Graeme Ing's Blog, page 8

Who wants to write a book blurb?

Who thinks they can write a book blurb?

I’m considering re-doing the blurb for Ocean of Dust, and it would be really fun to see what you come up with. I’ll give away signed paperbacks to anyone whose snippets I use. I might combine several of your pieces into one. This is open to anyone, whether you’ve read the book or not, though those that have clearly possess an advantage.

Here’s the existing blurb:

Fourteen-year old Lissa is snatched from her home and finds herself a slave on a trading ship...

Stop using exclamation points!!!!

Ah, the exclamation point, or exclamation mark as some call it… I believe it is seriously overused, and I like to think that most editors would agree with me. Don’t you hate reading a book where every piece of dialog ends in one? Commonly it us used to indicate a raised voice, shouting, surprise, alarm, etc. Lazy! (See what I did there?) As a writer, if you cannot show the reader a character’s emotions or tone of voice in any other way, then you aren’t being creative. Context should indicate...

Foto Fun

Today we’re going to have some fun with cat photos. Below are some images for your entertainment. Please supply suitable captions and leave them in your comments.

The best captions will… make me laugh.

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Dictating your Novel

I’ve been experimenting with Dragon Dictate software. This is usually recognized to be the best commercially available speech recognition system and you can buy it for Windows or Mac for under $100. I wanted to see how difficult it would be to dictate my novel. Wouldn’t it be great to lay on the couch with a headset?

I was extremely impressed with the quality right out of the box. The software took me through a handful of short known sentences so it can tune to your voice. I could keep doing t...

Excerpt from “The Ghost”

So you’ve probably heard me rave all this year about Christine Rains‘ paranormal series The 13th Floor. Though I’m not usually a reader of paranormal romance, these are among the best books I’ve read in 2013. Today I’m part of her blog tour marking the release of the final book in the series,The Ghost. Although each book is its own story and stands on its own merits, you probably want to go and read them from the beginning, especially asThe Marquis is free!

Here is an excerpt fromThe Ghost, wi...

Untethered Realms: Cherie Reich

A continuing series about each author inUntethered Realms, a neat spec-fic publishing group. Check us out: Facebook|Twitter|Website

Cherie Reich

A self-proclaimed bookworm, Cherie Reich is a speculative fiction writer, freelance editor, book blogger, and library assistant living in Virginia. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies, and her books include the horror series Nightmare, a space fantasy trilogy titled Gravity, and a fantasy series The Foxwick Chronicles. She is...

Independence Day for my book!

Today, on the morning of July 4th, my book had its own Independence Day. My book has been freed. What am I prattling on about? Let me step back a week.

Last week I celebrated the completion of the first draft of my new dark fantasy novel. A major milestone, yay! I started preparing and collating my notes for all the changes and improvements to make in the second draft. The second draft is where the book really comes alive.

And this is where I ran into problems over the weekend. I began to find...

Untethered Realms: Julie Flanders

A continuing series about each author inUntethered Realms, a neat spec-fic publishing group. Check us out: Facebook|Twitter|Website

Julie Flanders

Julie Flanders is a novelist and a freelance writer who has written for both online and print publications. She is an animal lover and shares her home in Cincinnati, Ohio with her dog and cat. Her debut novel Polar Night, a paranormal suspense thriller, is now available from Ink Smith Publishing.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Tell us about your latest...

Untethered Realms: Christine Rains

A continuing series about each author inUntethered Realms, a neat spec-fic publishing group. Check us out: Facebook|Twitter|Website

I’ve read all but the latest 13th Floor books and they are some of my favourite books of 2013. Though The Ghost is coming out soon, I recommend you read them from the beginning. They’re fast reads.

Christine Rains

Christine Rains is a writer, blogger, and geek mom. She’s married to her best friend and fellow geek living in south-central Indiana. They have one son w...

Untethered Realms: Angela Brown

This is the first in a feature series about each author inUntethered Realms, a neat spec-fic publishing group. Check us out: Facebook|Twitter|Website

Angela Brown

Born and raised in Little Rock, AR, Angela now calls Central Texas home. She’s a lover of Wild Cherry Pepsi and chocolate/chocolate covered delicious-ness. Steampunk, fantasy and paranormal to contemporary – mostly young adult – fill her growing library of books. Mother to a rambunctious darling girl aptly nicknamed Chipmunk, life st...