Tag Archives: Neil Gaiman

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All Hallow’s Read Giveaway! (closed)

Hello gentle reader,

this year again I’ve decided to join the initiative called All Hallow’s Read. The idea? Give someone a scary book for Halloween.

AHR13_WebBanner

Fantasy author Neil Gaiman made a lovely (!) video to explain this Halloween tradition:

So I’ve chosen to join this initiative by giving away a copy of The Diviners by Libba Bray (YA Historical Fantasy, UK paperback).

Diviners-PB2

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.

Giveaway information:

The giveaway is open until Saturday 1st November 2014 at 9am (BST time).

To enter please fill in the contact form below with your name and email. If you follow my blog by email or WordPress, if you are a Twitter follower, if you like my page on Facebook, if you follow me on Pinterest or Tumblr, or if you tweet about the giveaway, this will grant you an extra entry. Mention it below.

Entrants must be at least 13 years of age.

This giveaway is open Internationally, as long as the Book Depository ships to your country.

The winner will be chosen randomly, notified by email and will have 72 hours to reply or a new winner will be chosen.

I hold the right to end the giveaway before its original deadline without any prior notice.

I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.

Privacy information: no information given for this giveaway will be used for other purpose than this giveaway. All information provided (names, emails and mail addresses) will be deleted after the giveaway.

Good luck and feel free to leave me a comment below!

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All Hallow’s Read Giveaway (closed)

Hello gentle reader,

this year again I’ve decided to join the initiative called All Hallow’s Read. The idea? Give someone a scary book for Halloween.

AHR13_WebBanner

Fantasy author Neil Gaiman made a lovely (!) video to explain this Halloween tradition:

So I’ve chosen to join this initiative by giving away a copy of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman himself (YA Fantasy, UK paperback).

TheGraveyardBook

From Goodreads:

After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family . . .

Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

Giveaway information:

The giveaway is open until Friday 1st November 2013 at 9am (BST time).

To enter please fill in the contact form below with your name and email. If you follow my blog by email or WordPress, if you are a Twitter follower, if you like my page on Facebook, if you follow me on Pinterest or Tumblr, or if you tweet about the giveaway, this will grant you an extra entry. Mention it below.

Entrants must be at least 13 years of age.

This giveaway is open Internationally, as long as the Book Depository ships to your country.

The winner will be chosen randomly, notified by email and will have 72 hours to reply or a new winner will be chosen.

I hold the right to end the giveaway before its original deadline without any prior notice.

I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.

Privacy information: no information given for this giveaway will be used for other purpose than this giveaway. All information provided (names, emails and mail addresses) will be deleted after the giveaway.

Good luck and feel free to leave me a comment below!

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My Week In Review – ROW80 Check-In 10

Hello gentle reader,

It is time for another weekly check-in! I hope you had a great and productive week…

Quote of the Week

    “Richard had noticed that events were cowards: they didn’t occur singly, but instead they would run in packs and leap out at him all at once.”

    Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

This week was indeed very eventful in my corner of England…

Picture of the Week

M.LIN Light

Light by my friend M.LIN

ROW80 Check-In

 ROW80 Logo

My goal for this round is to write every day. This week, the day job was crazy, but I still managed to write

5 days out of 7.

Word Count of the Week

This week I added 2800 words to my Work In Progress.

TV Show/Movie of the Week

veronica-mars

Veronica Mars

Thanks to an incredible 24-hour Kickstarter campaign, the once cancelled TV show Veronica Mars is to become a movie in 2014. And this is awesome news!

Good News of the Week

This week the amazing Kat Ellis organised a pitch contest on her blog. I entered my Work In Progress Lily In The Shadows and won not one but TWO first-pages critiques, by Jani Grey and Bridget Shepherd.

Links of the Week

On my blog this week I finally revealed the title and plot of my Work In Progress.

On There And Draft Again this week, new member Rachel explained how to draw inspiration from other genres when writing fantasy.

On the Corsets, Cutlasses and Candlesticks blog, YA Author Jennifer McGowan explained How and Why She Fired Her Writing Process (an got published).

On the YAvengers blog, Amanda Foody wrote a great article on how to show, and not tell.

Finally I also recommend YA writer Carissa Taylor’s blog, full of writing tips and books recommendations.

Next week

Next week on my blog I will celebrate my birthday with a book giveaway! Come back on Tuesday to see which books you’ll be able to win…

How was your week? Make sure to share your writing progress and what inspired you this week in the comment section below!

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5 Books that Should Be Movies

Hello gentle readers,

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, The Host by Stephenie Meyer, Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl… What do these books have in common? They have all been turned into movies that will come out in 2013.

I have read them, and they are good books, which means I’ll probably go and see their movie version. However, if I had a choice in deciding which books should be turned into movies, I would have made another list. Here are 5 books I really wish were movies:

1 – The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (YA Paranormal)

The unbecoming of Mara Dyer

I have given up hope that Mara Dyer and Noah Shaw are real. Can I at least see them in a movie?

2 – The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (YA Fantasy)

the-raven-boys-book-coverThose boys. This girl. This school. This story. This magic. How on earth is this book not a movie yet?

3 – Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel (YA Paranormal)

InfiniteDays

The only Vampire Book out there that should be a movie, and the only one that isn’t, for some reason.

4 – American Gods by Neil Gaiman (Fantasy)

american-gods

Neil Gaiman’s books become movies, slowly and surely. I just hope this one doesn’t get forgotten, because it’s my favourite by him.

5 – The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (YA High Fantasy)

TheThief

The awesomeness that is this book would make for an amazing movie.

Which book do you wish were a movie?

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Waiting On Wednesday – 21

Hello gentle reader and Happy New Year!

I’m starting off 2013 with THE book I can’t wait to read this year: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (expected publication: June 18th 2013 by William Morrow Books).

the-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane-by-neil-gaiman

It’s no secret I love Neil Gaiman’s books and I’m very excited by the prospect of reading his new Adult Fantasy book.

From Goodreads:

“THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE is a fable that reshapes modern fantasy: moving, terrifying and elegiac – as pure as a dream, as delicate as a butterfly’s wing, as dangerous as a knife in the dark, from storytelling genius Neil Gaiman.

It began for our narrator forty years ago when the family lodger stole their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best left undisturbed. Dark creatures from beyond the world are on the loose, and it will take everything our narrator has just to stay alive: there is primal horror here, and menace unleashed – within his family and from the forces that have gathered to destroy it.

His only defense is three women, on a farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them claims that her duckpond is an ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang.”

What do you think? Are you looking forward to reading this book? Or do you have another book you’re eagerly anticipating? Feel free to leave me a comment below!

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly event, hosted by book blogger Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating. You can see what other bloggers are waiting for here.

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YA Halloween reads

What’s on my bookshlef ? 7

Are you looking for scary books that are suitable for Young Adult readers? On my bookshelf, you can find books with…

Zombies: Something Strange & Deadly by Susan Dennard

1876: the Dead are rising in Philadelphia and only a teenage girl in petticoats can stop them…

Ghosts: Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror by Chris Priestley

Edward visits his Uncle Montague, who tells him some of the most frightening stories he knows. But the house around them is creepy and Uncle Montague’s tales sound more and more real as time goes by…

Vampires: Department 19 by Will Hill

Department 19 is a secret organization that deals with all things supernatural. With the help of its strange members, a teenager must save his mother from a powerful vampire.

Witches: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Blue comes from a family of witches, but she has no power of her own. The only thing she knows for sure is that she will cause her true love to die. Which wasn’t a problem until she met the Raven Boys…

Death: Abandon by Meg Cabot

A teenage girl escapes more the Realm of the Dead (the Underworld), only to find herself in a lot of supernatural trouble. With more romance than scary moments, this book will suit readers who enjoy YA Paranormal reads.

Any other books you’d recommend? Feel free to comment! And don’t forget you can still win The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman here.

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All Hallow’s Read Giveaway (closed)

Hello gentle reader,

Halloween is one week away and I have decided to take part in an awesome initiative called All Hallow’s Read. The idea? Give someone a scary book for Halloween.

Fantasy author Neil Gaiman made a lovely (!) video to explain this Halloween tradition:

So I’ve chosen to join this initiative by giving away a copy of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman himself (YA Fantasy, UK paperback).

From Goodreads:

After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family . . .

Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED -Thanks to all you entered!

The winner will be contacted by email

Giveaway information:

The giveaway is open until Wednesday, October 31st 2012 at midnight (BST time)

To enter please fill in the contact form below with your name and email.

If you follow my blog by email, WordPress or RSS feed, if you are a Twitter follower , if you like my page on Facebook or if you tweet about the giveaway, this will grant you an extra entry. Mention it below.

Entrants must be at least 13 years of age.

This giveaway is open Internationally.

The winner will be chosen randomly, notified by email and will have 72 hours to reply or a new winner will be chosen.

I am not responsible for items lost in the mail.

I hold the right to end the giveaway before its original deadline without any prior notice.

I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.

Privacy information: no information given for this giveaway will be used for other purpose than this giveaway. All information provided (names, emails and mail addresses) will be deleted after the giveaway.

Good luck and feel free to leave me a comment below…

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Liebster Blog Award!

Hello gentle reader,

Last week my blog was nominated twice (!) for the Liebster Award! Thanks to Craig Schmidt & Mara Valderran for passing the award on to me. This award is about spotlighting new blogs (with fewer than 200 followers) and answering 11 questions. Since I was nominated twice, I had to choose from a set of 22 questions.

So this award arrived just on time since my blog has almost reached 200 followers (more on this coming soon!). Here are the questions I have decided to answer:

What is your motto?

Don’t give up your dream.

Tell us three things about a favourite character you’ve created.

In my WIP The Last Queen, the main character Elian is shy, dutiful and self-conscious. Yet, somehow, he becomes a hero. Don’t ask him how, he wouldn’t know.

Which author influences you most as a writer, and in what way?

Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors, because he tells fantasy stories that are accessible to any reader, at almost any age.

When you get writer’s block, doing this helps.

When I get the feeling that what I’m writing doesn’t work, I stop writing and I read instead. Sometimes it takes just one book, sometimes it takes six, but eventually it makes me want to write again.

What is something you regret?

I have been writing for 15 years, and it took me a very long time to listen to people who told me “why don’t you try to get published?” I wish I had listened to them earlier.

What was the first thing you remember writing?

The first novel I wrote AND finished was a story called The Chronicles of a Girl on a Swing in Paris. Well, the title pretty much says it all 😉

What goal are you most focused on right now?

Finishing edits to The Last Queen and querying it.

Who was your favourite actor or actress when you were growing up?

Kevin Costner. I still really like him. If one of his movies comes on TV, I’ll always each it.

What is your favourite television show that was cancelled before its time/too soon?

I’m assuming everyone already said Firefly… So I’ll say Blood Ties (2007): vampires and an awesome heroine. No idea why it got cancelled, it was excellent. I also was a bit disappointed that The Gates (2010) didn’t really get a chance to find its audience.

What is on your bucket list (things you want to do before you die)?

Read ALL THE BOOKS (almost). Visit the US West Coast, New Zealand, Italy and Greece.

If you were to write a “Thank you” note to someone you’ve never actually met, who would that be and why?

I would write it to Fantasy author Gregory Maguire (The Wicked Years series). His books were a huge inspiration because they were like nothing I had read before and it showed me that I could write weird stories too, as long as they were good.

Now I have to tag other new bloggers so they’ll answer those witty questions…  Here is my list:

Yesenia Vargas

Em Loves to read, Wants to write

Lauren Garafalo

SJ Maylee

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ROW80 Check-In 1: Neil Gaiman’s 8 Rules of Writing

Hello gentle reader,

It is time for my first ROW80 check-in! My goals for this fourth round are as follows:

Write or edit every day

Editing – Finish my current round of editing for The Last Queen, get my manuscript critiqued and beat-read, then edit some more.

Writing – Write a short story, and continue writing the first draft of The Cursed King

I’m happy to report that I’ve had a great writing week, since I did manage to write or edit every day! Some days (Tuesday and Friday) were tough because I got home from work very late, but I still stuck to the routine. I also managed to read two books for my upcoming Halloween post and I kept my blog alive with an interview with YA author Meagan Spooner. Check it out if you want to know how she got published.

If you’re new to this blog, know that I always add an inspiring story to my ROW80 check-ins. This week, I’m sharing Neil Gaiman’s 8 Rules of Writing that I found on the Guardian website. Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors and his writing advice is worth a read.

Image by Kimberly Butler

  1. Write
  2. Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.
  3. Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.
  4. Put it aside. Read it pretending you’ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.
  5. Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
  6. Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.
  7. Laugh at your own jokes.
  8. The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it ­honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.

How are you other ROWers doing? Here is the Linky to support each other!

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YA Ghost Stories

What’s on my bookshelf ? 5

Today I want to mention a few ghost stories that I enjoyed reading and that I think are suitable for Young Adult readers.

So, on my bookshelf, you can find:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

After the murder of his family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard and is raised by ghosts. Growing up in a graveyard can be dangerous but everyone knows the world outside its gate is even worse…

An amazing setting, and such a great story. Neil Gaiman has no equal.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Two American sisters inherit a flat which borders Highgate Cemetery in London. The teenage twins move in and meet their strange neighbours, before realizing  their deceased aunt can’t seem to leave her old apartment – and life- behind.

Technically an Adult book. An interesting premise and a chilling ending. However the story relies heavily on clichés about London and its supposedly ghostly feel. Since I actually live here, I need a little more than that in terms of setting.

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

The ghost of Jack The Ripper is killing again in modern-day London. The secret ghost police of London are on the case, with no time to waste.

Again a book set in London and targeted at American readers who have never set foot here. But in this one, the plot is great and the author actually conveys a “British feel” to her story.

Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

Manhattan, 1882. A teenage girl who cannot speak. A haunted painting. A love story across time and space.

A good YA read, although the plot lacked high stakes. And I liked the twist halfway through the book.

That’s it for YA ghost stories sitting on my bookshelf… Any other books you’d recommend? Feel free to comment!

Also you can enter my 100 Followers Giveaway here and win YA books!