Sunday, November 23, 2008

Publicity!!!


Playing on iTunes: "Times They are A' Changin'" by Bob Dylan

Oh ma goodness, I think I know how Angelina Jolie feels. I met a reporter at Panera bread about a month ago. She said she wanted to do a story on my work. Yay! All was well until she said the dreaded sentance......"A photographer will be coming to shoot you...to shoot you....to shoot you....shoot you."

Like any photographer I know...I am rather camera shy. There is a reason we stay behind the lense.

So, the weeks dragged on...and about a week and a half ago a guy emailed me saying he needed to get with me for the article. *sigh* I was ALMOST hoping they'd forget that part. Alas...they did not. We arranged for him to meet at my house a few nights later...he didn't forget to do that either. When he finally pulled up into the driveway, I kind of floundered about for a bit...seeing if he wanted to walk down tot he park for some shots, head inside....stand in the driveway somemore. I am used to being able to tell a model what to do. In this case, I was the model and had no idea what to tell myself. *sigh....again*

He eventually just said he needed to shoot me in a way that showed that I was a photographer. So, I stood with my camera over my shoulder and stared down the barrel of his lense. Very nerve wracking...I must say. Everything like the feeling of being shot.

It all ended pretty quickly and he left.

Long story short...the article came out this morning!! It is fabulous!! The picture is awesome!!! I am very proud of it all. :)

Check it out in the Potomac News Messenger. I am headlining the "Your Life" section.

You can check out my photo blog at: www.terradawnphotography.blogspot.com .
My pet photography: www.doggonepetphotography.com
My Fashion: www.terradawnphotography.com

***The image above is not me....just an image I have taken. :)

Monday, November 10, 2008

Interviews Galore


Playing on iTunes: "New Resolution" by Azure Ray

I AM BACK FROM VACATION!!! YAY!! Oddly enough, I am incredibly excited about this.... I feel like I haven't been productive for weeks.

Oh wait....

I haven't.

Well, in any case, I am starting my blogging extravaganza back off with a bang!! Today, I have an excellent interview from Celine Keirnan, author of "The Poison Throne" of the Moorehawke Trilogy.

Wynter Moorehawke, an older than her years master craftswoman, spent her childhood within the royal court. Skilled at diplomacy and game playing, she returns to her kingdom after a five year's absence to find that the Inquisition has become a real and present danger. Friendly spirits, speaking cats with no inhibitions, and days of joy in general are distant memories riding slowly from her on the wave of revolution.

Does Wynter's only chance of survival lie within or without of the resistance?
Together with her powerful friend, The Lord Razi, and his mysterious friend Christopher Garron, Wynter must try and restore the Kingdom to its former stability and peace. But this new Kingdom is a dangerous place, where all resistance is brutally suppressed, and the trio run the constant risk of imprisonment, torture...and death.

*
Some parts of this synopsis were taken from www.CelineKiernan.com
___________________________________________________________

1) How did "The Call" happen for you?

I actually don't remember too much about getting The Call regarding being published, believe it or not! I think I might have blown a few brain cells with the joy of it. But I clearly remember my agent's first call. I had received an e-mail from her to say that she was reading the ms for the Poison Throne whilst on holiday, and that she would like to ring me when she came back. She gave me a time and a date, and I spent the next week frantically spinning in place. On the day of the actual call, I spent the entire waiting period compulsively dusting and polishing ( I don’t think my kitchen has ever been cleaner! A state so rare that I think it tore a hole in the fabric of time and space.)

She called. We clicked immediately. She is just the most wonderful, warm, honest and tough woman you can meet. At the time, I didn't think she was calling to offer representation, because she doesn't rep in my genre at all. I thought she was ringing to give me some advice on how to present the project and perhaps offer contact names in YA oriented agencies. I was wrong. She loved the book, and despite not repping YA, she took me on! Seriously the most fortuitous moment in my life. She thought the book would be a very hard sell, though, as it is quite dark and complex, and warned me that we might have no bites for a year or so. She had contacts in the children's book world, and though she felt they would not publish The Poison Throne because it was too dark for their catalogue, she asked could she show it to them for advice. I said sure. To her surprise, they loved it so much that they decided to take a chance on it.


That's awesome!! I guess it's pretty rare to find an agent willing to represent you when they don't even represent your genre. She must really be behind your book 100%!!!!!


2) Since you seem to have blacked out on the day you received your publishing news (I think we may be able to associate that with over the moon euphoria) tell us how you feel about your publishing house. Are they what you were looking for in a "publishing partner"?

Like I said, I think I blew a few braincells that day because I have no memory what-so-ever of the moment! I'll tell you something, I couldn't have landed myself with a more dedicated publisher. Wow! The O’Brien Press are passionate about books. Every single person working there is so enthusiastic and committed to the industry. I love going to their offices because the atmosphere there is so organic and lively. It reminds me of the small independent animation studios who live and breath their craft - that level of passion, you know? But coupled with an amazing business sense, and great organizational ability. They are just tremendous.

Not only that, they are so enthusiastic about the Poison Throne! It's like the entire company has committed themselves personally to making it a success. I have no illusions about the fact that I've been incredibly lucky to get this amount of commitment. Also the O'Brien Press's international contacts are immense, I was stunned at the speed with which they got international offers for the book.


3)Writing a book, as any writer knows, is NOT an organized process. Characters are sometimes developed on restaraunt napkins and plots are fleshed out in five different notebooks at once...not to mention your computer. How organized is your writing process?

When I'm working on a project I force myself to sit and write at least four pages a day. Regardless of quality. I call it my four pages of s**t. I'll do that, then the next day I'll edit the daylights out of it, before writing the next four pages of s**t which will be edited the next day. I usually polish a chapter until I can take it no further, then hand it over to my amazing beta readers who tell me what works and what doesn't. So, in terms of the actual physical process, I guess you could say I'm very organised. At least prior to the whole publication round-a-bout I was! These days I do nothing but run about like a headless chicken or work on edits. Though I'm enjoying it, I must say I'm looking forward to getting on to writing my next book.


4)What is your planning process? Do you outline or just begin writing?

Usually by the time I get around to writing, the idea has been in its box for so long that it comes out fully fledged plot-wise. Then I throw the characters at it and see what happens. More often then not, the characters surprise me in how they react to things, and that's what makes the writing process interesting. Often I'll get to a point in a story where the characters do something completely unexpected, and I'll realise that what I had been anticipating was how I would have reacted and not how they would react. They're constantly taking me by surprise. It's thrilling when that happens.

I never write plots down. I think it's too much like writing the story and (for me) drains the sense of the unexpected from the writing process. I like to feel as though my story might shock me by running down a secret passage or turning a hidden corner. It's a kind of fake sense of suspense, as I always know where I’m going from word go, but it’s there and it keeps the process alive for me. Which is why I don't analyse stories too much before writing and why it makes me very uncomfortable to discuss stories before they're written.

Mind you, when timelines get complex I will write notes. Like: JoeJoe was born in 18** and so was 10 when Marietta turned into a fish, or, It takes seven days to get from the palace to the picnic. On day five the sandwiches will be stale. Characters must stop for bread. That kind of thing. it stops me panicking about small details and lets me concentrate on the immediate scene.


Writing is definitely half the adventure of the book. Your methods seem to make you just as surprised as your reader!


5) A lot of writers tend to procrastinate on their daily writing. What are your favorite methods of procrastination?

I don't tend to procrastinate when it comes to writing. Maybe writing is me procrastinating about real life? I adore research, though, and I tend to get lost in it, allowing one thing to lead me to another as I get deeper into a subject. This can lead to hours and hours of research as opposed to writing. This is generally a good thing for me. I find it leads to ideas or adds depths to my plot or characters that I might not have considered before. I'm looking forward to the research process on my next book as for the first time I'll be accessing old files in the central library. A very appealing process.


It sounds like you were born for this career!! So, on that note...the final and most important question.


6) How did the idea for "The Poison Throne" come to you?

Hee. I have this thing, this kind of visual in my head? Of a dark room with lots of boxes in it. Each box has a story in it, and they sit there 'til I’m ready to work on them. Inside the box, while they’re waiting for my attention, they percolate, or they grow. Like coffee, or fungus.

Anyway, The MooreHawke trilogy began while on holiday to the South of France, it was a little story about a carpenter’s daughter, a missing prince, a ghost in an avenue and, perhaps, the mention of a talking cat. It was intended as a sun soaked, bright, action adventure type thing. My kids like to tell me that it went into the box a happy, skipping child and shambled out the other end a drooling blood-soaked monster. I suppose they’re not far wrong.

That's fabulous!! I really can't wait to get my hands on a copy!! You better believe I will be recommending it to everyone. Thank you for your time Celine, and good luck on your next book!




"The Poison Throne" is out in stores and online now. I (and probably Celine, as well) would absolutely love to hear what you thought of this fabulous read!! Send your reviews to terra@terrachandler.com and I will post them in future entries.


Wednesday, October 29, 2008

General SHOW of...err...prizes?


Playing on iTunes: "The Phrase" by Nicholas Megalis

I know I have been shirking my duties as blog hostess, BUT I AM ON VACATION(S)!!! Give me a break! *sigh* Just stop yelling at me in my head....it hurts.

Let's see....what have I been doing? We pardy-hardied (and oddly enough...I thoroughly enjoyed myself!!) on Saturday. We slept and did not much of anything on Sunday. On Monday, we drove to my beloved Santa Barbara and I held Allie hostage in the car while I showed her things like where I bought my groceries when I lived there. We also managed to get lost in the mountains on purpose...sort of. Nice.

Yesterday was brilliant. We found a fabulous store that sold a bunch of robot and other adult artistic toys (get your mind out of the gutter). It was called Wacko, and we spent a good majority of our day there. I spent about $50 on toys. I feel like I may be bringing the economy back to normality one robot at a time. After Wacko, we pretty much came home and got ready to go to a show. Let me just tell you Nicholas Megalis is awesome!! If you haven't heard of him (and you most likely haven't...he's new) you should run over to his myspace and have a listen. The show was at the Knitting Factory. He was a great performer with an absolutely gorgeous (and fun) voice. I own the cd. I shall listen to it again today.

Today.....drum roll please.....THE BONNIE HUNT SHOW!!! I would be lying if I said that I watch her show everyday and am so excited I might pee myself. I am super super excited....but I don't think I have ever seen her show a day in my life. I hope she hands out free stuff. We ended up with VIP tickets b/c the friend that hooked us up has friend on Bonnie's staff. Again, I say "nice....".

Serena, I promise, promise, promise I will tell you all about my wonderful break in the photog business, but I need to iron everything out and make sure it even has a chance of coming together first. I may be working it out tomorrow. I will write a blog specifically dedicated to you. :)

Right then, I am off. I will be sure to start blogging on my editing process just as soon as I start it. Like I said.....vacay....

Must go put my face on! Ta-ta.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

I am so lost....on purpose.


Playing in iTunes: "Silvery Sleds" by Army Navy

Well hello all!! I would just like to say, that I have a very good excuse for not writing last week. I FINISHED MY BOOK!!!! MY BABY!!!! MY LIBRO!!! My pièce de résistance......

She is done....and she is not at all great. lmao. I am so excited to get to the editing part it is ridiculous. Unfortunately, though, I am probably going to have to wait until next week when I am all alone-y on my own-y. I am hoping the editing will be done by January or so.

Just as good-uh news!!! I AM IN CALIFORNIA!!!! Oh the land of my father's, father's, father's, father's, cousin. It truly is home to me. I am spending one week in LA with some friends....WHO NEVER SLEEP!!!!! And then one week in Santa Barbara with my old stoner roommates WHO SLEEP ALL THE TIME!!! Life is good. (Actually, just my roommate's boyfriend was a pothead...but sleeping is definitely looked highly upon in that house.)

I would also like to say, that I may have just made a HUGE breakthrough in my photography career. I don't know. We shall see how it pans out....BUT I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T THINK OF THIS BEFORE. Allie....we are geniuses...hopefully soon-to-be self-sustaining geniuses.

Be sure to stay tuned. I am definitely back to the multiple daily postings...and tomorrow's Hop-Along Monday is ready and waiting.

See all you little literary monkeys tomorrow!!!

Friday, October 17, 2008

OMG!!!!! I LOVE LOUISE RENNISON!!!


Playing in iTunes: "99 Luftballons" by Nena

I don't know how many of you guys actually read the Georgia Nicholson series but I am so stoked about the news posted on the author's website!!!

A movie of the first novel (Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging) is being made! w00t!!!! I am so incredibly excited. It's being directed by Gurinder Chadha who also directed "Bend it Like Beckham"...which is, incidentally, fabulous movie!!

The series is for teens (girls primarily). It is written from the p.o.v. of a fourteen year old girl who hilariously recounts almost every minute of her day with her friends and the guys she loves (i.e. the "sex gods").

I....am excited.

Take it as you will.....

This image cracked me up!! It is actually a button being sold on Etsy. You can get it here. There are actually some GREAT pro, anti, Obama, McCain, Palin (not so much Bidin) on the website. Just do a search at the top of the page.

Belly Flop Fridays...You forgot didn't you!!

I think I am looking forward to Fridays more and more. I ran across this video today and thought I would share. :)

It's a banned commercial...sounds like it might be from Sweden? Not sure though.