Category Archives: Writing

Everything writing related from feathers to soaring

Second Daughter

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I’m really pleased to support fellow author Susan Kaye Quinn with publicizing the release of her new book Second Daughter, the sequel to the thrilling Third Daughter. The first book in The Dharian Affairs trilogy was an exotic steampunk adventure with captivating characters, engrossing plot and believable world-building. In fact, I have been waiting expectantly for this sequel. If the opener is anything to go by, the new book is highly recommended… and already being devoured.

NEW RELEASE

Second Daughter (The Dharian Affairs #2)
Assassins, skyships, and royal intrigue…

Kindle, Kobo, AllRomance

Second Daughter is the second book in The Dharian Affairs trilogy (Third Daughter, Second Daughter, First Daughter). This steampunk-goes-to-Bollywood (Bollypunk!) romance takes place in an east-Indian-flavored alternate world filled with skyships, assassins, royal romance and intrigue.

Reviews of the first book, Third Daughter:
“The author fuses carriages, steam trains, airships and clockwork with the rich eastern culture that underlies Bollywood storytelling…” – Cherie Reich
“The political intrigue, the steampunk gadgets, and the beautiful costumes kept me in wonderment.” – Tony Benson
“Third Daughter is vividly breathtaking. Quinn delivers royal intrigue, exotic locations, and sweeping romance. Not to be missed!” – Pavarti Tyler, author of Shadow on the Wall

ON SALE – 99cents until 7/21

Third Daughter (The Dharian Affairs #1)

Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iTunes, AllRomance

(also available in print)

The Third Daughter of the Queen wants her birthday to arrive so she’ll be free to marry for love, but rumors of a new flying weapon may force her to accept a barbarian prince’s proposal for a peace-brokering marriage. Desperate to marry the charming courtesan she loves, Aniri agrees to the prince’s proposal as a subterfuge in order to spy on him, find the weapon, and hopefully avoid both war and an arranged marriage to a man she does not love.

NEW
Both books now have a map!

Tweets to Share:

NEW RELEASE: Second Daughter (Dharian Affairs #2) Assassins, skyships, royal intrigue #steampunk #fantasy #romance http://bit.ly/SDAmazon

Skyships, saber duels, royal romance: Third Daughter (Dharian Affairs#1) ON SALE 99cents http://bit.ly/ThirdDAmaz

Thank you so much for helping me get this book out in the world!

check out the gorgeous formatting of the print book!

 

I’m Fine… but the MS is not

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InsecureWritersSupportGroup2

What should I say? Do I remain polite? Or complain?

But it’s good manners to say “Good morning” and ask how someone is, then remark on the weather. People don’t really want to know how I am, any more than they want to learn about my writing.

My wheelchair is invisible and all they see is the smile on my face… the smile that keeps me going, along with my writing. Depression, openly demonstrated, doesn’t sit well with MS, even if it lurks behind me most of the day.

I have real friends that understand, many writers that I met online, some even suffer with invisible illnesses and know the secret of hiding the pain. Yet there are days when the pain gets too much and I scream aloud, my body jerking with uncontrollable spasms. On those days both writing and thinking are jumbled. But I’m not the only sufferer that writes.

Writing is a healer and a distraction. Without writing my brain would have ground into a snail slither. Writing keeps my ‘little grey cells’ devising new ways to kill people, and new motivations for deviousness. Sadly, I can’t write down everything that flickers along the scrambled pathways.

So I’m Fine… on the outside, but I’m suffering inside, struggling to get the words out whether by voice or keyboard. The MS is taking time to emerge because the MS is making my life a daily struggle. But I will win, given enough time.

Yes, I flinch when I read MS. To me it is not a ManuScript, but a MonSter called Multiple Sclerosis.

And others live with their monsters and triumph.

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This is my monthly post in the Insecure Writers Support Group Day and there are many words of wisdom out in cyber-space. I’m only number 180 among 297 other bloggers. If you click here there are links to all of them and you can visit as many as you want. All thanks to Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh and his co-hosts Krista McLaughlin, Kim Van Sickler, Heather Gardner, and Hart Johnson!

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Tag-tease!

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No, it isn’t a new kind of deviant game (shame! shame!) It’s a writers’ game and I was delighted to receive this invitation on Facebook, from my author friend, Ailsa Abraham – this links to her post… and more.

WIP-tease: Post any paragraph from your work in progress, then tag three others.

Thanks for naming me, Ailsa, although I was torn between my ‘NIP’ and my ‘WIP’. NIP meant trying to find something from my Novel in Progress – “Fates Maelstrom” – but that needs WORK. So this is from my WIP = World in Progress.

Photo of a cloud illuminated by sunlight. ~ by Ibrahim Iujaz from Rep. Of Maldives

Photo of a cloud illuminated by sunlight. ~ by Ibrahim Iujaz from Rep. Of Maldives

The opening paragraph from the first tale in the “Gossamer Flames” series, provisionally entitled ‘Ghost Light’.

“Darkness should grant Arati the same protection as the others stealthing through the night. Darkness was perfect for keeping unwelcome eyes blind to their activities.But unwelcome eyes were in every shadow, she warned herself. They had always been there, one reason not to go outside after sunset. Besides, without light it was impossible to see the insects. Life was too precious to blunder blindly into the night, even to find seclusion for personal necessities. Someone moved ahead of her and she stiffened. Fellow dissident or police? Or something worse?”

‘Ghost Light’ will be available free, when revised, to all those that subscribe to my newsletter.

I am re-posting this on FB so that my tag-mates are properly invited. They are: Jane Bwye, Ashleigh Galvin, and Awen Thornber.

Horses for Courses: My Descent Into Crime

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My first Guest Blog invitation was a chance to delve into my memories of an equestrian past. So today you can find me in the fresh air and wild exotic vistas on Jane Bwye’s website:

jbwye's avatarJane Bwye

Join me today as I welcome Roland Clarke in a jolly mood, reminiscing about his life with – and without – horses. I judge dressage regularly at Borde Hill, Roland; never knew you were so closely involved with eventing there. My book also contains the beat of galloping hooves, albeit in an African setting. But your “Spiral of Hooves” is a joy to read for any horse-lover.


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With my mother, Nidia Clarke, at Borde Hill Horse Trials 2005

Over to you, Roland… 

I wonder what my grandfather would think about my life. Would he feel that I had ignored his example? Have I failed to make proper use of my private school education? Would he approve of my involvement in crime? Hard to say, but I’m sure that he would be pleased that I hadn’t totally abandoned horses, but then he had predicted that I wouldn’t.

I…

View original post 1,491 more words

The Teatime Author Interview…with Roland Clarke

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I got invited to do this challenging interview for A Woman’s Wisdom – challenge was deciding on who to have Dinner with. Let’s say it was an electrifying experience. Read more and please add your thoughts – thanks.

News Worth Sharing

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InsecureWritersSupportGroup2   For the first three of my monthly posts in the Insecure Writers Support Group I expressed my insecurities, concerns and general fears about my writing. Today I want to be positive as our monthly posts are also supposed to be offering encouragement. There are usually some excellent words of wisdom out there. I’m only number 207 among 320 other great bloggers. If you click here there are links to all of them and you can visit as many as you want. After months of prevarication, I have drafted my first newsletter and taken the first step on the MailChimp route – and I don’t regret it. This won’t be a MailChimp Guide since there are excellent ones available, like Jeri Walker-Bickett’s post “How to use MailChimp – From Sign-up To Send”. All I’m attempting to do today is to explain why I decided to go down the newsletter path and what I hope to find. Letter writing was not something that came easily to me, whether writing Thank You letters as a child, or staying in touch with friends as I grew older. However, during my career as an equestrian journalist I produced a 12-24 page quarterly newsletter for a carriage driving club. An interesting challenge as I had to master design software and PDF production. So no excuse when it comes to a simple one page newsletter in MailChimp.

Dick Lane and his team of Lipizzaners at Brighton Driving Trials

Dick Lane and his team of Lipizzaners at Brighton Driving Trials

The design options are more basic than Publisher but I can see the potential to offer readers the following – in no particular order:

  1. Links to recent Blog posts
  2. Updates on published novels, like “Spiral of Hooves”
  3. Research thoughts and Links relating to my Worlds & Work In Progress
  4. Books read, reading and recommended
  5. Interviews with authors I follow
  6. News about my current writing projects
  7. Other people’s Tweets, Blogs and thoughts that have inspired me

Most of these don’t make interesting blog posts and yet they can be very useful to followers, when phrased right. The Gossamer Wings Newsletter will allow me to keep in touch better with you… better than sporadic posts that give a snapshot of my life. I want to make this work and I believe that having a newsletter is part of the way forward, not just for me but also for other authors. What would you expect to see in my newsletter? Would you be interested in receiving a copy? How often would you want to be sent one?

It might take a week or two perfecting a newsletter that is worthy of being sent but, if you are interested, please sign up below. [I tried adding a Widget to the site but it seems that MailChimp and WordPress haven’t sorted out a compatible code.]

But I have now found the solution and you can sign up here: http://eepurl.com/V3mq5