10 Reasons Not to Be A Writer

Another funny share via  The Passive Voice  from  Book Trust. Would it be negative of me to say that these all sound pretty true? Or maybe only pathologically ambivalent if I do, since I'm about to release a new book in a new series. Well, that's probably another reason not to be a writer, even if it didn't make the list. Enjoy and a lovely Memorial Day weekend to all.

10 Reasons Not to Be A Writer

How It Feels When Your Ex Publishes a Book

Just because being human is sadly funny and those who can creatively sum that up with a few words and pictures are to be admired. Credit to  The Passive Voice  for sharing the link.

How It Feels When Your Ex Publishes a Book

Original Book Cover Art & Design on a Budget

Combining my love of books and art, in the next few weeks I'll be debuting a website which offers book cover artwork and design for authors looking for unique, customized covers at a reasonable price.  If you're an independent author who seeks an original art cover specifically designed for your novel or short story, but who can't spend hundreds or thousands of dollars for a cover alone, contact me (Krisi Keley) at jcsgs11@aol.com for more information and to discuss ideas and prices.  Some sample covers are provided below; more will be available on the website.

 

(The authors and book titles in the above cover examples were created expressly for the sample covers and any resemblance to real authors or titles is coincidental and unintentional.  The images in the samples are original artwork, subject to copyright laws, and may not be used without permission of the artist.)



 



A Short Defense of Literary Excess

Another interesting article about the beauty of language from the New York Times, by way of  The Passive Voice:

A Short Defense of Literary Excess

The Next Big Thing: Part 2

I had a little bit of a late start with The Next Big Thing (TNBT) because of getting the new blog up and running, so this is the second post in a week, while it will be one a week from now on.

The TNBT event is comprised of 10 questions about an author’s WIP (work in progress) and tags to other recommended authors (5 or fewer) with links to their sites.

Following in the footsteps of author Karin Kaufman (The Witch Tree), who invited me to the event, here are the next two questions:

Question #2:  Where did the idea for your upcoming book come from?

Krisi: Since I mentioned I had two current WIPs in the previous post, a translation and one of my own stories, I’ll start with the translation of Charles Barbara’s The Red Bridge Murder.

Before publishing my first two books (and before getting a degree in theology), I was studying to be a linguist/translator – my love of languages actually starting with my first draft of On the Soul of a Vampire and my Provençal main character, Valéry.  Recently it occurred to me that there are a lot of untranslated or very little known works that English readers have never gotten the opportunity to read and so I decided to look for old literature to translate.  I came across Charles Barbara’s L’Assassinat du Pont-Rouge completely by accident and, reading about the author, I found that some believe this novella might have inspired Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment.  The similarities between the two are quite significant and, as a big fan of Dostoyevsky, I’m having a great time translating this fascinating story.

My second WIP is the third book in the On the Soul series and picks up where Book I, On the Soul of a Vampire, left off.  All the questions readers are left with in the first two books will be answered, Valéry and Angelina’s fate will be known, and not only will the mystery surrounding God’s plan for Valéry be solved, but so also will the mystery of how vampires came to be and the connection this has to Valéry and Angelina’s story.

Since I wrote the first draft of On the Soul in 1995, most of the prequel, Pro Luce Habere, in 1996-97 and the rough draft for Genesis shortly after, the idea for the entire series has been there for quite a while.  While Genesis picks up where Book I left off (in 1997), it’s also very much inspired by a short mention in its namesake and will have a very different take on this subject which has, ironically enough, become popular in both Christian fiction and commercial paranormal romance.  As with the first two books, while there is a supernatural element, my idea was really to write the opposite of a fantasy story about monsters or pure good battling pure evil, and instead write a story that ties an understanding of vampires and angels into the human story.

Question #3:  What genre would your book fall under?

Krisi: Ah, at last, the short answer (or the shorter answer)!  None of the books in the On the Soul series fit very comfortably into a specific genre, unfortunately or fortunately.  They all have elements of horror, paranormal, mystery, historical fiction and the deeper questions usually found in what’s called literary fiction, but with a very spiritual theme and Christian/Catholic theological ideas.  Coincidentally, I think much of the same could be said for Charles Barbara’s The Red Bridge Murder, minus maybe the paranormal element.

And now here are some more awesome authors whose work you want to watch:

Ellen Maze (horror/Christian speculative fiction): http://www.ellencmaze.com/

J.R. Rain (paranormal/mystery/suspense): http://jrrain.com/
Jaimey Grant (romance/historical fiction): http://jaimeygrant.blogspot.com/

For those who would like to participate or follow along, here is the full list of 10 questions:

1.  What is the title of your book/WIP?

2.  Where did the idea for the book come from?
3.  What genre would your book fall under?
4.  Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
5.  What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
6.  Is your book published or represented?
7.  How long did it take you to write?
8.  What other books within your genre would you compare it to?
9.  Which authors inspired you to write the book?
10. Tell us anything else that might pique our interest in your book?

The Next Big Thing

I was invited by Karin Kaufman (thanks, Karin!), author of mystery/suspense novel, The Witch Tree, to participate in author Gail M. Baugniet’s (The Pepper Bibeau mystery series) blog event, The Next Big Thing (TNBT).  In it, authors will answer 10 questions about their current WIP (work in progress) and tag five other writers, linking to their blogs so everyone can check out their answers.

 

Karin and Gail thought one or two questions per week would work well, so we can tag more authors with each post (this doesn’t have to be five each time).

Question #1 of The Next Big Thing:

What is the title of book/WIP?

 Krisi:  Right now I actually have two WIPs going simultaneously.  I’m working on a translation of Charles Barbara’s mystery/suspense novella, The Red Bridge Murder (L’Assassinat du Pont-Rouge), which some believe might have inspired Fyodor Dostoyevsky to write Crime and Punishment.  I’m also working on Genesis, Book III in my On the Soul vampire series.

And now, five awesome authors whose work you want to watch:

 

Karin Kaufman (mystery/suspense): http://www.karin-kaufman.blogspot.com/

Tahlia Newland (fantasy/magical realism): http://tahlianewland.com/blog/

Teric Darken (thriller/suspense): http://tericdarken.blogspot.com/

Tracy Krauss (romance/speculative fiction): http://www.tracykraussexpressionexpress.com/

Ellen Gable (historical fiction/romance/suspense): http://ellengable.wordpress.com/

For any authors who’d like to participate, here’s the full list of TNBT questions for you to copy and paste into your blog with your answers.  Just tag five other awesome authors with links to their blogs so everyone can follow along.

1)  What is the title of your book/WIP?

2)  Where did the idea for the book come from?

3)  What genre would your book fall under?

4)  Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

5)  What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

6)  Is your book published or represented?

7)  How long did it take you to write it?

8)  What other books within your genre would you compare it to?

9)  Which authors inspired you to write this book?

10) Tell us anything else that might pique our interest in this book.