Kay Kenyon's Blog, page 18

Win a Kindle just in time for the holidays

A Kindle Fire makes a great — put pricey — gift for Christmas. Here’s a chance to win one.

Some other authors and bloggers and I are ganging up to give away a Kindle Fire HDX, Amazon gift card, or Paypal cash ($229 value.) I hope you’ll join in!

This is a Rafflecopter giveaway, where you earn points by checking out various blog sites and liking those that appeal to you. It takes only a few minutes, and you can decide how many points you’ll earn toward the contest.

Just click here to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway Details

1 winner will receive their choice of an all new Kindle Fire 7″ HDX (US Only – $229 value), $229 Amazon Gift Card or $229 in Paypal Cash (International).

Ends 12/18/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the participating authors & bloggers. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Good luck!

#SFWAauthors

 This is what you will win: 

 

All New Kindle Fire HDX 7″ Giveaway

The winner will have the option of receiving a 7″ Kindle Fire HDX (US Only – $229 Value)

 

Or $229 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)

 

Or $229 in Paypal Cash (International)

Holiday Kindle Fire Giveaway #1 Sponsors:

I Am A Reader, Not A Writer
Feed Your Reader
Allergic to Life by Kathryn Chastain Treat


The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl
Living, Learning, and Loving Life
Confessions of a Librarian in Training…
Bea’s Book Nook
Author Kary Rader
Author Jennie Sherwin
A Book Lover’s Retreat
These are but Shadows
Tressa’s Wishful Endings
Author Lia Fairchild
Author Helen Smith
Buku-Buku Didi
Truth Seekers Dare to Enter
The Reporter and the Girl
Author Terah Edun
Young Adult Book Deals
Diva Booknerd
Jessica Loves Books
Homebound Unlimited
Author L.A. Matthies
Author Janeal Falor
Like a Broken Vessel
Author Bonnie Blythe
Author Bella Street
Candlelight Reads
Author Louise Caiola
Kelly’s Lucky You
Author Elizabeth Isaacs
Word to Dreams
Kimber Leigh Writes
Author Wendi Sotis
~Owl Always Be Reading~
Fairie Chick’s Fantasy Book Reader
Author Talia Jager
MichaelSciFan
Author Charlene A. Wilson
Every Free Chance Book Reviews
MyLadyWeb: Women’s History and Women Authors
Darkmotive’s Books and More
Ketch’s Book Nook
Blogging the Beloved
Book Lover’s Life
Kelly P’s Blog
Fae Books
Lori’s Reading Corner
Author Kay Kenyon
A Bookish Escape
Christine’s Blog

 

Perfect Things Giveaway

A fantasy. A free book. A nice gift.

◊ A Victorian woman in an India of Magic ◊ 

Don’t forget, just in time for a holiday book gift, you have a chance to win a signed paper copy of A Thousand Perfect Things.

This Goodreads offer ends on Thursday, December 5.

About the book. . .

A Thousand Perfect Things is a historical fantasy about a Victorian woman pursuing magical powers in an altered India.

Not all fantasies are medieval in setting. Some are alternate histories, playing with what might have been if a certain period had possessed magic. Much about my alternative England and India is historically accurate, such as Victorian repression, British colonialism and the Raj in India. Some is pure magic, such as monstrous cobras, kraken of the deep, ancient ghosts and exotic magics hidden in jungles and palaces. There is also a love triangle among my heroine, Tori Harding, Captain Edmond Muir-Smith and Prince Jai.

“. . . full of action, mystery and devious plots as well as fashion and high society. It brings up questions about spirituality and freedom and will have you laughing one moment and deep in thought the next.” –the Daily Quirk

“Through jungles, palaces, ruins and more your desire for adventure, love stories, and new places will be fulfilled.” – Maggie McKeating’s Reviews

Now available in paper and at $5.99 eBook.

#SFWAAuthors

Win a Kindle just in time for the holidays

A Kindle Fire makes a great — put pricey — gift for Christmas. Here’s a chance to win one.

I’m getting together with some other authors and bloggers to give away a Kindle Fire HDX, Amazon gift card, or Paypal cash ($229 value.) I hope you’ll join in!

This is a Rafflecopter giveaway, where you earn points by checking out various blog sites and liking those that appeal to you. It takes only a few minutes, and you can decide how many points you’ll earn toward the contest.

Just click here to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Giveaway Details

1 winner will receive their choice of an all new Kindle Fire 7″ HDX (US Only – $229 value), $229 Amazon Gift Card or $229 in Paypal Cash (International).

There is a second separate giveaway for bloggers who post this giveaway on their blog. See details in the rafflecopter on how to enter to win the 2nd Kindle Fire HDX 7″.

Ends 12/18/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the participating authors & bloggers. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Good luck!

#SFWAauthors

 This is what you will win: 

 

All New Kindle Fire HDX 7″ Giveaway

The winner will have the option of receiving a 7″ Kindle Fire HDX (US Only – $229 Value)

 

Or $229 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)

 

Or $229 in Paypal Cash (International)

Holiday Kindle Fire Giveaway #1 Sponsors:

I Am A Reader, Not A Writer
Feed Your Reader
Allergic to Life by Kathryn Chastain Treat


The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl
Living, Learning, and Loving Life
Confessions of a Librarian in Training…
Bea’s Book Nook
Author Kary Rader
Author Jennie Sherwin
A Book Lover’s Retreat
These are but Shadows
Tressa’s Wishful Endings
Author Lia Fairchild
Author Helen Smith
Buku-Buku Didi
Truth Seekers Dare to Enter
The Reporter and the Girl
Author Terah Edun
Young Adult Book Deals
Diva Booknerd
Jessica Loves Books
Homebound Unlimited
Author L.A. Matthies
Author Janeal Falor
Like a Broken Vessel
Author Bonnie Blythe
Author Bella Street
Candlelight Reads
Author Louise Caiola
Kelly’s Lucky You
Author Elizabeth Isaacs
Word to Dreams
Kimber Leigh Writes
Author Wendi Sotis
~Owl Always Be Reading~
Fairie Chick’s Fantasy Book Reader
Author Talia Jager
MichaelSciFan
Author Charlene A. Wilson
Every Free Chance Book Reviews
MyLadyWeb: Women’s History and Women Authors
Darkmotive’s Books and More
Ketch’s Book Nook
Blogging the Beloved
Book Lover’s Life
Kelly P’s Blog
Fae Books
Lori’s Reading Corner
Author Kay Kenyon
A Bookish Escape
Christine’s Blog

 

Sign up to sponsor the next Kindle Fire Giveaway:

http://www.iamareader.com/category/kindle-giveaway-sign-ups

 

Highlights from OryCon

Jay Lake and daughter Bronwyn

A great time in Portland OR at OryCon. Some highlights:

Got to hear Nancy Kress hold forth on endings. She drew a double arch on the board. Made perfect sense! She’ll join us for Write on the River in May.
Spent time with my good friend Louise Marley. How many cons have we been to together? Many, many.
Got to see Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Sheila Finch, Jason Hough, Jay Lake, Bruce Taylor, Patricia Briggs, Shaun Ferrill, Patrick Swenson, Craig English, Mary Rosenblum, Brent and Kristi and Olivia (!) Weeks, Jim Fiscus and more.
Met new friends Claude Lalumiere and Camille Alexa.
Learned a bunch of good reasons for Not changing your writing name. Though it can still work, especially for “the New York model.”
Saw the Endeavor Award go to Laurie Frankel for “Goodbye for Now,” a terrific spec fic literaty novel.
Heard a great presentation by Tor editor Liz Gorinsky.
Signed with a dozen other writers at the NW Author Fest confab at Powell’s Cedar Hills Crossing.  Thanks to Peter Honigstock!  #SFWAauthors

Claude Lalumiere and Camille Alexa

My OryCon schedule

Excited to be headed down to Portland on Friday for OryCon. Here’s my schedule. Hope you’ll drop by my reading at 11:30 on Saturday!

Also, if you’re in the Portland area, please drop by Powell’s Cedar Hills Crossing big SF/F signing with many authors attending  OryCon! 4:30 to 6:00. I’ll be there until 5:30, and hope to see you! Click for directions: NW Author Fest

FRIDAY

3:00 p.m. THE END OF ALL THINGS – How can you wrap up the end of a story so that it’s neat, but not too tidy, and is surprising but not out of the blue or contrived, natural but not predictable? (Lincoln room)

5:00 p.m. FANTASY TROPES AND CLICHES – The good, the bad, and the ugly. Which ones are overused, which ones are integral to the genre, and which ones are horrible but we love them anyway. (Jefferson/Adams room)

7:00 p.m. FANTASY AROUND THE WORLD  – Most fantasy revolves around European folklore – what about something different? (Hamilton room)

SATURDAY

11:30 a.m. READING – I’ll read from my latest novel, a fantasy: A Thousand Perfect Things

4:00 p.m. THE MARKETING OF HISTORICAL FICTION – Does it only sell as romance and mainstream? How might historical fiction be made appealing to a broader audience? (Madison room)

SUNDAY

12:00 p.m. A TOUCH OF FARMER, A PINCH OF LEGUIN – Panelists discuss their biggest influences and what books have changed the recent landscape in SF/F/H horror literature. (Jefferson/Adams room)

1:00 p.m. PSEUDONYMS, GENRE AND BRANDING – Can one writing name encompass, say, space opera, high fantasy, military sci-fi and erotic romance? When to fracture your writing identity, how and why. (Lincoln room)

#SFWAauthors

On incurably loving the beginnings of novels

I’m on page 147 of my new novel in progress. Those of you who’ve been following my posts may wonder why I’ve added so few pages to my previous number.

Water Lily Pond Water Irises – Monet

Well. The short, blithely cheerful answer is: I’ve had to recast, rewrite. It wasn’t quite working. Now I believe it is, thank goodness. But nevertheless I’m only on page 147.

Not that I mind being in the first half of the WIP. Not at all. I rather wish I had seen the issues ahead of time and not had to change the structure–but oh, it’s been a lovely time of re-connecting with my story, of finding it’s true roots. Incurably, I love the beginnings of novels. And this is the subject of today’s post: the mental state of being at the front-end of the novel.

Other authors do not love the beginning. Mary Higgins Clark has said:

“The first four months of writing a book, my mental image is scratching with my hands through granite.”

In contrast to this–quite common, I believe–writing experience is mine:

Springtime at Giverny – Monet

“The first hundred pages or so, my mental attitude is that of being lost in a fun house–no, not lost, more staggering from one wonder to another”

Once I have a general plot and I know my novel’s theme and major characters, it’s as though a door opens, and here is a world which was always there, people who have always existed, and a truth I’ve been waiting to tell. It is the miracle of fiction writing, that the mind weaves lies which become the truest thing we know.

The first hundred pages can be exasperating. There are many side paths which look germane, but which really are other books. Not this book. One might take a few steps in, and then realize, no, that’s not my story. So beginnings are largely about choices. We must choose from an embarrassment of riches. We must not gorge, indulge or be swept away by possibilities. Well, perhaps some of this on the first draft. But we know in our hearts that we must later, cut, cut, cut.

The first hundred or hundred and fifty pages are a time of intense creative fire and at times, joy. I know that I’m being shown a tremendous story, and that inevitably, I will get only some of it right. But nothing in my life quite matches the pleasure of getting to try, and watching the book come to life on the page.

After page 147?

Oh, that is another story. There will be granite and a small portion of boredom… Another post!

#SFWAauthors

 

The Inner Dragon

The hardest part of the writing life isn’t about digging up a worthy story, finding time to write, polishing your prose until it shines or even, these days, publishing. That stuff is hard, sure. (And kind of fun if you’re that type.) No, I think the hardest part is the inner stuff. Motivation. Attitude. Clarity.

These inner states are, in the writing life, assailed by your own personal dragon. He loves you, honestly he does. He’s a part of you, after all. But that doesn’t mean he’s right all the time, or even at all. In any case he’s here to stay.

I don’t have too much advice here–like most authors, I slog through that stuff the best I can. No Buddha-like moments of now-I-get-it, or sage platitudes of how to Really Get It.

The best I can do is list some of the things I’ve been dealing with in last week. I assure you, none of this is new or temporary. It’s perennial. Purpose here, besides getting it off my chest, is to assure some of you who are new in the field that you’ve got company when the inner dragon breathes fire.

My head last week:

1. Re-planning my novel, which had already been planned, but which, from feedback, I learned was not quite working. Inner dragon: Why didn’t you do it right the first time?

2. The upcoming scenes are the dreaded middle section. Do I have  enough there there? Inner dragon: Nope

3. Too much time on characterization and not enough on plot? Inner D: You’ve written eleven novels and you Still don’t know the answer?!

3. The current novel is out there and getting great reviews. Inner D: Yeah, and some snide and self-righteous ones, too. Whole sentences of which you’ve memorized. Me: So? Inner D: Just sayin’.

4. Cleaned my office. Stacks of paper, notes, research, tutorials, newspaper clippings, recipes, to-do lists. Inner D: There went Another couple hours when you weren’t writing!

5. I hold reading events and even my friends don’t show up. Wah! Inner D: Oh please. You think you’re the only busy one? And, how much time do you spend on friendships anyway? Me: But I’m supposed to write! Inner D: *Rolls big yellow eyes.*

6. Planted 75 bulbs in the garden. Inner D: Don’t even Look at me!

7. Someone told me that they can hardly wait to get my book at the library. Inner D: They said that to be mean. Me: But it’s Sort of encouraging, isn’t it? Inner D: Nope.

8. My numbers really sucked for over five hours on Amazon today. Inner D: What can you expect? And why are you wasting time hovering over numbers when you should be Getting Pages? Me: You are crass and uncaring. Inner D: It’s what dragons are for.

9. I haven’t heard from my agent in quite a while. . . Inner D: And we all know what That means. Me: Silence.

10. Well at least I got the bulbs planted. It will be a glorious spring! Inner D: Have you thought about Horticulture for a profession?

I know next week will be better. Inner D: Censored.

#SFWAauthors

 

Book launch in Pacific NW

I’ve been on the road for three days, participating in SFWA’s Reading Series in Kirkland WA and Portland OR. It was amazing to see old friends in Kirkland, where a bunch of folks turned up for my reading with Greg Bear and Peter Orullian.

Me, Greg Bear, Peter Orullian in Kirkland

Peter, Kay, Terry

The rule was to read from a work in progress, so I tried out the first chapter of my current project, a historical fantasy set in Great Britain, the interwar years. It was great fun to see the reaction, very positive. I signed copies of A Thousand Perfect Things, which is speeding out into the world, after a three year process of writing it!

Greg Bear wowed us with a glimpse of his work in progress, and in Portland, Terry Brooks did a test run of the opening of his new SF novel. (Loved it.)

Duane Wilkins did a fantastic job with books for the Seattle area event, and Wrigley Cross in Portland sold out of A Thousand Perfect Things.

I loved talking to Shelley Rae Clift, John Pitts, David Levine, Art Boulton Tracy Erickson, Joel Pearson, Roz Greenberg, Carol and Ed Morrison and many more. Thanks to everyone who turned out for this lovely SFWA quarterly event! #SFWAauthors

 

Reading with Greg Bear, Terry Brooks

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be reading and discussing my new book, A Thousand Perfect Things, and will be in company with some of the great luminaries of science fiction and fantasy.

Greg Bear

I’m honored to be in the company of Terry Brooks, Greg Bear and Peter Orullian this Tuesday in Kirkland WA and this Wednesday in Portland OR as part of the SFWA Reading Series. If you’re in the neighborhood, please join us!

Kirkland, Washington

Featuring Greg Bear, Peter Orullian and me.

Tuesday, October 15, 7-8:30 p.m.

Wilde Rover Irish Pub and Restaurant

Peter Orullian

 

 

Portland, Oregon

Featuring Terry Brooks, Peter Orullian and me. Wednesday, October 16, 7-8:30 p.m

Terry Brooks

McMenamin’s Kennedy School

The events will start with notes from Peter Orullian and he will be joined by the other featured writers to complete the evening’s theme. Each author will read from their latest work, interpreting and explaining their concepts and vision. In addition, space is provided for networking and conversation.

These are lovely events–I’ve been to them–and a great way to meet the SFF community and greet old friends. For info and directions, click here.

#SFWAauthors

 

Mini reviews: SF, Historical, Horror

The Darwin Elevator Jason M. Hough

 

The world has one outpost free of the plague. It’s in Darwin, Australia, where a mysterious and alien-built space elevator allows humanity to keep technology alive in a devolving world. This exciting premise is fleshed out with memorable characters and a  hard-driving and edgy plot. I haven’t read much science fiction lately. This one reminds me why I love it.

 

 

 

Benedict Hall Cate Campbell

It is Seattle in the 1920′s. The Great War is over, but is it? Returning soldiers carry wounds on their bodies and in their hearts, none more so than Preston Benedict. His hatred of his sister Margot and her success as a woman doctor leads to a conspiracy that drives the book’s tense plot. The story brims with fascinating high society glimpses and a superb Downton Abbey-like cast.

 

American Elsewhere Robert Jackson Bennett

I’ve never read such a smart, original, nuanced horror novel! Bennett has a phenomenal mastery of suspense, dialogue and characterization. Despite the slow-build first quarter, the characters and smart writing kept me hooked. This author’s command of scenes is superb. A scary thriller with literary sensibilities. Don’t read it alone.

 

 

SFWAauthors