Raven Oak's Blog, page 71

Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time — How I Wrote Amaskan’s Blood

Once upon a time.

Growing up, those were words uttered by mothers right before bedtime. They were synonymous with family, with love.

My Dad & I

When staying over at a friend’s, the mother would crack open a storybook to read to us, something my father didn’t have the time to do. Once upon a time meant an escape—a dive into another world where adventures and magic existed, where mothers didn’t disappear or lie, where I didn’t have to raise myself. But...

Flashback Friday: The Wall-to-Ceiling Shelf

For this week’s Flashback Friday post, I’m honored to have author, Luna Lindsey, here for a guest post on how the family library and thus, her father, influenced her as a writer.

My writing is influenced by every book I have ever read. The family library is my greatest influence.

The entire wall of my childhood living room was decorated in a wall-to-ceiling shelf perpetually filled with books. Just the presence of the shelf was an inspiration, even if I had never read any of them. But read them...

Great Review of Amaskan’s Blood

As midnight rolled around last night, I transitioned from a full-time writer to a published author. 2015 is set to bring about many changes and projects, but thinking about Amaskan’s Blood being out there in the world makes me grin. Cheshire Cat Style.

Reviews are slowly rolling in, which also gives me reason to grin. In fact, 100 Pages a Day posted their review this morning. A great review of Amaskan’s Blood.

Stephanie gave it 4/5 stars and called it, “an exciting epic fantasy filled with intr...

Book Cover Throwback: Deerskin

This week’s Book Cover Throwback: Deerskin by Robin McKinley. I picked this book in honor of the new year. Today is the beginning of 2015. I first read this book when I felt like so many things in my life were coming to an end when in reality, everything was changing. It would be the beginning of a new life for me, one for the better.

May 2015 bring us all new beginnings and opportunities.

What I Love about this Cover: Her hair becomes the cover. There’s something beautiful about that–it works....

New Year’s Eve

Here’s a quick vid from the pre-launch of Amaskan’s Blood about the coming new year. Much love from Seattle. Stay safe this New Year’s Eve!

The post New Year’s Eve appeared first on Raven Oak.

Guest Spot at Coffintree Hill

Today, I’m guest-spotting over on Coffintree Hill with an article on world building. Hop over there & give it a read if you will. There’s even some homework.

Enjoy a good read and stay safe tonight.

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Monday Night Gaming: CAH

This week’s Monday Night Gaming: Cards Against Humanity.

We had 5 players & 2 managed to submit similar cards. What are the odds?(Click image to view larger)

We gathered around an enormous oak table at a friend’s house to play this…just in time for the holidays. We’ve played it before, but don’t get to play it often enough as it doesn’t work as a two player game. In fact, I’d argue that the more players, the better, and the higher the hilarity.

If you’ve never played Cards Against Humanity, you...

Scrivener Saturday: Keywords

This week’s Scrivener Saturday: Keywords.

Scrivener Keywords will help you organize and sort your writing projects in very specific ways. It’s coming to you a tad late this Saturday because of the holidays. I felt the comic was pertinent as so many of us are full of procrastination this month.

If you’ve ever done any web work, you’re probably familiar with keywords. We use them to search for information via search engines or tag photos on social media.

Keywords can be defined as:

1. a word or con...

Flashforward Friday: Social Science Fiction

For this week’s Flashforward Friday post, I’m honored to have the always thought-provoking author, J. L. Forrest, here for a guest post on the “science in science fiction’s future, the social in science fiction’s future, and the challenges our species is facing right now, for real, in the here and now.”

Edward White‘s First Space Walk. Image used via CC from NASA.

I write social science fiction. In this week’s Flashforward, it’s the social aspect of our fiction, reality, and future, which draws...

Book Cover Throwback: Galaxy Sci-Fi

This week’s Book Cover Throwback: Galaxy Sci-Fi Magazine done up Christmas in space style. I love the idea of aliens telling Santa what they want for Christmas.

Happy Holidays!

Click here to view other Book Cover Throwbacks.

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