Heather James's Blog, page 48

Day Twenty: Post Two

Still over on TeamNerd, check out my guest post on why strong female leads are necessary in fiction. I had a lot of fun reading this post and I hope that you enjoy reading it. It would be great to see your thoughts in the comments. You can read it here. (Please, please do!)

And on Mad Geek Girl, you can find a quick interview with me on writing from two perspectives, some of my favourite, non-YA writers and what you can expect from Water. 

Day Twenty: Part One

Apologies for the lack of updates, the past two days have been very busy! This first post is a catch-up on yesterday. TeamNerd Reviews posted this interview with me, which discusses friendship, reading and which character from Fire I would most like to date. Make sure you check it out and keep an eye out for today's blog stop, which I will post about later today.

Day Seventeen: From the Shadows I Review

For day 16 of the tour, head over to From the Shadows I Review for a review of Fire which covers everything from Fire's cover, to the price, to the characters. It's a really detailed review and the blog looks great too. Char is also a Roxy fan - I love how reviewers take quite strongly to one of the girls. I could definitely split the reviews section on my site based on which of the girls the reviewer favoured!

Meanwhile, over on Uniquely Moi Books is a promo for Fire along with a guest post on my eight favourite authors. I had a lot of fun writing this post, so it would be great if you could check it out and add your own opinions in the comments.

Day Sixteen: From the Shadows I Review

For day 16 of the tour, head over to From the Shadows I Review for a review of Fire which covers everything from Fire's cover, to the price, to the characters. It's a really detailed review and the blog looks great too. Char is also a Roxy fan - I love how reviewers take quite strongly to one of the girls. I could definitely split the reviews section on my site based on which of the girls the reviewer favoured!

Meanwhile, over on Uniquely Moi Books is a promo for Fire along with a guest post on my eight favourite authors. I had a lot of fun writing this post, so it would be great if you could check it out and add your own opinions in the comments.

Day Sixteen: Jessy's Bookends

For today's tour stop, head over to Jessy's Bookends for a review and a quick interview about the Realms, my writing influences, and my plans for after Fire. I particularly liked this sentence:

"The end of this book has an ending open to adventure." 
I really enjoy reading reviews, so if you've read Fire or are planning to, then make sure that you let me know what you think. 
A note on grammar
The Telegraph has an interesting quiz today on grammar, which is quite interesting and worth having a go at. You can find it here. I'm pretty geeky/weird in that, even though I know I don't have perfect grammar, I like reading about it and learning new rules. I found that in this test, I scored well on the 'which sentence is correct' questions, but got muddled on the ones that asked you to identify which part of a sentence certain words were agreeing with. The really sneaky question is number 11 - pay very close attention to the commas!

Day Fifteen: Team Nerd Reviews

Head over to Team Nerd Reviews for today's tour stop and a review of Fire. I'll be revisiting the site in a few days time for an interview and guest post.

The sun has been shining over the UK for the past few days, which has meant that I have got lots of writing done; I've started to work on a new project as well as Water and Air, which I am very excited about and am looking forward to sharing with you all one the Elements of Power trilogy has been completed. It's very different to what I have written so far, and focuses on topics and ideas which are very important to me.

Books to Borrow

I have a bit of an organisational/list obsession and recently downloaded Google Keep (despite already using Evernote, Pocket and One Note...). It has replaced Any.Do as the 'list app' on my phone and came in handy as I was walking around Waterstones a few days ago, since I used it to keep track of all the novels I'm either going to borrow from the library over the next few months, or keep an eye out for in Kindle sales.

So far, the list reads:


Obsidian
A certain slant of light
Anna dressed in blood
Beautiful Creatures
Newly Weds
The Madman's Daughter
Divergent
Walking Disaster
Days of Blood and Starlight
Fire study


And these are just the novels I saw/thought about while in the shop, so don't include the hundreds of books on my 'To-Read' list on Goodreads.... Another book I've just heard about and really want to get hold of is 'Eve and Adam' which is a Sci-Fi novel about a girl (Eve) designing a perfect boy. It sounds like a really interesting twist on the biblical story. Oh, and I've still got the final 'Forest of Hands and Teeth' book out of the library, and my signed copy of 'Scarlet' is staring at me from my book shelf at the moment... And I went back to work today after the Easter holidays...

Too many books, too little time?

And finally, I'm really shocked and saddened to hear about the explosions in Boston. My fiance and I are planning to go there for our honeymoon this Christmas and it's somewhere that's already quite special to us. My thoughts are with those affected at this tragic and difficult time.

Day Fourteen: Water

I have been really looking forward to this tour date and am so excited that it's finally here! Below is a sneak peak at the opening of Water. I really hope that you enjoy it and please please comment with your opinions: 

Jasmine:
Water pooled around my feet, rising at an alarming rate. I stared - panicked - at the palms of my hands, willing the water gushing out of them to stop as miraculously as it had begun.
I only sneezed!
But there wasn't time to complain about how it had started. I needed to make it stop.
The water was already up to my ankles, drowning my feet along with my favourite boots.
My hair, streaked with vibrant violet strands, hung in drenched ringlets down my back as I reached, desperate, for the door to my bedroom, but the force of the water pushed me back from the handle before I could grip it.
I screamed in frustration. This was not happening! I was stuck in my own bedroom, water rising up rapidly around me. All I had to do was open the door, but I couldn't even do that because my hands were the source of the water!
It was up to my knees now. At this rate, it wouldn't take long to fill the room entirely and then...
No. I wasn't going to think about that. I was going to stop the water before then. I could do that. I could control my powers. I would not let them kill me.
Stop, stop, stop. I willed.
Think of something dry, Jasmine. Think of the Helian Realm, all that sunshine and heat.
The force of the jets increased. "No!" I screamed again.
The water was already at my waist. Tears were streaming from my eyes - as if I wasn't already producing enough water to contend with.
I spotted my dressing table by the window, the top of which was above the water line, for now. I climbed up onto it, dripping, and directed my hands towards the part of the room furthest from me; the bathroom door. Now, if that had been open, I would have been okay - I could have held my hands over the plug hole in the bath until the water stopped.
That was what I had done last time.
And the time before that.
But, of course, this morning I'd had to kick the bathroom door shut on my way out, hadn't I?
The water had already made it over the top of the table. I wanted to tear at my hair, clench my fists, hit something really hard. But I couldn't - my hands were completely unusable.
Defeated and frustrated, I settled for standing on my dressing table, cursing my out-of-control powers at the top of my lungs.
And then the bedroom door burst open and a torrent of water poured down the stairs, soaking my best friend, Brae, in the process.
"Oh," was all I could say in response.
The water stopped.

Day Thirteen: Fire, the original opening

Fire. Pretty.Yes, pretty, some might even call it beautiful. It brings light, heat and protection, but it’s also dangerous – more dangerous than you could yet imagine. In the wrong hands it can become a lethal weapon. In hands like… yours, say. Go on, hold it.Ow! That’s hot! It burns!Like I said, it’s dangerous. And you should never accept gifts so willingly. Remember that. Let this be a warning.Why not? I like gifts.Because, little Firefly, people can’t be trusted. They’ll offer you what you want most in the world then use it to tear you apart. Don’t give them an easy target. Keep yourself safe. Never trust anyone.Not even you? Or mum and dad?No. Not even your parents, not even me. Now, do you want to try holding the fire again? No!That’s better.
I can barely believe how naïve I was ten years ago, before I’d known anything about the world I lived in; that Protectors were anything more than people with blood-red streaks running through their hair and that flames didn't spring up, dancing, in just anyone’s hands.

---

I think that one of the hardest things to learn as a writer is that, no matter how much you might love a particular chapter, scene or character, sometimes you need to step back, look at things objectively, and then cut. 
My original opening was a flashback to an exchange between Roxy and Vincent. Perhaps one of the fundamental flaws with it was that this isn't exactly clear, but adding 'Vincent said' etc. didn't feel right. It's a great memory of Roxy's, and perhaps I should have used it for the 'Q&A' I posted with her, but as a series opening it didn't work.
Fire's actual opening packs more of a punch - from the first sentence there is action, danger and, of course, fire. I still read my original with affection though and writing it gave me a strong initial grounding of Roxy's character.

Day Twelve: Writing Online

As a writer, getting feedback on your work is invaluable – it helps you to progress and improve and also lets you build up an audience. One of the easiest ways of doing this is through online writing sites like Figment and Wattpad. I have used both sites and this post is on why each is great.
My accounts: http://figment.com/users/255846-Heather-Jameshttp://www.wattpad.com/user/makexbelieve

Wattpad: One of the things I am most proud about in my writing, was that within a few days of going up on Wattpad, the first three chapters of Fire made it into the top ten fantasy stories on the site. It was also top of the Fantasy Teen Reads for quite a while.

Good For Long stories with lots of chaptersPractice at sticking with one stories, dedicating a lot of time to it and updating frequentlyPractice marketing and publicisingReading series Measured in reads – so people don’t have to comment or vote for your rating to go up.
Not so good forShort stories (harder to build an audience)  
Figment: The best thing about Figment is the competitions. Whereas Wattpad works best for long stories, which are updated frequently, Figment is all about challenging yourself to write small pieces on a wide variety of subjects. On Figment, I have written about scenarios and characters very different to anything from the Elements of Power series. I think that I have learnt a lot more from doing this.
Good ForPeople can react – quick way to engage, instant feedbackIt tells you how long it takes to read each oneEasy to ‘swap’Competitions – lots of inspiration and prompts
Not so good forLonger stories - Comments are on the whole story, not specific chapters, so people will generally only comment oncePeople will ‘swap’ hearts – so won’t necessarily actually read what you’ve written.

If you don’t already have an account on either of these sites, I really recommend that you look into them now; even if you are a reader, rather than a writer, you’ll be amazed what you can find on them. And the best part? They’re all free! Hundreds of brilliant stories at your fingertips, without it costing you a penny!
And if you do have an account on either site, comment with a link so that I can check it out. I'll feature anything that I really like on the blog after the tour is over. 

Day Eleven: Character Q&A - Brae

Your full name: Brae Argestes
What everyone calls you: Brae
Describe your appearance: I’m quite tall, I have short brown hair streaked with silver, and light brown eyes.
Sum yourself up in one word: Diplomatic
Favourite colour: Blue
Favourite thing about yourself: Erm, that’s a difficult question to answer. I think it’s probably my powers – they’re an important part of my heritage and status, as well as being a big part of what makes me, me. They're also a lot of fun.
Why should we like you? Perhaps you should be asking why should I like you? I don’t like to judge people to quickly and always try to get to know them before making my mind up about them. I would like to think that others would extend me the same courtesy.

Best friend: Jasmine Dystros. She is unique – unlike anyone else I have ever met. We have known each other for more or less our entire lives, as she lives with the Arcan High Priest, Caleb. She is like a sister to me and I would do anything for her.

Favourite childhood memory: Ice-skating with Jazz for her seventh birthday. She was just so happy that day, in the new coat I had asked my mum to get her. She was always complaining about being cold and she was so pleased to feel warm, even though she was outside. Her smile was infectious. But then again, it always is.
Worst fear: I know that one day I will have to take the Arcan throne and that will mean that my father is dead. That knowledge scares me.
What would we find in your room: It’s quite empty really. There’s a photo of me with my mum and dad, and another one of me and Jasmine. Otherwise, the most important feature is the glass ceiling which gives me a view of the sky as I lay in bed at night.