laura lam

4 March, 2015

What’s Up Wednesday: Experimental Art Day

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly themed post for readers and writers, so y’all know what I’ve been up to and I find out what you’ve been working on! It was created by created by Jaime and Erin.

What I’m Reading

Finished beta reading Miss Cole‘s excellent (and spooky!) ghost story WIP last week! It’s sooo good you guys, I can’t wait to see where she takes it.

spookyghosttrans

^ My excited-about-Miss-Cole’s-book-face.

Also, check out her story Colony, which is kicking butt in the PitchMadness contest right now!

What I’m Writing

One of my amazing beta readers, Mike Kalar, sent back feedback for my WIP BROKEN THINGS which has got me really fired up about the next big edit. I’m really looking forward to getting back to it now… he’s breathed so much new life into a world I was getting tired of. It’s amazing.

But first, I’ve got notebooks upon notebooks filled with scribbles that I haven’t typed up. So March is catch-up month: time to type up all my handwritten work.

My writing goal for the week→ Type up 30 notebook pages.

What Works For Me

Beta readers are the BEST. I say this a lot but it never stops being true.

Also, I took another art break before getting back into writing, and wound up with a fairly decent “experimental” piece of BROKEN THINGS protagonist Anna in a style similar to the robots from the same WIP.

ANNADOODLEs

(If you’re confused by her legs, she wears a metal support skeleton.)

What Else I’ve Been Up To

Today I managed to catch up with Laura Lam in the real world, which is very exciting! Her latest book, FALSE HEARTS, is coming out in early 2016 and I can’t waaaiiiittt. *grabby hands* It’s ORPHAN BLACK meets INCEPTION, and it’s going to be soooo good.

Don’t worry, you’ll see me talking about it A LOT nearer to release time. Laura’s one of the nicest writers out there, and seeing the well-deserved hype gathering for her work is such a fun experience.

11 June, 2014

Hayfever-y Road Trip Wednesday

*SNEEZES MORE THAN ANY HUMAN BEING SHOULD SNEEZE*

sneezingsimba

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what’s up. It was created by created by Jaime and Erin. Want to join the party? Go right ahead, and remember to leave a link to your What’s Up Wednesday post in the widget on Jaime´s blog.

What I’m Reading

the-snake-charm-cover (1) If you’ve been following my Twitter, where I am infinitely more interesting and witty than here, you might have seen me fangirlnig about Laura Lam‘s new novella, THE SNAKE CHARM.

Here’s my Amazon review:

Oh, man, I loved this little story. It reads a lot like a smaller scale version of “Pantomime”: a quick read (maybe 2 hours, depending on your reading speed) but with the same twists, turns, atmosphere and fight scenes.

It’s also completely standalone, and if you haven’t read Laura’s “Pantomime” I’d read this first — it adds even more depth to the circus members.

I’m now reading J.B. Rockwell’s BREAKSHIELD, and I’ll fangirl more about that this time next week. But I want you to know that it contains adorable foxes.

foxgif

What I’m Writing

Still revising. In that odd little point of space and time where ideas take shape about of absolutely nowhere, and plot issues seem to just unknot themselves in the moments when I’m doing nothing much at all.

It’s a strange and magical part of the process, though it’s all frustrating as all hell because there’s no way to predict it and no way to speed it up.

What Inspires Me

Procrastination, for all its faults, seems to be inspiring me at the moment. Brain down-time is important.

Also, this comic should strike a chord with all writers:

writingpanel1 writingpanel2

writingpanel3

writingcomic

Source is this artist. (Page autoplays music.)

What Else I’ve Been Up To

On a running break to recover from some minor ailments, and I’m on a driving lesson break while my instructor goes on holiday, so there’s not much to talk about here.

I’ve been posting little dairies of my running training so far, and you can read PART ONE and PART TWO if you’re interested in the foibles of a newbie runner.

Just writing and reading. And sneezing.

26 January, 2014

Honest Back Cover Copy: Pantomime

pantomime

A Tumblr blog started up recently called Honest Book Cover Copy, started by this lady after her brilliant “The Raven Boys” honest cover copy. I liked the way they highlighted the cool things that get left out of back cover blurbs while still being very positive about the books, which is very important to me. So when I saw they were open to subs I decided to try my hand at a Pantomime one (prequel to Shadowplay, whose cover I noticed a few people admiring in the comments last Wednesday).

You can see my honest cover copy in Tumblr form here or below:

Warning: In the spirit of the original honest cover copy, the below is very sweary and very silly.

R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass –~~remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone~~ MYSTERIOUS BADASS MAGICAL DOMES – are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimeras is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

INTERSEX TEEN Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family WHO KEEP TRYING TO FORCE HER INTO SURGERY TO ‘FIX’ HER SO SHE CAN BE MARRIED OFF, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, BECAUSE AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls.

SO SHE GETS THE FUCK OUTTA THERE AND BECOMES Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star. HE GETS COOL POWERS AND FALLS IN LOVE WITH BOYS *AND* GIRLS BECAUSE THAT’S JUST HOW MICAH ROLLS. ~~But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.~~

PANTOMIME IS AN EMPOWERING STEAMPUNK FANTASY WHERE DIVERSE CHARACTERS OWN THE SHOW. IT’S A METAPHOR ABOUT HOW DAMN HARD IT IS FEELING BOTH MALE AND FEMALE BUT YOU DON’T EVEN NOTICE THE SUBTLETIES BECAUSE OF ALL THE CIRCUS FUNTIMES AND SHINY WORLDBUILDING.

ALSO, THERE’S AN AWESOME ANGSTY CLOWN LOVE INTEREST.

17 October, 2013

Rocking October Cover Reveals

shadowplay-cover phoenix_island 2

September was a great month for cover reveals, bringing us the covers for two books I’m really looking forward to: Laura Lam’s SHADOWPLAY and John Dixon’s PHOENIX ISLAND.

October’s also had some amazing covers released, enough that I wanted to showcase some of that brilliance over here on the blog.

(Side note: this post took FOREVER to format. If you know a good image arranging tool for people who can’t be bothered coding tables in HTML, let me know.)

skyworld hollowworld

EMILIE & THE SKY WORLD looks fantastic next to EMILIE & THE HOLLOW WORLD. I really like these covers, there’s a nice traditional fantasy vibe to them.

DISCWORLD series cover redesigns usually elicit an angry hiss from me, because I adore the original Paul Kidby covers, but these redesigns re actually really good looking.

divergenttrilogy

WE FINALLY HAVE SOME NICE, GENDER NEUTRAL UK COVERS FOR THE DIVERGENT SERIES. FINALLY.

I’ve been grumbling about the pink UK cover for ages, it’s why I always get the series in ebook format. I’m glad we’ve finally got something more fitting for the series.

The-Copper-Promise-Jen-Williams

Last but not least, THE COPPER PROMISE’s cover was what prompted me to get off my butt and write this blog. Just look at those pretty coins! How cool is that?

6 February, 2013

Pantomime Release and Dissident TV Pilot!

Man, today was a crazy day for my writing friends. It was the US release of Pantomime by the lovely Laura Lam!

pantomime

R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass – remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone – are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimeras is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star. But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.

Available on: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository, Waterstones

The official UK release is tomorrow (February 7th), but Amazon have been shipping out orders early which means I’ve been snuggling up to read it every night… when the dogs don’t steal my armchair to have a read, that is.

pantomimedogs

And that’s not the only awesome news happening on our writing front! My friend John Dixon’s YA Thriller, ~~Dissident~~ PHOENIX ISLAND, comes out in 2014 and he’s sold the pilot of Intelligence, a show based on it, to CBS! John’s been working hard to get this far, and it’s great to see it pay off for him. Go stop by his blog and say congratulations, because when Dissident hits the shelves it’s gonna be huge.

Man, it’s great to see good things happening to my writing friends. :) But now, it’s time for me to settle down with a cuppa tea and read more of Pantomime.