First Review
The first review for my verse novel, Pearl Verses the World is online, here. Among other things the reviewer describes the story as “a wonderfully told story with heart”.
I’m ecstatic.
Pearl will be released on May 1 – watch this space for a month of celebrations including a blog tour, guest bloggers, a verse-off and more. In the meantime, Pearl can be ordered online at Fishpond
Author Interview: Sue Whiting
Recently, I reviewed the children’s book Freaky on the Aussiereviews site. Today, I am delighted to have the author of Freaky, Sue Whiting, drop in for an interview.
Welcome Sue.
Where did the idea for the story come from?
I was sitting in the staffroom at the school I used to teach at, when the school secretary came in with an email she received from a friend. The email told how a “friend of the friend” had bought a rare cactus from Mexico and planted it in his garden. Everything was fine until the day the cactus exploded and revealed huge spiders nesting inside it. Being arachnophobic, I was horrified – aghast! When I discovered the story was a hoax, an urban myth, I felt rather foolish – I had been totally sucked in by it – but I also had a rather delicious idea for a new story …
I’m not best fond of spiders, and recently had a scary encounter with a huntsman. Do you have a spider story of your own you can share?
I’m not particularly fond of spiders either – so it is kind of weird that I have written about gigantic tarantulas. I have many spider stories to tell, including the one where I totally freaked out when a spider walked across my windscreen when driving on the freeway. Screaming your lungs out and taking your hands off the wheel to wave them wildly around like a loon is not recommended when cruising at 110kph. Luckily my husband took control of the steering wheel and that is probably why I am here today to tell the story. I also have the huntsman down the front of my blouse story and the huntsman sitting on my head one and …
The Lightning Strikes series is a great format, especially for reluctant readers. Can you explain the series for those readers who might not have come across it yet?
Lightning Strikes is a series of high-interest, fast-paced short novels for kids 9+ who haven’t yet been struck by the reading bug. They are fun, quirky stories that reflect the interests and concerns of Australian pre-teens. They have great cover effects, so they look really cool too. They are published by Walker Books Australia. To date, there are twelve books in the series, with more planned for the future.
Was Freaky written especially for the series? If so, was it difficult to write a story specifically for a series?
I actually wrote Freaky several years ago and adapted it to the series brief. This wasn’t too difficult as it was already the right word length and pitched to the Lightning Strikes readership. I merely polished it up, added some informal text types (posters, signs, notes, internet articles) and ramped up the action and humour.
What advice can you give other writers about writing or shaping stories for existing series?
· Read as many books as possible already in that particular series to get a feel for the types of stories that work and to also know what has already been covered.
· Follow the guidelines / brief as closely as possible, taking care to keep to suggested word length and to pitch to the intended age group.
If you want to know more about Sue Whiting, you can visit her at her website, or her new blog. You can read my review of Freaky here or buy the book online at Fishpond.
Visiting Author: Karina Fabian
I’ve done blog tours to promote my books for years. They are fun, relatively easy, and best of all inexpensive. I send out a request to bloggers, podcasters and Internet Radio hosts–anyone with a web presence and followers who might be interested in my stuff. I ask to be interviewed or have something about my book posted, or offer to do a guest blog or send them a copy of the book for review. Everyone tells me what day they will post, and I get the schedule out. In all, it takes about 2 hours a stop to arrange, and it’s spread out over months. I started organizing the Magic, Mensa and Mayhem tour in February, although the tour itself takes place in April.
I enjoy book tours because the hosts always have great questions. I learn a lot about myself and my work by answering them. I also get a lot of publicity for very little monetary investment and as a stay-home mom of four, I appreciate that–and my husband does, too!
2. How is the tour structured? How many stops and what are you doing on those stops?
I don’t have a specific structure. I prefer the host pick their day to post, and I have enough contacts that I usually spread it out over a month. I do try to hit all the virtual angles–blogs, websites, newsletters, live chats and now Second Life. I’ll also be Tweeting different things–snippets, quotes, the day’s schedule… not sure what exactly yet.
I’m willing to do just about anything the host wants. I’ve had requests for interviews, for my main character to do an interview, podcasts, and live chats. I’m also doing some guest blogs. Not all are directly about the book, either; I’m talking about worldbuilding and marketing, this time. In the past, folks have asked about my fitting writing into the everyday life of raising four kids and working with my husband (we co-edited two anthologies).
3. How did you find blogs to host you?
Networking and Google. I am a member of a lot of social groups/listserves, so I put out a call there. Then I Google for blogs, podcasts, etc. that interest my target audience. I check them out and send a letter to the host. It doesn’t always work, but it adds to my repertoire.
4. How are you promoting the tour? And are you doing other things to promote your book?
I’ll post the schedule on my websites and announce it in my groups and social sites. I also plan to Tweet the schedule. In addition, I have live events scheduled–a local TV show, book signings, press releases… I have a terrific website for Vern, my dragon detective: http://www.dragoneyepi.net/. Check it out, and if you like it, register on the site. In April, I’m giving away a DragonEye, PI story, “Amateurs,” to all the members on the website. This is an earlier adventure by Vern and Sister Grace, where they take on the Egyptian goddess Sehkmet and two warring tribes of pixies in order to save the universes. The story is indirectly responsible for my getting the contract for Magic, Mensa and Mayhem.
5. Finally, what advice would you give other authors hoping to organise a blog tour?
If you want to learn more about virtual book tours, go to http://www.fabianspace.com/ and download the FREE Virtual Book Tour Primer in the FOR AUTHORS menu. I’ll also be holding a class starting April 20. At the end of the class, you’ll have scheduled your own virtual book tour. (I do charge $30 for the class. You can register here.)
Writing Kids’ Poems: Five Exercises
15 Words Poetry
someone who
would think I was cool
but you gave me
a fan.
To see the photo which inspired this response – and/or to have a go for yourself at writing a poem of fifteen words or less, visit this link.
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