Posted on by Caroline · 12 Comments

Naming Your Novel (What Really works? And Does it Even Matter?)

I think novel names are either intuitive (spring into your mind in a eureka moment!) or depressingly hard to come up with…

Thinking through some names that I love I think that best ones somehow sum up exactly what the book is about with just a few words.

Take A Game of Thrones for example – I mean wow! That tells you just what you’re getting into! It’s a genius name!

But then on the other hand there are abstract names like Twilight which works just as well but, to be honest, doesn’t say much about the story…

But does it really matter? If a book is popular it’s going to be whether it’s called ‘Flutter’ or something that gives more away like ‘Dancing with the Fallen Fairies’ ( Both could be the same book!)

What’s in a name? Would you choose a book because of a name or is it the cover what draws you? Or do you disregard all of these things and judge it based on the blurb and reviews?

Does the title of your book have to imply the genre?

If so then….

– Beautiful Creatures sounds like a book about pretty animals

– I Am Number Four sounds like someone waiting in line for an argos purchase

– The Giver….well it depends how filthy your mind is here…

– Fifty Shades of Grey…if you pick this up expecting a colour chart then you’re going to be in for quite a shock

However, I think people know something about a book before they pick it up because of what I believe to be the biggest promiting factor; word of mouth.
So is a book name important?

Yes, but…it needs to be combined with sveral other factors to be effective: cover, blurb, and most important of all content – the book has to be a great read and then, whether it’s called Poo Bucket or A Game of Thrones, it’s going to do well!

Posted on by Caroline · 14 Comments

Update on my YA Fantasy Series: The Rise of Isaac

So I just finished the first draft of the third book in my series: The Rise of Isaac, Book Three: Turning Tide

Eek! I’m so excited! 

Its current word count is 81,900 words but I think it will be somewhere in the 90-100 thousand region when finished.

As to the released date…I am planning on publishing at least the first three books in the series on Amazon Kindle around Christmas 2015

I am currently on such a role that there is a chance I will have at least the fourth book ready by this point too and (big gasp!) possibly the final fifth book if all goes well – you can’t deny my optimism hehe

The Rise of Isaac Synopsis:

After sixteen year old Oliver Knight discovers the existence of six other worlds, his adopted sister, May, is struck ill by a lethal curse. The curse links her to the fanatical terrorist, Isaac Rimori who murdered Oliver’s father in cold blood ten years ago. Now, Rimori is plotting to wage a war that will change the face of the seven worlds using the monstrous creatures that live in Vale to aid him. 

On his quest to save his sister, Oliver and his friends must compete in near-impossible challenges to gain access to the Gateways that are the portals to the other worlds. With time running out, Rimori thwarting them at every turn, and devasting secrets unfolding about Oliver’s family, he must overcome his demons and do whatever it takes to save his sister, even if that means ultimately giving up his life…
I can’t wait to share this story with you all! 

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by Caroline · 13 Comments

Is Writing Addictive? (I ask as I’m writing away like a crazed maniac…)

As I begin writing this I’m literally starving.  But before breakfast I wanted to get this blog post up because it’s been whizzing around my mind before I went to sleep last night and in the few seconds after I woke up today (okay I had a lie-in don’t judge me!) 

So yes, I am obsessed with writing. I know this because (clearly) it comes before food and is therefore now at least as essential in my list of things to do today. (Alright I wouldn’t die if I stopped writing but….my soul might? Too far? Probably…) 

Before I started writing my book series I’d never found anything to write that I was so obsessed about. This, I think (and hope), is a good thing. At least in terms of drive and determination. I will do anything it takes to finish this series and get it out to the world! Because there’s a burning need inside me to do so. 

Call it what you will; an obsession, a calling, the onset of some sort of psychotic episode…but whatever it may be, I just can’t ignore it!

Today is one of the first days that the UK has had warm weather in literally months. And I’ve got a couple of days off (lucky me!) but you know what I’m doing? Sitting in my flat writing, and I intend to do so all day long. To be fair I live in a top floor flat with a large sash window to my left and the sun is shining through so I’m technically sunbathing right? (RIGHT?)

Writing is addictive in its many forms. I only started a blog a few weeks ago and now I find myself thinking about what to blog and am constantly checking in on what my fellow bloggers are writing! 

Anyway – I admit it, I’m a writing addict. There! I said it! 
  

Posted on by Caroline · 4 Comments

I’ve got 99 followers but a cliche ain’t one!

Okay if you got that reference you are totally amazing! I was gonna do a post on getting 100 followers if I met that amazing goal! – But if 99 is my max then I’m not complaining! (Also I started singing Jay-Z in my head when I saw I had 99 so…what’s a girl to do?)

I think cliches have a bad name for themselves. Obviously if your novel is written by stringing a million together that’s not gonna work -or it could be a crazy masterpiece who knows?

But I think a good cliche has its place. Sometimes I love a moment in a good action film where the protagonist says: 

I could tell you…

And I turn to my friend and say:

But I’d have to kill you…

Just as the protaganist says it. Haha I love it. And these days I think it’s used ironically in a lot of films as a little nod to those classic action films that gave those cliches life (die hard, armageddon, terminator, speed, true lies, misson impossible….this list goes on and on and on and on!)

But as I say..it has its place…

Writing cliches are a little different. So I’ve made up a little story using some of the most overused cliches in history! Enjoy:

It was a dark and stormy night…
  

Billy was an orphan farm boy…he was a loner, a maverick…

  

After his parents’ death, Billy moved into his uncle’s castle that sat on the edge of a cliff. It was rumoured to be haunted…
  

Billy soon met the girl next door. It was love at first sight!
  

An old hag came to billy all dressed in rags. She told him of a prophecy; that he was the chosen one and only he could defeat the dark lord who reigned over the world….

 
Billy overcomes his demons and rises to the challenge, destroying the dark lord in a one on one battle to the death!

And they all lived happily ever after…. 

The end….or is it?

Posted on by Caroline · 30 Comments

I Just Got Nominated for the Encouraging Thunder Award! – (and I’m feeling pretty damn smug about it!)

 
Firstly, I want to say a HUGE thank you to Erich Michaels for nominating me for this award!! 

You can find his blog here:  https://erichmichaels.wordpress.com 

(Definately spare a second to check it out! His writing is wonderful here’s one of his poems called Frost Shadows:

The sun’s rays have crested the horizon

My love dances in dew laden grass

I stand in the umbrage of the weeping willow

My breath a billowing cloud

My feet shuffle in the frost shadow

where the sun may never shine

(I told you he was good! – what are you still doing here!? Go check out his blog! Get gone!)

Also a quick thanks to the creator of the award and if you wanna read a bit more about it then check out this link: http://encouraginglife.co/about/encouraging-life-blog-awards/

So what does this award mean to me? 
Well! A hell of a lot! I’ve only been blogging for a couple of weeks and, frankly, the whole idea scared me a little!

But everyone has been so welcoming and I’ve literally been drawn into this incredible, crazy blogosphere possibly to the point of blog addiction…oops! And I’ve chatted with so many cool, interesting people who are all into the same things as me! It’s like a community and it’s something I absolutely didn’t expect to find from blogging! I look forward to checking my notifications while I’m on break at work and have little moments of inspiration about my next blog posts throughout the day!

But enough rambling! Get on to the nominations I hear you cry! Please people I know you’re excited but don’t start a riot on behalf of an award (think of the children!)

So I want to give this award to some of the people who have supported me/followed my blog/commented on or liked my posts/ replied to my rambles and generally been there in these early days and hopefully (fingers and toes crossed – or not toes because that’s kinda gross) will stick with me for a long and prosperous blife (blogging life)

So! In no particular order, I nominate the following bloggers for the Encouraging Thunder Award:

  1. Marjma2014  http://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/
  2. Phantomwriter143 http://phantomwriter143.wordpress.com/
  3. Pistachios http://pc63.wordpress.com/
  4. Nick Founder http://nickfounder.wordpress.com/
  5. Isabellesudron http://sudrobelle.wordpress.com/
  6. Rachelloon http://racheliliffe.wordpress.com/
  7. Sonya Solomonovich http://sonyasolo.wordpress.com/
  8. Mypersonalteenlife http://mypersonalteenlife.wordpress.com/
  9. C.S Wilde http://www.cswilde.wordpress.com/
  10. Abirami http://teenblogzz.wordpress.com/
  11. Husbandandhusband http://husbandandhusband.net/
  12. Jacobemet http://jacobemet.wordpress.com/
  13. Rlsharp http://rlsharpe.wordpress.com/
  14. Jacqui Murray http://worddreams.wordpress.com/
  15. Brittney Sahin http://brittneysahin.wordpress.com/
  16. Kait King http://kaitking.wordpress.com/
  17. Christine B https://theblogofchristineb.wordpress.com/
  18. Strider Turing http://stridersthings.wordpress.com/
  19. Tasha https://headinthecloudsheartinthebooks.wordpress.com
  20. Nicole https://mylifeasasecretwriter.wordpress.com
  21. Dileepsankhla https://dileepsankhla.wordpress.com
  22. Angela http://booksandopinions.com
  23. John Guillen https://johnguillen.wordpress.com
  24. Connor Rickett http://citiesofthemind.com
  25. Damyanti https://damyantiwrites.wordpress.com


What you can do with Encouraging Thunder award?

– Post it on your blog

– Grant other bloggers with the award

What you can’t do with Encouraging Thunder award?

– Abuse or misuse the logo
– Claim that it’s your own handmade logo

What you should do after receiving Encouraging Thunder award:

– Enjoy the award

– At least gives thanks via comments and likes and or mentioning the blog who give the award 🙂
Happy blogging!

Posted on by Caroline · 11 Comments

Getting Published is like Volunteering for the Hunger Games

Okay MAYBE I mean this more metaphorically than physically but, think of it this way:  you’re competing against a whole hoarde of other amazing writers, all of whom are at least equally good as you are and each of them have specific skill sets that are going to help them in the publishing world (just like the contestants of the hunger games! – but their skill sets lie mainly in killing people…)

So you have to go all Katniss first of all. Publish your book? Holy crap! This is gonna be scary but…..you’ll have to volunteer to do it or you’ll never get anywhere…

  
Then you have to submit to Literary Agents. They have so many submissions to get through so what’s gonna make yours stand out?  And how do you do that? The same way you win the hunger games of course!

  

So you carefully phrase your query letter trying to sound confident, friendly, competant, and super likeable and you click send…It’s done. It’s too late to back out. It’s all left to fate now…

  

Your mum goes all Cinna…

 
And you go all Katniss…

 
You don’t hear back from an agent for literally weeks! If only they’d say something ANYTHING!

 
And then you get a response! They liked your work (yay!) they think you have potential (double yay!) but they’re unable to offer you representation at this time…your intial response is to go a bit Cato…

  
But you pull yourself together and remember that, one way or another, you will be published! Whether it be traditionally or self-published you’ll get your novel out there because you love to write! And that’s what really matters after all….
So the moral of this twisted hunger games/publishing tale is to persevere and never give up hope! 

  
Because Katniss Everdeen wouldn’t have won the hunger games if she had and you won’t get published if you do!

Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour…
 

Posted on by Caroline · 11 Comments

Imagination Vs Reality

  

I am a shameless daydreamer, book reader, and story maker-upper and I need my fix of escapism to get me through the day!

I had a thought when I was writing this morning – how strange is it that all of these characters are just coming out of my head? Imagination is a strange and powerful thing, don’t you think?

As far back as cavemen painting on walls, humans have had a fascination with story telling and escaping from reality! We are captivated by fictional tales of heroism, tragedy, love, loss and all other manner of human emotions – despite these stories not being remotely true! 

Does that mean our lives are so dull that we are coming up with (or distracting ourselves with) lightning scarred wizards, sharp-toothed love interests who like to eat people, a teenage battle to the death in a screwed up dystopia, and sexually messed up rich guys (oh my!) ?

Yes and no. Our lives aren’t all bad, right? (RIGHT!?) but humans have an ingrained setting to always look beyond their own reality for something better. We like to explore our feelings through characters and read about unrealistic scenarios to wonder how we might fair in the same stiuation or simply to marvel at the main character’s ability to overcome adversity or fall in love against all odds etc. etc.
Here’s an odd question for you to ponder…

Would you rather know (don’t ask me how just accept that you do) that all the books you loved actually existed in some other reality but it could never affect your life OR would you prefer books to be just the way they are, wonderful, beautiful fiction?
Thanks for reading!

Posted on by Caroline · 9 Comments

This Sentence Has Five Words

So I came across this little piece of brilliance today and thought I’d share it with you:

  
What a simple, fantastic and clever way to show how sentence structure can alter the way a person feels when reading! 

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the content of your writing (which of course is super important too!) but how easy it may be to forget the importance of how that content is formatted!

Sing for me writing! Sing!

Posted on by Caroline · 10 Comments

A Good Night’s Sleep Can Make All the Difference

Last night I was struggling with my writing (I’ve now reached 56,163 words in the third book of my fantasy YA series! Woohoo!) but I came to a halt and couldn’t find my way forward. So I went to bed (my brain was pretty frazzled from a busy day!) and this morning a voila! The problem I was struggling with had somehow been worked out in my mind.

Perhaps it was just getting a little persepective, or maybe it was just a well rested brain that was ultimately the key but either way a good night’s sleep can make all the difference!
 
What helps you when you get stuck writing?
Thanks for reading! 

Posted on by Caroline · 8 Comments

Inspirational Quotes Just for You!

I have a little pinterest board devoted to inspiration quotes for writing (isn’t pinterest the greatest?). 

Some days I just feel so hopeless about my work (I’ll never be published! No one will like my novels anyway! A slug could literally write better books! Why world why!? ) – these kinds of days are pretty damn depressing  

So I thought I’d start sharing some of my favourite quotes with you and hopefully they’ll inspie you as they have me…

Today I share with you three of my go-to quotes for those days when I’m holding a flaming lighter beneath my work and a little voice says “Hey you, do you really wanna burn three years worth of notes?”

And I scream, “YES! Burn suckeeeer!”

But they hold up their little paw (I imagine this friend as a furry little creature – and yes, I am crazy) and point me towards my quotes page on pinterests

So here they are (I’ll display them as a countdown to my favourite to build some tension…drum roll…):

3)

 
Thank you Ben Franklin for this fantastic, simple piece of advice. I try to live my life this way. I wittle away the days writing frantically and then I plan adventurous holidays where I can strtech my own metaphorical wings and live life to the full and see incredible things. Life is worth living and experiencing and writing is there to turn these experiences into stories that might just resonate with others one day…
2)

 
Beautiful, wonderful W.B Yeats really knows what he’s talking about when it comes to writing. A lot of his work was inspired by heartache and unrequited love – the poor guy! But what a gift he has given to us all by turning his pain into words and inspiring us to use our own personal experiences to make our writing more powerful. 

And finally…

1)

 
Okay so this isn’t a quote about writing I apologise! And I also apologise for alienating the men from this quote but I have a personal attachment to this one. I visited the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis last year and spotted this quote on the way out emblazoned across all kinds of merchandise. I didn’t actually purchase anything because it was the end of my trip and I was tight for cash but I’ve regretted it ever since because that quote just stuck in my mind. 

After the emotional rollercoaster that is the museum (and I can’t recommend it highly enough if you ever get the opportunity to go) but as a woman this quote just hit home with me and reminds me every day of the struggles women have faced throughout history (and still do in many countries).  It’s shocking to think that, not even that long ago, women would have been looked down on for writing and authors like Mary Ann Evans (with well-known pen name George Eliot) wrote an essay entitled ‘Silly Novels by Lady Novelists’ to make sure her work was taken seriously (deep breath girls). 
Even J.K Rowling said that she abreviated her name on the cover of the Harry Potter books so boys wouldn’t be put off of reading it! I think JK put the end to that nonsense! But that was only, what, fifteen years ago?

So ladies write for all the women who couldn’t! And show the world what they were missing!
As always, thanks so much for reading! I always love hearing your feedback so even if the only thing that pops into your mind as you read this is ‘I really fancy tacos for dinner…mm yeahh with salsa, sour cream, guacamole. Oh, do I have guacamole? I’m sure I do…yeah definately’ pop it in the comments box!