Casey Hays's Blog, page 8
January 19, 2014
Breeder - Requesting Reviewers
What better way to get the word out than to post it in a blog!?! So here I go!
Breeder has come out swinging, and so far I have had a great response. This is a story that is very dear to my heart, and I am so looking forward to everyone getting to meet Kate and the other characters that erupted from my little brain to bring you this tale. But in order for this to happen, I need help spreading the word.
So, that being said, I am looking for interested readers to review the novel. I will send you a free pdf in exchange for your review on goodreads, Amazon, your blog, and any other site of your choice.
If you are interested, leave a comment with your e-mail, or if you'd prefer, send me a pm here on goodreads.
I look forward to hearing from ya!
Casey
Breeder has come out swinging, and so far I have had a great response. This is a story that is very dear to my heart, and I am so looking forward to everyone getting to meet Kate and the other characters that erupted from my little brain to bring you this tale. But in order for this to happen, I need help spreading the word.
So, that being said, I am looking for interested readers to review the novel. I will send you a free pdf in exchange for your review on goodreads, Amazon, your blog, and any other site of your choice.
If you are interested, leave a comment with your e-mail, or if you'd prefer, send me a pm here on goodreads.
I look forward to hearing from ya!
Casey
January 15, 2014
The Importance of an Editor
Since joining goodreads.com in 2012, I have been asked several times to review books by self-published authors. I refrain from doing so often, as I am a severely critical reader, and I know this about myself. This of course, can be attributed to all my years teaching writing to high school students. That being said, I must say I admire the courage of writers to pursue self-publication. But in the reading of these self-published works, I have come to an even greater appreciation for the need of an editor's eye. Even without a publisher, a reliable and well-practiced content editor and a seasoned copy-editor are a must for any author, self-published or not.
An editor is the most essential contributor of any good book. An editor gives you a wide overview of the many flaws outlining your story. My content editor tells me when things aren't working for her as a reader. In the beginning years of my writing career, I was so anxious to tell my story, one fact at a time, that the entire premise fell severely short. Through her critiques, my editor taught me how to story-build. Readers want to "live" the story, and to do this, three distinct aspects must be present:
1) You must allow your characters to live out their stories. You must give them a moment to sit back and feel what is happening to them and to contemplate why. When you allow the characters to experience the unfolding events, the story tells itself without much of your own input. You just follow the character where he/she leads you. Sometimes, I don't know where my story is going until I get there. Experience is the beauty of story-telling. Your characters should be as real to you as your own children, your siblings, your friends. Sometimes, if you write in first person as I do, you must become the character and see the events unfolding through the eyes of your creation. When you do this, your audience will also see this world you are attempting to build. And this is your greatest achievement.
2) You must develop strong characters, especially your main character. Essential characters must be well-rounded, fleshed out, real people. There are many techniques you can apply to cause this effect. Descriptions are always a good start, as long as you don't describe every single bit of a person's character in one paragraph. Instead, feed your audience the character's attributes one scene at a time. Developing a distinct and consistent personality for your character is a must. In this way, your readers will know this person thoroughly. Another technique is through dialogue between characters. When two people in your novel have meaningful, heart to heart conversations (i.e. Edward and Bella in Twilight), you are going to not only build strong characters, but steal the hearts of your audience.
3)Lastly, your setting must be viewed as a character, and so you must consider many things. What is the weather doing in a particular scene? How is the lighting? My latest novel is set in a primitive village years after a devastating world war. My village has a definite personality, something my editor demanded. I built this world in several ways: through the daily routines of the women, through description, through dialogue; through action and events that characterized the traits of the people. When I finally grasped this concept, my world, my characters, my story took on a life of its own. And I was just along for the ride.
I will admit my editor isn't always nice in her criticism. Sometimes she tears complete chapters apart until I'm in tears trying to unravel the strings of her rips and snags. But then, I put my big girl panties on and I get to work, determined to make her love my next draft. And you know what? She usually does. It's far better to receive criticism before your published than to receive a bad review afterwards. I am not complaining.
An editor is the most essential contributor of any good book. An editor gives you a wide overview of the many flaws outlining your story. My content editor tells me when things aren't working for her as a reader. In the beginning years of my writing career, I was so anxious to tell my story, one fact at a time, that the entire premise fell severely short. Through her critiques, my editor taught me how to story-build. Readers want to "live" the story, and to do this, three distinct aspects must be present:
1) You must allow your characters to live out their stories. You must give them a moment to sit back and feel what is happening to them and to contemplate why. When you allow the characters to experience the unfolding events, the story tells itself without much of your own input. You just follow the character where he/she leads you. Sometimes, I don't know where my story is going until I get there. Experience is the beauty of story-telling. Your characters should be as real to you as your own children, your siblings, your friends. Sometimes, if you write in first person as I do, you must become the character and see the events unfolding through the eyes of your creation. When you do this, your audience will also see this world you are attempting to build. And this is your greatest achievement.
2) You must develop strong characters, especially your main character. Essential characters must be well-rounded, fleshed out, real people. There are many techniques you can apply to cause this effect. Descriptions are always a good start, as long as you don't describe every single bit of a person's character in one paragraph. Instead, feed your audience the character's attributes one scene at a time. Developing a distinct and consistent personality for your character is a must. In this way, your readers will know this person thoroughly. Another technique is through dialogue between characters. When two people in your novel have meaningful, heart to heart conversations (i.e. Edward and Bella in Twilight), you are going to not only build strong characters, but steal the hearts of your audience.
3)Lastly, your setting must be viewed as a character, and so you must consider many things. What is the weather doing in a particular scene? How is the lighting? My latest novel is set in a primitive village years after a devastating world war. My village has a definite personality, something my editor demanded. I built this world in several ways: through the daily routines of the women, through description, through dialogue; through action and events that characterized the traits of the people. When I finally grasped this concept, my world, my characters, my story took on a life of its own. And I was just along for the ride.
I will admit my editor isn't always nice in her criticism. Sometimes she tears complete chapters apart until I'm in tears trying to unravel the strings of her rips and snags. But then, I put my big girl panties on and I get to work, determined to make her love my next draft. And you know what? She usually does. It's far better to receive criticism before your published than to receive a bad review afterwards. I am not complaining.
July 22, 2013
Breeder
Here's a sneak peek at my upcoming novel, Breeder.
Beyond the Village, nothing exists . . . except devastation. A war waged by men and their hateful weapons long ago made it so, and my people--the women of the Village-- are the only survivors. This is what our history lessons teach us, and this is what we are to believe. But I am sixteen now . . . and I question everything. The Archer has spoken, but I have no desire to heed his command. I long for more.
In a world demolished by war and ruled by the hands of Fate, individual choices have become obsolete. Essentially, there is only one requirement: Bow the knee to the wisdom of the Council without question. Many of the women in the Village have acquiesced to this mandate, including some of Kate's closest friends. But Kate longs for something more; she hears the call of another life. On the day of her sixteenth birthday celebration, the reality of what this means invades her with a vengeance, and she is forced to contend with her own moral conscience. Kate's destiny has always been the Pit--the life of the breeder--which she is expected to embrace without complaint. Her rebel's heart, however, refuses to comply with Fate's demand, and what she finds in the Pit draws her one step closer to learning the truth about herself and the Village. And it changes the course of her destiny for all eternity.
Beyond the Village, nothing exists . . . except devastation. A war waged by men and their hateful weapons long ago made it so, and my people--the women of the Village-- are the only survivors. This is what our history lessons teach us, and this is what we are to believe. But I am sixteen now . . . and I question everything. The Archer has spoken, but I have no desire to heed his command. I long for more.
In a world demolished by war and ruled by the hands of Fate, individual choices have become obsolete. Essentially, there is only one requirement: Bow the knee to the wisdom of the Council without question. Many of the women in the Village have acquiesced to this mandate, including some of Kate's closest friends. But Kate longs for something more; she hears the call of another life. On the day of her sixteenth birthday celebration, the reality of what this means invades her with a vengeance, and she is forced to contend with her own moral conscience. Kate's destiny has always been the Pit--the life of the breeder--which she is expected to embrace without complaint. Her rebel's heart, however, refuses to comply with Fate's demand, and what she finds in the Pit draws her one step closer to learning the truth about herself and the Village. And it changes the course of her destiny for all eternity.
April 30, 2013
Under review
Well, The Cadence is officially under review today through the fabulous group I am a member of: We Love YA Books! Very excited to finally see what the young readers... and the lovers of YA books have to say about mine. Happy reading!
December 26, 2012
www.bloggerdise.com
If you are an author, blogger, business looking for some networking, try bloggerdise.com I am looking forward to meeting reviewers and bloggers who want to read my book.
December 7, 2012
Hello
Hi everyone! I am so proud to be counted among the Goodreads' authors. I hope that all of you are enjoying my book, The Cadence. If you haven't read it yet, I certainly hope it's on your "to read" list. Please be sure and leave reviews so that I'll have some feedback. I look forward to hearing from you. Visit me at whisperingpages.com any time! Happy Reading!
