Category Archives: Book Junkies louise wise

Romcom at its craziest, funniest and British-iest and it’s only 99p! #99books #romcom

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British romcom at its best! Continue reading →

Only #99c for readers who loved the Time Traveler’s Wife – Wide Awake Asleep #bookboost #soulmate

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‘Past events can be changed but one must be careful of how one does it because it’ll impact on the rest of one’s life.’—Dáire Quin, Modify your Destiny if you Must, 2003 Wide Awake Asleep No one saw Julie’s car … Continue reading →

Louise Wise’s new time-travel romance out for Christmas!

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Coming soon… Village girl Julie Compton couldn’t wait to leave Potterspury, neither could she wait to turn her back on her mum, boyfriend and best friend when they cruelly conspired against her and turned her cossetted life upside down and inside … Continue reading →

The worst thing you can say to someone with #depression is ‘pull yourself together’.

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‘I’m not angry, moody or resentful. I just don’t like people.’ – Valerie Anthrope. ‘Oh no, I’ve Fallen in Love! comes a warm, tear-jerking story of strong women, bad-turned-good men and the power of friendship. Valerie’s life has been one of … Continue reading →

‘Is it in?’ – A Proper Charlie #romcom #british #badsex #cheapbooks

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 A Proper Charlie is a contemporary romance and sums up what the genre is all about: fun, ‘finding yourself’ and relationships.   Charlie Wallis is a ditzy redhead but her heart is in the right place. Without a family, she was … Continue reading →

World Building and Rule Breaking: Why Other Worlds are Created

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by

A. K. Taylor




For this article I would like to discuss why we fantasy and sci-fi authors build worlds opposed to how. Several of my friends and I have agreed on this in some form or another on blog, Facebook posts, and tweets. It is a lot of laughs, but in all seriousness, it points to the underlying roots of why fantasy and as sci-fi exists and why we enjoy creating and consuming it.

In a nutshell these are the reasons:



  1. The real/natural world is boring.
  2. Reality stinks. 
  3. The real world has so many limitations for the extraordinary, so then it becomes ordinary 
  4. Rules- the real world is so full of them. Everybody hates rules (especially the can’t-dos), and they are made to be broken.



The things of everyday life become mundane, so why do we want to read or write about it? 

Escaping the ordinary world and going to a new and extraordinary world on a glorious adventure is a breath of fresh air. We do this as authors, and we surly hope that readers will do the same when they pick up our books. We come home from an ordinary day and become the extraordinary when we sit at the computer. We leave being a lab technician at the “door” and transform into being a chosen warrior on a quest to save the world. We leave the real world behind for hours at a time. Time seems to stop. We hate to leave the computer or book to “come back” to the ordinary world–even if it is for dinner. 


The quickest way to loose a hand is to try to bring a fantasy author or reader back to the real world when they are having a “fantasy moment”. We don’t like that “dose of reality”. It tastes worse than an unripe persimmon—or a green lemon—take your pick.

Everything always seems the best in the fantasy world as opposed to the real world, doesn’t it?

We also create fantasy to make our own rules and/or to break the rules of the real world. We create fantasy worlds within the real world or we go to another place entirely. I like to do both essentially and within the same story. Hiding the hidden world from the real world is just awesome fun! However, we must abide by our own rules. They shouldn’t suck as much since we made them right? The can’t-do’s we don’t like don’t exist do they?
There must be some can’t-dos/limitations or our worlds seem implausible to the reader (visitor). They need to understand the “rules of the game” so they can play, too.


If we want to read about real life, we can pick up the newspaper. The closest I can get to the real world in fiction is a thriller, but still that type stuff rarely happens in real life. It still has just enough detachment for me to enjoy the escape. Everyday life is mundane, so why do I want to read about it? 


Hasn’t anyone ever noticed you can add genres to a fantasy, but you can’t add fantasy to that same genre? For instance, you can add the thriller to the fantasy, but not the fantasy 
to the thriller unless you are talking about a particular character’s fantasies (usually the killer). If we do, the thriller readers would be angry and say “we broke the rules”. Fantasy and sci-fi authors have a tendency to do that.

It’s almost painful to get closer to the real world—believe me I know. I recently wrote a non-fiction book, The Newbie Author’s Survival Guide, and it was quite an adjustment! You can’t get much more real-world than non-fiction! To go even further, I normally write for middle-grade and young adults, so this non-fiction is for adults. I don’t think any seventh graders need to learn how to market their books or need to know book marketing survival skills. Luckily I have a friend who is a great non-fiction author to help me out to make sure I wasn’t returning to the fantasy world!


World building is fun but it is very intensive. We create entire societies, landmasses, elements, magic, metals, technology, creatures, etc. Some of us go as far as to make mythology, religion, and language. We can make animals talk that can’t talk in the natural world. How about a giant talking scorpion with a cobra tail? He’s just one of my creations in Neiko’s Five Land Adventure! We have the power to create an entire world, and the real world says humans have no magic—I guess they forgot about fantasy and sci-fi authors! Time travel to another time is always fun to and how you get there is up to you. In my upcoming book Escape from Ancient Egypt I skipped the time machine and used power from another universe to get there, but getting back is the problem since it’s the bad guy that has the ticket home as well as going up against one of the greatest pharaohs of all time…


So, when we pick up another fantasy author’s book we are visiting their world for a time when we need a break from ours. How awesome is that? 


Neiko’s Five Land Adventure
Amazon.UK
Amazon.com





The Indians and the Crackedskulls are locked in the turmoil of war and presently in a stalemate. 


Her enemies, Raven and Bloodhawk, have come up with a scheme to up the ante and break the stalemate into their favor. 


Neiko later finds out that a land she thought she had only imagined is actually real and contains a legendary and otherworldly evil within it. Not only that, she becomes trapped there and must escape the world, the people within it, and the sinister evil within. 


Neiko must find her way back home and turn the tables on her enemies. Can she come back home and escape the evil that seeks to claim her?

A.K. Taylor is a YA fantasy/science fiction adventure writer who has been writing since age 16. 


Taylor also draws her characters and designs her covers and illustrations which she also began at 16.

Other books by A.K Taylor include a non-fiction: The Newbie Author’s Survival Guide, and coming soon the second book to Neiko’s Five Land Adventure – Escape from Ancient Egypt is coming soon!

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Is a college degree necessary to become a full-time writer?

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another guest post on #wwbb
by

Lauren Bailey

It’s the age-old question of whether
institutionalized credit trumps raw talent. Before you begin chomping at the
bit to defend either direction, I have to come clean and say that there are
opportunities for writers of all education backgrounds, which makes the title a
bit of a trick question.


The first step to understanding the
world of full-time writing is to broaden your perception of what a full-time
writer does. There are many different occupations that demand writing, but most
of my fellow creative writing majors have landed jobs in other sectors – like
finance and education. Being a full-time writer means being a full-time
thinker. Some people, even passionate and talented people, find that writing
full-time is more of a burden than a joy.

It’s true that the intellectual and
creative demands of being a full-time writer are sometimes exhausting; and no
matter what anyone tells you, being a writer is full of rejection and
disappointment. For most of us; however, writing is as natural as breathing,
and when things go awry, it’s just part of the job and part of life.
Anyone who wishes to become employed by
a major corporation will need an undergraduate degree. The market for writers
is extremely competitive. A degree in English literature, technical writing,
journalism, creative writing or PR is a good place to begin. For those who wish
to publish as freelancers or as book authors, the market is less about
credentials and more about writing samples.

Common jobs for writers

Book
Authors – Writers of fiction and non-fiction alike
have come from various backgrounds and levels of education. Authors are
artists, plain and simple; but the disadvantage to being a book author is that
the art must also be marketable in order to become a full-time job. Alas, you
have to be a real literary genius to pull off anything completely avant-garde
these days.

Participating in workshops that are
offered in creative writing programs will expose beginning authors to the basics
of proofreading, editing and writing on a deadline. Although it can be stifling
at times, a creative writing emphasis can usher budding writers into the first
stages of publishing, and it is, as the name suggests, the most liberal of
education in terms of creativity.

Journalists
– Good journalists have highly analytical
minds and a natural ability to restructure information. Though sometimes the
job can be a bit dull – there is a ton of research and sleuthing involved – it
can also be controversial and fast-paced. Unlike book authors, journalists work
with other writers and benefit from the mentorship of an editor.
Community-minded individuals may be better suited for a journalism career
rather than a solitary life as an author.

PR
Manager — Corporations across the nation are
looking for public relations managers who can mitigate damage in crisis
situations and serve as connecting points for media campaigns. The day-to-day
life of a PR manager is full of press-releases, both writing and reading; but it
may also include managing public statements and organizing events. Highly
social writers and all-around great communicators would enjoy this job. Oh, you
also have to be extremely business minded. Some elements of PR can be a bit
nasty, especially when smoothing over a company’s mistakes. Mitigating damage
in crisis situations can be extremely stressful and demanding, making this job
perfect for the adrenaline junkie.

Copy
Writers – Another business-minded job, marketing
writers are those who work well under direction or with a specific goal in
mind. Often, writing is a bit of an open-ended venture; but for the copy
writer, the message needs to be succinct and clear while also being cleverly
cloaked. It’s a tricky business, but like the journalist, a copy writer is a
part of a larger team that works under a creative director.

Content
Writers – In the dawn of the Internet age, the
position of content writer has cropped up in major cities. Content writers
write articles for Websites and blogs. The job is a unique merging of
journalism and marketing; as the content is researched and independent, yet
affiliated with the host site.

Wait…there’s more.

Education is essential to capturing the
attention of a major corporation, but more important than a college degree is
an outstanding portfolio. The first step to becoming a full-time writer is
producing large volumes of work – whether through freelance articles to your
local newspaper or your indie blog. The more you write, and the more you get
rejected, the better you will become.

If you are interested in learning more
about writing, consider
taking a free online course before you enroll in any major.

Lauren Bailey is a freelance blogger for
bestcollegesonline.com. She
loves writing about education, writing, and health. As an education writer, she
works to provide helpful information on the best online colleges and courses.
She welcomes comments and questions via email at blauren 99 @gmail.com.
Your right to reply…

A library for ONLY small-press and indie authors

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on




Has anyone seen the potential of marketing via Pinterest? I have. It’s visual and it’s taking off very quickly. I can go anywhere on the web and “Pin It” (grab) a picture and stick it to a board, along with a short description, then I can Tweet, FB, LinkedIn the link as normal and when people click on the picture they are taken STRAIGHT TO THE PURCHASE PAGE of your book.


Never more is a book cover so important.


Want to be included? Email me your book’s purchase link and its genre. Here’s the Book Junkies link in full: http://pinterest.com/BookJunkies/

Open to small-press/indies only.



Update: Success! Authors have informed me sales have picked up since they’ve added their book on Book Junkies, and that to me, is success. It may have happened anyway, who knows? But it’s good to know there is a library for our growing  community and it’s being viewed!

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