Editing the Sequel for A Dash of Belladonna!
That’s right. I haven’t given up.
Currently at 13% of the first drafting process.
While this is happening, I’ll be polishing all my social media pages, gather people who are interested!
Reading
Yeah… when others were asking me what I thought of Cloud Atlas, Jane Austin and the like…
I was busy reading comics, watching K drama and anime.
To my defence, being an immigrant and having english as a means to survive, we did not have Franz Kafka, Jane Austin, not even Dr Seus in the bookshelf. (Yes from these selections you can tell I' had to think hard about who I think sounds impressive?) I consumed stories on different platforms.
That’s not a bad thing. No. Actually, I think it gave me an unique outlook on stories.
However, it isn’t awesome for writing.
It took me several years to admit this.
By reading another’s works, you subconsciously pick up how the sentences flow, how they used dialogue, the language used. I remember my masters tutor read my draft and asked “why did you describe this like this?” because the sentence made sense, yet it was clunky and awkward.
And reading… is a challenge.
I have a huge expectation of what a story will do. And I’ve had many books that let me down. Perhaps I was only focused on the story. I didn’t care about the beautiful language it used, how it really tied in the atmosphere or the message.
So when I strip it completely for a story - my selection can be very narrow.
Reading is a habit! The more you get into it, the more you will read.
SO I NEED TO READ.
My goal is currently 1 book per month… paltry. But hey. Gotta start somewhere!
Anyone wanna read with me?
I’m currently reading: “The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle” by Stuart Turton.
Not what I would normally pick up, but I was recommended this for a good murder mystery book. (Also to help with my new book)
New Genres being born - Lit RPG, and now... an unnamed challenger appears!
I came across Lit-RPG tag a couple of days ago.
To be honest, I thought it was “this is LIT. A LIT book.” No. Lit didn’t stand for ON FIYAH, no. It meant Literature RPG.
So what is LIT RPG? According to Wikipedia:
LitRPG, short for Literary Role Playing Game, is a literary genre combining the conventions of computer RPGs with science-fiction and fantasy novels. The term is a neologism introduced in 2013.
… It has visible RPG statistics (for example strength, intelligence, damage) are a significant part of the reading experience
I find it interesting… because although there were books from 1997 that dealt with this, I think the most popular, wide-spread story-telling medium of a story taking place like this was from an Anime called .hack//sign in 2002. (High five to my anime fans who loved this series)
The story was about being trapped in an online game that was advanced VR, and not being able to escape. Of course, menu screens, stats, classes, weapons, dungeons, even PVP was mentioned in this story. For those who will get the pitchforks to say this isn’t LIT RPG because it wasn’t literature…
It became a novella. (Like every popular anime in Japan does)
With rise to MMORPG and online games, it stirred up a lot of people’s imagination: What if I get trapped in this world? What would I do?
Since the success of .hack//sign, there’s been a BUNCH of anime that deals with this.
And now I see it coming to life in the western novel world! Pretty cool!
I haven’t picked one up yet, as I’m not a fan, but isn’t it interesting, that new genres will open up to catch up to new technologies?
A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES!
I am willing to make a bet.
There’s going to be a new genre soon. I’m seeing this trend in Korea, with their webnovels. Omg you cannot escape! And holy cow, it’s an amazing formula. I kick myself for not writing a book in this genre earlier.
So: What happens in this new genre… let me call it LRF. Lit-Romance-Fan (Yeah it’s dumb. Look, I am running out of time)
A girl is an avid reader. She is a huge fan of a certain romance novel
It’s set in western/fantasy world
One day, she wakes up: She is reborn as a baby/already an adult female protagonist/antagonist. SHE IS IN THE ROMANCE NOVEL WORLD SHE WAS A HUGE FAN OF. OMG
She either: wants to live her life in this fantasy world, so she will:
Avoid the main characters at all costs (usually they get embedded extremely close to the main protagonists by accidents.)
Make sure the main characters get together and they remain an extra. (This also doesn’t work. Usually the main guy prot falls in love with her)
Happy to live her life and keep a low profile.
Usually she takes the main girl character’s position by accident, and she will struggle to remove herself from it, but it never works.
This is GENIUS.
Basically the girl protagonist’s super powers is that she knows how the story will pan out. She also knows the backstory of all the characters. She never has to work for anything, because technically, she already posses this power.
COMPLETELY RELATABLE. Any avid reader would’ve dreamed of inserting themselves in the book they love. This is basically fan fic come true.
They poke fun at all the cliches of romance stories, AND THUS PUTS THE CLICHES IN WITHOUT MAKING IT LOOK LAZY. OMG
This basically puts women readers on a pedestral, and panders to all their fantasy.
And, not too scary, because technically they have superpowers of knowing what will happen.
of course, after the initial shock/interest, it will read like a normal romance fantasy novel. Sprinkled in are questions like: Are they… going back to their home soon? Is this all a dream?
I can’t wait to see where this is going to go! Will it flow over internationally? Maybe there’s already a movement?
I love how this genre came about because of the saturated romance stories out there. People now assume people would’ve read at least one romance story, and poke fun at it.
Similar to Lit RPG, where Lit RPG probably targets gamers (dare I say men), I believe this will target readers (women). Let’s see how this goes :)
Or heeey… who wants to write this genre with me??
A Great Advice to Share with Fellow Writers...
Gary Provost, quoted in Roy Peter Clark’s (terrific) Writing Tools:
This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.
How not to approach people for reviews/advice
I don’t know about you, but when someone sends a mass email/message asking them to look at their work xoxo, my first response is WTF?
Yup this face.
I received a DM…
It read:
Hi I'm a Poet, and I was wondering if you could take a look at my poems at xyz?Thank you! Much love.
Something like that.
My eyebrow shot to the ceiling.
First of all, I don't write poems. what makes you think I'm qualified to judge someone's poems?
Second, who are you?
Three, rude?
Now, it did pique my interest. I guess that worked. I went and took a look. I am no poem connoisseur, but there are some poems that really move me. Then I saw their other posts saying how so-and-so gave a review of their poems. Cool.
I mean, I have nothing against starting out writers of any medium. I think it’s an incredibly hard work and every push, every encouragement is a godsend. Yet this poet wasn’t going to get anything from me.
Usually I would ignore requests like this, but as I said, I was interested.
"Hi, so… how did you find me?”
Was my response. If they read the first line of my Instagram, they would’ve seen that I’m NO poet. I write and draw. Sometimes I combine and draw comics.
“I was just reaching out to writers in New Zealand, hoping they like my work!
Translation: they just googled some writers/followed some hashtags.
Yeah… nah, you’re not getting anything from me.
I will give them that they had courage to fire a mass email/message, but this is not how you ask for favors.
So… how to ask for favours?
Say their name.
Put something in the message that shows you know something about their work. Come on. Even if you haven’t read my book, at least know the title of my book.
Say why you think they are great for what you’re asking. For example, this poet wanting me to review/give feedback on her poem. Nope. Say something like “Hey, I’ve always loved your work on ____, I was wondering if you could give me some feedback on ____ as you’re quite known in the field of doing XYZ”
Doesn’t have to be Tit-for-Tat, but it would be good if I saw on their page them also shouting out for other authors/writers or writing reviews too.
If you don’t get a reply back, don’t take it personal! People are busy, or they may not be into your work. Different strokes… all that, right? Having courage is good, but let’s go about it right way!
Back on the Saddle again...
Hello!
I honestly don’t know if anyone is around anymore - and fair enough - why stay in an empty room when the host leaves the room with “I’ll be right back,” and doesn’t return for two years!
So I’ll be starting my blog to my journey on self-publishing here.
More to gather my thoughts, and hey, if other authors benefit from this, then that’s great!
I’ll be writing my journey here. If you write fantasy, YA or science fiction, my path could help!
Just a little introduction:
I’ve written my debut novel: A Dash of Belladonna in New Zealand 2017 (launched two weeks before my baby was born)
Due to this a lot of marketing went out the window.
I’ve been very fortunate that a few bookstores wanted my books and they order some every now and then.
To this date it has sold around 100-200 books, which I am more than happy with.
However I feel like I’m not doing the best for my baby. So here’s some attempts to revitalize the book!
First things first:
Gotta have a clear vision of what I want and where I am going with this.
WISH:
I want my first book to get some attention for the sequel I am writing.
GOALS:
I want to exhaust all options I have with this book, and feel I’ve done everything I could for my first book.
I want the book in at least 10 bookstores around NZ.
I want five more reviews.
I want to make sure the book is available on all platforms (I previously went with Kindle exclusive?)
Whew. They don’t look too bad, right?
Wish me luck :)
Book Launch!
Oh dear, the time has come for the dreaded Book launch.
Thoughts that enter my head are:
"What if no one comes?"
"What if no one buys the books?"
"My friends and family have already bought a book off me, so who else is left?"
While these are all common worries (I've since found out), the best approach I thought was to just think of it as a celebration. Invite everyone that is interested in the book or interested in your creativity and just think of it as a celebration.
Sure, it'll be nice to sell books, but I'm approaching it as a thank you party to those who have supported me in the writing process.
I believe I'll pass on the speeches and the stuffy clapping nonsense, and just have fun.
Not the most official book launch, but hey - it'll be neat to have people who love your book and support you in one room, and who knows, meet new people!
If you are interested, please come! I don't know who comes to this website, but it'd be amazing to meet you :)
The Book's published... Now what?
There are two author types.
One, who sits back on their writer chair, happy to hold the physical copy of their book in their hot little hands.
Two, who plunges into the world of self promotion, (sometimes begging) and marketing their books.
It seems I'm the latter.
I don't imagine my book "A Dash of Belladonna" will sweep the world by a storm, but I do want to give it the best chance it has.
Sure I can spend thousands upon thousands of $$$ to promote and hire PR companies, but alas - I am a part-time worker who lives on modest income. So it looks like I'm doing this myself.
So! Here's my journey of self-marketing from my little (but lovely) country of New Zealand.
Wish me luck!