Review Hang Over

… When you read a really awesome review and you just keep going back to pinch yourself and remind yourself that the reviewer was talking about YOUR BOOK!

For realz.

This:

is my favourite line from a review ever (so far… shut up).*

Because I am a fan.

Do I set out to write like Joe Abercrombie? Well, maybe, because I love his work and I want to love my work (but I don’t know if that is ever really possible for an author to truly LURVE their own output… because we can always see what it was meant to be). I’ve nearly finished reading all his currently published works… then I will be sad… but more is coming out, so I will be happy (yay!).

Anyway… in another sense I don’t set out to write like Mr. Abercrombie, because, well, I like sexual tension and romance in stories, and so I write stories with these elements appearing fairly central to the overall plot. It often makes me wonder if I’ll find much of an audience. I mean, some elements of my stories probably appeal to those who like dark, gritty themes and violence and whatnot, while other aspects of my stories will appeal to those who dig romance and sex… Is there an audience for both? Well… there’s me (o: I’m not entirely unique… Somewhere out there, are others like me, and just maybe (please!) they feel like reading something I write….

And so… I continue to write… Just in case.

 

* my deepest apologies to my other reviewers, because I TOTALLY dig your work, too… it’s just… it’s just… yeah, I can’t dig myself out of this one. But don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved plenty of reviews – the passion with which some people can talk about my book… wow… just wow. Y’all are awesome.

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Bandit Book Bloggers: Interview with Gillian O’Rourke, author of THE RELUCTANT PROPHET

Hello, Gillian! Welcome to the home of Deb E., where I grill you slowly, basting regularly, until you’re nice and tender then I—uh, hey, where ya going? Come back, come back, I’ll be gentle. Promise. [See. I look totally innocent].

So, first up, can you tell me a little about you and your induction into writing?

Hi Deb, thanks for having me (but please not for dinner). And I promise to keep everything short and sweet! At the moment I’m working away full time as a Social Care Worker, helping adults with Intellectual Disabilities, but before that I was a nurse for several years in Melbourne, Australia, where I grew up. First thing people might notice about me is my odd accent, which has a mix of Scottish, Aussie and Irish now since I moved to Eire in 2007.

As for my writing, I’ve always been writing stories, especially since my teens, but I haven’t truly pursued it because I wouldn’t let anyone read my stuff. Last year I decided to ‘grow a pair’ and I was really very lucky to come across some very lovely people from Kristell Ink, who decided they loved my fantasy novel.

Tell me a little about your fantasy novel, THE RELUCTANT PROPHET.

The Reluctant Prophet is set in its own unique world, more medieval in technologies and beliefs. The story is written from the perspective of seventeen year old Esther, who has the gift/curse of foresight. The only problem is, she can only

Stories have a tendency to write themselves…

… no matter how much you think you know better… you probably don’t. The story knows.

So, I’m still writing. Yes, yes, I know, I haven’t kept you updated… been too busy writing, or thinking up marketing strategies for HEALER’S TOUCH – often having to remind myself that the best marketing strategy for HT is to get WARRIOR’S TOUCH out there…

But I just felt like sharing something…

This may not be true for everyone, but for me, it really is: my stories write themselves, and if I try to go against them, I get stifled.

I’ve been reminded of this fact a couple of times recenty.

A few weeks ago I had an idea for WT. I thought “That’ll be really cool, and according to well-established story beats, a good time for that to happen would be… later in the story.” Cool, I thought. I have something to work towards.

Wrong.

I stagnated.

I kept pushing on, telling myself “Come on, write, there’s good stuff coming.” Not that I thought what I was writing at the time was terrible, or even bad. I was just struggling to find momentum in my writing.

Then I had an epiphany. That idea that I thought would work best coming later in the story could easily

I feel I have succeeded

Hey yous fellas… and fella-ettes…. is that how it works? I must ponder on that… (perhaps “fellas” is asexual… sure… I’ll take that).

I’ve been quiet.

Basically, I’ve been writing, or working, or mothering, or (heaven forbid) tidying and cleaning… (shudder)

Sometimes I think to myself “My blog is part of my “author platform” (I quote because I totally understand what that means), I should make it interesting so people will want to read my book”…

The thing is, I may be published, but I am an amateur. I have no guru-spec-tac-u-lar to spill over you and imbue you with the magic of “you can do it too” (although, by the way… you can do it too).

I have me. My book exists in digital and paperback formats…

Doing it for the love of it?

Salmonella Dub – For the Love Of It (not the version I was thinking of, but it will do)

Why do you write?

When I published my post the other say, somewhat jokingly bemoaning my as yet undiscoveredness, I did get a couple of reminders that we should be writing because we love it, not in order to get famous or (heaven forbid) rich.

Well, I just want to take a moment to be honest…

The long hard road from anonymity…

Guess what.

My book was published at the end of January and I’m not famous yet.

I know!

Seriously, though, I’m sure we all know by now that selling books comes down to more than a matter of having a book out there. First and foremost, it has to be a good book. If you would like it to sell well, it also has to find wide appeal (and sign a movie deal). Now, that sort of thing is hard to predict. It’s a matter of giving the world what it wants when it wants it. You can’t guess this based on what’s been selling. By the time you finish your book, the world will very likely have moved on. So we come back to the good old: Write what you want to read and hope. It’s all about hope.

There is one thing that will help your book sell (once you’ve already written a good one): word-of-mouth.

But how do you get it

A Review: Healer’s Touch

Oh my…

That is all I can say. Honestly, when I read reviews like this, it makes me wish I could read the book the way readers can.

Healer’s Touch is a mix of romance, steampunk and high fantasy done the right way and written in just the right kind of style. I have to say that this book has made me a fan of Deb E. Howell.

I have a fan (o: It’s exciting and scary all at once. I mean… RESPONSIBILITY! Argh! Right, back to falling back in love with WARRIOR’S TOUCH.

Read the rest of the review HERE.

What I’m reading

I’m yet to decide if I’m organised enough to turn this into a regular feature, but I thought I would let you take a peak at what’s on my bookshelf… or rather, Kobo.

For this exercise today, I am going to use my Goodreads bookshelf as a reference… it has 10 books on it, we’ll see how we go…

The Barren Island Challenge

… What books would you take with you to a barren island.

You can find out which five I’d take if there was a strict limit (take a fully loaded eReader, I say!… or tablet… something that can play music, too)… Um, where was I? Right, yes, see which five I’d take and why HERE.

Learning Experiences: Goodreads Giveaway

Free! on a Goodreads Giveaway

Share and share alike they say. So I guess it’s my turn to share my experiences of a Goodreads Giveaway, just in case it helps those who come after me…

Well, first things first. Before I ran my giveaway, I checked out this page. It gives a nice blow-by-blow run down of giveaway results, showing you how different blurb styles and run times can affect the outcome of a giveaway. Reading this page can help you decide the ideal length of giveaway for you, and to write the most successful giveaway plug you can (e.g. Rather than the back-cover copy – which people can find easily enough – include reviews!).

I would like to add one caveat: Giveaway entries do not equal eventual sales, nor do additions to Goodreads shelves. While I was well aware of this, I was still surprised by other aspects of the giveaway.

If you’ve ever entered a Goodreads giveaway, you’ll know that when you do, there is a checkbox, already ticked, to add the book to your to-read list. Great. If you’re hoping to win a free copy then presumably you want to read the book! Well, yes, perhaps…

Check out my final numbers to see what you think:

People requesting: 1320

People who have it on their shelves