Enter The Parrot
19th June 2009Until now, if you wanted one of the many great TWRP books in print, you had to go through places like Amazon.
Now TWRP has cut out the middle man and you can get their books directly from their website, for the same price as their e-books!
So if you haven’t shopped for books in a while, may I suggest you start by looking, say, here?
Life has been turbulent lately, so I haven’t been connecting in the way I usually do.
I’ve done a lot of cleaning and restructuring since I came back from Europe, bothy around the house and in other aspects of my life.
But you know what I really need? Reading. While I read, life is good. nothing truly bad can happen, and if it does, it’ll end eventually.
What have you read lately that has removed you from the strains of everyday life?
No Monday Meme? What gives?
Well, I’ve been away, and now I need some new, fun memes to do.
So recommend me one. Or ten!
Keep the fun going.
(reposted from WEeLoveYA)
I’m late! I’m late!
But I have a great excuse.
You see, I was “stuck” (and by stuck, I mean having a grand time) in Hong Kong, the home of martial arts as most people know it. And when your choice is to go and explore a new city or blog about your book coming up… Well, we were only there for a few days, what can I say?
But today is the day! Enter The Parrot is now available through Amazon, or, even better, directly from The Wild Rose Press. It’s all a bit surreal, but that might be the jetlag…
But I’m not too fuzzy-brained for a give-away!
And not just one, but FOUR awesome prizes are up for grabs!
I’m giving away three e-books of Enter The Parrot as well as some other virtual goodies, and the grand prize is one actual paperback of Enter The Parrot together witha martial arts goodie basket, put together on three continents.
You have until next Friday to reply to this blog post for your chance to win! All you have to do is tell me either how learning martial arts has helped you, or how you think martial arts would help you in your life. ^_^
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to unpack.Release Day
Just how white-bread is your reading experience?
I love this meme for so many reasons.
There are many versions of this one out there, as often people will add to it. I’ll try and add a question or two of my own as well.
1. Name the last book by a female author that you’ve read.
I read mainly books by women, so infact, I had to think a little harder about male authors. I’ve read books by both on the plane.
2. Name the last book by an African or African-American author that you’ve read.
Pushing Pause, by Celeste Norfleet
3. Name one from a Latino/a author.
Haven’t read one in a while. The last one was It’s not about the accent, by Caridad Ferrer.
4. How about one from an Asian country or Asian-American?
North of Beautiful, Justina Chen Headley
5. What about a GLBT writer?
Drama! series, by Paul Ruditis
6. What have you read lately that takes an opposite political view from your own?
Most books I read are quite apolitical, actually.
7. Have you read any Jewish authors lately?
Not that I was aware of it at the time.
8. How about Muslim writers?
The last one was a while ago. Ten Things I Hate About Me, by Randa Abdel-Farrah
9. If you are Christian or at least monotheistic, have you read any books from an atheistic or agnostic viewpoint lately? Or if you are non-religious, have you read anything written by a Christian or other religous person that specifically form a Christian point of view?
Trust the religious question to be the longest one. >_< I’m not Christian, but I’ve read very Christian books. The last one was It’s All About Us, by Shelley Adina.
10. What was the last book outside your preferred genres you’ve read?
Not sure. There are genres I read less than others, like historicals, but I’ll still pick them up every so often.
11. Any other marginalised groups of writers that you are aware of thatyou’ve read recently?
I think even with a list like this, we don’t cover everything. These are just the big groups we think of, but I’d love to see more variety in fiction, especially in lead characters that go beyond the Anglo world. I’m always interested in books where culture informs how someone acts, feels or thinks. Not in a heavy-handed way, but just naturally.
I haven’t read any books by Aboriginal authors, but I’d be interested if there was one that fits in my general interest field. Also, I could probably do with more European teen protagonists. I’m getting saturated with the American experience. In general, I want more multicultural YA fiction. Go bring me some.
This meme was orginated at a faith blog, if you want to check it out.
I’m a sucker for any memes involving books, so there you go.
1. One book that changed your life: Fishbowl, by Sarah Mlynowski. That book pushed me over the edge to become a chick lit writer, my first step into my career.
2. One book that you’ve read more than once: There are surprisingly few books that I re-read. The last one was Uglies.
3. One book you’d want on a desert island: the Oxford dictionary, or something equally hefty and random
4. One book that made you laugh: Drama! by Paul Ruditis (ok, it’s a series, but all of them made me lol)
5. One book that made you cry: I *hate* weepies. I’ve never really cried at a book, but I’ve been emotional.
6. One book that you wish had been written: Girl Overboard, by Justina Chen Headley
7. One book that you wish had never been written: Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer
8. One book you’re currently reading: Rumors, by Anna Godbersen
9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: Ack! There are so many!
10. One book you’ve recommended to people: The neverending Stoy, by Michael Ende
Your turn! Give me your ten one-book answers.
Do this:
a. Go to Google
b. Type your name and the words “likes to” all in quotation marks. (e.g. “Ryan likes to”)
c. Report back on the first ten things that come up for your name. Here’s mine:
- Kiki likes to look out my bay window and plot her schemes to steal the birds from our pear tree
- kiki likes to play.
- Kiki likes to fish for stars, invent things, and explore for new planets.
- KIKI LIKES TO ROAD TRIP
- Kiki likes to go drinking
- Kiki likes to read books with me.
- KIKI LIKES TO TALK ON THE PHONE. (Note: This was already the first page in Google. Kiki apparently likes to repeat things, too.)
- Kiki likes to sit in front of the mirror (any mirror) for hours on end
- Kiki likes to make nests out of hay to sleep in at night.
- Kiki likes to show off the photo of herself as a cheerleader.
Kiki agrees with most of these points, except for 5 and 7. And 10. Even though you know I totally would, too.
What do you like to do, according to Teh Google?
I haven’t had the time or focus to blog lately. A lot of things have interfered with my life. Nothing major, but these things add up.
I’ve been Twittering much more (you can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/kikilon). Something about those bite-sized snippets works better for me than a long blog post. I don’t need to be coherent for tweets…
There has been some blog action over at We Love YA though, so if you’re looking for something to read, why don’t you join us over there? This week’ we’re talking about high school reunions, and I’m sure you’ve got something to say about that, too.
This one’s for all the writers out there in blogoland.
What’s the last thing you wrote?
An extra scene in my current WIP, Odin’s Girl.
Was it any good?
Bits of it were. we’ll see what I think of it when I get into editing mode though.
What’s the first thing you ever wrote that you still have?
I’m not sure. I lost most of my pre-Australia stuff when I moved here.
Write poetry?
Not since I stopped wearing full Goth make-up.
Angsty poetry?
Is there any other kind…
Favourite genre of writing?
Girl adventure romance
Most fun character you ever wrote?
Tamlyn the cat girl, for a short story at uni
Most annoying character you ever wrote?
Melissa, the heroine of my first ever novel.
Best plot you ever wrote?
Odin’s Girl is my strongest plot so far, but I’ve got this idea for another book after this one…
Coolest plot twist you ever wrote?
I lack horribly in the twist department.
How often do you get writer’s block?
Never. I get editing block all the time though.
How do you fix it?
Go for a walk.
Write fan fiction?
No. I like the world building better than the playing in someone’s world.
Do you type or write by hand?
Both, but I’m trying to teach myself to type more and hand-write less.
Do you save everything you write?
Not at all. It’s easier to keep e-junk around though, so I have most of what I’ve typed floating around somewhere.
Do you ever go back to an old idea long after you abandoned it?
Not if I’ve set it free. I have a lot of ideas I file away for later and I do occasionally come back to them. Unless other ideas take up all of my time. Ideas are easy.
What’s your favourite thing that you’ve written?
Enter The Parrot.
What’s everyone else’s favourite thing that you’ve written?
I don’t know. Everyone else? Wanna chime in here?
Do you even show people your work?
*waves at wonderful CPs* All the time. Kind of.
Who’s your favourite constructive critic?
My wonderful CPs Anne and Diane. Couldn’t do it without these girls.
Did you ever write a novel?
It’s what I do.
Have you ever written fantasy, sci-fi, or horror?
My next project is sci-fi. The Big novel in my head is steampunk. think if I wrote horror, I’d die of sleepless nights.
Ever written romance or teen angsty drama?
Those are my genres, baby!
What’s your favourite setting for your characters?
high school
What’s one genre you have never written, and probably never will?
Horror. And Christian lit.
How many writing projects are you working on right now?
Two-ish. Okay, maybe three. One book in deep editing. One in first draft being written. One in the outlining phase.
Do you want to write for a living?
I want to rad for a living. But writing would do, too.
Have you ever written something for a magazine or newspaper?
Yes, and yes.
Have you ever won an award for your writing?
Nope. It’s not very high on my list of dreams either. It *is* on there though.
Ever written something in script or play format?
Yes, for a performance class. i’ve always loved the idea of writing for the stage. I’m just not very good at it, unfortunately. I started writing a musical libretto. It was going to be a collaboration with my BFF, but like most things we started, it never went far.
What are your five favourite words?
In English: Quixotic, because it uses a bunch of awesome letters; hoodlum, because it sounds so cute; mnemonic, because it’s fun to say; shiny, because it’s cheery; and surprise, because hopefully, it means something good is about to happen.
My favourite words of all over are: buru-buru (Japanese), Leidenschaft(German), tsai leung (Cantonese), arriba (Spanish) and onomatopoea.
Do you ever write based on yourself?
All the time. I’m highly schizophrenic on the inside. All these people are me, or mes I could have been, or mes I would have wanted to be.
What character that you’ve written most resembles yourself?
Brie, from Odin’s Girl is an exaggerated me in all aspects.
Where do you get ideas for your other characters?
My friends and acquaintances. I know some awesomely strange people…
Do you ever write based on your dreams?
No, but I sometiems come up with plots or characters while lying in bed not sleeping. The Boy thinks it’s hilarious that I can do work in bed.
Do you favour happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers?
Hate, hate, hate sad endings. I think all books with sad endings ought to have a warning sticker saying, “This book will leave you sad at the end!” I want happy endings. Not just satisfying. Happy. I’m okay with cliffhangers as book endings, but only if there are already more books in the series. I often forget about authors for a while, and if their book didn’t give me a happy feeling at the end, I might not know whether I wanted to read them again or not by the time their next book comes out.
But yaknow, you could have a happy ending with a cliffhanger…
Have you ever written based on an artwork you’ve seen?
Yes. School is fond of making people do that. I’ve always disliked thhe idea until I got started. I love the idea of short stories inspired by paintings.
Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
Yes. English isn’t my first language and I have a habit of being creative with my vocabulary. I try to have strong writing meta-skills, because grammatical errors and typos are my pet peeves.
Ever write something entirely in chatspeak? (How r u?)
Not entirely, but I’ve wanted to. unfortunately, it’s been done already. I do have chats in my books though.
Entirely in L337?
Now that would drive me crazy.
Was that question completely appalling and un-writer like?
Not at all. It’s no different than asking if someone has written modern free verse poetry.
Does music help you write?
No. I’m not much of a music person. In fact, I hardly ever listen to music, and when I do, it’s for the lyrics.
Are people surprised and confused when they find out you write well?
Not at all. And I’m sure not everyone would think I writ “well”. A lot of people think it’s interersting that I write for a living though.
Quote something you’ve written. The first thing to pop into your mind.
I don’t have anything that would just “pop into” my head. I don’t live that close to my text. But I wrote on Odin’s Girl, my WIP, before doing this and something I wrote there:
Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000168 EndHTML:0000001092 StartFragment:0000000602 EndFragment:0000001075When I get to the lab, Moonie and Hugh are already there, comparing something on a printout to two flickering screens showing two kinds of maps of raging Rock. On those maps, the town is not the snow-covered tundra it is outside, but green in varying hues to indicate elevation on one, red, blue and yellow on the other to show housing zones, industry and commercial. Most of our town is pale green on one side, and domestic green on the other.
Your turn! You know you’ve been looking for an excuse to procrastinate…
