#YAlit
If you're looking for fun, magical reads for the upcoming weekend (or want to stock up for holiday reading time), you can get both #RiverOfCrows and #MirrorOfWolves ebooks on sale in Canada, UK, AU, NZ, and US. (In Canada it's ~80% off book 1 and 60% off book 2!) 😊
Links to all the stores here:
https://books2read.com/RiverOfCrows
Do I target my writing for a specific audience? So asks November #wordweavers
Yes.
My non- fiction music writing is obviously so.
My fiction writing is with the Young Adult reader in mind, although most of the people who have bought The Broken Bottle are adults and the feedback has been very positive, with one reader even saying it made them cry in parts (in a good way)
Ebook now at a reduced price until Dec 31st!
If the sound of a YA novel that covers first loves, friendships, found families, and centaurs, and absolutely does NOT talk about Xmas appeals, then BEYOND THE THRESHOLD might be for you 🥰
https://books2read.com/u/3y6DAJ
#centaurs #YA #YAlit #books #bookstodon #LGBTQ #Romance #Fantasy #Contemporary
Does my writing involve comedy? I would like to think so, in a dry, deadpan manner. Well, perhaps not comedy, but certainly humour. Often comedy is not what is said but the way it is said. That can be quite hard in text, so the challenge is to find the right words and phrasing.
This is an excerpt from ‘How Green Are Your Eyes’, all rights reserved of course, which is the follow up to the out-now ‘The Broken Bottle’ (https://books2read.com/b/3nBzEP in case you missed it…)
You may or may not find it humourous; it’s quite a subjective thing…
It’s been lovely to see some of the first print copies of The Broken Bottle landing on doorsteps. However, the self promotion required for self-publishing is exhausting. I thought today it might be quite pleasant to find my inbox full of emails from my lit agent inviting me to do a radio or newspaper interview to publicise ‘The Broken Bottle’, maybe a chat on the BBC Breakfast sofa too. Instead I got unsolicited emails about slippers, NHS prescriptions, house alarms and “kitchen gabinets”.
Ho hum 😂
#selfpublishing #selfpromotion #writingcommunity #kidlit #yalit
https://brokendownrecords.bandcamp.com/merch/paperback-the-broken-bottle-signed
It’s so lovely to have these in the flesh, finally. Thanks all in the #writingcommunity for your support over the past few months, especially the #wordweavers and #writerscoffeeclub participants and particularly @Saposcat and @strangeseawolf for making me feel especially at home here 🙂
Get your print copies here: brokendownrecords.bandcamp.com
Get your ebooks here: books2read.com/u/3nBzEP
Watch the video here: youtu.be/vk1YLS9BYX4?si…
Early morning #CurrentlyReading list:
Riot Woman: Using Feminist Values to Destroy the Patriarchy by Eleanor C. Whitney ( #nonfiction )
Sirens: The End of the World Has a Sound by Braden Cawthon ( #YALit )
The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart by Chesil, translated by Takami Nieda ( #YA )
Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi is a contemporary young adult book featuring a young girl who is trying to spread her wings after a great trauma. We watch Nigeria grow from the beginning of the book until the end. It was such a rewarding experience watching Nigeria throughout the story. Recommend for all #YALit readers.
Later, we encounter the Beatles. Wilf’s musical education is heavily influenced by his parents’ record collection. When he arrives home from school to an empty house, dinner in the oven, it’s not for the first time, so he is quite relaxed about it. He mooches around the house, before pulling out ‘Rubber Soul’ and flipping the record onto side two. The first song he hears is Ringo’s ‘What Goes On’. Wilf will inevitably sing along as he listens, like he has done so many times before. He might even try the harmonies, but as his voice has broken finds them trickier than he used to.
https://youtu.be/PtC_l4kz7yw?si=McLi4b4u6QgMoOFE
#writingcommunity #thebrokenbottle #selfpublishing #thebeatles #kidlit #yalit
When Wilf goes to watch his local football (soccer) team, the approach to the ground he makes with his best friend Greenie and ‘highlights’ from the match (such as there are any highlights when the team is playing so poorly) are played out to the sound of Half Man Half Biscuit’s deliciously deadpan tale of watching a team that’s not doing well…
“Point a gun down at my foot”
“You were blind but you will see tonight’s attendance 1,2,3…”
“Fiancée said that it was fun/even though the others won”
“And no I haven’t got anything better to do”…
#writingcommunity #thebrokenbottle #selfpublishing #yalit #kidlit
I went to the library yesterday and picked up some books. I read What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons (#fiction) last night. Short, but it was incredibly good.
Also #reading ...
Bewitched in Oz by Laura J. Burns ( #YALit #fantasy )
Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi (YA)
I am also going to start Reisistance and Hope: Essays by Disabled People (#nonfiction)
Happy reading, all!
Is there anything that makes my writing distinctive or that I’m proud of?
Probably nothing that makes it distinctive, other than the fact that it is increasingly accompanied by original music. The Broken Bottle is a good example of this- the story is about a band at school, and is accompanied by a ‘demo’ they record during the story. All fictional of course. Look here:
https://brokendownrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-bridge
As for anything that makes me proud? I get a huge amount of constructive support and advice from the editor of @Toppermost who has done more than I can measure to give me the confidence to put my writing out there, and I am proud of this patronage!
#wordweavers #writingcommunity #amwriting #yalit #kidlit #selfpublishing
#selfpublishing #selfpromo #kidlit #yalit #youngadultbooks #writingcommunity #giftideas
Here’s a trailer for my new book. Please watch it, share it, and maybe even buy it from the links in the bio. I’d very much appreciate it x
I’ve made a trailer for my forthcoming book ‘The Broken Bottle’.
You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/vk1YLS9BYX4?si=3w02GzYjcNeHa7qY
You can pre-order signed copies of the paperback (along with the artwork used in the trailer if you fancy) from brokendownrecords.Bandcamp.com/album/the-bridge.
You can also pre-order from here: https://books2read.com/u/3nBzEP
When I infiltrated the secret corporate lab my father worked in, I found out that his company, BioLogic Pharmaceuticals, has too much in common with the Umbrella Corporation from Resident Evil. When they turned me into a vampire, I became a bioweapon but with magic.
Resident Evil
These undead bioweapons
This is my life now
#HaikusByMonica #Haiku #Daily #Poetry #Poet #AmWriting #Writer #Author #HaikusByAmy #YAlit #YAbooks #Vampire #ResidentEvil
YA books on Simon Teen that you can read for free.
Hooray!
After all my waffling about it in the #writingwonders #wordweavers and #writerscoffeeclub groups
You can now pre-order my book here (with music)
https://brokendownrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-bridge
Or here (without music)
ebook https://books2read.com/u/3nBzEP
#amwriting #writingcommunity #selfpromo #selfpublishing #kidlit #yalit #fiction #newwriting
"John Hartley is a talented musician who has written and recorded over 200 songs. He has now parlayed his songwriting skills into the gritty realism and rites of passage portrayed in his pacy debut novel. 'The Broken Bottle' is the first volume of a proposed series of books for teenagers and young adults. I strongly recommend this rewarding read." Merric Davidson, Editor, Toppermost.co.uk
“Well that was good. So good I’m going to read it again now I know what happens.” Rob Morgan, A Goldfish Called Regret
“John’s detailed descriptions make it easy to get transported into the story. Great writing.” Esther Ybarrondo
BioLogic Pharmaceuticals, the company my father works for, turned me into a vampire as part of its experiments to create advanced bioweapons.
A drug company
Makes vampire bioweapons
Including myself
#HaikusByAmy #HaikusByMonica #Haiku #Daily #Poetry #Poet #AmWriting #Writer #Author #AmyHasFangs #YAlit #YAbooks #Vampire #Horror
This year’s cruise is fully booked. If you’re having #FOMO why not sign up to our news letter to be the first to hear the dates for the 2024 retreat.
www.writersatsea.com.au
#WAS2023 #writersretreat #writerscommunity #YALit #iamwriting #romancewriters #scriptwriter #writerslife #writingretreat
#FreeBooks! #HistoricalFiction from #Romance to #Mystery to #YALit to #Adventure -- tales from days gone by, all available for #free as part of this
@BookFunnel
#giveaway
https://books.bookfunnel.com/freehistoricalnovels/38vfxjbs2h
Turns out, the catalyst for most of my (Amy's) problems is a billionaire pharmaceutical executive who's actually an infamous vampire. Throughout centuries of stealing people's blood and money, he's become a formidable opponent.
Billionaire vampires
Untaxed immortals hoard wealth
I have to fight them
#HaikusByMonica #Haiku #Daily #Poetry #Poet #AmWriting #Writer #Author #HaikusByAmy #Vampire #Billionaires #EatTheRich #YAlit
It turns out, even when the protagonist can fully recover from evisceration within minutes, a story can still qualify as horror. It feels so liberating to finally call Amy Has Fangs a horror book.
Extreme violence
Lethal for living people
Still won't kill Amy
#HaikusByMonica #Haiku #Daily #Poetry #Poet #AmWriting #Writer #Author #YAlit #Vampire #Horror #Books
Finished Sea Witch by Sarah Henning today and enjoyed it. It made my heart skip a beat a couple of times. It is a little mermaid retelling told from the perspective of who we know as Ursula before she became Ursula. It was a fun book.
It's high time to stop denying that Amy Has Fangs is, in fact, part of the horror genre. Although it features few actual deaths and leans heavily on comedy, it doesn't shy away from gore, creepy atmospheres, the depravity of humanity, or other dark topics. That said, although it has a romantic subplot, it really isn't a romance, despite containing vampires.
It's a horror book
Time to stop denying that
But still not romance
#HaikusByMonica #HaikusByAmy #Haiku #Daily #Poetry #Poet #AmWriting #Writer #Author #Book #YAlit #Horror #Vampire
Did I (Monica DePaul) seriously just add a minor substitute teacher character to my book named Veronica McCall? Yes. Yes, I did.
The best substitute
Named Veronica McCall
...That sounds familiar.
#HaikusByAmy #HaikusByMonica #Haiku #Daily #Poetry #Poet #AmWriting #Writer #Author #YAlit #YAbooks #SubstituteTeacher #Teacher
Second dimensional breach incoming.
Out this Friday: https://amzn.to/3ZeVFfu
#superhero #booktok #tbr #scifibooks #yalit #superherostories
You’ll be joining Alli and me for our writing experience. Not my ability to do a promo clip😃
Writers at Sea writing retreat. Departing Brisbane this October on @carnival
#WAS2023 #writersretreat #writerscommunity #YALit #iamwriting #romancewriters #scriptwriter #writerslife
#writerscoffeeclub Seen lots of responses saying ‘yes’, and for me it’s part of what makes the process of writing interesting. I rarely notice them in others’ writing - maybe they get corporately edited out - and occasional ones I have seen have jarred because they were too clumsily included. I’m not saying I’m any better, mind…
An example I have shared previously in #writingwonders, which I don’t mind sharing here as I don’t imagine anyone here having their reading experience ruined by it, is this:
(You might need to do a bit of work - I’m not going to lay it on a plate…) I am from Bolton, Lancashire, UK. In ‘The Broken Bottle’, which is set in the late 1980s, the MC is Wilf, a 16/17 yr old. Here are the surnames of his teachers: Storer, Chandler, Crombie, Brookman, Morgan and Sutton. The Headteacher is Mr. Neal.
Answers on a postcard…
Aug 28 #writingwonders
Who was the first character you created for this work?
This is unconventional…
All the characters for ‘Searching for the Sound of Riduna’ were created a couple of years before the book was written, as they all came to shape on a fictional compilation CD I wrote, performed and recorded called ‘The Riduna Sound’.
The CD itself was borne out of some jovial conversations on a family holiday, and I sent it out to the family in the post with a mock press release without them having a clue about it. Some were initially taken in, others got me straight away, of course. But it gave us all something to chuckle about, and led to the book being written in what is now first draft status.
The songs came first, then characters were developed to match the style of each song (folk, pop, europop, electronics, thrash metal, indie, pub blues-rock). Consequently it is nigh on impossible to say who came first.
#writingcommunity #Riduna #Channelislands #yalit #wip #music
Monica got the newest introductory chapter of my story critiqued at a writing group today, and they loved it! They had plenty of suggestions to improve it, but I've never gotten this level of love and support before. My story is finally on the right track!
They love the new me!
Monica's critique partners
I'm on the right track.
#HaikusByMonica #Haiku #Daily #Poetry #Poet #AmWriting #Writer #Author #YAlit #YoungAdultBooks #Vampire #Book
Aug 26 #writingwonders
*double-checks he’s got the correct prompt*
If your MC wrote books what genre would they be
The MC in ‘Searching for the Sound of Riduna’ would at this early stage of their career not be contemplating writing a book, preferring to make a name as the lead reporter for the Wanderers at the Chronicle. I suppose any eventual move towards bound print would be anticipated as non-fiction, football (soccer) most likely. Events of SftSoR might lead down a different path though…
#writingcommunity #wip #amwriting #yalit #riduna #channelislands
I haven't been reading a ton. I have other stuff on my plate right now, but I am thinking a fun 90s YA horror is next. It'll be perfect because they are short and simple. I grabbed a couple when I was in Houghton this summer so I should probably check out one of those.
What do you read when you don't really have a lot of time, but want to read something fun?
#books #bookstodon #YALit #YA #read #reading #busy #ShortReads
Psst... there's a Goodreads giveaway going on right now in which you can enter to win 1 of 50 Kindle copies of River of Crows, my debut middle grade fantasy novel. It's also a series starter, so if you love it, there's lots more story from the world of Arcania!
Find out for yourself why Kirkus Reviews called it "a smart, funny, exciting fantasy novel!"
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/enter_kindle_giveaway/370298-river-of-crows
#giveaway #GoodreadsGiveaway #MGLit #YALit #KidLit #MGFantasy #bookstodon #reading #books #Writing #FantasyBooks #MiddleGradeBooks #quest #author #adventure #crows #magic #WritingCommunity #librarians #teachers #BooksOfMastodon #bookish #bookworm
Here's a thing that just happened. A college professor contacted me and asked if she could use my #YA story "The Last Storyteller" from my website for her children's lit class. I didn't think anyone ever looked at the site. I'm thrilled someone noticed. I said yes, of course. The link is on my profile if you're interested.
#WritingCommunity #YALit #ya #writer #reading #reading
Calling all #kidlit and #yalit scholars:
As editor of the Children's Literature Group of the online Literary Encyclopedia (https://www.litencyc.com/), I am looking for contributors who can write entries of 1000-3500 words on authors, illustrators, texts, genres, literary and historical contexts, etc. We're especially looking for essays on texts and people considered essential to the field.
Submit a proposal here:
https://forms.gle/NuRQiPW4d6ePEVQF6
https://bookriot.com/2023-summerr-ya-paperbacks/
I haven't been keeping track of new releases like I used to when I was at the library. This list of summer #YA releases has quite a few that interest me.
@bookstodon #Kidlit recommendations continued...
Breadwinner is a graphic novel about a girl in Afghanistan who has to dress like a boy in order to get food and work to help her family after her father was imprisoned.
Beetle and the Hollowbones is a YA graphic novel about a young goblin and her friend. It is a Stonewall Honor Book and was an exciting adventure saving Blob Ghost.
I have taken the day to read an old R.L. Stine Fear Street book from the 90s. Nostalgia is real.
#books #read #bookstodon #bookish #reading #nostalgia #90s #YALit
YA books weren't much of a thing when I was in my early teens. I remember liking a few Robert Cormier novels, a few Paul Zindel books, but loathing nearly everything else in the age range (Fifteen by Beverly Cleary sent me into a rage--Jane and her stupid gladiolas)--I mostly read Stephen King instead.
The one meant-for-kids series I did like was the Trixie Belden series--I consider them the bridge that led me to horror when I was in elementary school.
https://getpocket.com/collections/why-are-these-90s-ya-books-so-irresistible
So I've finally finished the #Spellslinger series ending with Sebastien De Castell's #CrownBreaker.
It's one of those series I'm really sad to finish but really happy to have read (or listened to). It's definitely a #series. I will revisit. Loved the #characters, the #magical systems and #worldbuilding. Must #read for #fantasy #readers.
Also, Joe Jameson did an excellent job narrating these books.
#YALit #YA #YAFantasy #MastoDaoine #books #reading #audiobooks #IrishMastodon #BookRecs #magic
Can you help ID a children's fantasy novel from the 1970s?
Help, #fantasy, #SFF, #kidlit, #YAlit, #books, & #bookstodon friends!
My colleague is trying to identify a fantasy novel he read as a child/tween sometime around 1980-1984 in the U.S., and so far all of us who are trying to assist are stumped. If you can help, we'd be most grateful! (UPDATE: We’ve ruled out works by McKillip, L'Engle, Alexander, and Le Guin.)
Here's what he remembers:
1. He thinks it was published in the late 1970s. (He read a library hardback without a dustjacket, so he didn't see the cover art.)
2. He thinks it was a standalone novel, not a book in a series.
3. The plot involved a boy and girl brought up as siblings, but in fact they were the respective heirs of two warring kingdoms, heraldically represented as "the Mountain" and "the Sea." It culminated in a duel between two wizards.
Thank you so much for any and all leads!
But for real though, anyone else on #booktok struggling with getting ANY views and engagement? I feel like the past few months have been trash for any sort of video at any length/with or without my face/ with or without trending music/with trends. Anybody have any insight? I am this close to giving up on tiktok in a very rage quitting way 🫥🙄🫠 #bookish #tiktok #authorsofmastodon #author #writingcommunity #authorlife #bookstagram #yalit #bookmarketing #rant
I think my dogs face accurately depicts how I feel trying to figure out Mastodon and find my people #bookstagram #writersonmastodon #writingcommunity #readersofmastadon #yalit #yafantasy #fantasyromancebooks #dogs #bookish
👋 I moved instances! So another #introduction: 2 fast 2 furious
So! I'm an editor working in kid lit (ie YA lit, MG, etc), and of course, I love to read 😌 especially queer SFF like A Memory Called Empire, Murderbot, A Marvellous Light, and Black Water Sister.
But I do things other than read! Like watching Andor and Abbot Elementary, baking, and napping. Anyway, here's my cat niece!
#SFF #publishing #editor #kidlit #YAlit #Murderbot #Andor #AbbotElementary #Philly #baking #cats #books
Hi, I'm Carey. I live in #Chicago, where I'm a #teacher and a #musician. I #honk on the #trombone with Clamor & Lace Noise Brigade, and I'm a #singersongwriter and #guitar player, too. I have an album called Someone Else's Wings and a #yalit novel called Forward March. I #dance for mental health, I keep a #BulletJournal and collect #childrensbooks, and I know more about #takethat and #thebeachboys (among other things) than any normal person should. It's nice to be here.
Hi, I’m Michelle, I read/review on my blog at DailyWaffle.com (and IG & TT). Supporting & amplifying #bipoc books is impt to me.
.
#romancebooks
#crimefiction
#latinxrom
#blackromance
#historicalromance
#yalit
#cookbooks