Lynne Stringer's Blog, page 4

Preparing for a book release in a pandemic

When I realised I would finally have another new full-length novel released in 2020 after more than three years, I was excited. I anticipated a round of launches, signings and events, delighted to have a new book to share with everyone.I never imagined all those plans would be scuttled by a pandemic.

Of course, many people have far greater worries at the moment than whether they can get out of the house to tell people about a new book. There are many suffering not just from the illness but from the flow-on effects on their businesses and jobs. Certainly, many bookstores have taken a huge hit. I encourage all of you to support your local stores where you can and try and buy physical copies from them. Anything helps.

But my challenge in the coronavirus pandemic is how to market The Verindon Alliance when I can’t leave the house. Fortunately, the internet provides an in-road to many, and I’ll be using this avenue when the book is officially released on Friday, 1st May. I started not long ago with the release of The Verindon Alliance‘s official trailer, which you can see here. Please feel free to share it on your social media accounts.



I will be having an online release, probably via FaceTime, on the 1st or 2nd May, and I will let you know when that’s happening. My publisher has stock of my book due soon so you can buy a copy from them or pre-order the ebook on Amazon via the buttons below:

You can also contact me via this page and I can organise to mail you a copy as soon as they become available as well. That way, I can sign it for you.

The Verindon Alliance is coming soon!

My new novel, The Verindon Alliance, is coming out on 1st May 2020. I’m so excited to finally have a new full-length story to share with you. My last full-length release was Once Confronted back in October 2016, which seems like a long time ago now.  It’s almost like starting all over again. I’ve had to get back into the new release head space, which is rusty after lying dormant for more than three years.

I’ll be continuing to post both on my website and social media accounts in the lead-up to The Verindon Alliance‘s release, so make sure you follow me to keep up with the latest. I am hoping to attend both Oz Comic Con and Supanova in Brisbane, but unfortunately will not be at the Gold Coast Supanova this year.

This is the back cover blurb for The Verindon Alliance:

As Princess Vashta of the Vendel finishes her combat training, she hopes she will lead their forces into battle against her race’s deadly enemy, the Verindal. But when Brandonin, the heir to the Verindal throne, comes to see her father, it’s clear he desires peace, not war.

When a new enemy arises, striking at all who call their planet home, each race blames the other, even though the princess is sure this danger comes from somewhere new. She seeks Brandonin’s help in fighting this menace, but what can they do when both Vendel and Verindal refuse to work together? Can they defeat this deadly threat themselves or will it mean the end of life on Verindon?

You can find the book on my website here.

And here are my social media links. I look forward to interacting with you as we wait for the 1st May. It’s not far away now!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynnestringer.author

Website: http://www.lynnestringer.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHeirNovel

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lynne-Stringer/e/B00BT60S1K

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7007776.Lynne_Stringer

Pinterest: https://au.pinterest.com/lynnestringer/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LynneStringerAuthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynne_stringer_author/

 

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An early Christmas present

People who know me well know that my favourite movie of all time is E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial. I remember well the first time I saw it in 1982 when I was eleven years old. I related so closely to Elliot, the boy who befriends an alien who’s been left on Earth accidentally. While my parents aren’t divorced, like Elliot’s were, I was the loner, the geeky weirdo who didn’t fit in, like he was.

Some of the scenes in E.T. with the kids at the school were so close to real life. In one scene where Elliot and his brother Michael’s friends are arguing, I could pair each one of them to a boy at school. It’s a testament to Steven Spielberg’s skill as a director, I believe, that he could tap so closely into how these scenes play out in schoolyards across the world.

When my husband told me that there was an ad on YouTube that was a mini-sequel to E.T., I was sceptical at first. Was it just some cheap milking of the story I’d loved? Was it going to be something amazing? He thought I’d love it and suggested I film my reaction to it.

I did. You can watch it here:

For so many years I’d wanted something like this. As I said in the video, I toyed with the idea of trying to write a sequel with E.T. returning to see Elliot, but it seemed too difficult to even contemplate. Given E.T.’s overwhelming success, I’m sure a lot of scripts (far better than any I could write) have been passed from desk to desk in Hollywood over the years, but how do you beat a movie like that? How can you do something that even compares with it in the slightest way?

So it’s probably a good thing we never got a sequel to E.T. but I’m glad we got this. It’s done so well and does pretty much everything I wanted a sequel to do. I’m thankful someone had the idea and that Spielberg gave the go-ahead. It’s the best present ever for an E.T. fan.

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New book next year!

Hooray! I’m happy to finally be able to announce that I have signed a new contract with Wombat Books and will have a new full-length novel released in the middle of next year!

At the moment it’s called The Verindon Alliance. Being hopeless with book titles, I thank those at the Sci-Fi Roundtable on Facebook for helping me with it. The Verindon Alliance tells the story of Vashta and Brandonin. If you’ve read my trilogy, you may remember these names, as they’re referred to a few times in all three books. This new story is set several hundred years in Verindon’s past, long before Keridan, Sarah or anyone in the trilogy was born.

In the pages of The Verindon Alliance, the Vendel and Verindal are still at war with each other, and have been off and on for centuries. Some people are more than happy with continuing that state of affairs, rather than trying to think differently about people they’ve grown up despising, although others seek an end to the wars and peace on their planet.

In the midst of this we find Vashta, a Vendel princess, and Brandonin, the heir to the Verindal throne, who face a threat that may force both races to work together.

I’m so happy that I will be able to present this story to you within the next twelve months. Watch this space for more!

 

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Finding my Way

I haven’t posted in a long time and that’s largely down to the fact that Real Life has been full of so many things. However, it’s also due to the fact that I have been going through a rough patch as far as my writing goes. I haven’t had a lot of inspiration (make that none) but have just recently gone over a couple of unpublished manuscripts. Fortunately, I was pleased with what I found there. Now I’ve just got to hope that others will be pleased too.

I am making inroads into getting these manuscripts checked out and get a bit of feedback on them. And even after all these years, it’s a nervous wait. Will anyone like them? Does it matter if they don’t? So many books appeal only to certain people and not the majority. Many manuscripts can find a market somewhere; it’s just a question of the author finding them.

Certainly, we need to make sure they’re as well written as we can get them and that they make sense and avoid the plot hole pitfall, but apart from that, there is a good reason to think that some of our readers will appreciate what we’ve written.

If you’re an author, maybe you can let me know in the comments of an experience you’ve had like this. If you’re a reader, have you ever loved an author that no one else has seemed to like. If so, it would be great to hear from you.

An Eventful Start

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, mainly because I’ve been so busy! It’s been an eventful start to the year, with many things going on.

I enjoyed attending Gold Coast Supanova with my author friends Jeanette O’Hagan and Adele Jones in April. It was a lot of fun and I was able to wear the brand new costume that my mother-in-law had made to dress me up as a character from my books.  She did a fantastic job and only finished it twenty-four hours before I left to head down to the coast! I’d also had my friend, Naomi Eccles-Smith, author of the Dragon Calling series, paint the dress so that I could display it on the stall. I was so happy with the result and it gives me something else to use for promotions and to display at upcoming events.

Just before I left for Supanova, the Challenge Accepted anthology was released. This anthology features 17 stories where all the protagonists have some form of disability, with the proceeds going to the Special Olympics. It was great to be included, and the copies came just in time to sell at GC Supanova.

Jeanette, Adele and I will be attending Brisbane Comic-Con in September and plan to attend Brisbane Supanova in November. Watch this space for more details!

On 5th May, I presented two editing seminars at the Boonah Writers’ Festival. This is the second year I’ve attended as a presenter and it’s great to see an event like this gaining momentum. I will be going back for the Boonah Arts Festival in September as a judge of the writing awards.

In a couple of weeks, I will be attending Little Gnome’s birthday party. This wonderful little coffee/bookshop at Wynnum is hugely supportive of indie authors and I have enjoyed partnering with them since they first set up shop in 2015. I will be there from 9.00 am with my books, if you would like to come along.

Busy with books

This is my first blog post of the year and the title should give you some idea why. The first two months of the year have been full of editing (both my works and others) and the next few months are full of events.

The most exciting news is this. I have a short story in a soon-to-be-released anthology called Challenge Accepted. It includes seventeen stories by different speculative fiction authors (my friend Jeanette O’Hagan is one of them). All the protagonists have some kind of disability that challenges them in the world in which they live. All proceeds from sales go to the Special Olympics.

You can pre-order your ebook copy now. Just click here for more details.

I’ve also got both author and editing gigs coming up in the next few months. On 16th March I’ll be at the Omega Writers’ Book Fair. Click here for more information.  Then I’ll be attending Gold Coast Supanova again from 12th to 14th April with Adele Jones and Jeanette O’Hagan on the Rendered Realms stand. I’ll write more on that in coming months. I’m giving a seminar on editing at the Boonah Writers’ Festival from 4th to 5th May, followed by another editing seminar in May.

Like I said, busy with books, both writing and editing them! I’ll let you know more details as they come to hand. In the meantime, please pre-purchase your copy of Challenge Accepted and, if you can, make sure you check out the Omega Writers’ Book Fair.

 

 

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Merry Christmas

I just wanted to write a quick post to wish all my readers and anyone else a merry Christmas and a happy new year. The year of 2018 has been one of many challenges for me and I’m looking forward to seeing what 2019 has in store. Hopefully it will include new releases, so watch this space for more!

All the best for the season for you all.

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A Milestone Weekend

This time last weekend I was at Brisbane Supanova having a fantastic time.

I attended with my good friends, Adele Jones and Jeanette O’Hagan, occupying the Rendered Realms stall. It was a fantastic weekend with a lot of good chats, a lot of compliments for people wearing great costumes, and thankfully, a good number of sales.

Of the three of us, I think Jeanette sold the most. People couldn’t get enough of her fantastic fantasy books, which you can see here. As usual, Adele impressed with her knowledge of science, included in her entertaining Integrate trilogy. Click here for more about her books.

And much to my delight, after five years of trying, I broke my record for the most books sold at one event, with 19 books sold overall. It was wonderful to finally break this record. I’m not going to kid myself into thinking that it’s going to happen every time, but hopefully, especially as I have more new releases (which I hope will happen soon) I will continue to build on that number.

Thanks to everyone who came and talked to us and especially those who bought our books. It’s not easy being an Indie author, and you helped us feel like we have something worth sharing.

‘Tis the Season for Events!

Once we reach the end of October, it becomes clear that Christmas is just around the corner.

But that’s not the only thing that alerts me to Christmas’s impending arrival. The other thing that tells me is all the events that are on around this time.

Some, like the Omega Writers’ Conference, I was unable to get to this year, but others have been a joy to attend.

Some are in my personal life. My son graduates from primary (elementary) school this year and much to my surprise and delight, was awarded dux (it’s like being valedictorian) of the primary school. That was amazing to experience and such a wonderful thing. I certainly never came close to achieving anything like that in school!

Another event happens next weekend. Although I was sad to miss Brisbane ComicCon in September, I will be at Brisbane Supanova next weekend, from the 9-11th November. I’ll be at the Rendered Realms table with my two author friends, Adele Jones and Jeanette O’Hagan. We’re looking forward to chatting with people, seeing some great costumes, and hopefully selling a few books.

Also, in good news on the publishing front, I’ve had a short story accepted into the Challenge Accepted anthology, with all proceeds going to the Special Olympics. It’s great to be involved in something that supports a worthy cause and gave me the opportunity to try my hand once more at short story writing, which I don’t find easy! I was glad I succeeded.

And Christmas is coming ever faster. I hope I will be able to post at least one more blog by then to let you know how we went at Supanova. If you’re going to be there, be sure to come and say hello.