Fresh from the academy, ambitious Galaktipol officer Vera Staven has been transferred to the only human settlement on the ice planet Paralan. Aside from smuggling, crimes are rare and the suicide rate is high. But something at the latest find nags at Vera, although no clues indicate it’s anything but a suicide.
When native Galaktipol officer Joloran Durim Brunàhgan meets the mother of his wee-ones for the yearly egg-opening feast, he doesn’t know he’s facing the worst case of his career. The next morning, fifteen Paralan wee-ones went missing, girls only. A catastrophe for the natives. Joloran hurls himself into the investigation, but he can’t get the murder of two wee-ones out of his mind that he couldn’t solve many years ago.
Paralan and humans harbor prejudices, making it hard for Joloran to follow all clues. Against his will, his superior requests support from the humans. POK Vera Staven is assigned to him, the only woman in the human Galaktipol station on Paralan. And time is running out. With every passing day, the probability of finding the wee-ones alive shrinks. But only as a team, Joloran and Vera might have a chance. Can they overcome their prejudices and cooperate, or will they find these children disemboweled in the icy wilderness of the planet’s far side too?
Yesterday, I discovered a feature on my Goodreads profile that allows me to invite my Facebook and Twitter friends. I was reluctant to use it since it felt a little spammy to me. Then, I thought, “But they’re my friends already and if they don’t want to follow me on Goodreads, they don’t have to.” I clicked the button. This morning, I woke up nearly 100 new friends. My eyes nearly popped out of my head.
Thank you so much, friends!
Now, if some of you have actually read stories by me and liked them, please stay informed by joining my newsletter (you’ll get a full YA Fantasy novel by me plus two short stories by fellow authors as a reward). It’s guaranteed spam-free. I’ll only mail when I’ve got news for you (releases and special offers). Sign up now. Thanks.
Blurb
Since Bryanna grows up in Scotland, she is familiar with hobgoblins, selkies and kelpies from the tales of her mother country. But she is very surprised when she starts seeing these creatures one day. Is she hallucinating? Before she can ask her father’s advice, he is kidnapped by a woman whose scent seems awfully familiar. Instead of calling the police, Bryanna follows the kidnapper and lands smack-dab in the middle of the adventure of her life. It’s just as well she knows the old legends and myths well. The world she lands in is murderously dangerous. And even if she survives the journey, she is fated to kill her father.
… the day after tomorrow, my story “Scotland’s Guardians” will be available as a print book through Amazon’s createspace platform. I chose to publish it there, because I can offer the book for less then $10 without worrying about up front costs. As much as I dislike Amazon’s growing piece of the publishing pie, they make it easy for us Indie-authors to reach our readers.
Just in case you haven’t noticed my book before, here’s the trailer (it’s really short, so watch it!):
Somehow, I’m rather proud of this trailer and hope very much that you like it too. There are a few tiny mistakes in the credits. If you notice one, you can contact me, and I’ll send you a small reward.
Have fun watching it, and don’t forget to share the trailer with your friends — or use the “thumbs up”-button at the top rim of the video (once it’s playing) to show me you liked the trailer.
Welcome to the New Year. I truly believe that 2013 will be the year, when eBook readers will soar in countries like Germany and France. Last year, I prepared to become active, and this year I will. Most of my finished novels are translated, and I will begin publishing them one book per month from January onwards. My first project, “Scotland’s Guardians”, will be available in the last week of January. It will be followed by the books I mentioned in my last blogpost (The Next Big Thing). If you want to be notified about the exact day of release, join my mailing list (Plus you’ll get the free YA Fantasy novel “The Witches of Greenwitch” if you do). Or return to this site for the announcement.
I’m really, really excited. With two YA Fantasy and two YA historical romance novels already available, and with the ones I’m planning to get out, I will have ten published novels in two languages by the end of the year. Now, I just hope you will like to read them as much as I enjoyed writing them. If you do, please leave a review somewhere (on Amazon, Goodreads, Shelfari, your blog, or any other site you want).
Reading over the beginning of this post again, I just realized one thing. You don’t need to own an eBook reader. If you’ve got a smartphone, you can simply download the appropriate app and read eBooks there. With a small display, this might be a bit awkward but you’ll save the money for an eReader. Oh, and if you’ve got an eReader for Christmas, what are you waiting for? Go and get yourself some novels to read.
Peter Cruikshank, an aspiring novelist has tagged me as The Next Big Thing. I feel honored that he picked me, especially since he based his decision on my book “Urchin King“. OK, I could have done without the extra work (I’m in the last throws of translating the last German novel into English), but I enjoyed his answers to the questions nonetheless. I hope mine will be as entertaining and enlightening. Feel free to leave a comment (oh, and my nominations are at the bottom of this post).
1. What is the title of the book?
Well, at the moment, I’m sitting on five unpublished YA books: Paralan’s Children (a Science Fantasy story set on an ice world) Scotland’s Guardians (an Urban Fantasy story about Scottish myths and legends) Victor’s Rage (stand-alone sequel to my historical novel “Ann Angel’s Freedom”) Chasing the Grimm Reaper (a non-linear fairy tale murder mystery) and Swordplay (an Urban Fantasy murder mystery, first in an of yet unwritten series).
2. Where did the idea for the book come from?
I find my ideas everywhere. They’re a dime to a dozen. My kids often complain that I turn reality into make believe stories too often. Still, they like it. I spin stories wherever I go – it was a logical step to start writing them down. The real challenge is to find/make the time to do that. I’m getting better at this all the time. Two years back I hardly managed 500 words a day (my kids were still at home back then), now I’m doing 2000-3000 words on my translations with the weekends off. In November, I’ll see if I can keep up that pace with original writing too.
If an idea manages to get so strong that I cannot write anything else, I start plotting and then write it down. I’m currently working on a fantasy story with a Stone Age Africa setting. It’s so much fun to merge true facts with thought out culture. The idea came to me when I visited a museum with a friend. Beside the Egyptian display, they had a small part of the exhibition dedicated to the Nok-people of Africa who were able to forge iron 800–500 BC without any indication that other metals had been forged before that (meaning there was no Bronze Age before that). Also, I remembered a tale we once had to read where the woman in charge of rain had fallen asleep. Pang, there was the idea of a sleeping rain goddess in Africa with a young witch the only person who knows. Once my Main Character is born, the story practically develops on its own.
3. What genre does your book fall under?
All my stories are either Young Adult or Middle Age and all contain some element of history (sometimes made up history but more often than not it’s genuine). I’m a history geek and try not to let it show too much in my novels. Also I’m a great fan of fantasy (less epic, more urban), so a lot of my stories are in that genre too.
4. What actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I couldn’t say. I’m not watching TV or the movies a lot (due to time constraints and the long distance to the nearest cinema), but I’d love to have Sean Connery in one of the films that will no doubt spring form my work. 😉
5. What is a one sentence synopsis of your book? Paralan’s Children – Rookie Vera Staven of the Galactipol has to combine forces with the supposedly dumb polar-bear like natives of the ice-world Paralan to find fifteen missing wee-ones before they are murdered. Scotland’s Guardians – Book-rat Bryanna follows her kidnapped father into the world of Scottish folk lore and learns that she is supposed to kill her father to take over her job as Guardian. Victor’s Rage – When Rieke Waldmann learns she’s supposed to marry the miller’s son, her beloved William sets out to earn money so he can take the miller’s place. But instead, he gets caught up in the German Revolution of 1848, and Rieke discovers her late father’s secrets that might stop her from getting married at all. Chasing the Grimm Reaper – The Fairy Godmother has been murdered, and Sherlock Holmes isn’t too keen on taking the case, so I, the reader, take over. Now it’s up to me to decide on the right course of action to reach the end alive. Swordplay – Moira has applied for work with the Gendarmerie Magique, her lifelong dream, but since her magic readings are way too low, her stay isn’t guaranteed which endangers her involvement in a case of stolen antiques more deadly than anticipated.
6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
All the German versions of my book are under contract with a very good German agency. Still, they weren’t able to sell them to German publishers — not for their quality though since every editor I talked to really would have loved to take the manuscript but they couldn’t find the right label to put on them.
At the beginning of last year, I started going Indie. My first release, “Urchin King” is garnering a lot of respect and great reviews and it’s sales are slow but steady. My historical novel “Ann Angel’s Freedom” took of running and sold 4000 copies in two days at a promotional price. So, for me, the Indie route is the one I’ll travel for the rest of my career.
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
That’s hard to say. Nowadays, I take 2-3 months for the first draft of a novel, rarely longer (it’s teh revision that eats up most of the time). But my first novel took 3 years before the first draft was done, and it was only 175 pages long. 😉 I think the daily wordcount increases the longer I’m at it.
8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Sorry, I can’t say. I do hope that my fantasy stories are comparable to those of Diana Wynne Jones. But I don’t really care all that much as long as my readers love them.
9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I’ve been influenced by many writers, the most prominent are Astrid Lindgren, Diana Wynne Jones, and Neil Gaiman, but my main inspiration has always been my family. The kids are so eager to lern about my stories, I just couln’t NOT write them down. Also, the health of my husband is deteriorating fast, so I’m struggling to replace his income. I’d love to tell him to retire in 3-5 years if possible. I think it’s the strongest motivation anyone can have.
10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
All my books have sophisticated worlbuilding. As a studied forester with a PhD in ecology, I know my science and apply it ardently to any new world I create. Also, I’m a great fan of history (not such a great fan of the research though) and with the help of my best friend and my husband, I manage to find the details that make my historical worlds come alive. My stories are always a mix of entertainment and knowledge. Readers can simply enjoy the story, or they can discover and learn new things if they are so inclined.
That’s it. Now, for the fun stuff. I’m allowed to choose up to five authors I believe would make The Next Big Thing, and I already know who I want to nominate:
Holly Lisle – the most hard working and talented author that I personally know William Hahn – the only author of epic fantasy that I enjoyed reading (so far. I haven’t sampled Peter Cruikshank’s tales yet) J.A. Marlow – a superb author of Science Fiction tales for all ages Danyelle Leafty – a crafty twister of lesser known fairy tales Emily Casey – another crafty twister of fairy tales (can you tell I love twisted fairy tales?)
Now, I hope these authors have just as much fun (as many problems) to answer these questions as I did.
Are there questions you’d like to get answered that weren’t in this list? Leave a comment and I’ll do my best to get to them in a timely manner.
First and foremost, one of my short stories was accepted for an anthology that will be published early next year. The best thing is, that they’ll pay for it — not much but I will get free copies too. It’s my first ever paid publication in the USA! Hah! I was so delighted, I spend my weekend (plus a few days before that) on making a book trailer for my novel “Urchin King“.
[youtube Wj1j94uLY0U]
I’d love to put it on the product page on amazon like I did on the Smashwords site, but I haven’t got any idea how to do it. As far as I can see, I can only upload pictures. Hmmm. I think I’ll send amazon support an email. Let’s see what they suggest.
How about you? Do you like the trailer (BTW, the voice in mine and I DO have a Scottish accent — nee bother)? Have you ever made one yourself? Have you got a favorite booktrailer? I loved the one for “Mrs. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”. That was a really awesome trailer. Unfortunately, I can’t do video, so the slides had to suffice.
John Byk interviewed me about my eBook Ann Angel’s Freedom and about publishing in Germany in general. If you’ve wondered what I sound like, here’s your chance to listen to me interrupting the moderator all the time (yes, it’s really hard to shut me up when I start).
Also, I forgot to say that my eBook Ann Angel’s Freedom is still free on amazon (any amazon site) until midnight US time (that’s roughly 9 am tomorrow morning in Germany). So if you want it, go and get it before time runs out.