Why Whispers?

My Mum asked me something interesting the other day. She asked if I was ever surprised that out of all the things I've written the first thing of mine to be published and sold overseas is a short story less then 30 pages long. It is a little weird. I've written a 1,000 page long novel. It took me over five years and went through about four rewrites and is destined for another complete rewrite. The book is called Eternal Sacrifice and has two stories; the doomed romance of Poseidon and his mortal soul mate Cleito and the life of their son, Dylan, who is sent into hiding from Zeus and is raised to believe he is mortal. I am going to rewrite the whole thing AGAIN because ever since writing half a dozen short stories the "world" my stories exist in has developed and changed and I want to put those changes into Eternal Sacrifice. Plus, I've grown as a writer, and know I can finally put the finishing touches on Eternal. It is a little weird to think that a project I spent five years working on is gathering dust on my hard drive while a short story that took me three months to write and on sale around the world. AND IN BARNES AND NOBLE! One of the biggest bookstore chains in America! Hell, it may not be for sale in print, but its a start, right? And e-books are the future. Yep...I wouldn't be surprised by the time I'm an old, old woman everyone will be reading books on kindles the size of datapads from star trek.

Whispers is available from Barnes and Noble!

Wow! Barnes and Noble! How weird is that!

http://books.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?PST=B7&WRD=marisa+quinn&box=marisa%20quinn&pos=-1

One of the biggest bookstore chains in America. Oh my gosh, this is so strange. Granted, its only the e-book version, but still! its Barnes and Noble! Its more exposure which is just what I want for my writing. This is so exciting. I never thought when I got published that my book would be on so many different websites. My Mum bought a printed copy of Whispers a few months ago and it finally came in the mail yesterday. I got to hold it in my hands. It was surreal. Yeah, it was small, but it was mine, and it was published. Its a start. Next published book will be thick enough to have a spine, I promise. Echoes in the Wind is now over 20,000 words long!

First Day of Classes!

I had my first university class yesterday. It was exciting, interesting, and different then what I thought it would be. I imagined the entire class to be filled with writers like me. Instead, I got the impression it was mostly filled with hobbyists, wanna-be-writers, bloggers, and people who don't really share that much of an interest in writing but are there for other reasons. I'm sure there are a few of them who want to get published and make a career out of it. I just had trouble picking them out of the crowd. Not that it matters to me if hardly any of them want to get published. I'm so shy it just makes it easier for me to strike up a conversation if I know the other person is a writer like me. I did meet one nice lady who wants to write humor novels. I hope I make some friends. After the lecture, we went into the workshop and read some poems and did a writing exercise. When we were reading the poem I thought we would discuss the construction of the poem, the clarity of the images, etc. Instead, we discussed the author behind it. I kept waiting for someone to put their hand up and comment on the poem itself. Hopefully, we'll get to that sort of thing eventually. Once we start talking about characters, plot and point of view, I might be able to gather the courage to put my hand up and make a comment. I know more things about that then poems. I'm looking forward to going back next Monday. I just hope that I will be able to get over my shyness and make a couple of friends. Even if the vast majority of the people in my class might not be true writers, they still have an interest in writing, which is something at least. And I'm sure there are a couple of them who are either published, or want to be. I just have to ferret them out. When I got back to work I was so sleeply I almost fell asleep at my desk. I don't know why, though. I wasn't sleepy at university. I think its just the work I'm doing at the moment. I'm doing vertifiying which is data entry. Trying to decipher people's hand writing gave me a splitting headache.

Anti-Heroes

I started watching season one of Dexter this week. I'd been meaning to watch it for a long time and finally decided to give it a go because I was bored of watching star trek voyager reruns. Dexter is a really interesting show because the main character, Dexter, is a serial killer who channels his urge to kill into attacking bad guys. Dexter is an anti-hero. I really like these two of characters. They're not good, or bad, they're in the middle. Traits of both. I like them because they are realistic. Everyone has a hero and a villian in them. No one is one or the other. Dexter is a fascinating character because he has a wicked, evil side, but he's also a good man. He is vicious and violent, but he can also be brave and kind. He has a warped code of honor that he lives by. Its intriguing to watch him. He's really well written. He's the type of character that readers are unsure if they want to root for or hoot when he meets his demise. He does some terrible things to people...but they are not innocent...so you've left wondering is he a monster or an avenging angel? I like to make my villians like Dexter. I want people to feel sorry for him, to pity them, to want them to find happiness, because no one is truly evil. A truly good villian thinks of themselves as a the good day. That's what Dexter thinks of himself.

Whispers available in India and Japan

I stumbled across two surprising websites the other night. Turns out that Whispers in the Dark is available on a Japanese website called Junkudo Book Web:

http://www.ebookbank.jp/junkudo/ep/item/4-79380/

and an Indian website called All Books India:
http://www.a1books.co.in/shop/searchdetail.do?contentId=142426&partnersite=a1india

How weird is that! I'm curious whether the copies are in those languages, too. How exciting! Hopefully, some time soon, I might actually earn some royalties. Gosh that would be nice. LOL.

A Writer Among Registration Assistants

Yesterday was an interesting day. I rang ECU and found out that there was no way I could do the unit I had enrolled in externally which meant that I had to somehow find a way to do it during working hours. So I scuttled into my boss's lair and told him the problem then spent the next few hours anxiously waiting to hear what would happen. Turns out I don't qualify for study leave because I'm just on contract but I am allowed to go to class every Monday I just have to use five hours of flex time. I'm glad I have three weeks before I start that gives me time to frantically build up my flex as high as I can giving me a nice pillow of time to fall back on. If I can keep my flex above a minium of two hours I should be able to stay afloat if I'm using five hours a week to go to class. My boss had to tell all the girls in my team that they wouldn't be allowed to take a flex on Mondays for the rest of the year because of me. Ohh, nelly, that was a fun meeting. When he first told them the girls all got a look on their faces like they wanted to beat me to death. LOL. They agreed to it though. Freakin' university. Life would've been so much simpler if I could have gone external, but ooh noooo I have to go to workshops. Ah, well. At least its all sorted out for now. My team joked that if they had any difficult letters to write they will give it to me. Hehe.

I'm looking forward to doing my writing course. I'm glad everything worked out. As I told my friend on the phone, I really wanted to make it work. I don't want to be one of those people who wake up one day full of regret that they didn't do a whole bunch of things when they were young. I've wanted to go to university for sooooo long I wasn't going to sit back and not make this work.

For the longest time I've always thought that university styled writing courses were pointless. You DO NOT need to do one to become an author. I learnt how to write creatively and the ins and out of publishing by myself through books and websites. I don't know if my course will get me a good job one day...and I don't care. I've studied heaps of things over the years that I've not be interested in or been only partially interested in. I did those courses to find work. Its so refreshing to be able to study something I'm passionate about for once. If it helps me get a good job...great...if it doesn't well I'm sure its gonna be fun ride.

Creative Writing Student!

I'm starting university on the 27th of July at the tender age of 25. I'm finding it a little hard to believe. I've spent the past seven years regretting my decision not to study T.E.E in highschool and go straight into university. I made so many mistakes after highschool. I went stumbling down half a dozen different career paths that turned out wrong for me. Library studies. Child care. Old age care. I gave up office work for a while but now I'm back doing that and am happier then I have been in a long while. For the longest time my plan was simple: become a qualified child care assistant, get into a teaching course at university, and spend the next decade studying part time external while working in a child care center. Well, after two years of wiping bums, singing songs and dancing to the wiggles I decided that I'd rather poke out my eyeballs with a fork then work in child care for another decade so that plan went up in smoke! Plus there was the fact that a teaching course had a ten week prac assessment something I had no idea how I would do if I was working full time! so that led me to consider a Bachelor of Writing. I liked the idea of studying writing. After years of studying things I was not passionate about the idea of studying something I was actually interested in excited me. So I enrolled and got in. The plan was to go part time external now it turns out that only SOME of the subjects in my course are available off campus which means that I'm going to have to figure out a way to attend classes and still work full time! I'm hoping I can make it work. I don't want to be one of those people who wake up one day full of regrets. I WANT TO MAKE THIS WORK. I want to find a way to balance university and work. I can do this. I want to do this. Writing is my life. Its going to be great to sit in a classroom full of other writers and learn about writing. Its where I belong.

Evolving Characters

I'm finally at the point in Echoes in the Wind where the huge battle occurs between Echo and Pan. Originally, it was going to be between Pan and Narcissus. Echo was going to be strung from the trees and forced to watch while they did battle. One of the things I love about writing is how plot lines and characters go in different directions from original plans. They 'evolve' and go in a new direction which is right for them. When I first imagined Echo, I pictured her as a peaceful, music-loving, wood nymph. Instead, she turned out to be a brave, strong, independant woman who has suffered alot of crap and won't take it anymore! She is not the type of woman to stand on the sidelines and watch as her soul mate does battle. She would throw her soul mate to the side and fight to protect him. I love how her character has turned out. I wish I could sketch a picture of her but I'm not good at drawing people. I have this vision of her in my head as this dark-skinned slightly muscular woman with waist length bright green hair and beautiful almost glowing green eyes. Exotic. Mysterious. Beautiful. In alot of ways she's a reincarnation of a character I wrote in high school who was also black and green haired called Forest Wind. I can't wait until Echoes in the Wind is finished and I can get some critiques. I'm real curious to hear what people think of Echo. She's my favourite character yet.

I'm excited to annouce that Whispers in the Dark has been reviewed at You Gotta Read Reviews: http://yougottareadreviews.blogspot.com/2009/06/review-whispers-in-dark-by-marisa-quinn.html

Its a very good review! I spotted links to it on several other blogs so I'm very excited!

Thick Skin

Whispers in the Dark got its first bad reader review. It wasn't really a review, more of an opinion. Someone voted Whispers in the Dark as being "poor" on Fictionwise. Ah, well. I don't think my little story is poor, its gotten three really good reviews. Bad reviews are just part of the writer's life. It doesn't matter how much effort I put into a story, how long I spend editing it or how much love and passion I pour into the characters, there will always be people who won't like my story. You can't please everyone. Just gotta accept it. I suppose I should be relived that I didn't stumble across a paragraph long rant about Whispers. I've read some pretty snotty reviews on my time...gotten some pretty snotty critiques...every writer dreads having them written about their work. Gotta have a thick skin.

Okay, I'm Back

I still haven't left work I'm sitting on my bed eating fruit toast. I submitted my book for review at a website last night called Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. I'm a little scared. If they choose to review it they'll probably rip it to shreds but on the plus side if I can win them over yay, me! A quick read of their website told me they were a tough cookie to crack. I figure, hey, if I get a good review from them it will be good promotion, if they give me a bad one, I'm bound to get a bad review one day, might as well get it over with. Its like ripping a bandaid off. Why prolong the agony? Just close your eyes, grit your teeth, and rip it off. But like all big girls I'm hoping that it won't hurt at all.

Echoes in the Wind is going well. Its breeched 17,000 words which means if I sell it as an e-book it will sell for double digits! Hopefully, anyway. If it ends up for sale above $5.00 I'll be a happy little chicke-dee. I'm crossing my fingers that it when (not if) if it goes on sale it will be for $10.00 and up. I've got a feeling it will end up around 20,000 words. Now that is a decent sized e-book! Whispers in the Dark became an e-book by accident. I wrote it thinking I would be able to get it published in a magazine. It almost did...but then fate took a sudden turn and it became an e-book.

Whispers reviewed at Manic Readers

I should've posted this days ago but I've been distracted. Whispers in the Dark has been reviewed at Manic Readers:

http://manicreaders.com/index.cfm?disp=reviews&bookid=4246

Another nice little review! and I got it done all by myself :) I emailed the website and they did it really quickly...usually when I request a review I never hear from the website again. LOL. I've been thinking about ways to help promote Whispers and I've decided to get a website professionally made. I emailed a web design company for a qoute but they never got back to me. I'll make some phone calls and do some more web surfing. I'm not going to make some posters until I've had a website made. I'm going to buy my author copies of Whispers in the Dark this pay. I'm going to get four copies two of which are going to friends and the other two will be for me to treasure until I'm old and wrinkled.

Well its the 7th of the month and that means that the new releases for Eternal Press have come out. I can't believe its been a month since Whispers in the Dark came out. In that time I dumped my old boyfriend, met someone else, got dumped by the second person, bouced back to my old boyfriend who begged me to get back together, then got dumped by him. Whoo wee, what a month! All that dating can really exhaust a girl. The dating train has slowed for now which means I have more time to focus on my writing. I'll be back after work with another blog post. I have to dash off now. Its 5.47am in the morning and time for Wii Fitt.

Before I go, its a little weird not having the spotlight on me anymore as a new release author. But hey, that's cool. It was my first release. I couldn't have my time in the sun forever! Its time for the June authors to shine. Congraduations to all the June authors!!

Whispers reviewed at Fang-Tastic Books!!

Whispers in the Dark has been reviewed at Fang-Tastic books!! I stumbled across the review while surfing the net for updates on my book:

Whispers in the Dark by Marisa Quinn
Eternal Press
May 2009
$2.50
6000 words
paranormal romanceebook
3 fangs

The Greek god Eros knows his soulmate Psyche has been born and longs to be with her. However, his mother Aphrodite seeks to destroy Psyche because she doesn't want her son to leave her alone. This sweet retelling of the myth of Eros and Psyche provides additional insight into Aphrodite's own psyche as she has to decide between loneliness and losing Eros.


Such a nice little review! I was so happy to find it. I haven't done as much marketing as I thought I would this past month. In my defence, I've had a pretty crappy past few weeks. I've been too distracted (and under too much stress) to market. One word: DATING. Ah, if only soul mates really existed...it would make life so much simpler!

I'm going to try and market Whispers in the Dark alot more and that means attempting to get lots of reviews and interviews! So this morning I set up an author page at Manic Readers:

http://manicreaders.com/MarisaQuinn/

and I requested to be reviwed by them. I'm also considering paying money to have my front cover displayed on a website. I'm happy to annouce that Whispers in the Dark continues to pop up on more and more online book stores. I found it on the website Libresco where it is being sold in British pounds!!! wow!!!

http://www.iliadreader.co.uk/book.147459.htm


It is also available on AllShortStories.com:

https://store.fictionwise.com/allshortstories/eBooks/browsebook9eBooks.htm?cache

and Ereader.com

http://www.ereader.com/servlet/mw?t=book&bi=87830&si=59

Whispers in the Dark available in print!

I can't believe I forgot to mention that Whispers in the Dark is available in print but in my defence I've had a pretty crappy week. Whispers in the Dark is available in print from Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Dark-Marisa-Quinn/dp/1926647882/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

I haven't ordered my author copies yet. To be honest I forgot. I will try and do it soon. I'm in the process of moving out and spend every second weekend dragging me parents to furniture shops to pick out bookcases and end tables. I don't usually have enough money yet at the end to purchase my author copies. My Mum has bought one though. I can't wait for it to arrive in the mail. Its going to be so surreal to hold a printed version of my book in my hands. I'll probably scream the house down when I open the book and hold it in my hands for the first time. I wish it was for sale in bookstores. One of my dreams as an author has been to go into a bookstore one day and pose in front of a bookshelf holding a copy of my book on sale.

Whispers in the Dark update

Whispers in the Dark is now available from three more websites:

Filament ebookstore:
http://store.fictionwise.com/servlet/mw?t=book&bi=87830&si=44

KnowBetter ebook store:
http://store.fictionwise.com/servlet/mw?t=book&bi=87830&si=35

and Fictionwise:
http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook87830.htm

More Reviews, Please!

It seems like everytime I type Whispers in the Dark into yahoo a new webpage pops up that I hadn't seen before. I found Whispers in the Dark's first review on another website tonight:

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977683745

and was very excited to discover that it had nine comments! All of them positive! all of them from people sounded interested in reading my little e-book! Yay! This makes me wonder if there are more reviews of Whispers in the Dark floating around the internet that I haven't discovered yet. I hope so because I feel like I'm falling behind in the marketing race. All of the other Eternal Press authors have had heaps of reviews and chats and interviews and I haven't. I've been wondering if its because this is my first release. I am new to marketing. I'll be honest. I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm trying, though. Hopefully Whispers in the Dark will get many more reviews in the future!

Whispers in the Dark's first reader review!

I've finally had some feedback! I logged into my email account this morning and discovered, to my delight, that another author had reviewed my story:

Today I had the pleasure of reading this brief, but satisfying, e-book. Marisa Quinn retells the Classical Greek myth of Eros (cupid) and Psyche, his mortal beloved. Standing between these two destined lovers is Eros's mother, the love-goddess Venus. Though this story is literally thousands of years old, Quinn manages to place her own unique spin on it and make it fresh and interesting. I was stunned to learn this is Quinn's first published romance! She's a very promising new writer from Australia, and *Whispers in the Dark* is a great read.

Erin O'Riordan,
author of *Beltane*www.eternalpress.ca/beltane.html
Home: www.aeess.com

What a wonderful little review! I'm so happy. Hehe. This has been such an interesting experiment. I'm curious how my other short stories: Tears of a Goddess, Goddess Awakening, Deep Embrace, Forever In Your Arms, and Echoes in the Wind will do if (and hopefully when) they eventually get published.

In other news, I'm excited to annouce that Whispers in the Dark is now available from CyberRead: http://www.cyberread.com/Whispers-In-The-Dark/Marisa-Quinn/info/122442/mobi

Whispers in the Dark on GhostWriter Literary Reviews

I was doing my daily internet search of Whispers in the Dark to see if it had popped up on any more websites and I found it at Ghost Writer Literary Reviews:

http://ghostwriterreviews.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=17_745&products_id=750

When I first saw the link my heart contracted in my chest and my eyeballs bugged out of my sockets because I thought it meant that SOMEONE had FINALLY reveiwed my book. Upon clicking on it though I discovered that no one had actually reviewed it yet. It was just available for review. You can request to reveiw it.

Please, please, someone review my little e-book! I'm really, really, eager for my first review.

The Joys of Google

I found Whispers in the Dark for sale on a website I didn't even know sold Eternal Press books this morning! I'm happy to annouce that it is now available from PayLoadz:

http://store.payloadz.com/str-asp-i.384235-n.Whispers_in_the_Dark_Science_Fiction_40-end-detail.html

Hehe. I typed my name into google and a whole bunch of websites popped up and they were actually about me and not some Marisa Quinn who is a university professor on the other side of the world. I haven't had any reviews for Whispers in the Dark yet. I'm dying to hear what people think of it. Tonight after work I'm going to go on the prowl for more reviews. Its weird emailing people asking for REVIEWS and not to publish me.

And the excitement keeps on coming...

Whispers in the Dark is now available from:

Coffee Time Romance:
http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookStore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=49&sort=20a&page=1

and All Romance E-Books:
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html

I went back and double checked Mobipocket and on the page my book is on at the bottom it says "People who bought this book also purchased..." at first it was blank but now it has a whole heap of books listed! people have bought my book! I find that so surreal. I can't believe people have bought my little e-book. I'm so excited. I did a search for my book under Eternal Press there just for the heck of it and it popped up on Eternal Press's best sellers list under number eight.

Heh...heh...

Whispers in the Dark has been released!!

The day has finally arrived. Whispers in the Dark, my first published work, has been released. I am so excited I do not know how I am going to sleep tonight. I did not expect it to be out until tomorrow because of time differences, so I was very surprised to find it had come out today! It is so weird seeing a dollar sign next to one of my stories. I feel like pinching myself. I'm so happy. I'm having a day off from work tomorrow to celebrate. The moment everyone leaves for work I am going to put Whispers in the Dark by Skillet on the CD player in the living room and dance around the house. Then I have to get to work figuring out how to get Whispers reviewed. I was surfing the net before and stumbled acorss Whispers for sale on an online bookstore. THIS IS SO SURREAL. I clicked on the link and you can rate my story! Oh my god! This is so scary. Is this really happening? You can also be put on an email list to be alerted when another one of my titles comes out. Holy shit. I'm an author...

At the moment Whispers in the Dark is available from:

Eternal Press:
http://www.eternalpress.ca/whispersinthedark.html
and Mobipocket:
http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/eBookDetails.asp?BookID=175325

I will post more links when I stumble across them. I hope Whispers in the Dark does well. Its one of my favourite myths. Here is the blurb:

Eros, son of Aphrodite, is a Greek god. Every night for the past eighteen years, the moment he fell asleep, a woman with gold-speckled eyes and sinful lips curved in a mysterious smile entered his dreams.

Was she his soul mate…or just a dream?

When Psyche, a mortal living in ancient Greece, heard the sound of Eros whispering to her one night, she thought she was dreaming again. It wasn’t until she opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of the winged god gliding past the moon that she knew she had not imagined it.

“I will come to you in darkness…”

Unable to resist the pounding of his heart, Eros will defy Aphrodite and face the wrath of the gods by engaging in a forbidden love affair with Psyche, an insignificant mortal in their eyes. Eros knows the truth: Psyche is his soul mate. His lover. His destiny.

I will post again the morning. Good luck, Whispers! I hope you sell well!

One more day!!

One more day until Whispers in the Dark is released!! Its the 7th of May for me tomorrow, but because of time differences, it doesn't come out until the 8th for me. I'm having a day off from work to celebrate and sleep in because I'll probably be on the computer in the early hours of the morning at the internet launch party. I'm so glad I'm not going to work that day. I'll be able to sleep in. Assuming, of course, I can stop vibrating from excitement. I can't wait to type in my name in search engines and see my little book pop on on the screen with a dollar sign attached to it. Its so surreal. I hope it gets good reviews and sells well.

Whoo Hoo!!

Romancing The Blog has linked my blog!! I applied there months and months ago. I totally forgot about it. I'm very happy. Hehe. Its a long weekend this week. The shops are going to be shut because its Anzac day in Australia. I'm going to try and get a decent amount of writing done. I'm hoping I might be able to convince Mum to take me up the video store to see if I can pick up a copy of Twlight on DVD to give myself something interesting to watch on television while I work. The shop might be open. Its either get a copy there or spend twenty mintues staring at my collection at dvds trying to decide what I feel like watching. I'm determined to finish the Echo vs Narcissus fight this weekend and either start or get halfway through the Pan vs Echo and Narcissus fight. If I can do that it won't be that much more until the end. Then I'll have to find the time to edit the whole damn thing. I'll be so glad when its done. Then I can start my non-greek god soul mate story. *rubs hands together in excitement*

I don't know why....

But for some reason DarkEmotionz online has been linking to each of my posts to which I say....yay? I sorta stumbled across it. The closer the date of Whisper's release comes the more nervous I'm coming. I don't expect to make much (if at all) money. I'm excited at the prospect of typing my name into search engines and having my e-book pop up on online bookstores. And I'm nervous as hell at the idea of lots and lots of people reading Whispers in the Dark. I know not everyone is going to like it. Some will hate it. I've read nasty reviews. I've always known that it would have to be something I'll have to deal with one day. There's no avoiding it. Some people will love my story, but others will hate it. Just a fact. I'm one of those writers that craves opinions. I LOVE to find out what people think of my writing. I want to know what was their favourite bit, which character they liked, etc...etc.... everytime I get my parents to read my stories I always drive them nuts with the questions I ask: 'Yes, I know you liked it, but tell me WHAT EXACTLY did you like about it?"

Mum told me how one of the women she works with is going to download my story onto her ipod and read it on the train. Fuck. Having so many people read my story is like standing naked in the middle of a room and shouting "JUDGE ME!" to everyone. Writing is such an isolating profession. You can only do it alone in a room with nothing but a laptop and the voices in your brain for company. Getting published is the complete opposite. Its about exposure. Its both good and bad. Its going to be an interesting experience either way. I'm hopeful that Whispers in the Dark will be successful. It has a very good front cover so I'm crossing my fingers that will attract readers. Not long now!

It dawned on me recently...

I haven't been doing my website of the month lately. LOL. Ah, well. I should've known it was a dumb idea. I knew I would forget about it. My writing has been going slow lately. I can't wait until I finish Echoes in the Wind. I'm really looking forward to writing a non-greek god soul mate story. Its going to be great to do something different. I've had so many cool ideas about gods from other cultures for years now. The only irritating thing about doing a fantasy Japanese period piece is I'm going to have to do more then the average amount of research for a short story. When it comes to planning a book I'll do the normal amount of world building...I'll write character bios and plot outlines...my patience for planning only goes so far. If I plan for too long I get overwhelmed with how difficult PLANNING the book is and end up putting the whole thing off. When a book is different to plan you know its gonna be a bitch to actually write. I've been planning the Seven Virtues for about five years now and still haven't finished the outline for book one or even know how the series is going to end. When a series takes almost a decade to peice together in my head its a sign its gonna be a colossal effort to put into words. I haven't decided on what my next project is going to be other then a non-greek god soul mate story. I want to pick something that will be quick and simple with little world building required. I knew Echoes in the Wind would be a long, tough project. Thank God I'm almost near the end. I'm aiming it towards Samhain Publishing. I've got a good feeling about it. I love Echo and Narcissus as a couple. They are going to look so cool on a front cover one day....sleek, exotic Echo, with her black skin and green hair and muscular, arrogant Narcissus, with his blue and white hair and eyes that change colour.

Echoes Update

I haven't gotten much writing done in the past month and a half. I've been very distracted. And I sorta lost my inspiration. I became bored with writing. Writing CAN be very boring sometimes. There are days when locking myself in my room for eight hours does not appeal to me. That's why I have so many dvds. I'm more inclined to sit on my butt for that long if I have something interesting to watch on the television while I'm writing. I did about a page today which is more then I've done in a long, long time. I think I'm bored of my current project and the Greek Gods in general. Since I'm right at the end of Echoes in the Wind, I am going to struggle through to the finish line, then I'm going to take a break from the Greeks and experiment with writing a Soul Mate story involving other Gods and Goddesses. I have an idea for a Japanese Soul Mate story called Soul Reflection. I came up with the title right away which is usually a good sign. I would also like to write my own spin on the Tristian and Isolde myth from British mythologly because those two are definately soul mates! I'm hoping that a brief break from Greek mythologly will get me interested in my stories again. I've been dying to experiment with gods from other religions for a while espically the Japanese ones. China also has some interesting gods. I would like to do as many different Soul Mate stories as I can. I also want to do non-soul mate stories both ones based on myths and original stories involving gods as well. I would like to rewrite a Hercules myth. I think I would like my next project to be a little one. Echoes in the Wind has just breeched 13,000 words and it has exhausted me. I don't think I have another novella in me after that one for a while. I'll pump out a couple more shorts then will start the rewrite of Eternal Sacrifice.

24 Days until Whispers in the Dark is released!

Whispers in the Dark front cover!!

I know, I know, I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy over the past couple of months. I got a full time office job so I haven't had much time to write! I wanted to post a message this morning. The front cover for Whispers in the Dark has been released!! Isn't it amazing? Its a hundred times better then I thought it would look. I'm in love with it. Psyche is beautiful and just how I pictured her and Eros has this look on his face like she's the most precious thing in the world which as HIS soul mate she is to him! I printed a copy off and was staring at it on the bus and noticed a few things I didn't spot at first. Psyche has long black hair that goes past her chin down to her hand which I like and you can see Eros's hand resting on her shoulder. He he. Its amazing. Just 26 days until it comes out!! Whoopie!

Mean Writers

In my spare time when I'm bored I hang out on a writing message board that would probably be one of the largest on the net. Its filled with very serious writers. Posting something for critique there is like chucking a bit of meat into a pit filled with tigers. They rip you apart. I've posted things there about five times and with the exception of the last time I did it (I only got one terrible review instead of five or six! yay!) I would get so many incredibly nasty responses it would be like being pelted with rocks. I'll come away, dazed and confused, and ask myself "WHY THE HELL DO I DO THAT TO MYSELF?" I guess on some deep down level I want to impress this group of snobby writers. Most of them are in their 30s and above. And alot of them are published. The thing I hate about that website is there are a couple of people there who are just flat out MEAN to younger, less experienced writers, and it bugs the shit out of me. For example, a young girl posted on the site recently asking about e-books. Of course, she got a million responses telling her how bad they are, which is enough to irritate me, then this other little shit started critiquing her POSTS and pointing out all her spelling errors and told her that "If your writing in your posts is any example I do not think your novel would benefit from further critiques" so just because she was a bad speller apparently that makes her a terrible writer and incapable of improving. I was SO TEMPTED to post a snotty reply but I didn't. I would just alientate another person on that board. I've gotten into a few arguments there. LOL. That person's reply disgusted me. Writers are supposed to SUPPORT other writers. Not shoot them down because they're young or might have a problem with spelling. Just because a writer has a problem with spelling DOES NOT mean that they are incapable of writing a good story. With practise their spelling will improve. Sometimes I wonder why I go to that site. So I've opened my own writing forms called Writing Realm:

http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/index.php?mforum=atlantis&sid=992416359c2094440f00365571afc8f8

At the moment its just me rattling around there. LOL. I'm hopeful others will come soon.

You Know You're A Writer When...

1. You can't sit in the bath without being struck with ideas for your current project (This happens to me all the time)

2. You write lines of dialogue on your hands at work because you do not have a notebook in your bag or can't leave the room

3. In school when the teacher was not looking you pull out a notebook from under your pencil case and continue writing your stories

4. You spend your lunch break at work/school writing stories

5. You're talking to a real, living, breathing person and suddenly stop and listen because one of your characters interrupted you.

6. Your novels are backed up on your laptop, your husband's laptop, two thumb drives, and you're seriously toying with the idea of getting a safe deposit box.

7. You scribble your characters names all over your school work

8. When your computer crashes you burst into tears at the thought of loosing your work (I've done this)

9. You have a favorite pen. Uniball Signo 207 in medium with the comfi-grip in black ink. Excellent ink coverage.

10. You get caught up in plotting your next scene and put the cereal in the fridge, and the milk in the pantry.

11. The stacks of your old manuscripts and rejection letters officially constitutes a fire hazard.

12. You desperately want Crayola tub markers so you can write down all that great dialog that comes to you in the shower.

13. You love restaurants that put a big sheet of paper over the table cloth and leave you with a handful of crayons.

14. You spend time "casting" the future movie production of your novel

15. You create "sound tracks" for your novels

16. You have dreams of getting the "call" from an agent/editor

17. You practise writing dedications on your computer

18. You plan how to break the news you're getting published to your friends and family even though you're not yet.

19. You start drooling at the thought at looking at your front cover for the first time

20. You're on hoilday and you start looking forward going home so you can continue writing (This happened to me in Rome)

21. You frame your first acceptance letter

22. You pin all of your rejection letters to the walls in your room

23. You make excuses to get out of social events so you can write at home in wonderful silence while everyone is out

24. You bitch and complain about the cost of Microsoft Office

25. You can excited when the "Back To School Sales" come out because you can pick up pens and notebooks for ten cents each. Ten frigging cents!!

25. You create posters and banners of your characters in photoshop to display on message boards

26. You sketch pictures of your characters, their clothing, their magical items, weapons, houses, cities, maps, etc....

27. You spend your weekends doing research on irritating, hard to find out subjects, like if the ancient Greeks had last names (I never did find out)

28. You hang on writers message boards

29. You get irritated when you give something you've written to a family member to critique and all they say is "Its good"

30.And finally, you know your a writer if you look at yourself and see a writer. Everyone else looks at you and sees an obsessive-compulsive, anal-retentive insomniac with a pen fetish

Whispers in the Dark release date!

I found out the release date for Whispers in the Dark today! Its coming out in May 2009! That's much quicker then I thought it would be released. I was expecting it to come out much later in the year. I'm so happy. I should be getting the front cover soon. I'll post it here once I get it. It will be May before I know it and my story will be for sale on the internet! whoop!

Marisa's Website of the Month is...Encyclopedia Mythica

Encyclopedia Mythica is a wonderful resource for fantasy writers. It is an online encycolopedia of mythologly, legends, and deities from all over the world. I don't know where I would be if it wasn't for this website. I copied and pasted their articles on all of the major gods and goddesses from Greek mythologly and put them on my laptop so if I needed to double check something about a particular god I can just bring up their bio. So if you're thinking about adding a few satyrs, mermaids, or hamadrayds to your story and want to learn more about them then this is the website to go: http://www.pantheon.org/

Mild Panic Attack

The Eternal Press website server crashed yesterday. I've made a habit of checking the website at least once a day. When I clicked on the lick and a page came up saying it was broken I started worrying that they had gone out of business, but luckily, I was wrong, their server had just gone down. The webpage is back up now. I'm impressed with the front covers for the books coming out next month. The quality is improving. I'm waiting with baited breath to see my front cover. I'm hoping it will be soon. It'd be cool if I get it next month near my birthday. I'm planning on printing it on a large peice of paper, framing it and hanging it on my bedroom wall. It's my first ever cover! It deserves a place of pride. My brother Ryan finally came home. I got woken up at a quarter to eleven last night by the sound of hysterical screaming coming from the living room. He'd let himself into the house and put a Kylie Mingoue CD on then hid behind the couch. Its nice to have him home. I still don't know when Whispers in the Dark is going to come out. I saw a book trailer for a book being done by Eternal Press coming out in June. I think Whispers in the Dark might be coming out towards the end of the year. I have a feeling about October.

Waiting...waiting...

I still haven't heard back from the editing department at Eternal Press. I asked around and got told to wait at least 6 weeks before emailing for an update. I don't know how many other things they have to edit. In the mean time, I've been constructing a playlist of songs to help inspire me to write. I find music a great way to get me into the mood to write. The right song is almost like a drug to me. I'll sit on my bed with my laptop on my arm waving my arounds around, lost in the beat, my brain swimming with images from my stories, like a music video. Since I write dark fantasy/paranormal romance, alot of the music I listen to has either a dark edge to it or an epic opera feel. I listened to the soundtrack of the Dark Knight for the first time today. The track "Why so serious" is an edgy, dark piece, that feels insane, perfect for the Joker. When I listen to it I am bombarded with images of some of my darker, more rebellious characters, like Hades, Pan and Zeus. Its an awesome track. Very rock and roll. Then there's X-Ray Dog "Dark Empire" which sounds like the themesong to a hollywood epic fantasy movie. Its hard to describe. But it fits my stories perfectly. Very epic. Lots of ups and downs. I also listen to "Destiny" by Vanessea Mae (jazz techno song that fits my story Deep Embrace perfectly), Whispers in the Dark by Skillet (which is a perfect match to all my stories including my own version of Whispers in the Dark), Phantom of the Opera (the lyrics match my concept of soul mates. I imagine Poseidon and Cleito singing the song), and the overtures to Phantom of the Opera and Jesus Christ Super Star which both conjour images of the Greek Gods dancing in Mount Olympus in my mind.

Brother Watch

My brother Ryan is coming home from London any day now for a two week hoilday. The little buggar has decided not to tell us when he's arriving. He sent us an email a week ago telling us "Goodbye" and that he will not be answering his phone or going online until he came home. He's going to try and sneak in the house and hide in his bedroom so he can surprise us in the morning. I was so convinced he was going to come home last night I kept waking up every couple of hours and glancing at the clock. I was so exhausted today my head felt like a balloon that was going to pop. I hate it when I wake up sleepy. It makes writing so hard. I sit in my room and stare at my laptop bleary eyed trying to ignore the pounding pain inside my head. Occasionally I will grumble and collaspe face first into my pillow in an attempt to have a sleep. The sun hits my side of the house which means my room is hot and bright during the day. So sleeping for me is hard if its not dark. Its damn irritating when my body wants to sleep but my brain won't turn off the lights because its too bright in my room. I end up lying in a heap on my bed with one eye cracked open wishing I was dead. So if you're reading this Ryan, this is all your fault! I hope you're having fun messing with our brains.

I still haven't heard back from the editing department of Eternal Press. They've released the line of books coming out this month and posted the front covers of the ones due out next month. I'm very happy to say the front covers are improving. I'm hoping I will hear back from the editing department soon. As for when Whispers is due out, I'm going to hazard a guess and say April.

Bored and Blocked

I'm stuck in unemployment limbo at the moment so every couple of days I find myself unable to write because I get really, really, bored. Writing is so isolating. I'm perfectly happy to lock myself in my room for eight or nine hours if I have something interesting to watch on television in the background, if I don't I end up floating around the house doing housework or opening the fridge doors to see if the ice cream fairies have come to visit me. I managed to finish a scene in my latest project Echoes in the Wind the other day. It took me three months to write. It was so difficult it almost killed me. I think that's because its rapidly morphing into epic fantasy. Lots of magical creatures and lots of battles. I'm such a slow writer I can spend days on a single paragraph. I've been trying to write another scene but I can't get into it. I'm waiting for inspiration to strike me like a lightning bolt. As a writer IT IS SO IRRIRTATING to know what I want to write but being unable to put it into words. Its like watching a video with no sound. You can see the images perfectly but you can't hear anything. I have three scenes left in Echoes. I know exactly how I want to start them I just can't figure out how to begin writing them. And who says writers block doesn't exist? I hate people who claim that there's no such thing as writers block. Writes are human. We get bored, we get tired, we get fed up with staring at a computer screen for hours on end. Sometimes the creative spark just isn't there. Its usually a sign to have a break and go do something else. Since its been a couple of days for me I'm at the point where I'm pushing myself to write something. The beginning of a scene is always the hardest for me. I can spend days trying to figure out that first line. Once I get past it, I'm fine. Its like a door in front of me, or a wall. Once I get over the top of it and land on the other side I set off at a run. I'm trying to do the beginning scene of Echoes now. It starts off with dialogue. Its a tricky scene because I have to paint Narcissus, the male lead, as a sad lonely character, and not just a jerk who sleeps with alot of women.

I had my first comment! horrary! It was about the trailer. If the trailer does not work try this link: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=3VAVhCSZX14&feature=channel_page

Whispers in the Dark book trailer

I constrcted a book trailer for Whispers in the Dark today. Its short and sweet. It contains some dialogue from the book. This is just a teaser trailer. I might construct a longer one containing dialogue later on. Once I get my front cover I'm going to make banners and links and icons. In the mean time here is the trailer:

If the video does not load correctly (it does for me) here is the you tube link: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=3VAVhCSZX14&feature=channel_page