Also, the uber cool DL Hammons invited me to participate in a post about voice.
Most of the books I read are YA, however I do read adult novels too and my latest grown-up pleasure was Monarch by Michelle Davidson Argyle.Personally, holding Monarch in my hands was a thrill in itself. See, I read some of Michelle’s story years ago while she was still writing and revising parts of it. I remember sneaking onto Gmail messenger at work so that Michelle and I could chat about her manuscript. Fast forward a couple years and it’s a real published book with a fantastic yet kind-of-creepy-but-in-a-cool-way cover. How exciting!
But not as exciting as the story itself.
Talk about a page-turning cozy thriller. Cozy thriller? I know. Such an oxymoron but Michelle pulled it off. The few thriller books I have read seemed to mostly rely on action and shock value to keep the reader engrossed, but Michelle went above and beyond great action scenes. She made Monarch cozy by creating a cast of characters I genuinely cared about. I even sympathized with the villains (and the people I suspected as villains but later found out they weren’t—or were they? Depends who you ask!) The location jumping from the Monarch Inn which was quaint and snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug (pun intended) to the dangerous and deadly Brazilian jungle left my emotions seesawing. One minute I felt comforted and wished I was a vacationing guest at the inn, the next minute my blood pressure was through the roof and I was giving thanks for my safe and quiet lifestyle.
Michelle managed to juggle several complex relationships and I was never bored with ANY of them. (Seriously, how’d she do that?) Just like the Monarch butterflies that remained a beautiful theme throughout the story, Michelle’s characters were sometimes fragile and in jeopardy in one way or another (even the tough and deadly ones), but they persevered and went through a metamorphosis of some kind. She tied everything and everyone together at the end and provided realistic endings with satisfying closure. Those are my favorite kind of stories.
Monarch was an intense and well-told story with a variety of elements, plots and relationships that make it an enjoyable novel for readers of many genres.
Now is the best time to order Monarch. Rhemalda Publishing is offering 40% off their books at the Rhemalda bookstore. Click here to get your copy of Monarch and check out the other great books in their lineup.
I'm giving away a copy of Monarch to one lucky winner! Just be a follower and leave a comment answering one or all of the following questions, or just say you want to win! The winner will be chosen at random. (Open to International as always.) Contest closes this Friday, 9/23/11.
Have you read Monarch yet? Do you follow Michelle's awesome blog? What do you think of that fantastic yet kind-of-creepy-but-in-a-cool-way cover?
Add Monarch on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10558689-monarch
Michelle on Twitter: @LadyGlamis
Michelle's blog: http://theinnocentflower.blogspot.com
UPDATE: Random number generator selected #11 which was CHRISTA!
Congrats, Christa. I will ship MONARCH to you right away.
Isn't it magical and spectacular? The mermaid's tail texture has now been incorporated into the lettering. And see the tail coming off the "g"? Brilliant.
It wasn't bad, but compared to the awesome new version...
I love it so so much. Rhemalda Publishing has been so freakin' fantastic throughout this process. Today is one of those days (there are many) when I'm extremely grateful and happy that my first novel is being published by them. They really do treat me like family and go out of their way to make sure I'm in love with my book. (Not just pleased, but ecstatic and in love.)
"The great advantage of being a writer is that you can spy on people. You're there, listening to every word, but part of you is observing. Everything is useful to a writer, you see - every scrap, even the longest and most boring of luncheon parties." Graham Greene
I've always considered myself a professional people watcher, and maybe even a little bit of a spy, but now it's official: I'm an operative.
Check out YA Confidential and my top notch partners in crime as we seek out and report the inside scoop on all things YA! http://yaconfidential.blogspot.com
PS...Be sure to follow us because we're giving away TONS of ARCs, books, gifts, and agent critiques as part of our launch!
We're also on Twitter: @YaConfidential
The wave of mermaid books is upon us.
I had no idea mermaids would be a “big thing” when I first started writing my merfolk/selkie story back in early 2009. I wrote about my fantastical and tormented sea folk because I loved them. I have loved them since I was two years old. (I have pics to prove it.) Like any other manuscript of an aspiring author, I had no idea if my story would ever be published, but I wrote it anyway. I couldn’t not write it. I loved it too much.
When I queried agents in the spring of 2010 many told me they already had a mermaid manuscript.
Slowly, I heard about one mermaid book deal after another. More and more mer tales popped up on Goodreads. People started tweeting about mermaids being the next big thing. USA Today even published an article saying mermaids are the trend in paranormal this summer, and that yes, Stephenie Meyer is working on a mermaid story too. *sigh*
As an author of a soon-to-be-released merfolk novel, I can’t help but worry. What if Tangled Tides is too late? There are so many great mermaid books out there. Some have been out for months, a year, or even longer. More are already scheduled to release throughout the next year or two. By the time mine releases will readers be tired of reading about merfolk, selkies, sirens and such?
So many times I’ve heard the success of a book depends on many factors: timing, marketing, competition, etc. I have stayed awake many nights wondering whether my timing is bad or good. Since signing my contract for Tangled Tides, I have seen new mermaid stories popping up on a regular basis.
The wave is getting bigger. The trend is picking up strength.
How do I not end up like one of those unicorns in the above photo that you can hardly see? Or, worse yet, one of the unicorns you can’t see at all? How do I keep from being invisible in the crowded wave?
How do any of us authors not get lost in a tidal wave of books? So many great novels are out there begging to be read. With self-publishing becoming more popular, it makes that number even higher. So how does a book or author—especially a debut—stand out in the crowd?
A good friend gave me a simple answer: Have faith in your story.
Sometimes that’s easier said than done. As writers, we love our characters, our worlds, and our plots, and if we’re lucky enough to get published that means a whole team of people have faith in them. That’s a great feeling. But it’s easy to lose confidence when you realize you’re going to have A LOT of competition.
I keep trying to remind myself that strangers believed in my story, so maybe readers will believe in it too, and actually buy it. Actually read it. And maybe, if I’m really lucky, some will love it. Oh, how I hope so.
I also hope the wave of mermaid books doesn’t come crashing down anytime soon. Not just because one of the latecomer novels will be mine, but because I genuinely love sea folk. I’m excited to read all the different twists and takes that fellow writers come up with. I believe the ocean is big enough to hold all of our stories. And even though I have my moments of worry, I am happy and grateful to be part of such a fun and magical trend.
What about you?
Do you have faith in your stories?
Do you worry about trends when writing?
Would/have you ever read a mermaid book? ;)
My favorite part of having a soon-to-be-released merfolk and selkie novel is that I've been meeting lots of cool people who are mermaid, selkie, siren, fish, ocean, and/or underwater lovers. One of those fish-loving folks is Ishita at The Reading Fish.
