K.M. Shea's Blog, page 67

Cinderella release date!

The Editor has returned Cinderella! (With roughly a billion punctuation corrections, but still!) There was much celebration in…well…my office. Anyway, I am thrilled to announce that I will be cleaning Cinderella up over the next week or so, and plan to release it July 10, 2014. (That’s a Thursday for those of you who are keeping track.) Later this week I will release the cover art–Myrrhlynn has done another fabulous job with this design–and I also want to add that I will run a “Book it” special for Cinderella.

I’m sure most of you Champions are familiar with this shameless ploy of mine, but simply put “Book it” is a contest of sorts in which everyone wins. If you review Cinderella and email me I will send you a free, extra chapter of Cinderella. Closer to Cinderella‘s release date, I’ll put the details in the top post, as usual.

That’s all my exciting news for today, so I will leave you with this image as my disclaimer:

Thank you TFIOS

In case you haven’t heard, The Fault In Our Stars (or TFIOS) released this summer, and has made a killing. It cost Fox $12 million to make,  has ruled the boxoffice, and in 11 days made $100 million.  As this article in Movienewsguide explains, “This is definitely a huge surprise because in just 11 days, it managed to exceed the overall gross of three blockbuster films, namely “Twilight,” “The Hunger Games” and the movie with the same stars having different roles, “Divergent.””

I’m thrilled about this news, first of all because I’m a big John Green fan. (John Green being the author of TFIOS book, which is, obviously, what the movie is based on.) I love John Green as an author because he’s not afraid to let his inner geek shine, and because he is incredibly adventurous and interested in using technology and inspiring change. (These are generally not traits of authors.) Want proof? Just check out the Vlog Brothers on YouTube!

I’m also greatly interested in TFIOS’s success, because this could signal a huge change in future YA movies. TFIOS is about a cancer-stricken teenage girl and is firmly placed in reality. There are no sparkly vampires, no use of magic, and no attempts to save the world. It had a small budget, and beat out flashier movies, like Edge of Tomorrow. TFIOS was pitched to be a small movie. It wasn’t supposed to be a blockbuster, it was meant to be an alternative. That’s why the media is abuzz over it–it wasn’t expected.

Directors and production houses are jumping onto the “reality-based” ship, and it looks like in the next few years we will have a solid showing of YA books-turned-into-movies that aren’t in the typical fantasy genre. I’m not convinced they will wrack in the cash like TFIOS did, but they’ll certainly be less expensive to produce than, say, Insurgent.

I’m a fantasy lover, so I do hope that fantasy stories will continue to be written and produced, but with movies like Maze Runner on the horizon, and the reboot of the Star Wars franchise, I don’t think I’m going to be left in the dark. It will be interesting to see if this shift is mirrored in books. I do wish John Green would get more credit for TFIOS’s success. The movie is fantastic because it’s taken almost word for word from an amazing book. I hope more people remember that.

Confession time: I’ve seen Maleficent and How to Train your Dragon II, but I haven’t seen TFIOS, yet. I intend to watch it on DVD in the privacy of my home so I can become a snotty mess in peace. What have you seen, Champions?

It is started!

The sequel for My Life at the MBRC has been started! I’ve got the first five pages written, woohoo! I have a lot of the book mapped out, but picking a non-spoiler title is proving to be really difficult without making it sound too similar to My Life at the MBRC. Anyway, keep an eye on the “Coming Soon” page. I’ll update it once a week so you get an idea of how the story is progressing.

Also, judging by the comments on my previous post, the sequel to Life Reader is in much higher demand than I anticipated. I’m dedicated to getting Timeless Fairy Tales out as my top priority, but it looks like I’ll be skipping Life Reader up a few notches in terms of importance. It is important to note, however, that Life Reader‘s sequel will be a longer book, so I can  guarantee you won’t be seeing it until 2015. Still, thank you very much for the feedback, Champions!

Alright, I’m about ready to eat my own arm, so I’m off to hunt down some dinner. Until Wednesday!

Old Manuscripts

A lovely Champion named Debra emailed me a few days ago, and pointed out something in the second Robyn Hood book I forgot to fix long ago. Debra said:

“… at the last of the second Robyn Hood book, there was mention of a book coming to kindle, “Hollywood Fails: Curse the Spotlight”. But – the Amazon search bar tells me there is no such thing, yet my math tells me there should be since the second book mentioned (Princess Ahira, or perhaps Red String of Fate?) is already released. So I’ve basically come to a conclusion that this book was scrapped.”

The answer is yes. And no. I have three or four finished manuscripts sitting in a folder on my computer. Hollywood Fails is one of those manuscripts. The problem is I finished these manuscripts roughly five or six years ago at a time where I was…not quite as knowledgeable and versed in writing as I am now. The plots and characters need a little shining, but the big hurdle is that I need to redo some structural points and writing rules that I did not follow when writing these.

Each book would take roughly a month to “refurbish,” so to speak, but I doubt I would send them to Editor, as Editor is occupied enough with what I consider the current flag-pole/main event: the Timeless Fairy Tales. Out of the “rejected-until-refurbished” manuscripts, I have an urban fantasy story and its sequel that are set in the same universe as Life Reader. (You actually see a bit of Raven, Asher, and Aron in the sequel.) I also have one modern setting chick flick about a girl who gets unwillingly yanked into Hollywood. (Hollywood Fails.) And to wrap it up, I have what might be considered an Epic Fantasy manuscript. (Think Red Rope of Fate.)

My question is this: How do you, Champions, want me to prioritize? Timeless Fairy Tales are important to me, and producing those falls into my number one slot–although technically the MBRC sequel is occupying that spot as I will begin writing it next week. But what comes after that? I will continue to release Timeless Fairy Tales, but I will go batty if I constantly throw myself into that world, so I would like to have non-Timeless Fairy Tale books lined up for production. Would you rather have a Life Reader sequel or the next King Arthur Book, or one of these “refurbished-’n-fixed” manuscripts? (The nice side-effect of dusting off one of my old manuscripts is that the turn-around time should be significantly faster than the time it takes for me to write, edit, and release an entirely new book.)

Picking individual books depends a lot on my schedule, but I would like to know what you are all most passionate about. You can contact me via the contact me page, or leave your opinion in a comment to clue me in. As always, thank you for reading, Champions!

Happy Friday

Good day to you, Champions. Just a quick reminder that Life Reader is free today (6/13) through 6/17.

This Sunday is Father’s Day, so I’m taking a page out of The Huffington Post’s book. For today’s post I’ll be listing the top fathers/father-figure characters that I love.

Mr. Bennet of Pride and Prejudice: I find Mr. Bennet endearing thanks to his sharp wit and his clear affection for his daughters and silly wife. He and Lizzy are the most intelligent/clever members of the Bennet clan, and I am always brought to tears whenever I read the short but to-the-point conversation he has with Lizzy after Mr. Darcy asks for her hand. Love the man!
Sir Ector of King Arthur and His Knights: Researching King Arthur really made me appreciate how much Sir Ector, Arthur’s foster father, and Arthur loved each other. There were specific battles Arthur forbid Ector from entering because he was afraid of losing him, and on more than one occasion Ector fights for Arthur’s honor after he is first crowned king. It was an endearing relationship, which I tried to mimic in King Arthur and Her Knights.
Jeanie’s computer character Dad from Heir Apparent: This is a book I’m sure few of you have heard of, but it’s a delightful YA story about a girl who gets stuck in a full-immersion video game. One of the characters she comes to love is her computer character’s foster father. Even though she only sees him for five minutes every life, he becomes her favorite character simply because he lovers her and wants what is best for her.
“The Indian Gentleman” from Little Princess: I love this book, and I cry every time Sarah is reunited with “The Indian Gentleman”/Uncle Tom. He rescues Sarah from poverty and gives her an inheritance and all the love she should have received from her deceased father.
Eugenides’ dad from The Queen’s Thief series: Eugenides has a complex relationship with his father. His dad doesn’t approve of everything he does, or even of his occupation, and they have a hard time understanding each other, but one could never deny that the father and son have a bond.

That’s my list for now. Can anyone else think of any good father-figure characters? (I have to admit, if I opened it up to movies I would SO include Hiccup and his Dad from How To Tame your Dragon.)

Cinderella: Once upon a time

I just finished submitting Cinderella to the Editor. I’m very anxious to hear what she has to say about it, but I can share that my test reader enjoyed it. Cinderella was a blast for me to write. There are many reasons for this, but one of the top is this: EVERYONE IN CINDERELLA CAN TALK.

I imagine you’re blankly staring at your screen, wondering what talking has to do with anything, so allow me to review the other fairy tales I have written: Beauty and the Beast, and The Wild Swans.

In Beauty and the Beast, only three people speak out-loud in 3/4 of the book. (Those three characters are: Elle, Severin, and Lucien.) The servants play major roles in the story, but they are mute. They can communicate through writing on chalkboards and paper, but to save time (because it takes much longer to write than speak) they scratch out fairly brief sentences and messages. This means it’s pretty difficult to achieve a heart-to-heart conversation, or to properly joke around.

For The Wild Swans, the lack of talking was better and worse. In this case all of the characters could talk–but only for one hour every night. Otherwise the seven princes and Elise had to be silent. It’s not as noticeable because a lot of the scenes take place in that hour, or hinge on Elise’s inability to communicate. But let me tell you, it’s pretty difficult to have characters bonding and forging relationships when none of them can talk.

Cinderella was a huge relief for me because, as I mentioned before, everyone is able to speak! It does resemble Beauty and the Beast in that the original fairy tale didn’t have a lot of plot to it. (The whole premise of B&B is that a girl is held captive in a castle and falls in love with the beastly lord of said castle. The premise of Cinderella is an aristocratic girl is forced to do housework by her step-mother until she attends a ball and falls in love with a prince.) But, I feel Cinderella expanded very nicely into an interesting story.

That’s all I have to say about that topic today, Champions. I hope you had a wonderful weekend, and good luck muddling through Monday!

George R. R. Martin will kill you!

George R. R. Martin recently launched a campaign to raise funds for the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and a local food bank charity. (Local for him, anyway.) The goal is $200,000, and as I write this entry he has raised $144,000. (I don’t know how long it’s been open either, a few hours, perhaps?) To encourage fans to donate money, George is offering a range of prizes: from the script of the first Game of Thrones episode–signed by the cast and crew (already gone!) to t-shirts, to George’s familiar/never-without-it hat. The highest prize (donating $20,000) will land you a role in one of George’s books. He promises you will be killed off, but the character will be named after you and you get to decide the character’s station/career. (In example: peasant, knight, lady, etc)

Considering George will probably pull in much more than the goal, I think what he’s doing is pretty neat.

In a similar vein, for those of you who haven’t heard, Reading Rainbow launched a kickstarter campaign about 10 days ago, aiming to raise $1 million to make a Reading Rainbow app. Within 11 hours the campaign met it’s goal. The goal has been reset to $5 million. There’s 26 days left, and they’ve raised $3.5 million.

According to this article–an interview with LeVar Burton, who apparently has the secret to eternal youth based on the fact that he looks exactly the same as he did 15 years ago–there already is a Reading Rainbow app available for ipads and Kindles, but they want to improve the app and launch it into realms like the internet and classrooms, giving it universal access. LeVar also plans to give away Reading Rainbow products to 7,500 classrooms, and will meet with the Department of Education to talk about which classrooms could most use the products.

There have been some outcries over the kickstarter–most notably an article in the Washington Post. The Reading Rainbow app costs a monthly subscription, and will be a for-profit organization. Some complain that in a time where people are more concerned with teaching kids to read, a show that tries to foster a love of books is too lavish or luxurious.

My personal take on it? Luxury or not, what kid will want to learn to read if they don’t see the point to it? Plus, as an author, I can’t say I’m surprised about the for-profit bit of the app. Publishing companies do not cheaply lend out their books. You can bet Reading Rainbow has to pay for the books it features.

So…What do you think, Champions?

Enter, Amazed Cat

This is what happens when I stay on the computer too long.

Suddenly everything becomes amazing and it’s reaaaaalllyyy hard to see in the sunlight.

I’m almost through editing Cinderella. I’ve added on about another 15 pages of scenes, so it’s almost 68,000 words. (That’s just a few pages less than The Wild Swans for those who are curious.) Also, Life Reader will be available for free next week, starting 6/13 and going through 6/17. I’ve got a few typos and errors I will be fixing before it’s free, so it will be a cleaner copy.

I WILL be finished with Cinderella editing tomorrow. After that it gets shipped off to the Editor (all hail the Editor!) who will put it through the chop shop. I will go through it again and perform the final checks (Testing the table of contents, etc) before popping it on Amazon. I’m planning for a July 10th-ish release date, but don’t write it in yet. I might put it up a few days earlier or later.

I’m going to get off this machine and bathe my eyeballs in sunlight, lest I be tempted to search for more funny cat pictures/memes. Have a great Wednesday, Champions! I will see you all on Friday!

The Name Game Winners

I won’t lie: it was difficult for me to choose the winners of this contest. Everyone came up with fantastic names, and a lot of you included some awesome information about the names you submitted. Hands down, my favorite category was the dwarf names. You guys really threw yourselves into that one, and it showed. Well done! Unfortunately I can only pick three names, but I want to thank everyone who submitted something to The Name Game. It was a lot of fun to witness your creativity first hand.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The Grand Prize Winners are….

Tricia Category: Goblin Submitted Name: Harrison
Celia Category: Fairy Submitted Name: Baobab
Erin Category: Dwarf Submitted Name: Grogrintork

 

I also want to extend a special thanks to all the Honorable Mentions: Lindsay, Chotley, Kelly, Lorelei, Nicole S., Joan, Nicole K., Jean, and Lesslie. There were another three people who submitted some fantastic names, but they did not include their name in their submission so I can’t list them here. :(

Thank you to everyone who submitted. I am thrilled by your enthusiasm for the next MBRC book. Thank you for getting involved in this contest and this book. I am blessed to have such wonderful people read (and enjoy) my stories. Cheers!

Enter now!

Just a reminder today is the LAST DAY I am accepting entries for The Name Game! Tomorrow afternoon I will pick the Grand Prize Winners and the Honorable Mentions and post the results on Monday. For more information see the top post!

(Yes, it’s a short entry. Sorry, I haven’t anything interesting to note besides my love of The Name Game.)