvadoriauthor
https://www.instagram.com/suzyvadori
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14593464.Suzy_Vadori
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February 8, 2017
5 Ways to Organize Your Novel
Writing a book requires a lot of dedication and time. This is why it is important to organize your novel. Some authors do this by jotting down plot outlines, chapter outlines, timelines and keeping bulletin boards. There are also many other forms of tracking your storyline to ensure the book follows a logical path, also help you pave a path from start to finish. On the flip side, some authors fly by the seat of their pants and write as they go. They will write as they need to in order to reach a deadline. Both of these forms of writing can be successful as long as you stick to it. You might be one of these extremes or some sort of happy medium in the middle. As long as you find a form that works best for you, stick with it.
When should I focus on organizing my novel’s plot?
If you are finding yourself getting confused with the plot’s direction, facing writers block, or forgetting key elements in the story. You might be getting yourself lost with details such as a character’s hair colour, the protagonist’s father or a major event that triggered the storyline. If these are the caose, it might be time to look at a new way to establish your novel so nothing is left in the dust. Or as I like to call it – avoiding plot holes.
How do I organize my novel?
As mentioned earlier, there are many ways to do this. A good strategy to pinpoint how you can organize it is to find out what you are struggling to keep track of in your current writing process and write these struggles down.
There is no right way to organize yourself for writing a book.
To further elaborate, below are some ideas that can help you find a means that best suits you. Some of these may apply and you may end up merging some of the ideas into your own groove.
Plot and Chapter Outlines – This was covered in a previous blog series post but is possibly the most valuable planning process to follow. You quite literally write yourself a bullet list to follow from beginning to end with your novel.
Character Sheets – Again, this is covered in a previous blog series. Character sheets will help you remember personality and physical traits of your characters so you do not have to backtrack and find what colour their eyes were or risk the chance of inconsistencies in your book.
Style Guide – Or this can also be known as an index or glossary for your book. This type of organization works well for fantasy or science fiction novels. You can keep track of characters, places, items, historical events or section that fits your book to help organize all of the otherworldly things found in the book.
Bulletin Board – This was mentioned at the beginning of the blog. A bulletin board can either by a physical board with sticky notes or pinned paper on your wall or something like a private Pinterest board where you keep various notes of the plots and characters.
With a physical board you can use draw string to connect certain pins as well to represent relations.
Sketch Book – An exceptionally helpful piece of organization is a sketch book (or an idea book covered in a previous post). Their purpose is to jot down any thoughts that come to mind. These books do not have to ever be shared with the public, so in a way it is a lot like a diary. You can write down dreams, plot premises or character ideas for novels. It is a blank piece of paper with its sole purpose of extracting the ideas from your head out into the physical world.
What about actual tools or tricks to help keep me organized?
There are many different ways to write a book and the ideas listed above are only a handful of what are out there. Personally I have never been a fan of writing software that claim to offer an all-in-one solution to writing a book. I’m old fashioned when it comes to organization and believe in writing things down. I also have the memory of a goldfish, so writing them down gives me something to reference in the future.
I hope these tips have given you some ideas to keep yourself organized for your writing. If you have any other insight on organizing a book, feel free to share it in the comments.
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January 31, 2017
A New Reality
Finally, the big announcement. If you’ve been following my social media, it has been a few months of me suggesting on what I have been working on. With the only hint being that it is related to the Mental Damnation series. After five months of working, it is finally ready to be shared with the world:
All three Mental Damnation Novels will be retired.
You might be thinking: wait, retired? Yes, you read that correctly. Reality, Dream and Fusion will be taken off the market in eBook and paperback in early 2017.
Let me give you some backstory on this… After finishing the launch of Seed Me I had two routes I could go, either work on a new book, or finish the Mental Damnation storyline which had yet to be completed.
Why am I not working on the fourth installment?
Being away from the Mental Damnation series for two years, I was able to come back to it with a fresh pair of eyes, and able to forget most of the history and plot. I reviewed Reality and portions of Dream and Fusion. Approaching it from a reader’s perspective and reviewing compiled feedback gained over the years from other readers, I learned that these novels were not up to par with what my writing is capable of. The narrative structure, lore and the fictional world itself had potential to be drastically improved. Not to mention Reality was written five years ago, you can learn a lot as a writer within that time. This is why I decided to take a step back and critically edit the series and re-release them.
Yes, this is like George Lucas re-releasing the Star Wars trilogy over and over.
But no, I won’t re-re-release the novels. Plenty of novels go through various editions throughout time. The plan is to finish the Mental Damnation series from start to finish over the next several years with a final conclusion to the storyline. No third editions or re-re-releases.
Mental Damnation Reality: Second Edition
Naturally the first novel to be released under the second edition is Reality. The original 70,000 words have been rewritten with an additional 30,000, making a total of 100,000 words. So there’s a lot more backstory, character development, improved narrative direction and updated illustrations and an encyclopedia for reference.
This is the new book cover for the second edition of Reality. The new visual direction moves away from the tribal approach and compliments artwork seen in the renaissance time. More on the artwork will be shared in a future blog post.
Mental Damnation: Reality Book Synopsis
Having her family murdered by the humans during her people’s banishment from the surface world, Krista and her only friend, Darkwing, struggle to remain alive. The pair of reptilian street scum live in their newfound home, the City of Renasence, dictated by a fascist military known as the Renasence Guard. The two find themselves at odd ends when Krista puts her faith in the Five Guardians’ goal of unification, while Darkwing chooses to stand with a notorious gang, the Blood Hounds, who are known for their anarchist views
This divide in their friendship forces Krista to persist on her own as the Five Guardians become crazed from an unknown disease – Mental Damnation. After their infection, the Guardians develop a bizarre interest in her, claiming they must reap her innocence for their newfound master, the Weaver.
With a military dictatorship, politically-driven gangs and their guardians infected and on a hunt for her, Krista has limited options for survival: Does she fend for her life in the City of Renasence, against menacing forces, or risk leaving everything behind and enter the uncharted realm of the underworld?
Release Date
Mental Damnation: Reality release date will be confirmed, stay tuned. It will be this year though.
I have plenty of more to share about the series and it will come in due time. This is just a taste of what will be coming down the pipeline.
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January 25, 2017
Want To Be Taken Seriously With Your Goals?
January, a start to a whole new year. People spend the beginning months focusing on their New Year’s Resolutions. They are determined to fulfill their new goals of making a change in their life. As I have previously said, I have never been a fan of the yearly resolutions and focus on 2, 5 and 10 year planning. Regardless of your method, a lot of people end up failing these new endeavors after several months and quickly go back to their old ways of being. Why is this?
Welcome to another edition of Unprocessed Thoughts.
For the beginning of the year I thought I’d share some theories I had about goals. Goals are often driven by motivation, which is a powerful thing when you have it. When you do not have it, trying to achieve something can be very challenging. Perhaps this is where a lot of people fall off the bandwagon in the New Year. During the holidays, we have a clearer mind and can foresee what we would like to achieve. Once we get back into the daily routines of our lives we quickly lose sight of this, returning to our day in and day out behavior, creating a mental tunnel vision.
Don’t lose your clarity.
When you are on holidays it is easy to have a clear sense of direction, let your mind be at ease and dream big. After the holidays, most people return to a live style that they are not wanting for themselves and become discouraged. It is a shame to see people drop out on their dreams. So what about those people that do achieve their yearly resolutions or long term goals? How do they maintain a sense of clarity when so many others do not?
Discipline and repetition are greater than motivation
There’s a number of inspirational quotes and articles that go into deeper theology about why motivation and drive are not always the key to achieving your goals, so I won’t get into that. What I will share is that people who are well disciplined in their task, will find a way to get it done. They will continually work towards their goal regardless if they “feel the inspiration” or if they are in a good mood. The reason they can do this is because they have trained themselves to remain in control of their wants and needs. They keep focused on long term goals opposed to giving into their immediate desires.
Disciplined people simply get the work done.
How do they do this? Disciplining yourself for any goal is a lot like a physical workout routine. You have a certain agenda for your workout and then you get it done. There’s not a lot else to it. People that do exercise on a regular basis do it regardless of their motivation to go to the gym. They have trained themselves to persist onwards. This methodology can be applied to any other medium as well. There is more to Nike’s famous slogan “Just Do It” than to sell sports equipment.
Want to be taken seriously? Take it seriously and do It.
To recap the original topic of this month’s Unprocessed Thoughts, if you want to achieve your New Year’s resolutions or to really be taken seriously with what you are doing, you need to do it. No one else is going to make it happen for you. Rain or shine.
Beer Note: Saigon Export
I tried this beer at a Vietnamese restaurant grabbing a vermicelli bowl. It is apparently the only authentic Vietnamese beer brewed in Vietnam. It is a much lighter beer than what I am used to and doesn’t have much taste in general. I’d give it 2/5 since it was enjoyable when chilled. Other than that it doesn’t have anything else going for it.
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January 18, 2017
A New Kind of Monster
Check out the interview I had with The Hungry Monster review about Seed Me.
A New Kind of Monster
We cover the following questions:
Seed Me follows Logan as he tries to navigate a murder, avoid a deadly cult and try to figure out who the girl was he made out with behind the dumpster. This is a unique setup to a novel. What was the inspiration that made you want to write this story?
I enjoyed the characters in this story because they were slow to build but had depth. What was your writing plan when creating these characters?
There is a mysterious group of people called Harvesters that may or may not be behind the murders in town. How did you set about creating this group and did you accomplish everything you wanted?
What is the next book that you are working on and when will that be available?
Read the full interview on The Hungry Monster Website
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Stop Working!
Stop working. Read, meet up with some friends or go for a drink.
In this day and age we are seeing some of the greatest technological advancements that are allowing us to communicate faster, produce quicker and more efficiently to save us more time – yet we seem to have less and less of it. Even through all of these amazing inventions to improve our lives we fill our spare time with moving onto the next task. At least, this can be the case if you’re a workaholic (like me).
As an author in this day and age, we spend much of our time wearing many hats and filling many roles for our career to advance forward. We complete the tasks of writing, marketing, promotion, design, and media release among many others so we can get our work out there. It takes a lot of time and you can easily be sucked into a vortex of working, reaching milestone after milestone that you forget to actually stop.
Stop working. You are not a machine.
Our tools have surpassed us in processing ability and can accomplish more than we could ever on our own, that does not mean you are one of them. So stop working so intensely. We are still human and require time away to either sleep, lounge around or spend quality time with people you enjoy. In the case with writing, putting down the pencil or putting away the keyboard is valuable so you don’t burn yourself out or run into writer’s block. Taking breaks can also help rejuvenate your ideas, helping you think more creatively.
If you want to really dive into the technicalities of the relation between sleeping and creativity, check out this article on BBC.
The brain is a muscle and it needs rest.
Think of the brain like any other muscle to the body, if you exercise too much you’re going to risk injury. With the brain you might be risking your sanity or mental wellbeing.
Like many writers, you probably have another source of income that takes up your time during the week. So writing is probably done during off hours, weekends or somewhere in-between. Working this intensely will ultimately wear you down. This applies to full time writers as well who invest many hours during the week to their writing.
Work smart, not hard
It is an old cliché and a wise one at that. It is very easy to get caught up in the rat race of life or the work vortex. You work intensely and repetitively thinking you are being productive. In the example of writing, taking rest can be more productive so when you come back to the chapter, you will think quicker and approach it with a fresh perspective.
More food for thought can be found in The Huffington Post article.
This doesn’t mean you should quit.
The idea that I am proposing is quite the opposite. Taking a break is often more productive as previously stated. What you have to keep in mind is being disciplined with stopping though. Stopping because you are frustrated and you need a break is not the best plan of action. Take short consistent breaks after reaching small milestones. Some examples of this can be:
Daily, take a break every couple of hours to walk or grab a coffee.
Weekly, work hard throughout the five or six days and dedicate one day during the week to no work. Maybe learn a new skill or spend it reading.
Yearly, take a trip or a staycation. Save these for rewards after reaching big milestones in your writing career.
If there is one thing you should take away from this, it is the three points above.
Don’t burn yourself out. Practice the discipline of breaks so you perform better and work smart.
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January 11, 2017
Rebekah Raymond – Psychological Thriller Author from Calgary
The first guest of the year is Rebekah Raymond who writes genre-blending novels. They take elements from thrillers, horror and romance. She is based out of Calgary and is a member of both NaNoWriMo and the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society.
On top of being a mother of two, she is the author of Life’s Defeat and Life’s Hope with the third and fourth installments to come. Without further ado, let’s welcome Rebekah!
Rebekah Raymond, introduce yourself to us.
By day I am Becca, a medical-claim adjudicator, mom and wife. By night I am Rebekah Raymond, Calgary writer and receiver of strange and wonderfully colorful muses. I have always been a creative, drawn to choral and instrumental music, pursuing art in school, receiving my B.FA and continuing my love of reading and writing throughout. It is something I have passed on to my children. While I would never wish the hard road of translating a vast imagination into tangible surface on anyone, I believe in it wholeheartedly.
Was Life’s Defeat your first novel?
It wasn’t my first completed novel, but the first I released into the world. Let’s just say there have been plenty of practice novels and works.
You tend the blend genres, is this intentional or is this a side effect of your writing?
I write primarily by disassociation, where the characters take hold and use me as their tool for recording their tales. Sometimes I faze out altogether and don’t even know what is written until I read it after. In this way, the characters decide their own genre. It’s why, in this series at least, all fit under “thriller” but each has its own subgenre of horror, romance, etc.
Have you done or plan to do any other work beyond the Life’s series?
I have already started writing some fiction short stories I would like to compile together, anecdotes of my own life, twisted and embellished. I also have a few other novels in the back of my mind: a warped “what if” historical religious endeavor, and a high fantasy plotline. Right now the Life’s people take up most of my writing time, but hopefully soon I can switch gears, if only for a little while.
You’ve mentioned that you have two more novels in the series, how many books do you foresee the series being?
I have the next two already written. One is a prequel of a sort, the thriller memoir of the man who pretty much started it all and ends where the second book begins. The next is from a new character’s point of view, the offspring of two people we have already met.
After that will be two more novels, already in progress. One will be a continuation of the offspring’s tale. The last is something I am quite excited for. He is a character that I never planned on writing about, but was requested by several readers, a boy we met in Life’s Hope. He is thoroughly unlike the others, in both attitude and resonance within their world.
The reader’s journey from here to there will be quite the ride.
One thing I ask every author, what got you into writing?
To be honest, I have always been writing. I think I’ve always had a story in me, a poem in my soul. It developed naturally, journal entries and poems, to imaginative science fiction store-creation role playing groups, to writing short stories and novellas, to novels. The encouragement came from family, a few very good friends, and new connections I have made along the way.
It’s the start of a new year, do you being a year by planning milestones or is your process less structured?
I have some very specific goals in mind for the progression and release of this series (book three WILL be out by the end of 2017). Others are mere hopes, like being able to get book four out this year as well. I would like 2017 to be a year of gaining confidence in myself as an author, and absorbing and performing all the wonderful things I have been taught by my publicist and other amazing writers. It’s my hope it will be a time of growth and empowerment, for all of us. Including for my characters; they wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thank you for joining us Rebekah for this month to talk about your writing!
You can find Rebekah’s work on her website and social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRebekahRaymond
Twitter: @RRaymondAuthor
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January 6, 2017
Golden Award by The Hungry Monster Book Review
The Hungry Monster Book Awards are awarded to books that have astounded and amazed us with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas. These books deserve extraordinary praise and The Hungry Monster is proud to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and imagination of these talented authors.
See all award winners on their site.
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December 31, 2016
Welcome 2017
Another whole year has come and gone, wow. With the release of Seed Me and the score World Mother it has been quite busy with little downtime. First of all, a big shout out to everyone who supported me this year with the launch it has been humbling and motivating!
Welcome to December’s edition of Unprocessed Thoughts.
With Christmas behind us and New Year’s only a day away, it is often a time where people self-reflect and plan New Year’s Resolutions. Personally I have never been much for new goals each year. I’ve been a strong believer in 10, 5 and 2 year goals – it gives something to work towards in the long run.
Regarding goals, this year has been full of them and one thing I would like to note that suffered because of it is the lack of content on the blog for the past few months. There will be interesting content to read in the following year.
There are good reasons for the vacancy though, I have been in the process of plotting 2017 and writing new literary work. This mystery writing has been kept on the down low until a few more details are worked out. Then an announcement will be made. I have given a few hints to what it is in the last Unprocessed Thoughts and in a recent Instagram post, regarding Mental Damnation – exciting!
A photo posted by Konn Lavery (@_konnartist) on Dec 26, 2016 at 11:22am PST
You may have also noticed some information has been updated on my about page. You can check out the status of my latest novel.
I also am pleased to announce that in 2017 I will be working with publicist Mickey Mikkelson of Creative Edge. The goal for this is to allow more book signings, events and media coverage in the New Year. Other than that, there isn’t anything more to share for the rest of 2016.
Everyone has quite strong opinions regarding the content of the year, for good reasons. May the last day of it bring you joy. See you all in 2017!
Beer Note: The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company – Rutting Elk Red
The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company is one I enjoy dearly for the artwork and Canadian references. I discovered the brand on a trip to Banff, seeing the brewery in Canmore. I had to try it out. The Rutting Elk Red has to be the strongest of the variants. I generally go for IPAs, this is a pale ale so not nearly as hoppy as what I normally drink. Still a great drink, I’d give it a 3.5/5 for my personal tastes of stronger beers.
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