Tag: guest post

The Subtle Art of Not Giving Up

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A guest post by Nicole Tone, an author, editor, and all-around wonderful person. Nicole’s latest book, LAKE EFFECT, hits shelves next week! 

In an attempt to try and bring some order to the chaos of my Instagram feed, I’ve been doing a lot of archiving of old pictures lately. All of the ones I thought were so good and cool at the time, I’ve been looking back now and thanking the art gods that I’ve progressed past the days of wine glasses and bad filters. But in my cleaning out of my Instagram, I found pictures of my Lake Effect progress back when I really started writing. In 2013, Lake Effect was barely a first draft I thought I could just query agents with and they were going to help me edit and get the book ready for publishing.

I was Jon Snow. I absolutely knew nothing about the publishing process.

My comp titles in my query were books like The Bell Jar and The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I thought what I was writing was a completely different genre than it actually was. But somewhere, deep down, I knew Sophie’s story was an important one to tell. Sophie’s story wasn’t something I could give up on. Rejection after rejection, I knew that what I had was something special but maybe not something the world was ready for. This was pre-#MeToo, pre-national news covering assault cases on college campuses. So, while Sophie’s story wasn’t a unique one, it also wasn’t a marketable one. Rape wasn’t a subject that was part of the contemporary literature canon despite it being definitely apart of contemporary life.

See, here’s the thing: I’m a survivor of suicide attempts. A victim of sexual assault. The labels I use to describe myself depends on the day. The labels are also the reason I knew I couldn’t give up on Lake Effect. While my story isn’t Sophie’s story by any length of the imagination, I knew her story needed to be told. Years of editing, of querying, of rejections didn’t matter. Well, that’s not completely true. At the time, when rejection after rejection was piling up I was taking them personally. I couldn’t understand no one else thought her story was important.

And that’s the hard part of querying, isn’t it? Feeling like each form rejection that comes in is somehow a commentary on you, on your story, on your writing, on your character’s story. That you — they — aren’t good enough. For me, because I’ve experienced things Sophie experienced, I couldn’t understand why such an important topic wasn’t something anyone want to champion. Was Speak really going to be the only book allowed to be published that tackled the subject?

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But I didn’t give up. I knew in my gut that Lake Effect would find a home somewhere. What I needed was a publisher who was willing to take a chance on the topics covered, and who would be my champion to help me get this book into the hands of readers who would need it the most. What I needed was a small publisher looking to boost voices and stories that were bold and important. What I needed was Pen Name Publishing.

The thing is, all along this whole journey, the thought of shelving Lake Effect never crossed my mind. Something pushed me to keep going, kept telling me this was a book that needed to see the light of day. I’d put too much time, effort, tears, blood, and energy into this book and ultimately that’s what kept me going. Suddenly it wasn’t about finding an agent, it was about finding the best home for me and my book. And I’m so glad I did.

Nicole Tone is a writer, editor, and poet living in Buffalo, NY. You can follower her on Twitter and Instagram @nicoleatone. For more information : www.nicoleatone.com

TALKING TROPES with Imani Josey

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Carrie here, with an ongoing feature on the blog, TALKING TROPES. These will be fun interviews with some really great authors, where we discuss their books, their favorite stories, and also tropes they love, and tropes they hate. One of the things I’ve noticed as BroodingYAHero is that people sometimes fall into the thinking that all tropes are awful, and that’s not true. Some certainly are, and some are overused to the point of absurdity, but some tropes are useful tools!

Today’s guest author is the amazing Imani Josey!

Imani Josey is a writer from Chicago, Illinois. In her previous life, she was a cheerleader for the Chicago Bulls and won the titles of Miss Chicago and Miss Cook County for the Miss America Organization, as well as Miss Black Illinois USA.

Her one-act play, Grace, was produced by Pegasus Players Theatre Chicago after winning the 19th Annual Young Playwrights Festival. In recent years, she has turned her sights to long-form fiction. The Blazing Star is her debut novel.

Imani’s novel, THE BLAZING STAR is a really amazing historical novel that utterly pulled me in. I highly, highly recommend it.

Order a copy right here: link. and watch the beautiful trailer here.

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CD: So, first of all, I adored THE BLAZING STAR and cannot wait for the sequel! Can you tell me a little of your inspiration for it?

IJ: Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I’m excited about the sequel also. You could say that the series has been on my mind in one way or another since I was a child. The Blazing Star is a much better rendition of the first book (if you could call it a book… it was 60 pages of craziness) that I wrote when I ten-years-old. I actually still have a copy somewhere. The story was about three friends who journeyed to an alternate dimension and discovered they were faerie princesses. It was very much something a preteen in the 90’s would write.

I decided to really dive into my writing around 2011 and the fantasy genre is a great form of escapism, which is what I needed at that time. I found a terrible job after grad school (underpaid, over-skilled, underwhelmed), and had to take my mind elsewhere. It was then that I decided that the bones of that old faerie princess story were actually decent, and would fit well with a YA adventure swirling in my head. Add a dash of historical fiction and ancient Egyptian mythology, and six years later, here we are.

CD: One of the things I loved about THE BLAZING STAR the lush, vivid setting. How did you manage to make a historical time period feel so real???

IJ: Shhhh, I have a time machine I’ve always been fascinated by the ancient world, especially Egypt. My mother also gave me a portrait of Nerfertari when I was young. I took that picture to my first apartment, and wrote under it. I recently went to the Djerassi YA workshop hosted by bestseller Nova Ren Suma, and she asked the attendees about our muses. I said history. My grandfather is a historian, so perhaps it is in the blood. But I’m as fascinated by history as I am by magic. I love how there’s nothing new under the sun, that people’s motivations thousands of years ago still motivate them today.

Continue reading →

Interview: GifGrrl

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Today on the blog, I’m joined by a very talented friend. As well as being a talented writer, Claribel Ortega is the founder and mastermind behind GifGrrl, a really amazing company.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, a gif is a moving picture! Like this:

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Oh hey! It’s my book! Looking sharp!

I adored this gif, and I wanted to talk a little bit more to the creator! Without further ado, I’ll jump into the interview!

CD: Tell me a bit about yourself and GIFGRRL.

CO: It really all started as something to do for fun. I loved watching the covers of books come alive and seeing the authors reaction when I made them a gif. Eventually though, I realized that I could do that and also pay my bills! So I started GIFGRRL and now it’s pretty much a second (third??) full time job.

CD: What do you love about creating the gifs and trailers?

CO: I’ve always loved video editing. It’s been a hidden but well cultivated talent which started with my dad’s giant 1980s camcorder and some low-budget windows editing software. Making gifs/promo material is more than just trying to sell a product to me, it’s about telling a story. Maybe not the full story, but a tiny slice of what the book is trying to say. Bringing things to life, characters, book covers, the spirits of dead punk-rockers, are just a few of my favorite things.

 

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CD: What’s one book you’d love to make a trailer for?

CO: It’s hard to pick a favorite, but WANT by Cindy Pon comes to mind as one of the best I’ve made so far. It just really captures the theme of the book, the colors and the motions were all on point. I also adored STARFISH by Akemi Bowman because that cover is just SPECTACULAR and it was so much fun to work with!

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CD: Are there any challenging parts?

CO: Time management! I am a full-time book marketing human and author on top of running GIFGRRL. In just over a month I’ve already gotten over forty individual and two giant bulk orders. It’s a lot for a grrl to take on, but I have coffee and the cuddles of my doggo to help keep me going. Can you tell us a bit about the process? First, I stare at the book cover. Then I light candles and pray to the GIF-Gods™ – then I read the synopsis and stare at the book cover some more. I eat some snacks. Usually cheese-puffs. Sometimes I ask the author questions. I gather stock video/photos that capture the feel of the cover for me and start editing/manipulating them to further match the tone. I search for fonts that are similar to the one on the cover. I put it all in a blender and eat another cheese puff. One I have all the materials and my fingers are orange, I start putting it together. I then cut, and edit, and stare until I’m happy. One gif can take anywhere from ten minutes to two hours, depending on how involved I get.

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This is the BroodyBook Illustrator’s webcomic!

CD: What inspires you?

CO: Many things! Music, books, chasing a sense of completion/fulfilment through art. Cheese-puffs.

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CD: What’s your favorite part of the process?

CO: When I get an author’s cover and the ideas start flying at my face. The best feeling is when I just know what I want to make. Sometimes it’s a challenge to get my vision to match the end product, but I enjoy figuring out how to make it all come together. And then of course once I deliver the final product to the author and they tell me how much they love me! Being able to help people who are graphically challenged or have no idea HOW to build buzz for their books brings me joy. I just like helping people.

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Thank you so much for a wonderful interview, Claribel! And remember, you can order your own gifs from this talented artist here: Gifgrrl.com

Upcoming Release: FREEFALL by Joshua David Bellin

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Hi all! I’m here to share a teaser image for an upcoming YA sci-fi that I SO excited for! FREEFALL by Joshua David Bellin promises to be a thrilling, suspenseful epic! Check out the blurb below, share the image, and add it on Goodreads!

This wild ride of a novel is out Sept. 26th! Preorder your copy today.

FREEFALL: The fate of the human race hangs on the actions of two teens from very different backgrounds in this thrilling sci-fi adventure.

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In the Upperworld, the privileged 1% are getting ready to abandon a devastated planet Earth. And Cam can’t wait to leave. After sleeping through a 1,000-year journey, he and his friends will have a pristine new planet to colonize. And no more worries about the Lowerworld and its 99% of rejects.

Then Cam sees a banned video feed of protesters in the Lowerworld who also want a chance at a new life. And he sees a girl with golden eyes who seems to be gazing straight through the feed directly at him. A girl he has to find. Sofie.

When Cam finds Sofie, she opens his eyes to the unfairness of what’s happening in their world, and Cam joins her cause for Lowerworld rights. He also falls hard for Sofie. But Sofie has her own battles to fight, and when it’s time to board the spaceships, Cam is alone.

Waking up 1,000 years in the future, Cam discovers that he and his shipmates are far off-course, trapped on an unknown and hostile planet. Who has sabotaged their ship? And does it have anything to do with Sofie, and the choices—and the enemies—he made in the past?

About the author: Joshua David Bellin has been writing novels since he was eight years old (though the first few were admittedly very short). He taught college for twenty years, wrote a bunch of books for college students, then decided to return to writing fiction. He is the author of three science fiction novels for teens and adults: the two-part Survival Colony series (Survival Colony 9 and Scavenger of Souls) and the deep-space adventure Freefall. Josh loves to read, watch movies, and spend time in Nature with his kids. Oh, yeah, and he likes monsters. Really scary monsters.

Website: http://www.joshuadavidbellin.com

Blog: http://theyaguy.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheYAGuy

So, are you on the edge of your seat? I am! You can preorder Freefall here: link.