Tag Archives: EM Castellan

by

KNIGHTS OF RILCH Release Day: Interview with Rachel O’Laughlin

Hello gentle reader,

KNIGHTS OF RILCH, the sequel to COLDNESS OF MAREK, and the second book in the SERENGARD Series, is out today!

KnightsOfRilch

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it on Amazon or on Barnes & Noble

Win it! Giveaway here

To celebrate this release, I’ve interviewed Rachel O’Laughlin about the process of writing a second book in a trilogy…

OLaughlinPic

Did you always know Serengard would be a trilogy or not?

Awesome question! I actually had no idea it would be a trilogy. When I drafted Coldness of Marek, I thought I was writing a standalone. Several months later, I felt like there was so much more to tell in order for the story to be understood. I went back to the drawing board and fleshed out a sequel. After drafting Knights of Rilch, I had so much more world building and character development that I wanted to incorporate into Coldness of Marek, so I went back and rewrote it from scratch. That’s when I knew the sequel wasn’t going to be enough and it needed to be a whole series. It’s quite a commitment, but I am thankful I made it. There’s so much more to Serengard than the short adventure I started with.

How did you go about writing this second book?

I made a rough outline via notebook and Scrivener in the month leading up to NaNoWriMo 2012, then I fast-drafted 70k that November. One of the unique things I did with this novel that I haven’t done before or since was having two non-writer friends read each chapter as I wrote. I’m not sure I’ll ever do it again, but it definitely gave me a lot of extra perspective. Early revisions were actually a joy with this book. I loved exploring how a scene could become deeper and darker, even if I had to cut some of it later. I had multiple writer friends and critique partners look at it after each revision — so many I can’t count — and they all had useful feedback for me. From first draft to final draft was exactly one year.

Is your final draft very different from your first one?

Very, very different. (As actually EM can attest! I think you read the second draft, didn’t you?) I had a major epiphany after my third or fourth revision — I chopped off the last half of the book and went an entirely different direction. It turned out to be the best decision ever. The villains are twice as strong, and the action builds up to a point at the end that I could never have envisioned with the first version. I did end up cutting several scenes and chapters from the first half. It was a lot of battle and build-up, and the detail was just bogging it down. My CPs and my editor helped me unsnarl some of the most complicated, touchy scenes, in addition to being total heroes on the line edits. I love how clean and snappy the finished novel turned out.

Would you say writing this second book was harder or easier than writing your first?

Harder. The story centers very much on the brother/sister bond, and that’s a relationship I’ve been driven to write ever since I was fourteen. The action is more complex and intense than the first book, the death toll higher by far. All of that contributed to me shredding scene after scene and reworking my timeline again and again whenever something just wasn’t working, but even more so, I felt this whole novel far deeper than the first. A couple of scenes always make me cry like nothing in Coldness of Marek has. Over all, Knights of Rilch was full of a lot of growing pains, and I think I pushed myself far harder than I have before.

As Knights of Rilch is coming out, is your state of mind different from when Coldness of Marek came out?

I am way less nervous about looking like an amateur, that’s for sure! Coldness of Marek was well received, and that’s made me pretty excited to see what everyone has to say about its sequel. But I’m still a little scared, to be honest. It’s hard to explain why, because having my work out there to be loved or hated is my ultimate dream. I guess it’s a good scared, because there’s really nothing awful that could happen. I appreciate “liked” reviews as much as “disliked”. I’m queasy and thrilled and desperate to hear how readers feel about my sophomore baby.

Rachel O’Laughlin grew up writing adventure stories in which heroines tend to get their hands dirty, bad guys sometimes win, and someone always gets kidnapped. Her passion for history morphed into a love for fantasy in her mid-teens, when she took a brief pause from reality for immersion in the arts and a hands-on education in sustainable living. She lives in New England with her husband and two boys, listens to The Fray, and drinks too many lattes. Two novels in her SERENGARD fantasy series have been released, and a third is scheduled for October 2014.

Author Website: http://rachelolaughlin.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/rachelolaughlin

Facebook: www.facebook.com/r.k.olaughlin

by

Waiting On Wednesday – 39

Hello gentle reader,

this week, I’m waiting on THE FALL by Bethany Griffin (expected publication: 7th October 2014 by Greenwillow Books). It’s a YA reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. I loved the MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH books by this author, and I’m really excited about this new retelling!

The fall final cover

From Goodreads:

Madeline Usher is doomed.

She has spent her life fighting fate, and she thought she was succeeding. Until she woke up in a coffin.

Ushers die young. Ushers are cursed. Ushers can never leave their house, a house that haunts and is haunted, a house that almost seems to have a mind of its own. Madeline’s life—revealed through short bursts of memory—has hinged around her desperate plan to escape, to save herself and her brother. Her only chance lies in destroying the house.

In the end, can Madeline keep her own sanity and bring the house down?

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly event, hosted by book blogger Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Have you heard of The Fall? Is it on your TBR list? What are you waiting on this week?

by

Writing Pet Peeves

Hello gentle reader,

Sometimes in my readings I come across writing devices that make me roll my eyes and shake my head. I guess we all have them: pet peeves. I’ve recently come to realize that mine are mostly plot-related. I’ve listed them below, and I’m curious to find out if you share my opinion on them…

Pet Peeve #1: The Resurrection

Gossip-Girl-Chuck-Bart

This plot device consists in resurrecting a character that was presumed dead for a good part of the story in order to resolve a plot line. The Resurrection was used twice in Gossip Girl, for both Chuck’s father and mother. I’ll admit, I hate this plot device with a passion, because it’s usually synonymous with plot inconsistencies in particular and lazy writing in general.

Pet Peeve #2: Everybody lies

The pretender

This is when the main character, and the reader alongside her, can’t trust anything the characters say. Please note I’m not talking about the unreliable narrator here. I’m talking about the writing device that tells you something then denies it ten pages later, keeping you from speculating and therefore from really enjoying the book. Remember The Pretender? Teenage Me loved this show. To be honest, Present Me still loves it. But let’s face it, this show had serious plot issues, one of them being that everyone kept contradicting themselves from one episode to the other and saying they’d lied. That’s not good writing according to me.

Pet Peeve #3: The Keeper of Secrets

Witchblade Kenneth Irons

This is when the plot could be resolved in a second if one character just revealed everything he knows to the main character. But he doesn’t because of reasons. And the plot drags on forever. This writing device was used ad nauseam in Witchblade (both the comic book and the TV series): the main villain Kenneth Irons knew everything about the main character’s past and destiny, but he didn’t tell her anything because… he was villainous that way.

Pet Peeve #4: The ellipsis

This is when main events happen off screen and are retold/summarized later. Instead of having the satisfaction of seeing the events unfold in front of her, the reader has to make do with a main character losing consciousness, or a random chapter dealing with a subplot or a simple leap in time. Talk about disappointing.

What about you? Do you have writing pet peeves? Plot devices that make you roll your eyes? Most importantly, did you ever watch The Pretender? Make sure to leave me a comment below!

by

Querying and Getting The Call(s)

Hello gentle reader,

In my previous posts, I have talked at length about the querying process. Today I’d like to share with you a few pointers about what comes at the end of the querying process: namely, The Call.

What is The Call?

It’s the moment when an agent offers representation by means of a phone call.

It’s both a very exciting and important time, because it’s when you assess whether or not the calling agent is actually the right agent for you. Hopefully you’ve done some research before The Call happens and you have an idea of the agent’s working style and goals. However the only way to be certain you can have a long-time working relationship with an agent is to talk to her. Hence The Call ritual.

What should you do before The Call?

 You should prepare. When you’ve been querying for a long time, getting The Call may seem like a mirage. You’re so focused on getting an agent’s attention, you don’t even think about what will happen once you finally get it.

So it’s very important to start preparing for that phone call as soon as you receive the long-awaited “We need to talk” email.  Sometimes, like in my case, the agent will say “I want to offer representation” in her email. Other times, the agent will only say “I want to talk to you about your manuscript”. In the second case, it may mean the agent only wants to discuss an R&R (Revise and Resubmit), so beware. But in the first case, you need to be ready to ask the agent the right questions.

What questions should you ask?

There is a lot of advice on this topic out there.

My advice is: don’t prepare a million questions. Chances are you can find a lot of answers online before The Call. Finding out how experienced the agent is, how many clients she has, what professional organizations she’s a part of, if she handles film rights/foreign rights/audio rights, what her percentage is, if she’s a hands-on/editorial agent… all this is usually available online. My suggestion is therefore that you focus on YOU, YOUR BOOK and how THE AGENT fits in with both.

Some of the topics you can discuss are:

  • The editing process for your manuscript (what does the agent want you to work on, in what timeframe, etc.). It’ll help you decide if you and the agent share the same vision for your story.
  • The submission process (to which editors the agent is planning on submitting your manuscript, according to which timeline, etc.). It’s especially important if you have multiple offers of representation. You’ll want to go with the agent who has connections with the editors you’re interested in.
  • The long-term relationship (what the agent thinks as a good working relationship with her clients, what will happen after your first book sells, what her vision is for your career, etc).
  • Lastly, I’d suggest asking for a copy of the agency agreement. Just to make sure everything is in order before you say yes.

What won’t be discussed during The Call?

Even if I was prepared for The Call when it came, I still wasn’t 100% sure of what the agent would want to discuss with me.

I expected questions about my online presence, there were none. Agents are interested in YOUR MANUSCRIPT and YOUR WRITING. If that’s good, the rest can follow. Not the other way around.

I expected questions about my private life (I have an unusual background and day job, and I thought the agents might want to know about it). They weren’t THAT interested. Those questions came later, once I signed with my agent and she became curious. But at the time of The Call, all that mattered was MY MANUSCRIPT and MY WRITING.

Are we noticing a theme here? Yes. In my experience, The Call is about making sure the agent and you share the same vision for your manuscript and your writing. If you do, then the rest will usually follow.

Any questions?

by

On Querying , Subjectivity and Getting Contradictory Feedback from Agents

Hello gentle reader,

I’ve blogged before about the Querying Process and the 4 Stages of Rejections. In my previous post, I explained Stage 4 as the moment when you’re getting requests left and right, which all turn into “I like it but I’ll pass” rejections.

Today I’d like to expand a little bit on this type of rejection.

If you’re in the querying trenches and getting a lot of form rejections, you might think that receiving personalized feedback from agents is great: at last, agents take time out of their busy schedule to let you know WHY they’re rejecting your manuscript and what you can do about it! When I was querying for the first time, I thought so too.

Except that sometimes, the agent’s feedback isn’t as helpful as we hope.

When I queried the manuscript that led me to signing with my agent, I had 19 requests. I received personalized feedback from 16 agents (which, incidentally, means that two agents form-rejected my full manuscript – that can happen too).

Now, if half these agents had given me the same reason for rejecting my work, I would have gone back to the drawing board and revised. But it’s not what happened.

Instead, I received a lot of “I’m not the right agent for this” replies. Fair enough. I understand an agent has to believe in a project with a fiery passion to sell it to editors.

But then I also received the oh-so-confusing Contradictory Feedback (NB: my main character is named Lily):

Agent 1: “I had some trouble with Lily’s voice.”

Agent 2: “I just didn’t find myself to be as hooked by Lily and her narrative voice as I had hoped to be.”

Agent 3: “I thought the voice was great.”

Agent 4: “I’m afraid I wasn’t able to connect to Lily’s voice.”

Agent 5: “I just LOVE Lily’s voice.”

These quotes are not made up. They are straight from my inbox.

Are you seeing a pattern here? Yes. It’s the Pattern of The Contradictory Feedback From Agents.

Now, what does this tell us? It tells us that when you reach Stage 4 of the Querying Process, it’s likely your manuscript is polished and good enough to find representation. And when agents reject it, it reminds us that the publishing business is subjective.

And it’s an important lesson, because the rest of our publishing journey will also be affected by subjectivity. From editors to readers, we’ll have people who won’t like out story, hopefully not because it’s bad, but because it just isn’t their cup of tea. And it shouldn’t get us down: we can’t please everyone. We just have to be grateful for the people who do enjoy our stories.

And don’t forget…

What about you? Have you been confronted with subjectivity in your publishing journey? How do you deal with contradictory feedback? Make sure to leave me a comment below!

by

Waiting On Wednesday – 38

Hello gentle reader,

this week, I’m waiting on ECHO BOY by Matt Haig (expected publication: 6th February 2014 by Bodley Head Children’s Books). I loved THE RADLEYS by this author (a literary novel with vampires) and I can’t wait to read this YA Sci-Fi.

The Echo Boy

From Goodreads:

Audrey’s father taught her that to stay human in the modern world, she had to build a moat around herself; a moat of books and music, philosophy and dreams. A moat that makes Audrey different from the echoes: sophisticated, emotionless machines, built to resemble humans and to work for human masters.

Daniel is an echo – but he’s not like the others. He feels a connection with Audrey; a feeling Daniel knows he was never designed to have, and cannot explain. And when Audrey is placed in terrible danger, he’s determined to save her.

The Echo Boy is a powerful story about love, loss and what makes us truly human.

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly event, hosted by book blogger Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Have you heard of Echo Boy? Is it on your TBR list? What are you waiting on this week?

by

Jazz Age January – 4

jaj-bannerHello gentle reader,

Jazz Age January is a reading challenge hosted by Leah at Books Speak Volumes. The idea is to read books related to the Roaring Twenties during the month of January. If you want to join in the fun, read about it here.

This week, I’m reviewing VIXEN by Jillian Larkin.

Vixen-JillianLarkin

Title: Vixen (The Flappers #1)

Author: Jillian Larkin

Genre: YA Historical

Publication: 14th December 2010 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Blurb (from Goodreads):

Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination.

Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun… or are they?

Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden…

Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry…

From debut author Jillian Larkin, VIXEN is the first novel in the sexy, dangerous, and ridiculously romantic new series set in the Roaring Twenties… when anything goes.

What I thought:

I started reading this book in May 2012 but never finished it at the time. I thought Jazz Age January would be a good time to finally read it. Then I remembered why I had put it down.

This book isn’t a bad book. It’s well written and entertaining. But. The plot is SO SIMILAR to the Bright Young Things trilogy by Anna Godbersen (review here) that it’s very confusing. I couldn’t tell you if I liked this book or not, because all I kept thinking while I was reading it was that it felt I had read it before.

But if you haven’t read Bright Young Things, I guess you should give Vixen a try.

What have you been reading this week? Make sure to leave me a comment below!

by

Waiting On Wednesday – 37

Hello gentle reader,

this week I’m waiting on Lair of Dreams (The Diviners #2) by Libba Bray (expected publication: 5th August 2014 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers). It’s a YA Historical Fantasy set in 1920s New York City and the second book in a planned trilogy. The Diviners was one of my favourite books of 2013 and I can’t wait to read its sequel!

Lair of Dreams

From Goodreads:

After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O’Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. Now that the world knows of her ability to “read” objects, and therefore, read the past, she has become a media darling, earning the title, “America’s Sweetheart Seer.” But not everyone is so accepting of the Diviners’ abilities…

Meanwhile, mysterious deaths have been turning up in the city, victims of an unknown sleeping sickness. Can the Diviners descend into the dreamworld and catch a killer?

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly event, hosted by book blogger Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Have you heard of Lair of Dreams? Is it on your TBR list? What are you waiting on this week?

by

Jazz Age January – 3

jaj-bannerHello gentle reader,

Jazz Age January is a reading challenge hosted by Leah at Books Speak Volumes. The idea is to read books related to the Roaring Twenties during the month of January. If you want to join in the fun, read about it here.

This week, I’m reviewing THE DIVINERS by Libba Bray.

Diviners-PB2

Title: The Diviners

Author: Libba Bray

Genre: YA Historical Fantasy

Publication: 18th September 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Blurb (from Goodreads):

Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret.

And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.

What I thought:

Such. An. Amazing. Read. I loved this book and I couldn’t find anything negative to say about it. The plot is gripping, 1920s New York is wonderfully recreated on the page, the characters are all interesting and the writing is beautiful.

I can only recommend this book to everyone.

What have you been reading this week? Make sure to leave me a comment below!

by

Waiting On Wednesday – 36

Hello gentle reader,

This week I’m waiting on Dark Metropolis by Jaclyn Dolamore (expected publication: 17th June 2014 by Disney Hyperion). It’s a YA Historical Fantasy set in a 1930s-inspired world. I love the cover and the blurb sounds interesting…

Dark-Metropolis-Jaclyn-Dolamore

From Goodreads:

Cabaret meets Cassandra Clare-a haunting magical thriller set in a riveting 1930s-esque world.

Sixteen-year-old Thea Holder’s mother is cursed with a spell that’s driving her mad, and whenever they touch, Thea is chilled by the magic, too. With no one else to contribute, Thea must make a living for both of them in a sinister city, where danger lurks and greed rules.
Thea spends her nights waitressing at the decadent Telephone Club attending to the glitzy clientele. But when her best friend, Nan, vanishes, Thea is compelled to find her. She meets Freddy, a young, magnetic patron at the club, and he agrees to help her uncover the city’s secrets-even while he hides secrets of his own.

Together, they find a whole new side of the city. Unrest is brewing behind closed doors as whispers of a gruesome magic spread. And if they’re not careful, the heartless masterminds behind the growing disappearances will be after them, too.

Perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, this is a chilling thriller with a touch of magic where the dead don’t always seem to stay that way.

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly event, hosted by book blogger Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Have you heard of Dark Metropolis? Is it on your TBR list? What are you waiting on this week?