Cassandra Page's Blog, page 20

Australian Women Writers Challenge – 2015 wrap up

The Australian Women Writers’ Challenge is part of a world-wide movement to raise awareness of excellent writing by women. It helps readers to challenge the subconscious stereotypes that govern our choice of books to read. The challenge encourages avid readers and book bloggers, male and female, Australian and non-Australian, to read and review books by Australian women throughout the year. You don’t have to be a writer to sign up. You can choose to read and review, or read only.

This is my second year doing the Australian Women Writers Challenge — last year I read and reviewed eleven books by Aussie women, so this year I decided to up my goal to fifteen. Yesterday in the wee small hours of the night, and just in the nick of time, I finished my final book!

This was one of three reading challenges I signed up to this year. The other two were a diverse genres one (again for Australian writers), which I didn’t quite achieve, and the general Goodreads challenge, which I did. As Meatloaf said, two out of three ain’t bad…

Here is a link to each review, as well as my star rating for each book:

Fairytales for Wilde Girls by Allyse Near – 4 stars
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff – 5 stars
Never Forgotten by Stacey Nash – 4 stars
The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth – 4 stars
Every Breath by Ellie Marney – 5 stars
Burn by Paula Weston – 5 stars
How to Save a Life by Lauren K. McKellar – 5 stars
My Story by Julia Gillard – 3.5 stars
Wait! by Stacey Nash – 5 stars
The Intern by Gabrielle Tozer – 4 stars
Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil – 5 stars
The Problem With Heartache by Lauren K. McKellar – 4.5 stars
Shh! by Stacey Nash – 5 stars
Eleven Weeks by Lauren K. McKellar – 5 stars
Fight For Me by K. A. Last – 5 stars

I’ve discovered some awesome new-to-me authors this year (such as Ellie Marney, Melissa Keil and Allyse Near), as well as revelling in new releases by some old favourites (such as Kate Forsyth, Paula Weston and the Aussie Owned and Read girls).

It’s been a good year. :)

Review: ‘Fairytales for Wilde Girls’ by Allyse Near

‘He’s gone the same way as those little birds that bothered me with their awful songs! And you will too, you and your horrible heart-music, because you won’t stay out of my woods!’

There’s a dead girl in a birdcage in the woods. That’s not unusual. Isola Wilde sees a lot of things other people don’t. But when the girl appears at Isola’s window, her every word a threat, Isola needs help.

Her real-life friends – Grape, James and new boy Edgar – make her forget for a while. And her brother-princes – the mermaids, faeries and magical creatures seemingly lifted from the pages of the French fairytales Isola idolises – will protect her with all the fierce love they possess.

It may not be enough.

Isola needs to uncover the truth behind the dead girl’s demise and appease her enraged spirit, before the ghost steals Isola’s last breath.

Fairytales for Wilde Girls is a strange and wonderful little début from Melbourne author Allyse Near. The genre could be described as contemporary fairytale, a bit like the Splintered series by A. G. Howard. But Fairytales also falls squarely into  the gothic fiction category — with those traditional elements — and has some quirky screenplay influences (when, for example, the characters are introduced as though you’re reading a script). There are also gorgeous pictures throughout the book of Isola’s six princes.

I don’t know why the blurb describes the book as “bubblegum gothic”, though. I didn’t get a bubblegum feel from Fairytales at all.

Ruslana, one of the six princes. Yes, she’s a woman. I noticed that too.

The book is masterfully executed. Allyse Near’s writing is some of the most luscious and rich I’ve read; her prose is magical, her metaphors often both beautiful and disturbing. The story is seeded with references to Edgar Allan Poe, the Grimm Brothers, Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and Alice in Wonderland (plus probably others I missed). But the tales with the heaviest influence on Isola and the story is the fictional book The Pardieu Fables and Fairytales by Lileo Pardieu — the author whose name Isola has as her own middle name. We get to read excerpts of The Pardieu Fables scattered throughout the story, and they are even more beautiful and strange than the rest of the novel.

There are ghosts, a mermaid, a fury, fairies and a hilariously grumpy gargoyle — a menagerie that appealed to my urban fantasy-loving heart. There’s a wonderful best friend; a talented, quirky guy; and a bad boy I wanted to snot (that’s my usual reaction to bad boy characters, by the way)…

There’s also a plot twist that I didn’t see coming till maybe a chapter beforehand, but that made total sense and begs for a re-read, just so you can admire the way it was foreshadowed.

The one thing that disappointed me at the outset was that I half-expected the book to be set in Australia. It’s actually set in England, in a little town called Avalon, near the magical Vivien’s Wood (where Vivien supposedly entrapped Merlin in a tree). Given the circumstances, I forgave Near for not setting it here. ;)

Grab yourself a copy of Fairytales for Wilde Girls. You won’t regret it.

Review: ‘The Name of the Wind’ by Patrick Rothfuss

Told in Kvothe’s own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature. A high-action story written with a poet’s hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

I used to read a lot of epic fantasy in my teens and 20s. Eventually I lost the endurance for it — for the sort of weighty tomes that give you a concussion if you fall asleep reading them in bed. Also, I discovered YA and urban fantasy (both of which don’t run that long, as a rule).

Just over a week ago, I was lamenting to friends that I had finished my current audiobook series (The Hollows by Kim Harrison). These friends are all book nerds who didn’t give up on epic fantasy, and all of them recommended Patrick Rothfuss.

They were right.

It took me a chapter or two to get into The Name of the Wind. The whole “three silences” thing at the start threw me — although that sort of epic, bardlike introduction to a fantasy novel isn’t unusual, like I said, it’s been a while. Still, since I’d paid for the audiobook already I persisted, and it was so worth it.

The flashback-style mechanism of Kvothe telling his story to a scribe means that we get to jump between his detailing his childhood misadventures and the present. Because most of the story is the former, the latter serves as excellent foreshadowing of tragedy to come. Interestingly, the latter also contains foreshadowing for events that presumably happen later in the series, once the retelling is complete. (At least, that’s my read of things.) I admire the level of craft that has gone into that.

Kvothe himself is an interesting character, and by maybe halfway through the book I’d fallen a little bit in love with him (present Kvothe, not the 15-year-old whose tale comprises the bulk of the book, because That Would Be Wrong). He’s the kind of character that is brilliant but not Mary Stu-ish; he’s rather cocky and arrogant, and gets himself into all kinds of trouble.

But I think my favourite thing about him is that he sees the beauty in things. For example, I’d noticed that all the girls he met he described as beautiful, and at first I wondered if this was a sort of wish fulfilment thing on the part of the author — but then one of the other present-day characters pulled him up on one of his descriptions, pointing out the flaws in one girl’s appearance. That made it clear to me that Kvothe (at least young Kvothe) just had rose-coloured glasses on. I thought that was sweet. :)

The world-building is excellent, masterfully handled; the bulk of Kvothe’s story covers his time in the university, which means we get to learn the mechanics of magic as he does.

My biggest bugbear about this book is that Goodreads tells me this came out in 2007, and the one and only sequel came out in 2011. That means I’m going to be in the market for a new audiobook series very soon, because I doubt the third book will be out any time soon…

Maybe I’ll look for another epic fantasy audiobook after this. At least audiobooks have a much smaller risk of causing concussion.

A Christmas song and a warm, fuzzy hug

Every year on my blog I’ve had a Christmas post with a song for people to enjoy. My two favourite Christmas carols are here and here, but I posted those early; last year, I went with the Muppets, because you can’t go wrong with Beaker and Animal. (Note: Beaker may not agree.)

I don’t write this post every year for the views. Goodness knows, on Christmas Day most people aren’t reading my little blog. Partly, I write it because traditions are good. My family has Christmas traditions, and even though I’d describe myself as somewhere between agnostic and atheist, I still really love them. They remind me of sleepy summer afternoons after too much food; the sweetness of overloaded pavlova; the crinkle of bright paper.

I also write the post because I know some people don’t have anywhere to go, anyone to be with, on Christmas Day, and maybe my random blatherings and a song will make them feel less lonely. I get a taste of this every second year, when my son is with his father for Christmas. I will see my boy on Boxing Day, and I will still see my parents today … so it could be worse. But I miss my son and his enthusiasm and cuddles.

One more day to go.

This year has been huge. I thought last year was huge — my debut came out in October 2014 — but this year was huger. I released two books with TMP. TMP then closed down just as I was about to self-publish Lucid Dreaming … so I released that, then re-released two of the three books I’d released with TMP. (The third one will hopefully be done before the end of February.)

I’d take it as a kindness if next year is slightly less huge. Or, if it really must be huge, let it be in such a way that I can quit my dayjob to manage the hugeness. ;)

To everyone who has supported me throughout the year: Kim with her beta reading and design, Lauren and Jennifer with their editing, Stacey with her beta reading; my family, for their support and somewhat baffled enthusiasm; my friends for their enthusiasm and endless coffee. You guys are the best.

And to anyone who has read one of my books, or pimped them on social media, or left me a review (or some combination thereof) … may your holidays be bright and full of crinkling paper.

Warm and fuzzy hugs. (And an a cappella carol by … the Brady Bunch, I think?) xo

Memes made by me: making images for fun and (if I’m lucky) profit

On my Facebook page, I have an album I called “Memes Made By Me” (because I love the alliteration). That’s where I save the various non-promotional memes I’ve made, from the ones I’ve done with various meme generators to ones I’ve actually made with stock art. Some of them are (hopefully) funny; others are (maybe) inspirational.

Why do I make them? Partly it’s a shameless self-promotional thing; the theory goes that if someone likes my meme, they might click through to learn more about me and my books. (I don’t think that ever actually happens, though — at least, not based on my own Facebook-viewing behaviour.) Another thing I’ve noticed is that, if I get lots of activity on one post, then the next post I share seems to be shown more widely by Facebook’s evil algorithms. That may be a coincidence, though.

The real reason I make them is because it’s fun. I love using Photoshop to come up with pretty pictures with words on them. :p

Here are some of the non-promotional memes I’ve made over the past few months:

I hate those posts so much…

Stock: Shutterstock

Neil Patrick Harris belongs to Joss Whedon (and also to Neil’s husband, David). No copyright infringement intended.

Stock: Shutterstock

Stock: Shutterstock

My friend’s ten-year-old daughter came out with a comment very similar to this. I adapted it. :)

I’ve also made a ton of promotional teasers, most of which you’ll have seen on my blog if you’re a regular reader. If you’re not, here’s the most recent one. You’ll notice I’ve kept the text quite small on the overall page. That’s because I’ve been thinking about using this one in an advert, and Facebook requires that images for ads have no more than 20% text. (I may be pushing that limit with this one, because it’s not just the text on the top left that counts but the title on the book as well.)

And here’s one I made for my friend, Stacey, whose newest book came out last month.

Teaser for Pretend by Stacey Nash (Stock: Shutterstock)

I’d love to hear what you guys think of these kinds of memes and teasers. What do you like to see in a meme? What makes you click “like” or “share”? How about in a book teaser?

Amazeballs SPR review of ‘Lucid Dreaming’

Those that follow me on social media will have already seen my fainting hysterics over this, but for those that haven’t: Lucid Dreaming received an amazing professional review from Self-Publishing Review this week. Five stars. Whee! Needless to say, I’m over the moon (and trying not to let it go to my head).

You can read the whole review here, but here’s an excerpt:

Lucid Dreaming is a great, comfortable read, like a new pair of slippers that fit like your well-worn favorites. Lucid Dreaming is very fresh and gorgeous looking, with a fluid and vibrant read to match. To chance a pun, you could even say the writing is lucid. Page has a particular self-awareness that just, just about creeps in and tinges the edges of the page now and then in a very modest manner that pays dividends when the time is right.

Similarly, Melaina is a great lead, with a wry and experienced charm to her character that stands out from her peers, both in the context of her own story and in the wider genre. She’s relatable, in all the right ways, and there’s a sadness behind her strength, but she’s taking it all in her stride. It sounds par for the course, but there’s a very certain je ne sais quoi to her and the whole book at large. There’s a really strong and surprisingly wide supporting cast of all breeds that are well curated to push the story in every way it needs to, when it needs to be, and the perfect storm comes in wild, colorful strokes from beginning to end.

Cover to cover, the book really shines, even down to the simple detail of its little butterfly motifs scattered here and there as dividers. It’s a really outstanding work that I cannot sing high enough praises of. Urban and paranormal fantasy fans: buy this book. For me personally, it scratched an itch I didn’t even realize I had, and for anyone looking for something new in the genre, it’s likely to do the same. It’s an example of some of the finest to be found in a rather crowded arena. It’s hard not to find yourself giving yourself “one more page”, page after page, and for better or worse this is a read that will definitely keep you awake if you’re not careful!

Add Lucid Dreaming on Goodreads

Ebook

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Australia

Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

Paperback

Createspace | Amazon US | Amazon UK | The Book Depository

Review: ‘Illuminae’ by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents — including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more — Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

This book, you guys. I pre-ordered it because I love both Amie’s and Jay’s other books, and then took a month to pick it up due to life and other things. Also, I confess, I found the 600-odd pages quite daunting.

I shouldn’t have.

Despite the length, Illuminae is a very easy read (and I suspect, due to the design, has tens of thousands less words than your average 600 pager). Once I started it, I devoured it in about two days; it would’ve been faster but pesky life things got in the way.

If you haven’t heard of Illuminae by now, the first thing you should know about it is that it is ground-breaking in its design. The “found footage” vibe is conveyed not just through the (excellent) writing but through the book’s internal layout. You really get the feeling that you’re holding a dossier of documents that has been cultivated from various sources about the events at Karenza (Kady and Ezra’s home planet) and what follows.

The end result is that the atmosphere this “weird little bookthing” (as Jay Kristoff calls it) conveys is of epic proportions. The creeping dread associated with the plague gave me the shivers, as did pretty much any transcript associated with the crazy AI, AIDAN. (And yet, AIDAN was also my favourite character. Don’t judge me!)

I loved both Kady and Ezra too; although I will never have a book crush on the latter, I did love his sense of humour. And Kady was all the things you want from a young adult leading lady: clever, empathetic, and a little bit sly. Her resilience in particular is off the charts, which, given the circumstances, is probably for the best. ;)

There are also some great little sci-fi easter eggs in Illuminae, such as a sneaky reference to Red Dwarf and a nod to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Another, more personal source of joy for me was spotting all the names of victims that I recognised in the various lists (Jay and I used to move in the same circles and have a lot of friends in common — friends who seem to have all died horribly at one point or another)!

It’s a big call, but I think Illuminae is my favourite read of 2015. It’s definitely in my top two. Read it. Give it to your friends for Christmas.

PS I am counting this review against my Australian Women Writers challenge, because it is at 50% written by an Australian woman. So nyah!

‘Isla’s Inheritance’ is back

YOU GUYS! It’s been two months since Turquoise Morning Press returned the rights for the Isla’s Inheritance trilogy, and in that time the fantastic Kim and I have been working our booties off. I’ve re-read this book (twice), spent an unhealthy amount of time trawling stock websites (the images for the covers and the latest teasers are all courtesy of Shutterstock), and then squeed enthusiastically at the end result. There is definitely something to be said for self-publishing; the sense of satisfaction at the end of the process is enormous.

ANYWAY. I’m pleased to announce that Isla’s Inheritance, book one of the trilogy by the same name, has been released back into the wild. So far the ebook has made it as far as Amazon and Smashwords, and the paperback is only at Createspace. But I’ll update my Isla’s Inheritance trilogy page as I get more links.

Thank you as always for the support of my wonderful friends and family. This re-release has been an unexpected bump on the road, and I admit I wouldn’t have chosen the Lucid Dreaming release month to be doing all this work (let alone just before Christmas, with all the end-of-year shenanigans), but hopefully you agree that the result is worth it in the end.

Ebook

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Australia | Smashwords

Paperback

Createspace

Review: ‘Three Slices’ anthology

Three Slices presents three novellas by modern fantasy writers:

A Prelude to War by Kevin Hearne

After an old friend is murdered in retaliation for his mercenary strikes against the oldest vampires in the world, Atticus O’Sullivan must solicit the aid of another old friend in Ethiopia if he’s going to have a chance of finishing a war he never wanted. Meanwhile, Granuaile MacTiernan starts a private war of her own against Loki, the lord of lies, and if it brings Ragnarok early — so be it.

Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys by Delilah S. Dawson

The number one rule of the circus? Don’t kill your volunteers, even accidentally. That’s how young magician Criminy Stain ends up on the run in a forest, where he meets a beautiful woman holding a bucket of blood. But is Merissa the answer to his prayers — or the orchestrator of his ruin?

Interlude: Swallow by Chuck Wendig

Miriam Black is back. Miriam is tired of her curse and finally believes she knows how to be rid of her ability to see when and how other people die. She follows a lead to the mountains of Colorado, where she believes she sees signs of a serial killer she thought she already killed. (Set between THE CORMORANT and THUNDERBIRD.)

It’s very rare to find an anthology where you’ve read all (and are up to date on the relevant series by) the contributing authors. It’s never happened to me before, at any rate! So of course when I saw Three Slices, which has stories by three awesome urban fantasy writers, I had to buy it.

I maybe should have guessed from the title, but all three stories have one thing in common: oracular cheese. (Yes, cheese.) That element was really cute, and was one of the things that tied the stories together. There were a few other things, some of them more subtle than others — Kevin Hearne gives a nod to Chuck Wendig’s heirloom apple obsession, for example, while Chuck uses the Polish expression that is the title of Delilah Dawson’s story. I loved seeing those little easter eggs sprinkled throughout.

On the stories themselves, I enjoyed all three, although Delilah’s story was probably my favourite, mainly because — of the three of them — it was the one that stands alone the most cleanly. For fans of her Blud series, seeing how Criminy Stain winds up in the circus he’s the ringmaster of in later books is very entertaining, and Criminy is still my favourite smoking hot magician vampire.

Wendig’s Swallow was a little peek at how Miriam is going; the mystery within the story is resolved internally, but does heavily reference previous books. (Also, note that although I enjoy Wendig’s raw style, it may not be for everyone — I shelve this series in “horror” on Goodreads for a reason.)

As for A Prelude to War, I did enjoy catching up with Atticus, Oberon and Granuaile, but this story is the least able to stand alone. If you haven’t read the series up till this point, you will be lost. Still, it was very satisfying to see Granuaile’s interaction with Loki, though.

Very, very satisfying.

‘Isla’s Inheritance’ trilogy cover reveal

Isla’s Inheritance is my first book baby (well, book triplets, really, given it’s a trilogy), so I’m giddy with delight to be able to share the new covers with you. These were made by Kim Last from KILA Designs — the same wonder who made the Lucid Dreaming cover — so it should be no surprise to you that they are breathtaking.

Feast your eyes! Feast them!

Isla’s Inheritance

Isla was content to let her father keep his secrets, but now she can’t stand the touch of iron and her dreams are developing a life of their own.

Seventeen-year-old Isla Blackman only agrees to participate in a Halloween séance because Dominic, an old crush, wants to. She is sure nothing will happen when they try to contact her mother’s spirit. But the séance receives a chilling reply.

SHE IS NOT DEAD.

Isla doesn’t want to upset her father by prying into the family history he never discusses. When the mysterious and unearthly Jack offers to help her discover the truth, Isla must master her new abilities to protect her loved ones from enemies she never knew existed.

Isla’s Oath

Australia is a long way from the Old World and its fae denizens … but not far enough.

Isla is determined to understand her heritage and control her new abilities, but concealing them from those close to her proves difficult. Convincing the local fae that she isn’t a threat despite her mixed blood is harder still. When the dazzling Everest arrives with a retinue of servants, Isla gets her first glimpse of why her mother’s people are hated … and feared.

But Isla isn’t the only one with something to hide. Someone she trusts is concealing a dangerous secret. She must seek the truth and stop Everest from killing to get what he wants: Isla’s oath.

Melpomene’s Daughter

Isla struggles to embrace her fae nature while preserving her humanity in the final, exciting instalment of the Isla’s Inheritance trilogy. 

Isla has spent months persuading the Canberra fae that she isn’t a tyrant like her mother, trying to prove that—despite her mixed blood—she’s human, not a monster. That she’s one of them, not one of the high fae who enslaved them.

But a vision of a fresh-dug grave warns that someone is going to die.

When the Old World fae once again move against her family, seeking revenge for old wrongs, Isla will stop at nothing to keep those she loves safe. She just wants to be left alone. But to win that right for herself, her family and all Australian fae, she must cross the oceans and take the fight to the country of her birth.

Isla must prove she really is Melpomene’s daughter after all.