Any authors or aspiring authors?

[[deleted user]]

Hi. I wanted to know if there were any authors or inspiring authors with blogs? :)

If there are,and if you're like me,you're hoping to gain an audience. I wanted to know if anyone in the group could post links to their blogs(if they have one) and perhaps we could all follow each other. :)

I say this because whether you're an indie author or represented, the first step is gaining support, and it starts in small places. :)

I will list my blog, but please be forgiving as I'm not the most internet savvy, so it's more about the words for me and not the look. :)

If possible, please also state what you talk about on your blogs as well. :)

I share a blog with my sister, as we talk about multiculturalism in different forms of media.

http://guinandlibertadtomas.blogspot.com

If you like what you see, please subscribe! :) I will be happy to subscribe to anyone who posts their blog!

[Tom]

I'll be sure to follow your blog! The most recent post was very interesting--the idea that even if you include a colored character in a book, readers might not appreciate it simply because that character doesn't conform to their impressions of that particular race.

[[deleted user]]

Sounds awesome Thomas! I believe I just started following yours. So keep me updated :)

[Troy]

This is an awesome group and very rare here. I hope I can get to know everyone here who is in support of diversity in YA fantasy. I am an author published by Simon and Schuster and Random House the protagonists of my Marvelous World series is Louis Proof, who is a black American from East Orange, NJ.

[Tom]

Ok. Dumb question. How do I follow a blog on google+? I feel like there's a button on here somewhere that I'm missing. God I'm such a Luddite.

[[deleted user]]

Troy wrote: "This is an awesome group and very rare here. I hope I can get to know everyone here who is in support of diversity in YA fantasy. I am an author published by Simon and Schuster and Random House the..."

That seems awesome!Glad to have a mix of traditionally published and self published group of writers. I rarely read a book with a male protagonist that isn't caucasian so i think your book may be the next i'll buy.

[[deleted user]]

Thomas wrote: "I'll be sure to follow your blog! The most recent post was very interesting--the idea that even if you include a colored character in a book, readers might not appreciate it simply because that cha..."

My sister sent me a copy of your book she bought on amazon, so hopefully i get a chance to read it soon.I'm a bit slow with kindle books but i do get around to them.I promise you a review when i complete it.

[Troy]

Libertad wrote: "Troy wrote: "This is an awesome group and very rare here. I hope I can get to know everyone here who is in support of diversity in YA fantasy. I am an author published by Simon and Schuster and Ran..."

Thanks so much!

[[deleted user]]

Thomas wrote: "Ok. Dumb question. How do I follow a blog on google+? I feel like there's a button on here somewhere that I'm missing. God I'm such a Luddite."

No problem Thomas, i'm the same way.Whenever i visit a blog i don't know where the follow button is. But i'll give you a clue.It's right beneath the goodreads shelf.It's right next to April 8th's post.Hope that helps.

[Tom]

Thanks Libertad, very much appreciate that! I wish you'd downloaded the free version on my goodreads profile!

[[deleted user]]

Thomas wrote: "Thanks Libertad, very much appreciate that! I wish you'd downloaded the free version on my goodreads profile!"

Hey you gotta support the artist :)

[Tom]

Haha thanks once more. I'll make a note to send you both free copies of the sequel (if you like the first one, and no offense taken if it's not for you). On your blog, I notice all your series are listed as "coming soon". Do you have any books released that I could read? My schedule is very open these days.

[[deleted user]]

Currently we're in the editing process of two of our books, but when we release our first i'll be sure to send you a copy, Ebook or paperback whichever you prefer. I'm going to post some excerpts later this week if you were interested in that. Just to get a feel for the books. You may not even like them lol.

[Heather]

Wow! Great blog, Guinevere! I just joined. I'm a fellow indie author of the urban fantasy Changeling Sisters Series: Book I, Year of the Wolf Short blurb: The Alvarez sisters struggle to adjust to life in Seoul, South Korea, but life gets more complicated when they get entangled with a dangerous spirit world. Ghosts, nine-tailed foxes, vampyres, werewolves and more haunt the supernatural side of Seoul. Other stories about SK and more on my blog (I know there's a lot going on with its northerly neighbor right now):

http://heatherheffner.blogspot.com/p/....

Good luck Guinevere, Libertad, Thomas with your publishing ventures!

[[deleted user]]

Wow, I just went on your author page, and Im not goina lie, you're book caught my attention.

Im not saying that Caucasian authors who dont write minority protagonists dont catch my eye. Because more do than dont, but writing a POC character makes me really want to research and read a book. Especially because growing up, I didnt have many Latina role models.

What inspired this book? :)

[[deleted user]]

Heather wrote: "Wow! Great blog, Guinevere! I just joined. I'm a fellow indie author of the urban fantasy Changeling Sisters Series: Book I, Year of the Wolf Short blurb: The Alvarez sisters struggle to adjust to ..."

A book about Latinas in S.Korea? You definitely got me interested.

[Heather]

Haha, thanks, you guys! I really appreciate the support & I'm very excited to read excerpts from your upcoming YA novel too :) I like a good time travel adventure.

The book was inspired by my time spent teaching English in South Korea. I have an overactive imagination that was busy thinking up fantasy stories when it should have been lesson planning. As a long time fantasy reader, I'd love to see more Korean mythology stories enter the American mainstream, but I had a feeling this book would be more of a niche read. I was inspired by a lot of people I met over there--there were those who were Korean and knew the language and culture intimately, and then there were the waygook, or foreigners, from everywhere--US, UK, South Africa, New Zealand, Nigeria, Australia--and we'd all go hiking together on weekends, explore the city, & share about our various parts of the world.

I was also tired of reading stories where the protagonist is amazingly good at languages, or learns them in a single week! It's so much more difficult than that (ahem, speaking to my Korean, haha).

I had difficulty creating my heroine for the book. I definitely had an idea of who I wanted her to be, but she wasn't coming together. My friend told me about this student she had while teaching in Mexico, a girl named Citlalli who was bright and outspoken and caused no end of trouble. Her name was Aztec for "star." Immediately, the light clicked on in my head, and I knew I had my girl! I could picture her back story, character arch, everything. Out of all the characters in the book, Citlalli's voice always comes the easiest to me. (I guess I owe that trouble-making student a lot!) Compared to the rest of her sisters, Citlalli considers herself an Americanized Chicana, and feels quite confident in that. However, after the move to South Korea, she feels like a fish out of water, and starts to question a lot in her heritage, and what identity she should claim. Of one thing she's certain: her family is everything to her, even if she carries on a love/hate relationship with several of them. At the end of the day, she's just a young girl looking to make sense of things.

Phew! I'll stop talking. How is "The Mark of Noba" coming along? What inspired it, and I've always wondered, how is it working together in a pair? Do you take turns writing every other chapter, and how do you settle disputes? (I'm guessing it's easier to be honest with each other since you're sisters?)