Author Liesel K. Hill's Musings on Fantasia...
Showing posts with label Street Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Street Games. Show all posts
Friday, August 4, 2017
Cover Reveal: Damaged Hope!
Good morning, Lovely Readers! How
is everyone's week going?
Couple of orders of business
today. It's been an insane few weeks, but I am slowly and surely getting work
done. I have a sneaking hunch Fall might prove even busier. Let's hope not. 😉
1. I can now reveal the cover of
book 3 of Street Games!
Two weeks ago, my Story Squad members voted for the title, Damaged Hope. Well, the wonderful Kealan Patrick Burke (my
cover designer for this series; see www.kealanpatrickburke.com) has put together a
beautiful cover for me.
Here it is!
Isn't it lovely!?! I love how he incorporated the red lighting of the Mire.
Fun fact: I decided to incorporate
a lightning storm into the end of the book. I hadn't planned the weather element
originally, but I saw this and knew I had to do it. If anything, it will
just make the ending that much more dramatic. (Hooray for drama on the page! 😂)
2. It is looking like the release
of book 3 will be pushed back to September. (Didn't I tell you that would
happen?) The editing is taking longer than anticipated, so it probably won't be
out until the end of 9/17. I'll keep you updated of course, and let you know
when I have a firm date. It's getting close, though. Truly. Be patient with me. It's coming!
Well, have a great week! And
happy reading!
Friday, July 21, 2017
Editing for Crutch Words and Passive Voice + Title Chosen!
Good morning and Happy Friday! Hope everyone's
week has gone well.
I have a busy day and weekend ahead of me, so without ado, I
have two orders of business. Really they're announcements. (I'll get more writing-centric posts up on this blog eventually. I
promise. ;D)
1. I'm happy to announce that I have a new title
for the third book of Street Games. It
will be out in less than two months and my cover designer is hard at work. As I
got close to finishing the writing on this book, I still had no idea what the
title would be. (And of course you can't really make a cover
without a title. ;D)
So I got out the index card that had my themes on it and
pulled up my trusty online thesaurus. I started putting words together, looking
for a title that would go well with the first two in the series and also
encapsulate some of the themes I’m working with.
I got my critique group involved and came up with six possible
titles that I liked. I then sent a pole to my Story Squad and they voted. The
title of Street Games #3 will be…
(drum roll please)
Damaged Hope
It's an interesting choice, really. Even though it has
the "damaged" in front of it, it still strikes me as the most
positive title of all the options I gave. So it's super interesting to me that
this is the one my readers wanted.
Anyway, I think it's a great title and I hope to have a cover
to show off soon. (So excited!)
2. I finally finished my book on Editing for
Crutch Words. I've been working on this for weeks and
finally managed to get it uploaded to Amazon. That's the only platform it's on,
currently, in ebook format. I don't plan to put it on other platforms unless I
get a lot of specific requests for it.
I've gotten amazingly positive feedback on this book. It
helps writers learn how to scrub crutch words and passive voice from their
writing, which automatically makes it 200% stronger, tighter, and more
professional-sounding.
It's geared toward fiction authors, but any editor can use
these techniques to improve and it can be used on fiction and non-fiction
writing alike.
Authors: No matter how much you self-edit, do you sometimes still feel like your writing sounds trite or amateurish? Editors, do you ever come across a sentence you KNOW needs fixing, but can't figure out how to fix it without changing the meaning? This is the book for you. Chances are you're dealing with the Evil Geniuses of the writing world: Crutch Words. Writers, this book will teach you how to edit for them and elevate your writing into the big leagues. Editors, this will make you into the kind of editor writers will line up to work with! Come, learn, write extraordinary!
I'd love some reviews. Click the link below if you feel so inclined.
That's it for me, today! Everyone have a fabulous weekend.
(Monday is a Utah holiday, so I'm sure I'll get zero work done that day.)
What do you think of the title,
Damaged Hope? How are you at editing for crutch words and passive voice? Would
you like to learn more?
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
The Rewards of Strong Characterization
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So I wrote her that way. She has her fears, of course, but they're all internal. The persona she projects to the world is utterly confident. No fear at all.
And I've been surprised to see the response I've gotten from readers about Kyra. She's turned out to be very polarizing.
Some people--more often men, which I think is funny in terms of psychology--think she's crazy. Like, totally insane. The choices she makes, the things she takes on... I've gotten a few comments along the lines of "this chick is nuts!"
Others, conversely, really love her. Some of the best reviews I've gotten (HERE) center on Kyra and how brave she is.
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For the record, I didn't write her to be a "crazy" character. Just crazy-brave. But I kind of like that she's polarizing my audience. It makes me smile and I'm endlessly fascinated by people's reaction to her.
I also think it's a good example of what happens when you not only stick to your characterization, but make your character's traits--whatever they may be--VERY strong. Even if that trait is timidity, run with that. Make it dominant. Make your character's personality traits strong and obvious. If you do that, the character takes on a reality all their own, and the audience will develop their own, very strong, opinions about the character, just as they would about real people.
It's awesome to see.
Dark Remnants, Book 1 of Street Games is FREE on Amazon, B&N and most other major retailers.
Desolate Mantle, Book 2 of Street Games is currently available only on Amazon.
Have you ever come across a character that polarizes people? Why do you think that was?
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Desolate Mantle Launches Today! Yea!!!
How is everyone doing today? Well, I'm fabulous because today is release day for Desolate Mantle! Yea!!!
This book has been in the works for more than 2 years, so I'm so relieved to finally get it onto the market.
Find it HERE on Amazon!
Tonight is the launch party. I'm hosting it online as a Facebook event and I'll be giving away tons of prized, including copies of Desolate Mantle, copies of my other books, and Amazon gift cards. So come join us for some fun and a chance to win some cool prizes.
Here's the event link if you want to join. I'd love for you to come:
So I guess that's pretty much it. Just the announcement today, but come join us for the launch party. It'll be fun and you could win something super-cool! :D
(Oh, btw, I made a somewhat last-minute decision to make book 1, Dark Remnants, permafree. It hasn't gone free on Amazon yet. It takes a little time for Amazon to price-match and like I said: last minute decision. Totally on me. So you can always wait for Amazon to price match, buy it on another platform if you have the right devices, or if you don't want to wait for a .mobi contact, feel free to contact me personally and I'll send you one. :D)
Free on B&N, Apple, Scribd, Kobo, 24 Symbols, and Page Foundry!
Wish me luck!
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Desolate Mantle Launch Party!
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Good morning and Happy Hump Day, Everyone!
Couple of things today:
Some of you may have noticed that Bastions of Blood was supposed to be released 8/16 and wasn't. Unfortunately my publisher decided to push the release date back a few months. :( So I'm sorry to those who are waiting for it. I have no power over these decisions for my traditionally published books. I'll post the new release date as soon as I have it.
So those who were so impressed I was releasing two books in two months, yeah not so much. But that's okay.
Click HERE to see the event or if you want to come. (I'd love to have ya! :D)
Also, (website)
Also, (email list)
Finally, both my JFP e-books, The Botanist and Citadels of Fire, are on sale for $1.99 right now. I'm not sure how long they'll be at that price (sort of indefinite right now) but it won't be forever. So if you haven't read them and want to, now's the time!
That's it for now. Have a great Thursday!
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Book Release Dates, Follow Friday, and Friday Funnies!!!
Announcements:
1. Bastions of Blood, Book 2 of Kremlins will be released August 16, 2016. That's only 2 weeks away. Yeah! I will be holding an online Launch Party. Visit THIS LINK for more info or if you're interested in attending. There will be prizes including free ebooks, signed print books, and gift cards.
2. Desolate Mantle, Book 2 of Street Games, will be released September 13, 2016. I will be holding an online launch party for that one too. Details forthcoming.
Follow Friday:
The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!
How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!
What are your favorite podcasts, bookish and non-bookish?
Oh dear. I'm afraid I have a very boring answer for this question: none. I don't usually listen to podcasts. I wish I did as I constantly come across dozens that sound fascinating, but I'm far too busy to spare the time and I currently don't spend enough time in the car or in other places that lend themselves to audio entertainment, so I rarely if ever indulge in such thing. Wish I had a more entertaining answer this week. :D
Friday Funnies
Welcome to Friday Funnies! Because everyone needs a good laugh on Friday.
This is by far the funniest thing I found this week:
It's a TERRIBLE pickup line. Please don't use it on anyone--man, woman, animal... but I did laugh for about ten minutes, and still chuckle whenever it randomly pops into my head.
Happy Friday, Everyone! Hope you all have a fun and safe weekend!
Monday, June 6, 2016
Imminent Release of New Books!
Good Monday Morning, All!
Yup, I've been neglecting my blog again. Actually, I've been working on three projects concurrently, and that's on top of normal, everyday life stuff. So I haven't had much time. (I seriously need 36 hour days and the stamina to stay awake through them. ;D)
But I gotta get back into it because I'll probably be releasing 3-4 books (*fingers crossed*) in the second half of the year.
First, there's Desolate Mantle, Book #2 of Street Games. Come along with Kyra while she continues to search for her brother in the underbelly of Abstreuse City, while Gabe receives more disturbing information in his brother's kidnapping case. I'll be SO glad to get this one out! It's one that keeps getting back-burnered and so has taken almost two years for me to finish. (Yuck!) But it's gonna be awesome! I'm self-publishing this one and just waiting to hear from an editor so I can fix the exact release date, but it'll be soon. Sometime in the next six weeks. (Yea!)
Next is Bastions of Blood, Book #2 of Kremlins. More adventures in Russia with Taras and Inga. What awful thing will Ivan do next. (Hint: Yeah it's about to get a LOT darker. :/) This is being released courtesy of Jolly Fish Press. It's slated for release August 25, 2016. You'll see a lot of promotional efforts on my part between now and then.
In the fall, I hope to release Dark Matter, Book #3 of Interchron. This is the third project I've been working on lately. It's not finished yet but it's chugging along. This one will be the trickiest as I'm currently in the process of leaving my publisher for book 1, and will probably be commissioning new covers for all three books.
In the meantime, I'm also writing book 3 of Kremlins (it won't be out until at least next year, but the publisher needs it early of course ;D) and I REALLY want to get back to my Dragon Magic manuscript as well. Haven't touched it in almost a year, but I have lots of fun ideas for the story, so I'll be turning my attention to that next. I'd love to have book 1 out this year--and I'll definitely aim for that--but I'm not promising it. :D
So as you can see, I have my work cut out for me for the next few months. I'm also over-hauling my website and email list, but I'll post more about those once they're finished.
Wish me luck! And Happy Monday!
Yup, I've been neglecting my blog again. Actually, I've been working on three projects concurrently, and that's on top of normal, everyday life stuff. So I haven't had much time. (I seriously need 36 hour days and the stamina to stay awake through them. ;D)
But I gotta get back into it because I'll probably be releasing 3-4 books (*fingers crossed*) in the second half of the year.
In the meantime, I'm also writing book 3 of Kremlins (it won't be out until at least next year, but the publisher needs it early of course ;D) and I REALLY want to get back to my Dragon Magic manuscript as well. Haven't touched it in almost a year, but I have lots of fun ideas for the story, so I'll be turning my attention to that next. I'd love to have book 1 out this year--and I'll definitely aim for that--but I'm not promising it. :D
So as you can see, I have my work cut out for me for the next few months. I'm also over-hauling my website and email list, but I'll post more about those once they're finished.
Wish me luck! And Happy Monday!
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