A dream made real

by admin on March 9, 2010

in Geist, Writing News

Writing is hard- make not bones about that. There’s the long hours, the editing, the rejections.. it’s not something that is for the faint of heart. Yet it can also be tremendously rewarding. Then those are those moments which shine.

Geist_500Today I had one of those moments. It came when I opened an email from my editor at Ace. It is the cover for Geist coming out with Ace in October/November this year.

To say I was happy was an understatement. Not only has the artist Jason Chan done a wonderful job. Here is Sorcha just as I imagined her – and the little details are perfectly correct- right down to her eye colour.

And there is the Rossin (who is so much more than a big ole pussy cat) the right size and shape. Also the description and the font are just wonderful.

Covers are always a dice roll, because rarely do authors get to have any input. I have heard some horror stories, but the folks at Ace have done me and Geist proud.

If you would like to pre-order Geist then the link is available under Store on this site. It is an affliate link, so gives me a few extra pennies when you purchase.

As I have intimated; from May this year writing and voicework will be my sole means of income. That may seem somewhat crazy, but it has reached the point where I need to concentrate on writing and marketing- making the most of the opportunities that have been given to me.

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Feeding the baby birds

by admin on March 5, 2010

in Podosphere, Writing News

Sometimes there is a moment when a little bird has to find out if she really can fly – and this year is that moment for me.

I’m considering a number of options on how to put some wind beneath my wings so to speak. And yes, shock horror! Some of these involve earning money from what I create. I haven’t come to any decisions on what to do, but some of options would give me a revenue stream that I could rely on and do more of what I love do, create worlds.

One of these is sponsorship for podcasting.

Another is charging for podcasting. This would not include Digital Magic, but could be a possibility for Erotica a la Carte and a future steampunk erotica novel that I have about half done.

Since the announcement JC Hutchins made about 7th Son not being picked up for the final two books by St Martins everyone in the podcast novel community, listeners and creators, has been in a bit of a tumult. I think there is a place for free, and I will always have a component of that nature my work, but increasingly people are becoming aware that if they want all their content for free they could be driving people away from the medium.

I would hate to see all the wonderful creators I have enjoyed in podcasting move onto other projects- but I understand for some people this is what they want to do for a living.

So here’s the question for you dear reader- are you prepared to pay? Would you be bothered by sponsorship in any of my podcasts? (Keeping in mind there would always be something free but not everything) What’s the solution? What’s the way forward?

I don’t know, but I’m going to ask you. Fill in this survey. I’ll leave it up for a month and then let you know the results

Can’t see the survey? Click here

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Bard on your internet radio dial

February 19, 2010

Erotica a la carte has been lots of fun on Radio Dentata- and so it was lovely to be approached by Sean Owens of IRFT Celtic Radio about bringing Chasing the Bard to their station.
My celtic roots run deep with ancestors both Scottish and Irish. My two trips to Scotland were some of the most [...]

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Ready for the Boom

February 18, 2010

Most of my readers will know by now that this year began very badly for Tee Morris. He is now facing raising his daughter, affecitonately known as SonicBoom by himself after the death of her mother.
Many donated to the ChipIn fund which helped with the immediate expenses surrounding Natalie’s death, and even left a portion [...]

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Dealing with slings and arrows

February 13, 2010

A recent Twitter conversation started by Scott Roche about public critique, specifically for podcast novels got me thinking about critiques, flames and feedback.
I replied to Scott that as an author you have to expect to get all three. So here’s my take on dealing with them as an author.
The middle one Flames are characterised by [...]

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Tropes and bards

February 12, 2010

The wonderful DDog has just added  Chasing the Bard to TV Tropes website and it was a very interesting thing for me as the writer to read.
A trope is a common pattern or theme and they have been around since humanity first decided that telling stories was a great idea. Some of the ones DDog [...]

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Litopia and the nemesis

February 11, 2010

Last week I had the honour of being one of the panel on Litopia After Dark. Hanging with the wonderful folks and talking writing was a lot of fun. I was a little nervous, but the panel made me feel at home very quickly.
Peter and Litopia do a great deal for the writing community- and [...]

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Visionaries

February 5, 2010

Podioracket has been doing great work to promote and help podiobook authors. How Heather, Rhonda and the gang do it all I don’t know.
So when I was invited to be part of their first Anthology series I was very flattered. This series aims to expose listeners to a range of authors work, but rather than [...]

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Sound and fury

January 21, 2010

This month has sped by, but I wanted to touch base with you all.
Firstly I want to say thank you, thank you so much to all who have contributed to the ChipIn fund for Tee and Sonic Boom. In just over two weeks we have raised $20,000. That’s an amazing feat, and has renewed my [...]

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Together we are mighty

January 7, 2010

This year has not started how it was meant to. My dear friend, collaborator and colleague has found himself with the prospect of raising his child without her mother.
I know Tee wanted to keep this a private matter, but word hit twitter within hours and now the genie cannot get back in the bottle.
So here [...]

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Goodbye 2009 and welcome in 2010

January 1, 2010

2009 – what a mixed bag of nuts you were.
A bunch of personal stuff was dealt with and sorted- which needed to happen. However there were a number of writing and podcasting successes that made up for all that.
The highlight has to be the two-book deal with Ace. As I have mentioned in various interviews [...]

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The Fruitful Kiwi

December 23, 2009

Litopia, which is a podcast and a community I have really come to appreciate, is running a week highlighting podcasters- and one of them was me.
I had a delightful chat with Peter Cox- and tried my best to sound as grown up as possible.
I hope to be involved with them again, and I [...]

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Secret Agent… not so secret now

December 11, 2009

My lovely, enthusiastic and successful (hello… Ace deal!) agent Laurie McLean of Larsen Pomada – who now also represents Tee Morris for fiction- spoke to Kimi over at Tale Chasing. She may or may not mention me
The podcasting sphere is full of lots of opinion by writers, but getting the thoughts from an [...]

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Is there anybody out there??

December 3, 2009

I’ve mentioned before how lonely it can be writing (except when you have a energetic collaborator like Tee Morris but that’s another story for another post) so it is always nice when people send in voicemail, emails- or go that extra mile and review my work.
Recently two lovely ones have been posted over at Random [...]

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Acting and voice

November 23, 2009

As I have blogged about- this year I have gone part-time at the library, and that means picking up the loss in income from that in other areas.
Mostly that has been by writing, but I am not adverse to working other angles.
So just lately have been supplementing that income with voicework. This really excites me, [...]

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Give the Gift of Lit

November 17, 2009

The Gift of Lit is a collective effort by many of the fine authors from Podiobooks. Together, we would like to share with you our diverse works and invite you to take a look at the nice selection of books we have spent hours, days, months, or years writing.
The Gift of Lit: Holiday 2009 is [...]

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Triple Threat Double Dipping Contest

November 17, 2009

Coming Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Three Podcast Authors, Three Podcast Novels, Three Contests!
What to look for: Blog posts containing printable PDF bookmarks at Digital Magic, Metamor City, and Literary Abominations.
What you can win: A free book, maybe two or three! (Prize details for each contest will be available at each author’s website).
Your Mission:

Download and print the bookmarks
Cut along the [...]

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PREVIEW; Books and Braun (Recorded Live at World Fantasy 2009)

November 15, 2009

I’ve teased people long and hard about this project, and now I have a little taste for you.
Recorded before a live audience at World Fantasy Convention, award-winning podcaster and author Tee Morris and I (with the blessings of our agent) our work-in-progress now working its way through submissions: Books & Braun, our Steampunk take on The Avengers. 
This [...]

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You’re the top…

November 14, 2009

Just had to share this news… the BlogTalk Radio edition of Podioracket.com made it to the top of their Books Category. Now this was the show that Dan Sawyer, Chris Lester and I took over, since the lovely hosts were unable through sickness to attend. I worked the switchboard (which was very cool) and we [...]

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Triple Threat storming the podosphere

November 11, 2009

After the whirlwind of Double Trouble in 2008, I decided to get together with fellow podcasters Dan Sawyer and Chris Lester and launch our follow up podcast novel on the world- but taking it one bigger. So was born the Triple Threat.
Check out Chris Lester’s Metamor City and Dan Sawyer’s Free Will.
So we’ve been hitting [...]

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