Integrate Released!

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Today’s the day, people. My young adult novel Integrate is officially released!CoverIntegrate

To celebrate this exciting milestone, I’m giving away a FREE copy of Integrate.

If you’d like to be the recipient of this prize, all you need to do is go on over to award winning Aussie author, Paula’s ‘Vince Review’ site, and comment on her interview with Blaine Colton, the main protagonist of Integrate.

“… Paula loves to evoke tears and laughter through writing fiction. She stirs her stories with mystery, romance, drama and suspense to create something delectably special. A wife and homeschooling mother of three children, she resides in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, a beautiful spot for inspiration with its breath-taking scenery and four distinct seasons.
For over ten years, Paula’s aim has been to provide quality faith-inspired fiction set in Australia. Her quest started way back when, as a Uni student, she discovered the writing of American Christian fiction authors. Her passion is to provide the same enjoyable reads highlighting her own country.”paula's cover photo

While you’re at Paula’s site, make sure you also check out her blog ‘It Just Occurred to me‘  and take the opportunity to find out more about this quality author and her work – including her latest release, Imogen’s Chance.

You can purchase a copy of Integrate by ordering at any good bookstore (ISBN 978-1925139099), visiting the Rhiza Press site or via Amazon. It’s available in both electronic forms and paperback.

 

Author Interview: Adele Jones

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Today I’m being  interviewed as a guest author on Iola Goulton‘s ‘Christian Reads’ blog. Iola is a respected editor and book reviewer, and her website is a wealth of information on new releases and authors, along with providing professional advice on publishing, writing tips and review etiquette for writers.

Whether you’re a writer or a reader, Iola has something for literary buffs of all descriptions. IolaYou might also find out a little more about me and some of the writing related things that lurk in the recesses of my enthusiastic imagination.

Expecting Twins!

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It’s official – they’re twins … just weeks apart. Okay, before imaginations run wild, we’re not talking human babies here, but books! (Of course …) The gestation periods and experiences of my ‘literary babies’ have been extremely different (fifteen years versus a whirlwind ride), but in the next month they will both be released.

CoverIntegrateIntegrate on the 1st of September.

 

 

 

ADevilsRansomA Devil’s Ransom on the 19th of September. (Which also happens to be ‘International Talk Like a Pirate Day’! Arrrrrrrr!!! 🙂 )

 

 

Today I’m guest blogging for Lynne Stringer on her blog page about my publication journey. This can be a wild adventure that finds you navigating narrow tracks, cutting new ground through unexplored frontiers, and tumbling over unexpected twists and potholes. Well, perhaps that’s slightly melodramatic, but there can certainly be some unexpected turns along the road to seeing your work in print.

This has been an interesting trip to reflect on, especially now with official release dates pending. Make sure you pop on over to Lynne’s website and have a read.

Lynne is an editor, journalist and science fiction romance author of the YA ‘Verindon trilogy‘. Make sure you check out this emerging author and her imaginative work.Lynne1-edited And while you’re there, browse some of the other publication journeys in her current guest blog series. You’ll be inspired – I know I have been.

Editing Entanglements

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EditEntangleAs a writer, editing’s our best friend when it comes to improving our work. Even greater insight can be gained when those edits come through another pair of eyes. But that doesn’t mean it’s a comfortable process.

Recently I completed a stint of manuscript edits. Partway through this process I was reflecting on the disruptive nature of a major edit. I could certainly see the benefits and was grateful to be reworking pre-publication, rather than lamenting post-publication. Yet, it would have been much less effort to leave the work in its original condition.

I liken a story to a spider’s web. The longer the work, the bigger and more intricately woven the web. Through the editing and revision process, weaknesses or inconsistencies may become apparent in the plot or story development, requiring a part of the web to be unspun and rebuilt. But you can just imagine what happens when you start pulling on one of those threads …

The entire web comes with it!

Life can be much like this. We might become aware of weaknesses or inconsistencies in our character or the way we live. Perhaps a gentle observation has come through another pair of eyes, making us feel vulnerable – exposed.

So what do we do?

It would be easier to pretend all is well and protect our vulnerabilities. I mean, it’s a given that by pulling on one thread the rest of the web’s going to take extra strain in the process or tear. In fact, that whole process sounds painful and inconvenient!

Awareness of such flaws can challenge us to confront the usual, even comfortable, patterns with which we do life. Relationships; habits; attitudes; behaviours. So many areas can be intricately interwoven.

But by choosing to become vulnerable and risk web deconstruction, we enable ourselves to examine the deeper issues underlying such vulnerabilities. Through this we can gradually build a stronger ‘life web’ for a  more positive way of living.

Making the Cut

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MakethecutIt’s fascinating to get inside a movie director’s head by checking out the extra features on a movie. From the Director’s Cut to the making of the film, how intriguing to see the project from the outset through to the finished product. As a writer this is great learning, but I particularly love watching deleted scenes and the accompanying Director’s commentary.

The deleted scenes are often removed for the benefit of the story. I’ve heard directors talk through deleting a fleeting scene where there might be a romantic connection that later weakens a character’s integrity or their interaction with another member of the cast. Other times the scene just doesn’t work or fails to serve a useful purpose in advancing the story.

For instance, in watching the deleted scenes from the recent movie release, Frozen, the directors revealed that for some time Elsa, the newly crowned queen, was going to be a villain throughout the entire story! What a different story that would have been. Would the powerful message of selfless love overcoming the destructiveness of fear and paving the way for healing and restoration have been diluted, if even still possible?

I wonder how many times we’ve wished for a certain scene to be included in our life? Perhaps you’re like me and long to rewrite certain scripts, convinced it should have worked out differently.

But maybe those seemingly non-existent scenes ended up in the delete scenes folder. Maybe what we thought was the best plot for our story, would have actually had a negative impact on the way our journey unfolded – or potentially changed the powerful themes of our story that enable us to connect with and encourage others.

Perhaps instead of wishing for the missing scenes, we should celebrate the ones that made the cut. It doesn’t mean we mightn’t experience a sense of loss as we release sub-plots we felt sure of having, but I think it’s really important not to spend our energy mourning the regrets, the ‘what if’s. How much better to focus on the beautiful elements of the future that await us from where we are right now.