A quick heads up: Christmas in Wonderland, Splintered's official virtual book tour, is coming up next month. We’re not just doing author and character interviews, we're going to spotlight several of the unique "landscapes" Wonderland possesses. We’ll have posts, contests, and images tailored for each stop.
Christmas in Wonderland will be a tour through Splintered's Wonderland settings, fashions, food, and parties, all tied to a Christmas theme.
On top of having a few small giveaways along the way, there will be a big giveaway at the end of the tour. Here's a sneak peek at the posts and the gracious blogs who are hosting:
The smaller prizes include some very UNIQUE Splintered related
merchandise:
Fairy captured in a jar ... miniature bird cage ... a flocked flamingo ornament ... glass heart ... vintage chess pieces ... Wonderland recipe
journal ... and the list goes on.
So be sure to join us for the official Amulet Splintered Virtual Tour ***Christmas in Wonderland:
The Twelve Days of Splintered*** coordinated by the lovely and talented Gabrielle
Carolina at The Modge Podge Bookshelf.
Until then, have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving. :)
This is a crazy month for me, writing to a deadline and also working up posts and interviews for my upcoming Splintered virtual tour. So I'm making it easy on myself and reposting the details of the contest going on at my personal blog, in case any of you haven't seen it yet. ^.^
Here's a quick rundown for my Unlock the Secrets to Splintered Giveaway (and yes, it's International!):
What inspired this contest, you ask? Well, as of September, readers could visit this link to see Amulet's official landing page for our Unlock the Secrets to Splintered campaign.
Here are the five steps to unlocking Splintered:
September: Unlock the Music...
October: Unlock the Madness Within...
November: Unlock Creativity...
December: Unlock Chrismakkuh...
January: Unlock Alyssa's Wonderland...
At the first of each month, a virtual key will be provided on the landing page, opening up one secret. September and October are already opened, so stop by and check out those mysteries.
Also, be sure to visit the landing page often and pay close attention, because there will be some big giveaways in the upcoming months, along with some frabjous interactive activities.
Here's just a sample of what's up for grabs in the not-so-distant future:
10 SIGNED Splintered advanced reading copies, an abundance of Splintered and Alice swaggery (including jewelry, posters, playing cards, assorted Alice books, and the list goes on...), 10 SIGNED Splintered hardbacks.
BUT, let's talk about what's up for grabs today in my present giveaway.
1. First Place: 5-first place winners will receive a SIGNED Splintered ARC.
2. Second Place: 1-second place winner will receive: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "Open Me for Curiouser and Curiouser Surprises" with illustrations by Harriet Castor.
This book is gorgeous! And here are just a few of the extra features that set it apart from the pack:
A pull-tab that makes Alice grow and grow
A pop-up courtroom scene
Doors on flaps that open to show an assortment of curious objects
A special tab that makes the Cheshire Cat magically disappear
An attached Mushroom Booklet that helps Alice return to normal size
3. Third Place: 1-third place winner gets to choose one of these pictures from my fan art page, printed with a matching excerpt from the book. (No worries, each of the pictures were given to me by the artists to use as I please--thank you lovelies!). Click on the pictures to enlarge.
4. Fourth Place: 3-fourth place winners will receieve assorted Splintered swag including: Signed bookmarks, funky and colorful Alice gift tags, and signed bookplates.
5. Fifth Place: 5-fifth place winners will receive a Splintered secret key necklace.
That's a grand total of FIFTEEN winners! I hope you'll be one!
The giveaway will last for the entire month of October, all the way through Halloween.
**WANT TO ENTER? Hop over to my Contests and Giveaways page. There's a rafflecopter that will lead you through the steps to get entered.**
Note: Despite the title and the picture below, today’s post is not about spark plugs.
But it IS a fitting analogy for an epiphany I had early on in my writer’s journey. And now it's really hitting home, since my debut, Splintered, is being offered to reviewers on netgalley and in hard copy ARC form. I'm starting to get reviews, be they positive or negative, and the spark plug analogy is keeping me sane.
Here’s the definition of a spark plug taken from Wikipedia: A spark plug is an electrical device that fits into the cylinder head of some internal combustion engines and ignites compressed aerosol gasoline by means of an electric spark.
In other words … it magically brings the engine to life. Vroom vroom. But there’s more than one kind of spark plug. So you have to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for choosing the right one to ensure it’s a good fit, or it won’t work. A bad fit means the spark won’t ignite, and there will be no vroom vroom.
A couple of years ago, when I was in the submission trenches with my first agent and my adult literary romance, we received feedback from an editor: I enjoyed the unique storyline and heroine, and I thought the author put a fresh twist on paranormal romance. But as I read, I just didn’t feel a strong emotional connection with the story, so it’s with sincere regret that I’m stepping aside.
I could whittle that entire explanation down into one phrase. No vroom vroom. I wasn’t the right fit for her, and there was no magical spark.
Ouch! That started me second guessing. Where did I go wrong? Why can’t I make everyone connect with my story? Surely, if my characters or storyline can’t capture every single reader’s affections, I have no hope of being a best seller or of winning a loyal fan base. Right?
Well, shortly thereafter I read a best-selling book at the time — one that I’d been chewing on for several weeks — and something clicked into place for me. The book had tons of sales, was well liked according to the majority of the reviews, and the publishers promoted it relentlessly (quite possibly the very reason why it had such great sales).
But upon closing that last page, I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Meh”. I mentally gave the book a 2 star rating out of 5. I liked the concept, and enjoyed the author’s writing style. But for some reason … and I could never put my finger on why … I didn’t connect emotionally with the MC. Actually, with any of the characters.
Yet I read that book front to back, just because the premise and writing style drew me in and held my attention. So I guess there’s hope; even without the vroom, sometimes people are willing to shift it into neutral and push on to the end of the road, if only to take in the scenery.
Some readers may not like my fantasy worlds or my plots, or they may not like my characters for their decisions or actions. My characters are flawed and human; sometimes they make mistakes, or don't think things through and act impulsively like real people do. If I write them in such a way to try to fit everyone's ideal, they become nothing more than cardboard cutouts. So, I have to stay true to my characters and my story, although it will mean losing some readers. But even if someone doesn't like one element of my book, maybe they'll like another enough to read it to the very last line. That's an accomplishment in and of itself.
Maybe the science of writing isn’t quite as precise as the science of automobiles. But it occurred to me that subjectivity can be compared to finding the right spark plug (book) to fit the right engine (reader). Not everyone will love my stories, or my characters, or even my writing style. But all three WILL appeal to some and I will be a perfect fit for them. There’s just too many people with differing opinions and interests for it not to.
So, my hope now that my debut novel is finally getting read? That most readers will like at least one thing about it enough to push through to the end. But even more, I hope to be the spark plug some reader has been looking high and low for, that they'll connect to the story in everyway, and it will ignite their imagination. And then: Vroom vroom … let the magic begin.
World building is a huge topic. I will only cover a fraction of it, but it’s a topic that’s been on my mind lately. Writing crime fiction thrillers, I mainly thought of world building as creating a setting that readers can relate to using all their senses. It can also be a world that can be its own obstacle for the characters I turn loose in it.
My brand slogan is “Take a front row seat to suspense,” which is a saying I felt related to the style of my “up close and personal” writing. But writing for the young adult thriller market has broadened my thoughts on world building. It’s stretched me. I’m working on a new YA proposal for a thriller series that will be set in the future, something I never thought I would do. Sci-Fi? Really? I’m faced with creating a world that doesn’t exist and I would imagine fantasy writers do this all the time. It truly amazes me, but now I’m testing myself too. I thrive on a challenge and this new idea has my juices flowing. I wanted to share my thoughts.
When developing a world that exists only in the future or in a paranormal fantasy realm, this is not the time to shy away from “over the top” thinking. The best tool in your author arsenal is actually a question - “What if…?”
Five Tips on World Building
1.) Take the familiar and give it a twist. A reader can more easily imagine the world you are trying to convey if you make them believe they have seen elements of this world before. Take known calamities, myths, or fairy tales and give them a new spin. Or use real hazards in our world and time—project them into the future with dire outcomes—and see how they might turn out. A dark Alice and Wonderland twist (Splintered by Anita Grace Howard, Jan 2013), for example. What if the world has taken a downward spiral from global warming or what if money is no longer a physical commodity? What replaces the power of money?
2.) Add a Heavy Dose of Human Nature. Basic human nature can transcend time and reality. Determine what matters most in the world you are trying to reinvent or create—and apply a human story at the crux of it all. That is good drama and readers will relate to a well told story with good solid conflict. A great example of a near future world is ASHES by Ilsa Bick. A teenaged girl, dealing with a fatal brain tumor, must survive a post-apocalyptic nightmare alone.
3.) Take a look back to see ahead. If your world is in the near future, say in 2025, you might take a look back at the same span of years (13 years) to see how much has changed and in what areas. (Compare 1999 to now. What’s changed most?) Or if you are creating a fantasy world, man’s history or mythologies can give you ideas on what to bring into that world. What if there is civil unrest in your world? Who are the players and why? What if a magical mythical creature exists in your world? What would it be and what are its powers?
4.) Paint a world by highlighting the elements that enhance your story most. As an author you might know every aspect of the world you want to portray, but are these details important to your story? It can be tedious to demonstrate your world building skills at the expense of pace. Make your key elements conflict with your protagonist’s goals or become an obstacle to challenge them. Think of your setting and world as a character and place as much importance on setting up a solid framework where your characters can thrive. Your world may have to survive a series.
5.) Color Your World. Every world has its own dialect, slang, food, clothes, and customs. “Borrowing” from fables, myths, and history can be a starting point, but don’t be afraid to develop something on your own. Invent a few words that will play a prominent role in your new world or perhaps take a risk by combining a known world with a fantasy/paranormal one. A reader will feel grounded in the world you are creating, yet feel you are bringing something new to the table. A good example of this is the old Sci-Fi TV show FARSCAPE. A present day astronaut gets caught in a wormhole and transported to another universe where he is the only human. Remember the word, “Frak!” Yep, another four-letter word starting with F.
For the sake of discussion—by the year 2025—what do you think would change most? What would be cool to have? What bad things do you think are looming if we don’t change our ways? Will we still use real money? Are we headed for a global society, rather than individual countries? Exercise your writer brain and throw out anything that comes to mind. In brainstorming a new world, you need to cut loose, think over the top, and have fun.
One of my favorite things about being a writer is meeting other writers. I love to see the way their minds work: what gives them the idea for a story, how they go about researching and plotting, what their writing process is. I always come away feeling like I've learned something about myself and my process just by sharing theirs.
It's also true that I'm a huge fan of historical fiction, romance, and ghost stories which is why I wrote a gothic/literary YA set in Victorian England with a unique love triangle between a deaf heroine, a gypsy viscount, and a ghost ... sort of Jane Eyre meets A Certain Slant of Light. I'm hoping to pique my editor's interest in this story, tenatively titled GhostFlower, when I pitch second book ideas to her this week.
All that to say, when I met the lovely and talented Cat Winters (the brilliant mind behind The Suburban Vampire blog), whose historical ghost YA will be published through Amulet in Spring 2013, I knew I couldn't wait to pick her brain for details. She graciously accepted my invitation to drop by today and give us the inside scoop.
Please welcome Cat, and her debut novel In the Shadow of Blackbirds to the ADR3NALIN3 stage.
Cat Winters was born and raised just a short drive down the freeway from Disneyland, which probably explains her obsession with haunted mansions, bygone eras, and fantasylands. Her debut novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, a YA historical ghost tale illustrated with early-twentieth-century photographs, is coming Spring 2013 from Amulet Books. She lives outside of Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two kids.
I suppose I've been preparing to write my upcoming novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, since I first fell in love with ghost stories. My fascination with spirits started way back in elementary school, when a book about haunted locales called to me from a shelf in my school's library. Up until that point, I had only thought of ghosts as fictional creatures that showed up in spooky stories and movies, and because I was growing up in Orange County, California, not far from Disneyland, I thought they looked something like this:
Yet here was a book telling me that real people believed in real ghosts.
After I read that library text, I found myself continually drawn to spine-chilling tales. One of my favorite movies growing up was The Watcher in the Woods—another one of Disney's contributions to my obsession with all things eerie. The movie is packed with menacing music and so many psychological thrills that both my sister and my daughter refuse to even talk about the film.
Here's the trailer so you can see what appealed to little horror-loving me:
I spent my teen years gobbling up classic Gothic literature (Shelley, Poe, the Brontës, etc.) and watching The Twilight Zone reruns and old Alfred Hitchcock films. Then, in my adulthood, I stumbled upon the history of séances in a Smithsonian Magazine article and started playing around with a historical novel involving séances. That particular book didn't go far, but several years later I landed an agent and chatted with her about an entirely new take on my basic plot ideas. I proposed showing a teen's perspective of the Spiritualism craze that resulted from the horrors of WWI.
One year later, I turned in the first draft of In the Shadow of Blackbirds. A year after that, I received an offer from Amulet Books.
In the Shadow of Blackbirds explores the nightmare world of 1918, when both WWI and the Spanish Influenza killed millions of people around the globe, and desperate Americans turned to séances, spirit photographers, and folk remedies for comfort.
To research the ghostly side of the story, I pored over spirit photographs from the era and read books that tackled the dark and dangerous aspects of spirit communication, like Harry Houdini's A Magician among the Spirits and Mary Roach's Spook.
Click the picture to find on Amazon
I've always felt some of the most moving tales about war and other atrocities are the ones told from the point of view of young people, so I picked a brutally honest sixteen-year-old girl to be my protagonist. She's forced to deal with death, spiritual tricksters, national paranoia, some highly creepy birds … and a ghost (of course).
Would the kid in me who loved to be scared out of her wits enjoy this novel? Definitely.
What about you? Are you typically drawn to ghostly tales? And do you believe in ghosts?
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Want to keep tabs on Cat and her upcoming novel? Check out her online haunts:
