Heather Lawson's Blog, page 2

Book Review #2 : A Princess of Fae by Bob Craton

An angel-faced young girl (looks are deceiving) recruits: (1) a famous warrior-hero (mistaken identity) who she read about in a book but found passed out under a table in a sleazy tavern; (2) an amazing wizard (amazingly awful, that is) who uses ordinary dirt for ‘magic dust;’ and (3) and a thief on the lam who is in deep [censored] for something he did back in the Malus Empire. Joined by a cowardly ogre and an eight year old stable boy with a degree from a famous university, she leads them on a special mission to a mysterious place named Faëoria. Along the way they tame a dragon, steal a Magic Sword, evade Imperial soldiers, fight demons, fire their author and banish a pompous narrator. Being a bitchy little brat, she doesn’t tell them what . . .uh oh, she’s looking at me. Did I mention that her icy blue eyes can freeze a man’s bloo . . .

After reading a dark crime thriller last week, this fairy tale parody was a refreshing change of pace. Full of famous references and hilarious arguments between characters, author and narrator, A Princess of Fae is a quirky book that I think most people would enjoy.

We follow the ever name-changing female protagonist that likes to call herself Damsel as she sets about gathering a group of strange individuals in a bid to travel back to her home. Constant bickering, foul language, and an eventual mutiny against the author and narrator see the tale take a turn for the random as the characters take over to do whatever they want. I loved the interaction between characters and author/narrator. I think the characters could have used a little more fleshing out, but they each had distinct personalities that kept the reader going along for the ride.

There were little errors here and there that I picked up on, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The ending was a bit abrupt and seemed rushed and I think this lets the story down a little.

My Rating : 4 stars.

An Epic Tale – The Website

I spent a little while today creating a website for my novel An Epic Tale. It’s bare bones at the moment, but then again, the book isn’t due out until this time next year so I have plenty of time to bulk it up.

If you’re interested, the website has the first two (unedited) chapters available for reading and I’m also asking for suggestions to the princess’s name (the winner will be thanked in the acknowledgements when the book is published).

An Epic Tale’s Website

Book Review #1 : Natural Causes by James Oswald

A young girl’s mutilated body is discovered in a sealed room. Her remains are carefully arranged, in what seems to have been a cruel and macabre ritual, which appears to have taken place over 60 years ago.

For newly appointed Edinburgh Detective Inspector Tony McLean this baffling cold case ought to be a low priority – but he is haunted by the young victim and her grisly death.

Meanwhile, the city is horrified by a series of bloody killings. Deaths for which there appears to be neither rhyme nor reason, and which leave Edinburgh’s police at a loss.

McLean is convinced that these deaths are somehow connected to the terrible ceremonial killing of the girl, all those years ago. It is an irrational, almost supernatural theory.

And one which will lead McLean closer to the heart of a terrifying and ancient evil . . .

 

I thought this would be a great book to start my book review section off as I am a keen reader of Crime Fiction. I entered a giveaway on Goodreads some time ago and was surprised when I received an advance copy of Natural Causes through the post. This is a gripping Crime Thriller with elements of the supernatural and occult scattered throughout it’s pages. It is reminiscent of Ian Rankin’s Rebus novels, however there are striking differences that set it apart.

Set in Edinburgh, the story follows Detective Inspector McLean as he tries to solve the murder of a young girl some sixty years previous, all the while having to deal with gruesome killings happening all over Edinburgh. The story is complex and interesting, but gets muddled from time to time. I found it hard keeping track of certain details that were important to the cases, and it took me a while to get the facts straight in my head. The cast of characters is large and diverse, some overly Scottish in their speech. I do have an issue with the names – I got so confused with Duguid/Dagwood as they are the same person (one being their actual name, the other a nickname), they were used in quick succession switching back and forth that at one point I was sure they were two different people. Also, McLean, McIntyre, MacBride – I just found the names too similar to be able to really keep track of who was who.

Having said that, the plot was great. There were great twists and unexpected connections – although I did work out pretty early on who done it. The action flows at a good pace and keeps the reader turning the page. The murder scenes are a bit overly gruesome, which I think was meant to shock the reader more than anything else. I think it was written quite well and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I am left with several unanswered questions, however, which gave it a very dissatisfying ending for me personally.

My rating : 3 stars.

Self Publishing – My Stats

I’d like to preface this post with a little note. Simply, for those of you out there that think self publishing is a sure fire way to get rich quick, you’d be sadly mistaken. Unless, of course, your novel is fantastically outstanding, written to perfection, has an active reading target audience, and is promoted to a high standard. My novels – I’ll admit – have not done fantastically in the sales department, but they have done reasonably well considering I am not a great promoter of my own works.

So, I’d like to briefly just state what my total amount of sales are for my three current published works.

1. Ashlyn and the Lost Prince (ebook) – published February 13th 2013

Ashlyn’s ebook sales currently stand at 911. I’ve had a handful of copies that were bought and then refunded. It has had mixed reviews. It’s been rated 5 stars, 4 stars, 3 stars, and 2 stars. Some people love it, some people like it, some people hate it.

I got my first royalties payment from Amazon a little while ago and I think it was something like £11.77. So, Ashlyn is not making me rich.

2. When Your Novel Strikes Back (ebook) – published April 17th 2013

WYNSB is a free ebook so I’m making nothing from it. This is the first ebook that I published through Smashwords and once Ashlyn’s KDP thing runs out I’ll be putting Ashlyn on Smashwords too as it seems to be the best ebook site. Through absolutely no promotion – other than a quick word about it here on my blog and on my Facebook page, as well as links in my ‘Published Works’ and ‘Titles for Sale’ pages on the blog and website – I have ‘sold’ 91 copies of WYNSB. It’s had one review on Smashwords, which was 5 stars. It’s also had one review on Goodreads, which was 3 stars.

3. Of Time and Space (ebook) – published April 20th 2013

OTS is an odd cookie. I didn’t revise it much and so it probably isn’t the best story on the market, I’ll admit. It’s set at $0.99 on Smashwords and I’ve promoted this one less than WYNSB if that’s possible. It has an option to download, I think, 20% of the book before buying. 8 people have taken up that offer, with no one actually buying the book. Not surprisingly, it’s had no reviews.

As you can see, I’m not really focusing that much on marketing – perhaps if I was my sales would look better. I’m happy to plod along though, I’m still working on several other works that will hopefully be worthy of 4 stars and more in all reviews, but I know we can’t please everyone all of the time.

At the moment, I have a fantastically thorough and fast beta reader looking at Ashlyn and the Lost Prince and The Daisy to give me some pointers on how to make those better. I’ve got a couple of critiques to work from for That’s Charming – which I will be rewriting in the coming months. I’ve outlined most of the Ashlyn series and will be writing the next one for Camp NaNo in July. Then there is An Epic Tale, which I’m hoping will work out to be epically awesome.

Long story short, I’m keeping busy with lots of stories.

A Little Organisation

I’ve decided to change the pages that I have on this here blog and cut it down to my About page, my Published Works page, and my newest page Book Reviews! Yes, I am officially on the look out for books to review. If you have a book that you would like me to review then feel free to email me about it on heatherlawsonwrites@gmail.com!

I’ve found recently that I am reading less and less, and I decided that offering book reviews to fellow indie authors would be the perfect way for me to get back into reading regularly again.

I’m starting my reviews with Natural Causes by James Oswald as I won an advanced copy of his book from a Goodreads Giveaway (which was a lovely surprise!). I’ve read a little of the book already but I’m going to try and have it finished by Sunday (the 9th) so I can write my review then. Hopefully I’ll get some more books to review soon and will be able to post a new review every Sunday.

Writing and How Making A Workshop Is Helping Me Focus

So, I told you guys about my writing workshop for my old high school right? Did I? I don’t remember. Anyways, if I didn’t, I’m currently working on a 12 week, one lesson a week, writing program for my old high school that will encourage the class to take an idea, nourish it, turn it into a story, write the story, and beyond. I’m incorporating NaNoWriMo into the program so that the kids will be able to gain the benefits of winning a NaNo too (like the discounted swag!).

In writing this program, I’ve come up with various ideas for one-shot lesson plans focusing on various areas of writing – like grammar, show vs tell, POV, etc. and have worked on those in bits and pieces. But the main thing that writing this program has done for me, is help me to focus on one project at a time.

For example, before writing this program I was constantly trying to decide which of my millions of half started novels I should focus on, and every time I made up my mind I would change it within a few days. But now! I am focusing on An Epic Tale to great success right now. I’m world building and plot outlining and character profiling – and I really don’t ever do those things! It’s great!

So I guess what I’m saying is… well, I don’t really know. I never thought that doing educational writing would help me focus on my creative writing. It’s fun, and relatively rewarding. I don’t know why I didn’t do this years ago!

Procrastination : How I’m Turning My Downtime Into Some Extra Cash

So, we as writers have a general rule that we must procrastinate, and we must procrastinate a lot. I am in the 95% procrastination/5% writing group. I used to spend my procrastination time surfing the web aimlessly and not really doing anything productive. But, as a part-time worker/part-time student with bills to pay and things to buy, I found that this system is really not working for me, and so I decided to seek out legitimate online moneymaking sites.

*cue groans from everyone*

No, but seriously, there ARE legit websites that will pay you for doing certain things. I have three websites that I go to every day (or will start going to everyday) and I wanted to share them with you here in case anybody wants to earn some cash during their procrastination hours instead of being unproductive.1. MySurvey

MySurvey is, you guessed it, a surveys site. I joined around mid-April and have been completing surveys since then. The problem with MySurvey is that a lot of the surveys I get sent, I’m disqualified from because I don’t meet the criteria of the focus group they’re looking for. Having said that, I have earned 1125 points (which can be redeemed for gift certificates, donate money to charity, or send money to my PayPal account) and if you don’t qualify for a survey, they give you entries into their monthly prize draws which are for £100 or something like that.

I have answered surveys on this site on a variety of things: products of varying natures, celebrities, events, and once I even got to watch the pilot of a TV game show which was hilarious!

If you would like to sign up – it’s free to do so and if you don’t like it, just cancel the membership – click this link here.

 

2. Slicethepie

Slicethepie is a music review site. I joined this one around mid-April too. It’s free to join as well and you earn anywhere from $0.05 per review – the better your review, the more you earn; although I’m not entirely sure how they judge what a ‘good’ review is. Now, I had planned on using this site everyday and then I kind of forgot about it. But I think I did about 8 reviews and I got $0.66 for them. So it’s a good system if you’ve got time to sit and listen to a couple of songs a day. Plus, for us writers, it gives us some experience in reviewing music, so it’s a win-win! The minimum payout is $10 for this one, and I’m pretty sure it uses PayPal.

The music is all from unsigned bands, or indie artists that are looking for a way to improve their music. I’ve heard some pretty awesome songs on this site – one was even stuck in my head for a couple days.

If you feel like this is something you’d enjoy, then click this link here – just to note that this is my referral link so you’d be helping me out by signing up.

 

3. Clixsense

Finally, we have clixsense. This is a PTC site (Pay To Click). You can sign up for free with the option of upgrading later if you want to. Clixsense has a variety of things for you to do. You can simply log on each day and click on the ads that they provide for you – earning anywhere from $0.001 to $0.02 per ad. You can play the ClixGrid game – which gives you the chance to win $5 (but the most I have gotten is $0.10 and 5 free clicks). There’s also Offers – which can be surveys, watching videos, downloading software, etc. And finally, there are tasks – which usually ask you to answer questions based on Key Words that they give you to search. You don’t earn a lot from this site, but it is possible to make $1 a day if you really worked at it. I joined April 30th and here’s a screenshot of my stats:

Sorry it’s a little small. The minimum payout for Clixsense is $8, so I can technically cashout now if I wanted to. I’ve opted to cashout on all three sites at the end of each month, so I don’t spend the money as I go and have a better chance of saving it.

I only go on Clixsense for a couple hours each morning, but I could be making much more if I was on it in my free time in the evening too. If you would like to join Clixsense, my referral link is here. Also, please note that only one person per HOUSEHOLD is allowed an account with Clixsense.

You might like to try all three, you might like to try only one or two, or you might not want to do any. I simply wanted to share with you that your procrastination could turn into some pocket change for you. If you know of any other sites that are great, feel free to share them in the comments.

I promise my next post will be more about writing than encouraging procrastination!

The Short Attention Span Strikes Again!

I have a notoriously short attention span when it comes to my writing. This is how I’ve ended up with so many different novels in different stages of writing/editing/publishing. And to top it all off, I’m adding another to the works. I’m not sure how many of you will have seen this illustration by Tom Gauld before:

I like a good challenge, so I’ve decided to write An Epic Tale (title to come later, for now it’s just An Epic Tale). I’m going to incorporate every character from this illustration into my novel somehow. I’ve already half-planned groups for the characters to fit into, and a plot is brewing. I feel the story will most likely be fantasy, and I will try to make it of the humourous kind. I actually started writing a little bit this morning and this is what I’ve got:

“Doomed! We’re all doomed!”

Abernath rolled his eyes at the man standing in the centre of the square, screaming at the people walking past—it seemed like every week there was some new oddity in the centre of town. He hitched his bag higher on his shoulder and looked around for Lewin. The old bloodhound was stalking a flock of pigeons that were scavenging the cobbles for pieces of food. The doom-sayer’s cries were drowned out by Lewin’s manic barking as he bounding clumsily towards the birds.

Of course, this is not perfect, but first drafts never are. I’m getting the feel for Abernath (who will most likely be called Abe for the majority of the story) and his dog, as well as their (as yet unnamed) town. I don’t want to say too much about the story yet, but there will be a strange group of characters joining Abernath and Lewin on their journey–journey to what? You’ll have to wait and see…

There’s going to be a carnival as well, carnivals are fun things and I’ve never written about a carnival before so I’m really looking forward to that.

And now onto other news!

I visited my old high school last week and spoke to my old high school teacher. We had a long chat about my writing, my published works, and what I’m doing with my life. My purpose for visiting was to ask her to be a beta reader for my current and future works, and I was very relieved when she happily agreed. She also told me that they have an author on staff, and that one of the Biology teachers was looking for help on self-publishing her own children’s book. Who knew that one little trip would breed so much good contacts?

The main positive thing that came away from the meeting was the possibility of me creating and presenting a writing workshop at the school! I went home that day and instantly got an idea for a program that lasts 12 weeks! (One lesson a week for twelve weeks). It’s still under-construction but I’m really excited about it. I’m also working on some shorter worksheet type things that can be done in one lesson. Basically, I’m throwing all my ideas for what I wish my English classes had been like onto paper so I can make something fun for the kids that will get them interested in writing and creating their own stories.

So, I think I’ve babbled on enough for one day. I’m off to find out more about Abernath and his world before I have to go back to reality with my mundane job.

My Year Begins In May

So I’ve done little to no writing this year so far and we’re 1/3 of the way through. To fix this problem, I’ve decided to look through my mammoth ‘word docs’ folder and pick out the stories that I’m still interested enough in to finish. For the sake of remembering this later, I’m going to put all their titles here.

4
Afterlife
Anora
Ashlyn (2-7)
Hunted
Nightvale
Flyhorn
Mythology
Serasi
That’s Charming
The Answer
The Daisy
The Rose
The Thistle
The Seven Commas
It’s the End of the World
When Your Novel Strikes Back… Again

17 projects out of 120 word files isn’t so bad. It’s a good enough lot to get started with anyway. All of these are in various stages, and I’m trying to think of the best way to work through them all. Ideally I would finish one novel a month until I had at least a first draft of all of them, but I somehow don’t see me being able to finish an entire novel every month. I’m still going to work with the most popular idea from my polls first. So Hunted is going to be the first thing I work on.

May

I’ll write a brief outline for Hunted – I have a rough idea in my head. I know how it ends because I wrote out the ending shortly after I started the beginning, so it’s just a case of filling in the blanks and not making it too stupid. Taking the feedback I’m getting for Ashlyn (which is slowly turning more and more negative – probably published it too soon, but you live and learn) I’m going to really focus on getting this novel right before I even think about publishing.

So, with that being said. Hunted will probably have a title change before this is over. I also want it to come in around 75k (although it will most likely either be way shorter or way longer). I’ll spend all of May planning and writing it.

June

For June, I think I’ll work on That’s Charming. I received editorial feedback from Hot Key Books about my novel and I need to do a major rewrite in order to take on their advice. I think June will be a good month for this, and since I know what I’m doing and already have the basic story, I should be able to stick to writing every day for this. That’s Charming will hopefully come in closer to 75k after the rewrite, but it will most likely still be around 65k like its current draft.

July

For July, I’ll go back to Hunted and edit it using comments I will hopefully have gotten from beta readers during June. I think I’ll also work on Anora during this month. I know Anora’s plot inside out, it’s just a case of writing it all out. Anora will definitely get a title change, and I’m hoping that it will be close to 100k when it’s done – although I suspect it will be far shorter than that.

August

Writing Anora will most likely spill over into this month. I’ll most likely use this month to finish editing Hunted, and probably edit That’s Charming too. Hopefully by the end of this month I’ll have two relatively finished novels and one first draft.

September

I’m going on holiday for two weeks during September so there won’t be much time for writing. I’ll probably use this month to write The Seven Commas, which is a novella that is really only for one person but I think a few people would like it. It shouldn’t be more than 30k.

October

In October I’ll most likely have another round of edits and revision done on Hunted and That’s Charming. I may even start querying That’s Charming with a few agents. Writing wise I might take this month off to prepare for NaNoWrimo in November.

November

Since it’s NaNoWriMo, I’d like to use a relatively unstarted novel for the month. So I’ll probably write Afterlife or Mythology this month.

December

For December I’ll most likely just edit and revise all the novels that I’ve written since May and see what stages they’re at.

I’m pretty sure I could stick to this plan. It’s finding motivation each day that will be the hard part, but I’m still positive it’ll happen. I guess we’ll just have to watch this space.

I Need Your Opinions – A Poll

So I’m stuck as to which novel I should focus on next so I decided to post a poll. I have this same poll on my Tumblr and my Facebook group so at the end of the week I’m going to see what the scores are across all three polls and start working on the winning novel on Monday.

So, without further ado, here are the novels:

Story #1

The Daisy – Book One of the Felinora Series

Fantasy

Around 85k

Nilan, a simple servant at a local inn, knew nothing of his life before his master, Tilkon, took him in. When a fire thrusts Nilan into a new and strange life, a life where he is constantly hiding from a group of warriors known as the Acuri, he finds refuge in the form of Jack, a mysterious old man who helped to pull him from the fire.

Given the task of finding the missing princess, whom he has a strange connection with; Nilan struggles to deal with the revelations of his past. Meeting new and exciting people, he discovers that there may be something worth fighting for after all. As a large battle ends horrifically for his new group of friends, Nilan attempts travel to the castle, home of the warlock at the heart of the country’s problems.

Story #2

That’s Charming

Fantasy/Humour

Around 65k

Charles Charming is in his 5th year at the Academy of Charms and Charmings; a prestigious school for young Prince Charming’s and Fairy Godmother’s. Desperate to receive his first quest, Charles takes matters into his own hands.

Given only a cryptic scroll to work with, Charles must complete his quest before he can return to the school to graduate. Full of hope and excitement, Charles sets out to save the day. If only things were that easy for him.

Story #3

Hunted

Fantasy

Around 60k

The world is on the brink of war.

Vampires roam the streets at night, preying on the not so innocent souls that inhabit the cities. Hunters have replaced the army, the humans no longer fighting themselves with the new threat of the immortal.

But they’re not immortal and Talik knows why. A survival enthusiast from one of many civilian safe sites, Talik has searched for a glimpse of the vampires since he heard of their existence. But when he discovers the truth behind their immortality, only one person can save him. Someone he never thought he’d see again.

Story #4

It’s the End of the World

Fantasy/Humour

Around 30k

Louis never expected to wake up one day and find the whole world had changed.

Joining with a small group of misfit survivors, Louise and crew travel across the country in an effort to find others and a way to escape.

When they encounter a mysterious man, their mission seems to be in jeopardy, but does he hold the key to their survival?

Story #5

(Untitled)

Fantasy

Around 75-100k

Angela just wanted some time alone at her favourite loch. Finding a portal to an alternate world was not in her plans.

A raging war between the Red Caps and the Elves, mythical creatures around every corner, a strange old witch, and a prophecy foretelling a great warrior that would end the war bring Angela’s ordinary world crumbling down around her.

Faced with an epic journey she couldn’t imagine, Angela must bring balance to her new world.

 

Take Our Poll

Thanks for voting