Friday, August 9, 2013

LULU.COM "INTERVIEW"


An interview of sorts…. Fun and free publicity is the best!!

IT DID NOT COPY/PASTE WELL HERE FOR SOME REASON… THEIR PAGE LOOKS way better!!!

From Lulu.com  to see their full page go to

http://www.lulu.com/blog/2013/08/authors-using-helix-review-featuring-kay-gossage/

 



As a part of our ongoing series self-published writer who have used Helix Review, we recently interviewed Lulu author Kay Gossage, who wrote the fantasy fiction: The Sword Of Ages: The Tallah Trilogy. Helix, powered by The Book Genome project, basically allows authors to upload a manuscript and receive an incredibly in depth analysis of the book. 

Tell us a bit about The Sword of Ages:
This is a telling of one heroic cycle. When myths and legends are reborn. A time heroes and born as they battle against living myths from the grave. The evil Warlock Lord has reemerged out from the darkness of the past. His reign of fear and shadow long forgotten in his absence over the long years.    The Princess Katar of Tallah is loved by all. She is kind hearted and very beautiful. She is captured by the Warlock Lord to be his bride, thus setting in motion her path to destiny, and the young handsome knight Ridge’s as well.     In the castle of the Warlock Lord, Katar acquires knowledge that will drive her to set off on her journey to her final destiny. It is one she never imagined or wanted.     Ridge is called by fate as well and he sets out to rescue Katar. Along the way Delwin the Knight Master meets young Ridge and takes him to claim the mythical Sword of Ages. It is only yielding this legendary sword can one beat the Warlock Lord. Wilax joins the men and they set forth to rescue the princess.    Along the way friendship is found, respect earned, battles won and lost and truths revealed.    In the end, Ridge and the Warlock Lord battle and …

How would you describe your writing style:

I start with an idea and write a short form of the story, as complete or incomplete as I can in this first idea creating process. From there then I fill in the blanks and see where it goes. The Tallah Trilogy was a dream I had while pregnant with my first two children. Each book continuing from the previous. I generally write for the younger reader (middle school aged) but the books can be enjoyed by all ages.  I try to be descriptive and use dialogue to get points across versus narration.  I cannot say I have any one particular style of writing as I allow the story to form and take me along where it goes.

Why did you decide to try Helix:

I was interested in how my book ‘The Sword Of Ages’ flowed and compared to others in the Fantasy genera. I also wanted to see areas where my book excelled as well where I could improve my writing and promotion attempts.

What were you able to learn from the Helix Review:

The Helix Review of my book ‘The Sword Of Ages’ showed me words, concepts and ideas unique to my book as well as my books strengths and weaknesses. The Helix Review provided me with several books comparable to mine and allowed me to see not only how it compares to these other books but in several specific areas.

How do you plan to use the Helix information:

To hopefully become a better writer by strengthening the areas that scored lower in my future writing, creating a better and more enjoyable experience for both my readers and myself.

What would you tell someone considering trying Helix:

I was not certain at first about the Helix Review but after ordering was happy with the overall results. For the price it was a great way to get feedback that can help me understand my book and how it fits into the genera and along side other books.  I can also take the feedback and apply it to my future writing to create better and more full enjoyable creations.

For more information about Kay Gossage and The Sword of Ages:


About the Helix Review

Back in May we launched an experimental new offering called Helix, and dubbed it The Personality Test for Your Book. Helix is powered by The Book Genome Project, a massive database of over 100,000 of the world’s best-known books. And basically, it gives you a way to upload your manuscript and get back an incredibly rich and unbiased perspective on your book.

Lulu authors are currently using Helix to gain a better understanding of their book for marketing purposes, and in some cases to gain insight into their writing style. For the first time, we’ve caught up with some of the earliest Helix Review customers to hear more about their book and writing style and what they hoped to learn from Helix.
If you are an author that has used Helix and would like to be featured in the future, please tell us about your experience here

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

The ask vs. tell ... what??


My son is 8 and often he will say to me, “Mom can I tell you something?”

Me:  “Of course. What?”

Son: “Can I …?”

Me: “That is a questions not a tell, Honey.” Then answer his questions. Or vise versa…

No wonder he gets confused now and then with tell/statement and ask/questions when adults still do.  Sad is the English language these days. Who and whom still be fudge the majority of the population, prepositions and their usage in language are unknown to many as well as just plain old every day run of the mill regular grammar.  Yes I do excuse, only because I am one too, the phone texts or email replies with no capitals and strange word usage, we have all been there… typing with your thumb can be a challenge for us all.

No I am talking the bigger stuff. I really hate and am shocked to see the amount of AP and Reuter news reports on my phone with misspelled words, grammar that would make a pre schoolar blush and word usage that cancel each other out… double negatives, we is, I are going  and on and on… I cannot believe many of the reporters are still employed as it makes not only themselves look stupid but the company employing them and allowing their name to be posted on the article.  Or non phone replies confusing the ask/tell quandary, I is and all that. Typos are one thing but seriously if it is not going to a friend or loved one, proof read and spell check. And for Heaven’s sake know a tell apart from an ask. It is all in how it is written.

Heaven help our children and our country’s future!  Hopefully somewhere along the way there is a reform that will help our youth figure it out better since so many adults seem to have no clue.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

400k websites... blogs, newsletters...!


Ok, so you are probably wondering… what??

My publisher contacted me the other day and wants to promote me and my book on over 400k websites.  Cool!!  And WOW!!!

I had ordered a review from them a few months back, guess it was a new thing and they are now wanting to promote me promoting it… of course – there is their driving force behind it all. But hey, promotion is promotion. And free is even better!!

They tell me at the end of the month (nope – not holding my breath) on when it will all happen.  I filled out their questionnaire today and sent it off back to them.  So now I wait.

Hmm, will be interesting to see where it shows up and if I get a list of who gets it.  Oh, and no, not really expecting anything to come of it, but it would be awesome if it did. Even just a few copies to sell would be nice.

It was a great little tool – showing unique words, concepts and ideas of the book and how my book compared to several others in the same genera. There are a few concepts I am not sure how to include in my writing but overall it was a good review. Ways to improve and areas that are already doing good – but there is always room for improvement.
                                          

Monday, July 8, 2013

seriously ... more drama ~ UGH

rant ...

Why create drama when there is no need of it?  Why make others deal with your own self hatred and misery?  Seriously if you are that turned in on yourself fine, there is nothing the rest of us can do about it after awhile and it is just tiresome and makes you look stupid and petty. Deal with reality. Get a grip and move on.  It is a better, happier and friendlier place you will enjoy more than your self inflected life of misery...  or at least leave me out of it and do not bring me into drama I really do not need to be part of, or anyone else for that matter...









Loyalty, Friendship, Betrayal


 Loyalty.  Friendship.   Betrayal…

Hmm.  Words.  Important words in life. They help define us. Help us see and understand the world around us. How we use these determines how we are treated by others. We choose wisely or we do not, either way we are changed with each interaction of these words.

So is friendship grown or earned? Is loyalty given or won over time?  What happens when the idea of friendship and loyalty are betrayed and forsaken? When past transgressions against a person called “friend” are forgotten or not addressed to make a decision easy and convenient?

Is friendship lost or just put aside until there is a more convenient time and ideal situation? Is loyalty gone or also pushed aside until the next time it is needed? Is it still expected from you as an absolute? What are your new obligations? Do you hold fast and remain a trustworthy ally no matter what, or do you step aside and allow others to move about without you? Do you return the lack of devotion when it is required of you?

Where does your inward and personal meaning of the words take you and how do you react to the betrayal and lack of support from others?

Feelings of hurt, betrayal, no matter how small a cause will grow and fester for awhile. How do you deal with it?

There are many ways to cope with this occurrence as there are grains of sand on a beach, but which way do you pick? What do you do when it happens to you?

It is a question we each struggle with often in your lives. Friends come and go, loyalties change as they are tested over time, betrayal appears without regret, concern or a second thought. Sometimes remaining loyal to one means being disloyal to another, so to whom  you remain  most faithful and steadfast to will say a lot about you and your ideals, your inner self, the friendships effected. It will define you as a friend and a person ~ good or bad, loyal or unfaithful.

We choose one or the other. There really is no right or wrong. Hopefully chosen is the better of the two and as life moves forward it’s revealed as the right choice to all. Perhaps by picking one over another, a friend is moving on, out of our lives and this is a way the universe is revealing the beginning of this transition to us.

Smile and move on, remain a friend as best as possible until the future is completely shown to you, then you will know you did the right thing. You stood for what was right and were an ally of faithfulness and friendship.

Pulling back from those that let you down and offered to you unreliability is not a bad thing. Move away and find those in the world who will stand by you and support you, even in the little things in life that seem small and insignificant, because at times those are really what matters most.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Happy 2013

Happy New Year - 2012 has begun - the Apocalypse has passed us by and we can all continue... whew!

The holidays have come and gone... the mess is almost completely cleaned up and the memories made are all that are left.  They were good this year - my daughter was home from college (froze the entire time as it was too cold here compared to the 80s of Hawaii), laughter, joy and craziness filled the house... and the Nerf wars that followed since Santa was so generous this year on Nerf guns...  My son and his friend took care of our Zombie infestation one evening (sleep over so it lasted all night) so we are good on that front now as well!! :) and we can sleep soundly knowing the Zombies will not get us...

School has restarted and the kids are all back in class - where they belong! Reclaiming the house has been never ending but at least I am use to it.  The wood floors were cleaned yesterday and they actually sighed with relief and said thank you! They, along with everything else, had been neglected...as I had the plague after Christmas for over a week - UGH!! What ever it was was awful and so not fun!!  How can something you cannot even see - a nasty virus -  literally knock you on your ass so hard!!?

So now it is back to the norm ... cleaning, cleaning, laundry for something different... and writing when I can find the inspiration and time.

I am transcending my older daughter's room into a slightly more "adult" guest space - so sorry Twilight poster - down you must come. Not too bad and there will still be some of her stuff there, just less. My son wants his room painted too so that project has been rattling through my head for awhile now.

Not sure about any resolutions - I never really make any so that way I do not have any yo not follow or break ...

So HAPPY 2013  -  get out there and make your mark on the world and let us all know you are here!!  Let us hear your voice and see through your eyes ...