The Rosie Black Chronicles Blog Tour Day One, October 11, 2010

Well the blog tour for the first book in the Rosie Black series, Genesis, is kicking off today. For all things Rosie, reviews and giveaways follow along over the next ten days. First up I’m visiting Dee White’s blog 

Kids Book Capers.

http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/kids-book-capers-blog

For all the details every day of the tour visit my Rosie Black blog at http://laramorgan.wordpress.com for updates and a giveaway! See you there.

September 15, 2010 – Blogging and book trailers…oh and Worldcon

I’m a bit behind but I am finally trying to put some words down about the fabulous time I had at Worldcon. It was, of course, wonderful, informative,hilarious and totally exhausting but worth every minute and cent spent to go.

Highlights: Meeting people I’ve only talked to online in the flesh – nothing beats it really. Having long conversations about Buffy where everyone is so keen and no one rolls their eyes and suggests talking about something as mundane as politics or the state of the world. Who cares really! Being at Worldcon was like being in a beautiful sci fi bubble where it was normal to pass a storm trooper on the way to a panel and fancy hats and tight bodices were everyday wear. Best Panel: so hard to choose, but I think The Series question panel I did with Ian Irvine, David (DM) Cornish and Kate Forsyth was the most fun – everyone had so many great things to say about how they worked and we were all quite different from chaotic and mildly planned (me and David) to tightly planned and totally organised (Ian and Kate). I also enjoyed watching the Vampire Zombie Smackdown panel which was complete with sprited audience participation. Best party: every one! But perhaps the London Bid 2014 was one of the most popular – or maybe it was all the free booze.

Lowlights: it’s over. But for those who couldn’t make it this year – you will have to save those pennies and head to the USA next year where it will be in Reno, Nevada.

Now on to blogging and book trailers. In honour of Rosie Black’s entrance into the universe I’m starting a blog dedicated to the series at wordpress ; www.laramorgan.wordpress.com  I’m giving away a copy of the first book during October and November so go have a look. 

And there is a fab BOOK TRAILER  see it first at www.rosieblack.com and I am also lining up a blog tour so watch this space…

WORLDCON!

Well I’m almost ready to go and have got my schedule of where I’ll be and what I’m up to.There’s a few panels and lots of fun stuff so drop by and have a chat or if you miss a panel,just track me down at the bar! 

Worldbuilding in YA spec fic Panel – Thursday 4pm

When history become fantasy: Artistic license and historical cinema – Fri 10am

Book signing Fri 1pm – bring your book along and I’ll sign it saying whatever you like.

kaffeeklatsche Sat 11am 

The Series Question YA panel – Sun 11am

Has Hollywood Sucked the Vampire Dry panel – Sun 1pm

Fantasy tv: what happened panel – Sun 2pm.

I’m also planning on going to the Nightmare Ball, Hugos and the Ditmars at Dudcon – anyone who doesn’t know about Dudcon go here to find out more http://members.optuszoo.com.au/~dudcon/

See you at the Con.

July 22, 2010 Finishing the first draft

I’ve found, through trial and terror, that by the time I’m on the last few chapters of a first draft a weird thing happens. At some point I start to hate everyone and everything in the book. Even the main character. Does this happen to other authors? I don’t know. I also enter a kind of suspended state where I seem to be intent on self sabotage and write less than a three fingered monkey. 

Why does this happen? I wish I knew. But it does. In the hours when I am not working – ie the middle of the night, often around 3.30am – I find myself weaving elaborate fantasies that tomorrow (in a few hours) everything will be different. I will magically love my characters and world again and be unable to wait to finish it. I will gallop to the end of the book like a mouse spotting aged gouda. My fingers will fly over the keyboard, I will write prose that although not magical is at least choherant and I will, at last, finish it. 

Of course this is three in the morning and everyone knows our brains are not fully engaged at this hour. We are mutant versions of ourselves with delusions standing – mostly of the paranoid kind. So when the next morning comes I am once again at my desk staring at the computer screen with a mixture of despair, frustration and self disgust that would keep many a therapist in pens and self help books. Instead of writing I phone a friend, clean the cupboard no one uses, do the dishes, spend hours on Twitter, or even perhaps blog. Like this. And all the while I can feel the unfinished book breathing behind me like a toddler with a head cold. 

I hate that toddler. And yet when I am not at my desk that toddler is all I think about. I even dream about it, seeing the final scenes like polished shots of film in my head. I can only hope that one day soon – hopefully tomorrow – I will actually get it done.

June 15, 2010 Are you there world, it’s me Lara

I had this thought last night, sometime after the magic hour, that went around in my head like a whirly gig for far too long. In this weird world of online social networks, if you don’t have a profile on at least one of them do you still feel like you exist? Are you part of this modern society? And at some point in the future, will an online profile be the only real proof of your life? 

I have a friend who has, for many years now, sworn that online social networking is the community building of the future. Online communities can solve our feelings of isolation and distance. She believes that people today can find that elusive feeling of belonging in a group online that they may not be able to find offline. But is that true? There are people who say they feel it is, but I’m not really sure if I believe them. Until those online groupings turn into real life meetings, are we really making a connection or is our idea of what belonging to a group, or being heard changing? 

I have been blogging and twittering for a little while – and not as often as the publicists and marketing people say I should – but I am still not convinced. Yes, there is a surge of satisfaction from an immediate reply to a blog or a tweet, that feeling that someone has heard you, that you are not shouting into the void – but more often that not I feel like those small contacts are feeding a kind of addiction that in the end just isn’t really satisfying. If there is a lack of comments on blogs, an absence of friend comments on facebook or no one replying to your tweets there is an element of feeling invisible. A feeling that you are being left out of the party. So are we just creating another, virtual arena that recreates isolation online? Are people who are really lonely and looking to the net to fill the void finding something that helps them, or is it only a panacea that if taken away leaves them even more alone than before?

May 24, 2010

Hard on work on two books right now – Rosie Black Chronicles Book 2 and The Twins of Saranthium Book 3, Redemption. Rosie 2 is getting more love as I try to tie up the plotlines. (Not literally though I hope!) I am also hoping to revamp my website. An intertactive blog is first in line for a makeover. Now if only I could find the time….. suggestions on website design always welcome. 🙂

And then there is plannign for Worldcon in September. Am planning to go just have to sort out all the pesky details

April 28, 2010 Things I’d do if I had the power.

Ok, now firstly you should know that I am a little bit of a geek so things written here may be slightly skewed to the sci fi corner of the spectrum, but you know what do I care? This is my blog and I’ll blog on if I want to.

So this is not about writing so much per se, but I had a good writing day and was indulging in a bit of the old web surfing and got to thinking about what I’d like to do to get rid of some of the stuff out there that is perhaps as entertaining and valuable as serving hamsters stuffed with caterpillars to a vegetarian. Really it’s not wanted.

So if I had absolute power and could corrupt things to my way of thinking absoulutely here are my 5 edicts:

1. Joss Whedon would have to do another season of Firefly. I know, some might say it’s been too long, that Alan Tudyk couldn’t be in it, that Morena would need hair extensions or that the Captain’s pants might have to be loosened, but I say – Don’t Care. It will be done. And in it we shall find out about Book gorram it! And Wash could come back as a ghost or something. It’s ok, Joss will figure something out. You know he’s god don’t you?

2. Reality tv competition cooking shows would be banned. Yes, that’s it. BANNED. Enough of the engineered drama of a soupy risotto, stop the dramatic orchestral drumming to the unveilng of another soggy chicken pie. And don’t get me started on those chefs. Just because you can make a killer souffle does not give you the right to turn into a narcissistic sociopath. 

3. No more vampire love stories or vampire schools stories can be published for two years. Really, I think there’s enough already. How about a zombie love triangle? Or Love in the time of Leprosy. No? You know Edward and Jacob aren’t real don’t you??

4. Anyone using a mobile phone at the cinema or theatre would be magically ejected – painfully – by the demon of eviction. No exceptions. And maybe it could even happen to people who have inappropriately loud conversations on public transport as well. 

5. News programs would actually have to contain news. It’s ok, we could still have all that info-tainment masquerading as news, but it can’t call itself news anymore. Headlining with a story about Tiger Woods or some other celebrity’s love squabbles is not news. It just isn’t.

April 19, 2010 Back in the saddle

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I blogged, sheesh, can hardly move here for the virtual cobwebs but have armed myself with a big can of cobwebs-be-gone and am clearing the air for an assault on the keyboard….let the spewing of words commence. 

So today I’m back in typing mode after a ten day sojourn in the wilds of Asia. Ok it was a long way from wild and there was room service but the traffic was wild so that’s something. One of the things I love about travelling though is the opportunity to eavesdrop on people from  many nations. Breakfast at a hotel is always great for me – not so much for my breakfast partner whose conversation is often met by a blank stare as I crane my neck sideways trying to listen to the next table. Note to writers: eavesdropping is not rude if you’re a writer. Really, I’m sure that’s written in the secret writers’ handbook.

So odd things heard at breakfast: ‘Im very particular about my jam.’ Says older man with slicked back hair trying to convince younger woman he is worldly. Gag. 

“I’ve been to Barcelona and I don’t know why anyone would want to go. It smells and everyone takes a nap in the afternoon.’ Says the super thin woman to her expensively shoed breakfast partner.  A: I wonder where she actually went in this, one of the best cities in Europe. Did she miss Gaudi’s amazing concotions of stone and curliqued glass? Did she not ramble on La Ramblas? Or perhaps she was simply staying above a fish market and had a desperate need to go shopping at 3 in the afternoon? Odd. And B: who wears closed shoes to breakfast in Asia?? Hmm. 

So now, on the writing front, the first book in the Rosie Black Chronicles is getting closer to completion and publication. I’ve reworked the title as well it is now simply called Genesis – short and sweet just how I like it. A sneak preview will be available soon so keep your eyeballs peeled and blinking for it.

Now I really need to get some work done. Ciao and over and out.

March 22, 2010 Inspiration – or something like it

I recently returned from a stint at a writers festival at a school and am still thinking of this one great question one of the kids asked. What was your most inspirational moment? For about five seconds after she asked this I just had a big blank. It was a really good, hard to answer question and mostly because it’s not something I usually think about. Do any of us? I do spend time thinking about what inspires me regarding certain stories I might write, where the ideas came from, how the characters evolved, but an actual moment of inspiration akin to a Eureka moment is another thing. I ended up answering her by saying I thought it was being read Lord of the Rings when I was a child, because it was an inspirational moment and one I still do remember, but the most?? I don’t know.I’m not even sure I really have one defining moment. Do you? 

Some people talk about people they’ve met – amazing people with incredible life stories – others it’s just a moment in time like man’s first steps on the moon, but the most inspirational is hard to pin point. I’m still wondering.

March 3, 2010. BETRAYAL is out!!

Yes, finally book 2 in the Twins has hit the shelves and I’m excited.  Check out the trailer link above to have a look at what it’s about. There’s always something magical about seeing your own work up there alongside all the others. I’ve also not long got back from a long weekend at the Perth Writers Festival. Fantastic time, meeting other authors, finally meeting in the flesh my publisher from Walker (the lovely Sarah) and hopping in and out of all the author panels and buying far too many books as usual. I have run out of bookshelf space now – books are in overflow mode now, but I can’t be stopped. 

I also handed in the first book in my new series, The Rosie Black Chronicles,to Walker and it will be out later in the year, probably in October now, but stay tuned here for the actual date, cover art and exciting stories from the dangerous world of editing. 

I am also (right now in fact) preparing for my appearance at the All Saints Festival in Perth on March 17 & 18 and in the middle of it yesterday a baby snake slithered into my office for a visit. I looked at it (from the safety of the top of my sofa) it looked at me and we were both as alarmed as each other. After rearing up and looking terrified it ducked under the bookcase. Spent hours taking out all the books from the bottom of the bookshelf only to find it asleep on the window sill. Had to call in the husband snake removal squad to get it out as I am a total chicken when it comes to long bitey things, I shall leave the heroics to my characters I think.