Kate Willis's Blog, page 119
July 29, 2016
Opening a Doorbell (And Other Hilarious Mistakes)
The other day Kellyn Roth and I were discussing our most hilarious author/blogger mistakes. I’ve been keeping note of mine just for grins, and I thought you might enjoy what I have so far…
I was editing the first part of“Kiera”the other day and I ran across this sentence: “The doorbell finally rang. She hurried to open it.” Have you ever opened a doorbell? I sure haven’t though maybe a doorbell repairman might have to take one apart sometime…
I love adding my made-up names to the dictionary...
July 28, 2016
The Little Books
Asking an author for her word count is like asking a woman her weight. Just look at this list of story categories!
Micro fiction–under one hundred words Flash Fiction–100 to 1,000 words Short short–1,000 to 2,000 words Short story– 2,000 to 7,500 wordsNovelette–7,500 to 15,000 words
Novella–17,500 to 40,000 words
Novel– over 40,000 words
(Compiled by Perry Elisabeth from Wikipedia and Yahoo Answers. These may vary according to publisher.)
This reduces mybook The Treasure Hunt to a short sto...
July 27, 2016
Procrastination
All those emails, blog posts, and reviews to write can always wait until tomorrow, right? Today I actually havesome good excuses. I was on Pinterest a little bit, but the beginning of my day was spentbeating my brains out over Amazon’s review policies and the interworkings of MVD. After I finally made it through their maze (and passed my permit test!) the rest of the day was spent relaxing with my family by doing a little shopping, eating ice cream, and watching imitations of Donald Trump. I...
July 26, 2016
Book Review: A Different Kind of Courage
“‘Why did my life have to be full of secrets?’After three years in England, William Landor returns to Boston in 1774, little knowing the events that are about to unfold. England has issued an ultimatum: pay for the tea that was destroyed in the Boston Tea Party, or the Port of Boston will be closed. William knows that this will have a devastating effect on his hometown, which is so dependent on the sea. However, he finds himself in the middle of the political struggle he wanted to avoid.Willi...
July 25, 2016
“Lost” in the Bookstore
I dream about bookstores. The shelves stretch from floor to ceiling and are literally crammed with books. Aisle after aisle after aisle.
Last weekend, when my mom, my partners [sisters] in the used book business, and I took our extra stock to Bookman’s, we quickly dropped our books off at the sorting counter and went to explore.
We entered the bookstore version of the beast’s castle–a maze of pages and brightly colored covers. The bookshelves weren’t floor to ceiling like I would have preferr...
July 22, 2016
The Beta-Reader’s Guide to the Galaxy
“Space is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.”Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
I find the privilege of beta-reading/test-reading/reviewing nearly as big (and just as exciting!).Here are some of the tools I use to help me be the best beta-reader I possibly can!
My Goodreads account has not only been addictively fun but also great for sharing reviews and networking with other authors/readers.Most authors ask forreviews on th...
July 21, 2016
The Mystery of the Mansion
I am so excited about this short story collection by one of my writing friends! I’ve had the privilege of reading some of the stories and even doing some transcription for her. Congratulations on publishing, Susie!
July 20, 2016
Studio C: Author Style
My family and I love watching Studio C comedy sketches together, but the story-related ones are some of my favorites. Here are a few that make my author heart laugh.
Did you know that stories are so simple you can order plots, characters, and props from Teddy’s Story Joint? Just be sure no other authors are listening in because the plagiarism can get embarrassing.
The antics of fairytale royals can lead to some pretty disgruntled commoners! Who in his right mind would burn spinning wheels,...
July 19, 2016
Book Review: The Princess and Curdie
“Princess Irene’s great-grandmother has a testing task for Curdie. He will not go alone though, as she provides him with a companion — the oddest and ugliest creature Curdie has ever seen, but one who turns out to be the most loyal friend he could have hoped for.”(from Goodreads)
The first chapter of this book was very slow and boring, but it picked up soon after and swung into a clever adventure. I loved seeing Curdie grow up, and it was delightful when Irene and her king-papa came into the...
July 18, 2016
Favorite Books from Read-to-Win 2016
Do you see all the book covers crammed onto that graphic? For the remaining six weeks of summer, they are on sale for 99 cents each as part of Homeschooled Authors’ Read-to-Win event! Buy one of these books and review it on Goodreads this summer to get entered it the giveaway for an Amazon giftcard! The more you review, the more entries you get. (Read this article by Chautona Havig to discover no-brainer reviewing.)
Because my book is featured in this year’s event (see that pretty graphic wa...
