Shadow of the Mark Blog Tour - Guest Post

Today I have the pleasure of taking part in the blog tour for Leigh Fallon's second book, Shadow of the Mark. As part of the blog tour, I have the honor of having author Leigh Fallon here on the blog to discuss the importance of setting in a story. And be sure to keep reading for your chance to enter a giveaway.

The importance of setting - why set your story where (and possibly when) you do.

For me, the setting of a story is as important as the story itself. I like my setting to be a character in my book. It has meaning, presence, and a bearing on the plot.

In the Carrier series, Ireland plays a role.  It is central to the story, where the lore began, it holds the magic deep in its core. The remnants of Danu’s great power still emanates from the echoed soils of old. It’s a living breathing, feeling thing. It takes no sides. It simply is.

The different character traits of the setting were imperative for tone and mood. Ireland’s weather is brooding. The cloud and rain are always present like a somber drape cloaking the rich and ancient landscape. But when the sun breaks through, the light brings warmth, hope, and sets off more shades of green than you can possibly imagine. It’s an amazing sight.  Then the wind that that constantly whips and the coastline, gouges out a rugged coastline, and sculpts the most unusual landscape is a constant reminder of the power of nature and how we are at its mercy.  Ireland is timeless. We humans are merely blips on its timeline, our impact on it, minimal.

Ireland’s scenery, weather, and history, created not only a beautiful backdrop, but also a complex and multilayered entity that would weave through each characters everyday life and eventually, become part of them.

I always use careful consideration when choosing a setting for a story. It can impact every aspect of a manuscript. It is not just a landscape in which to set a story, it is a platform providing emotion, conflict, mood, tone, conflict, and intrigue. Pick the right one and you can create a vivid world that people will connect with and immerse themselves in.

About the book:

Their love could destroy them all.

Through the ages, Marked Ones have harnessed the powers of the four elements: Water, Fire, Earth, and Air. Much about the elements is shrouded in mystery, but one thing is certain: A relationship between two Marked Ones has the potential to cause widespread devastation.

Megan and Adam—Air and Water—are determined to defy the risks.

But the power that swirls inside Megan is growing in twisted ways. And the closer she is to Adam, the closer Megan comes to unleashing a dark force that could spell destruction for the entire Marked line.

Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes & Noble/The Book Depository

About the author:

Leigh Fallon was born in South Africa, raised in Dublin, Ireland and moved to Cork in her 20's. While living in beautiful Kinsale, her novel, The Carrier of the Mark was conceived. She promptly abandoned her 'riveting' career in corporate treasury and discovered Inkpop, a website for budding writers of teen fiction. Within weeks her manuscript hit the coveted top five spot and was reviewed by an editor at HarperCollins. A few emails and some hysterical screaming later, she signed her first deal. Leigh and her family now share their time between Ireland and the US.

Website/Blog/Twitter/Facebook/Goodreads

Giveaway:

Does Shadow of the Mark sound like something you want to read? Be sure to enter the giveaway below using the Rafflecopter form  for your chance to win one of three great prizes.

1st place: a signed copy of Shadow of the Mark and a boat load of goodies, including a silver bookmark. USA ONLY (see picture below)

2nd place: a $10 Book Depository gift card and some signed swag. INTERNATIONAL

3rd place: signed swag. INTERNATIONAL

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Paradox by A.J. Paquette Blog Tour - Guest Post & Giveaway

Today I have the pleasure of having A.J. Paquette, the author of Paradox, here to talk about the process she went from writing her book to having her book published. And be sure to keep reading to find out more about the book and enter a giveaway.

Joy in the Process: Seeing Your Book All the Way Through to the Finish Line

It’s a true fact that there are as many different ways of writing a novel as there are novelists who write. For me, I’m a drafter. I love the rush of early creation, both for its manic excitement, and also—okay, mostly—because I’m a strongly task-oriented writer. I love the simple act of creating a to-do list and working through it methodically from start to finish.

When I begin a new project, I tend to start by writing the first few chapters. This anchors me in the main character’s world, hooks me into her or his voice, and generally gets me going in the right direction. From there, however, I almost always pull back. And get myself a concrete plan.

I confess it: I’m an outliner. I start with that thumbnail story-nugget idea which launched me into the project, and I build outward from there. I usually start the outline in fairly broad strokes, carving away at the story until all the bones are there, then going back over it to be sure the logic aligns and the structure holds together well. What I end up with is a pretty straightforward “this happens next and then this and then this” story description. I then break this down into chapter-sized nuggets. And then I get writing.

It’s like a giant to-do list, and I find great satisfaction in working my way down the list, and also in keeping up with the subtle changes that always arise as I’m writing.

So this is my favorite part of the process. Next comes revision. Which, well, isn’t my favorite. I know many authors live for this part of the process, but my task-oriented brain finds it a little too amorphous to truly enjoy. One can work for hours doing very necessary revision work without feeling like there is anything “concrete” to show for it.

So I’ve come up with my own work around, and those who know me well won’t be surprised to hear what it is. Can you guess? It’s a to-do list! Basically, I go through my draft, open a separate document, and list all of the things I still need to do. Here’s a few of the points that were on my massive, 50+ point to-do list when I was revising PARADOX:

[ ] Revise the whole ending portion to make it tighter

[ ] Check the trajectory of the suns across the planet to make sure they follow proper path

[ ] Fix the final [specifics redacted] memory to show more significance

[ ] Do we need more [element redacted]? Make sure sightings are balanced throughout the story.

[ ] Come up with new names for land formations on the planet.

[ ] Check pacing/keep it moving/efficiency of scenes

And so it goes. In the end, every book is its own little mystery, its own treasure hunt that can only be uncovered one clue at a time. The joy is in the journey, of course, but without a doubt the joy is also in pushing back one’s chair, picking up that hardcover book and being able to say, at last and with satisfaction, “I’m DONE!”

So what about you? What’s your writing process? What parts do you find most and least enjoyable?

About the book:

Ana only knows her name because of the tag she finds pinned to her jumpsuit. Waking in the featureless compartment of a rocket ship, she opens the hatch to discover that she has landed on a barren alien world. Instructions in her pocket tell her to observe and to survive, no doubt with help from the wicked-looking knives she carries on her belt. But to what purpose?

Meeting up with three other teens--one boy seems strangely familiar--Ana treks across the inhospitable landscape, occasionally encountering odd twists of light that carry glimpses of people back on Earth. They're working on some sort of problem, and the situation is critical. What is the connection between Ana's mission on this planet and the crisis back on Earth, and how is she supposed to figure out the answer when she can't remember anything?

GOODREADS | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

About the author:

A.J. Paquette has been writing stories since early childhood. She and her sister would spend hours creating masterpieces of stapled paper and handwritten words, complete with pen-and-ink covers and boxed illustrations.

The road to publication was long and winding, peppered with many small successes including: a variety of national magazine publications, being a 2005 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award honoree, and receiving the 2008 SCBWI’s Susan Landers Glass Scholarship Award, for the book that would later become Nowhere Girl. Her first picture book, The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies, was published in 2009.

She now lives with her husband and two daughters in the Boston area, where she continues to write books for children and young adults. She is also an agent with the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

WEBSITE | TWITTER

Giveaway

Does Paradox sound like something you want to read? If it does, enter below for your chance to win one of three ARCs of Paradox. Giveaway open to US/CANADA ONLY.

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