Mere Joyce's Blog, page 4
August 3, 2015
Cover Reveal - The Story's End by Danielle E. Shipley
Today I get the privilege of taking part in the cover reveal for the upcoming book The Story's End by Danielle E. Shipley. This is an extra special reveal, as it's the last book in the Wilderhark Tales series!
So without further ado...
About the book:
For Gant-o’-the-Lute, “ever after” has been less than happy. With the last of Carillon’s charm over him gone, the minstrel-king puts royalty behind him in pursuit of the music he once knew and the lifelong dream he let slip through his fingers. But dark whispers on the wind warn that time is running out – not only for Lute and the apprentice in his shadow, but the whole of earth and Sky.
Genre - fairytale novellaRelease date - October 13, 2015
Add to your Goodreads shelf - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25958863-the-story-s-endFuture availability - Paperback (Amazon and CreateSpace) and e-Book (Kindle and Nook)
About the Wilderhark Tales series:
An enchantress’s curse turns a spoiled royal into a beast; a princess’s pricked finger places her under a hundred-year spell; bales of straw are spun as golden as the singing harp whisked down a giant beanstalk – all within sight of Wilderhark, the forest that’s seen it all.
You’ve heard the stories – of young men scaling rope-like braids to assist the tower-bound damsel; of gorgeous gowns appearing just in time for a midnight ball; of frog princes, and swan princes, and princes saved from drowning by maidens of the sea. Tales of magic. Tales of adventure. Most of all, tales of true love.
Once upon a time, you knew them as fairytales. Know them now as Wilderhark’s.
About the author:
Danielle E. Shipley’s first novelettes told the everyday misadventures of wacky kids like herself. …Or so she thought. Unbeknownst to them all, half of her characters were actually closeted elves, dwarves, fairies, or some combination thereof. When it all came to light, Danielle did the sensible thing: Packed up and moved to Fantasy Land, where daily rent is the low, low price of her heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, firstborn child, sanity, and words; lots of them. She’s also been known to spend short bursts of time in the real-life Chicago area with the parents who home schooled her and the two little sisters who keep her humble. When she’s not living the highs and lows of writing, publishing, and all that authorial jazz, she’s probably blogging about it at www.EverOnWord.wordpress.com.
~*~*~*~
Add the book, check out the author, and bounce up and down with anticipation until October 13th!
So without further ado...
About the book:
For Gant-o’-the-Lute, “ever after” has been less than happy. With the last of Carillon’s charm over him gone, the minstrel-king puts royalty behind him in pursuit of the music he once knew and the lifelong dream he let slip through his fingers. But dark whispers on the wind warn that time is running out – not only for Lute and the apprentice in his shadow, but the whole of earth and Sky.
Genre - fairytale novellaRelease date - October 13, 2015
Add to your Goodreads shelf - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25958863-the-story-s-endFuture availability - Paperback (Amazon and CreateSpace) and e-Book (Kindle and Nook)
About the Wilderhark Tales series:
An enchantress’s curse turns a spoiled royal into a beast; a princess’s pricked finger places her under a hundred-year spell; bales of straw are spun as golden as the singing harp whisked down a giant beanstalk – all within sight of Wilderhark, the forest that’s seen it all.
You’ve heard the stories – of young men scaling rope-like braids to assist the tower-bound damsel; of gorgeous gowns appearing just in time for a midnight ball; of frog princes, and swan princes, and princes saved from drowning by maidens of the sea. Tales of magic. Tales of adventure. Most of all, tales of true love.
Once upon a time, you knew them as fairytales. Know them now as Wilderhark’s.
About the author:
Danielle E. Shipley’s first novelettes told the everyday misadventures of wacky kids like herself. …Or so she thought. Unbeknownst to them all, half of her characters were actually closeted elves, dwarves, fairies, or some combination thereof. When it all came to light, Danielle did the sensible thing: Packed up and moved to Fantasy Land, where daily rent is the low, low price of her heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, firstborn child, sanity, and words; lots of them. She’s also been known to spend short bursts of time in the real-life Chicago area with the parents who home schooled her and the two little sisters who keep her humble. When she’s not living the highs and lows of writing, publishing, and all that authorial jazz, she’s probably blogging about it at www.EverOnWord.wordpress.com.
~*~*~*~
Add the book, check out the author, and bounce up and down with anticipation until October 13th!
July 31, 2015
Celebrate the Small Things
Hosted by Lexa Cain, this is a great weekly chance to talk about the small things worth celebrating in life!
This week, I'm celebrating:
A weekend craft festival - there's a giant festival every year in my hometown on the August long weekend, but we haven't been up to it for a few years now. I think, however, we'll make the trip to visit my parents and do a bit of shopping this year! Tea - I love tea, so that's nothing new. But in the last few days I've been drinking a lot of it...usually over the summer I don't drink as much, due to the heat. But this week I've just really felt like having tea, so tea I've had. It's been lovely, =)
What are you celebrating this week?
This week, I'm celebrating:A weekend craft festival - there's a giant festival every year in my hometown on the August long weekend, but we haven't been up to it for a few years now. I think, however, we'll make the trip to visit my parents and do a bit of shopping this year! Tea - I love tea, so that's nothing new. But in the last few days I've been drinking a lot of it...usually over the summer I don't drink as much, due to the heat. But this week I've just really felt like having tea, so tea I've had. It's been lovely, =)
What are you celebrating this week?
July 28, 2015
A Grimm Challenge - Month 5 Recap
Five months into A Grimm Challenge!
So this month I've been thinking about how these tales would be presented if they were written down today, and not in the early 1800s. Now, this in itself is a tricky subject. I am, as a librarian (and just generally as myself) strongly against censorship. I also happen to love horror, and dark children's tales. So I would never want to brighten these stories, or take out the gruesome, scary, or otherwise "unwholesome" aspects of the tales. So what I'm more interested in is not the events of the tales, but the characters within it.
Sure, there would be stronger female leads (although there are a lot of stories with strong females...they just also all happen to be pious and beautiful). There would, too, be less of a focus on outward beauty. But I'd also be curious to see how couples would be switched up...if certain girls would be swapped for boys, or if some sets of siblings would have more complex relationships. It'd be really fascinating to see these stories not changed, exactly, but adjusted, and fleshed out. I suppose that's what retellings are for, but it'd be neat to see them kept as short collections of stories, just with a bit more complexity and unpredictability thrown in!
My favourite tales from this past month include The Stolen Farthings and The Glass Coffin!
I have a goal in mind to finish this collection before I go back to work in the middle of September. If we don't veer terribly off-course, this should be doable, so an end is definitely in sight!
July 24, 2015
Celebrate the Small Things
Hosted by Lexa Cain, this is a great weekly chance to talk about the small things worth celebrating in life!
This week, I'm celebrating:
Reading new books and receiving new books in the mail! Editing. Got a lot more editing done this week than I expected to, which was great! Makes all the reading seem like a reward, =)
What are you celebrating this week?
This week, I'm celebrating:Reading new books and receiving new books in the mail! Editing. Got a lot more editing done this week than I expected to, which was great! Makes all the reading seem like a reward, =)
What are you celebrating this week?
July 19, 2015
Another Blank Canvas Giveaway!
It's been a month since Blank Canvas hit virtual shelves! I can't believe a month has gone by already...it's crazy!
I wanted to do a little celebrating, so I've put up a Goodreads Giveaway for a signed print copy of the book. If you missed your chance to win during the launch week party, you can enter the giveaway on Goodreads below!
The giveaway will run until August 19th, =). Good luck!
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
Blank Canvas by Mere Joyce Giveaway ends August 19, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway
I wanted to do a little celebrating, so I've put up a Goodreads Giveaway for a signed print copy of the book. If you missed your chance to win during the launch week party, you can enter the giveaway on Goodreads below!
The giveaway will run until August 19th, =). Good luck!
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
Blank Canvas by Mere Joyce Giveaway ends August 19, 2015. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway
July 16, 2015
Celebrate the Small Things
Hosted by Lexa Cain, this is a great weekly chance to talk about the small things worth celebrating in life!
This week, I'm celebrating:
Visiting with a friend and her new baby - great to catch up and meet the new adorable addition! Ordering new books...I ended up making two book orders this week. Oops! (sorrynotsorry)Beautiful weather - I'm not as much a fan of the heat as I used to be, but it's still nice to have a few gorgeous summer days for enjoying the sun.
What are you celebrating this week?
This week, I'm celebrating:Visiting with a friend and her new baby - great to catch up and meet the new adorable addition! Ordering new books...I ended up making two book orders this week. Oops! (sorrynotsorry)Beautiful weather - I'm not as much a fan of the heat as I used to be, but it's still nice to have a few gorgeous summer days for enjoying the sun.
What are you celebrating this week?
July 14, 2015
Writing Wednesday
Hi there!
So, a while ago I participated in the What's Up Wednesday blog hop. Sadly, the blog hop is no more, but I really enjoyed having a weekly place to catch you up on my writerly doings, and check out what other writers are up to as well.
With that in mind, I've decided to do my own Writing Wednesday post. This isn't going to be anything "official", and I probably won't actually get around to doing a post every week. But it'll help me to post with a semi-regular topic already in place. I'm just going to post short updates...no super long, in-depth discussions or anything! If you'd like to join in, tell me what you've been up to in the comments, or link to your own blog!
So here we go:
~ What I'm Writing ~
Currently I've got two main projects and a short story on the go. I actually just finished the first draft of one of these projects, so technically I'll be talking about it in the next section. The two main projects are both YA Contemporaries, while the short story is not, =).
~ What I'm Editing ~
As I mentioned in the section above, I just finished the first draft of one of my main projects. I finished it on Monday, so I'm currently in the first-round edits stage. I always do my first-round edits immediately after writing is complete. I do this for two reasons: one, I want to make sure the story actually flows and makes sense, and two, there are usually a few details I've added during the writing process which I need to back-add earlier into the story–I like to take care of this right away!
~ What I'm Researching ~
This week's research has been mostly dance terminology. Not one kind of dance in particular, but a collection of various, kind of random, dance terms...I have specific ideas of what certain movements should look like, but have no idea what they're called...it's actually quite difficult trying to find the proper terms when you've got one move in mind and don't quite know how to describe it!
~ What I'm Planning ~
This next week is all about edits! I'll be working on the first-round edits of the MS I just finished writing. If I need an editing break, I'll probably be listening to music, trying to come up with a playlist (or partial playlist) to go with the story.
~ ~ ~
Well, that's my writing week so far...how about you?
So, a while ago I participated in the What's Up Wednesday blog hop. Sadly, the blog hop is no more, but I really enjoyed having a weekly place to catch you up on my writerly doings, and check out what other writers are up to as well.
With that in mind, I've decided to do my own Writing Wednesday post. This isn't going to be anything "official", and I probably won't actually get around to doing a post every week. But it'll help me to post with a semi-regular topic already in place. I'm just going to post short updates...no super long, in-depth discussions or anything! If you'd like to join in, tell me what you've been up to in the comments, or link to your own blog!
So here we go:
~ What I'm Writing ~
Currently I've got two main projects and a short story on the go. I actually just finished the first draft of one of these projects, so technically I'll be talking about it in the next section. The two main projects are both YA Contemporaries, while the short story is not, =).
~ What I'm Editing ~
As I mentioned in the section above, I just finished the first draft of one of my main projects. I finished it on Monday, so I'm currently in the first-round edits stage. I always do my first-round edits immediately after writing is complete. I do this for two reasons: one, I want to make sure the story actually flows and makes sense, and two, there are usually a few details I've added during the writing process which I need to back-add earlier into the story–I like to take care of this right away!
~ What I'm Researching ~
This week's research has been mostly dance terminology. Not one kind of dance in particular, but a collection of various, kind of random, dance terms...I have specific ideas of what certain movements should look like, but have no idea what they're called...it's actually quite difficult trying to find the proper terms when you've got one move in mind and don't quite know how to describe it!
~ What I'm Planning ~
This next week is all about edits! I'll be working on the first-round edits of the MS I just finished writing. If I need an editing break, I'll probably be listening to music, trying to come up with a playlist (or partial playlist) to go with the story.
~ ~ ~
Well, that's my writing week so far...how about you?
July 6, 2015
A Grimm Challenge - Month 4 Recap
Four months into A Grimm Challenge!
We're over halfway through the challenge!
One of the curious things I've wondered about during this challenge is how all these stories would come together if the Grimm collection were laid out differently. As it is, there are definite themes grouping the stories together. Certain phrases, character types, or specifics of trades (tales of tailors, for example) are spread throughout the book. But there will be several stories in a row beginning with a king and his daughters, or two siblings, or a frog in a well, or a boy named Hans, etc.
I think it'd be interesting to know why the stories are grouped as they are, since there might be two or three stories starting with a boy named Hans in a row, and then the tales will veer off, until one hundred stories later you'll find another pocket of Hans tales to read. It'd be quite the task to regroup the stories in different ways, but it'd be interesting to see how the collection would differ.
My favourite tales from this past month include Hans the Hedgehog and The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces. I've also come across some of the most disturbing tales this month, the ones about dead children like The Willful Child. Some of these tales are odd, and quite creepy!
July 3, 2015
Celebrate the Small Things
Hosted by Lexa Cain, this is a great weekly chance to talk about the small things worth celebrating in life!
This week, I'm celebrating:
A nice relaxing weekend after a busy week! Shopping for our upcoming bathroom renovation...I've wanted to redo the bathroom since we moved into the house over a year ago, so I'm thrilled we're finally starting to plan it! Reading a good book...there's not much that tops a great read, is there?
What are you celebrating this week?
This week, I'm celebrating:A nice relaxing weekend after a busy week! Shopping for our upcoming bathroom renovation...I've wanted to redo the bathroom since we moved into the house over a year ago, so I'm thrilled we're finally starting to plan it! Reading a good book...there's not much that tops a great read, is there?
What are you celebrating this week?
June 29, 2015
Blank Canvas Blog Tour, Another Giveaway, and Print Copies!
Hey everyone!
Now that the Blank Canvas Launch Party has ended, I'm happy to announce the official Blank Canvas Blog Tour is live!
Click the image above (or click here) for all of the blog tour stops. There will be interviews, top tens, book reviews, and of course, your chance to win a $20 Evernight Teen Gift Card! So make sure you check it out...it's going to be a lot of fun!
And just in time for the blog tour, I'm thrilled to let you all know that Blank Canvas is now available in print! Click here to buy it direct (and for those Amazon shoppers out there, it should be on the Amazon site soon!)
Happy Monday, everyone!
Now that the Blank Canvas Launch Party has ended, I'm happy to announce the official Blank Canvas Blog Tour is live!
Click the image above (or click here) for all of the blog tour stops. There will be interviews, top tens, book reviews, and of course, your chance to win a $20 Evernight Teen Gift Card! So make sure you check it out...it's going to be a lot of fun!
And just in time for the blog tour, I'm thrilled to let you all know that Blank Canvas is now available in print! Click here to buy it direct (and for those Amazon shoppers out there, it should be on the Amazon site soon!)
Happy Monday, everyone!
