Friday Five: Links of Awesome!

Posted on December 17, 2010 by

I was going to do a Poetry Friday post today (as it’s Friday), just to try something new – and I’ve been reading some gorgeous poems lately – but I am coming down with the Cold from Hell(tm) and have the Cough of Doom(tm) so instead… I give you links. Five of ‘em!

1) I have committed guest bloggage over at Chelsea’s fabulous Vampire Book Club. My post is all about Alchemy in The Iron Witch and there’s also a giveaway for a US/Canadian reader* to get a signed copy of TIW. There’s a whole series of posts forthcoming over there as part of Chelsea’s 2011 Winter Book Preview. She has some fabulous guests lined up, and there have already been a few before me you might want to check out. (Please note: Vampire Book Club isn’t just all about the fanged ones we love so much–just wanted to clear up any confusion. *g*)

*EDITED: The giveaway is now international. Huzzah!


2) Talking of The Iron Witch giveaways, Dame Rinda is running the regular Readers on Deadline (ROD) feature at the Deadline Dames, and this time there are two most excellent prizes:




3) I don’t know whether to be amazed, inspired or just plain… OMGWTFBBQ!!!1! about this Murderati blog post by crime writer Cornelia Read. I have recently been emailing with Cornelia and can officially confirm that she’s pretty damn awesome. I even ordered her first novel to give it a try. I used to read a lot of crime, so maybe this will be a good way to dip my toe back into those sometimes deliciously murky waters.


4) Excellent post: How to write yourself out of a dead end by Charlie Jane Anders at io9. Not only is it a sensible and genuinely helpful piece of writing, I love the images she uses to illustrate the post. Of course, I’m only linking to this blog post in case there’s anyone out there who might have written themselves into a dead end. Not talking about myself at all. Nope. *shifty* ;)


5) Love this post by the super-talented Kristin Cashore: Some Public Speaking Tips from a Shy Person Who Has Learned to Love Public Speaking. Seriously, this is such generous and helpful stuff–I’m going to need to re-read Kristin’s advice regularly throughout 2011 as I take on some speaking ‘gigs’ in support of The Iron Witch‘s publication in the UK. (I am TERRIFIED.)


There! I made it to five. And now I must collapse in a puddle of ugh.

Posted in friday five, links, writing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The Ghost of Christmas Past

Posted on December 16, 2010 by

It’s the deepest part of winter, the exact midpoint, Christmas Eve – halfway out of the dark. Amy and Rory are trapped on a stricken space liner that’s plummeting through banks of thick icy fog to the surface of the planet below.

Only one man has the power to save them; only one man is in possession of a machine that can clear the fog and let them land safely.

That man is Kazran Sardick, a rich but lonely old miser who rules Sardicktown with a sky-mast of iron.

The Doctor’s only chance of rescuing the ship’s four thousand passengers is to save Kazran’s soul and show him that life is worth living. For this he needs to go back, way back, to when Kazran was a boy with a life full of promise.

But can the Doctor put a song in Kazran’s heart and love in his life, in time for Christmas? Can he bring him out of the dark?

(Synopsis for Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol taken from the BBC. I used the US trailer in case people can’t view the UK one.)

I simply cannot wait until Christmas Day!! :)

Posted in geeky kaz, tv shows | Tagged | 4 Comments

Something for the Weekend

Posted on December 11, 2010 by

So I’ve posted this before (on my LJ), but I wanted to have a permanent reminder of it here. I’ve been spending a lot of time alone, lately, and even though I’m writing and working SO DAMN HARD and I don’t often have the chance to contemplate my aloneness… I do feel it. Sometimes.

But I also know it’s okay to be alone, just as Tanya Davis knows it too – and shares her thoughts on ‘How To Be Alone’ in this incredible video.





I think it’s beautiful. If you have 4 minutes to spare, please watch & listen.

Posted in videos | Tagged | 12 Comments

The Iron Witch in January 2011!

Posted on December 10, 2010 by


I have great news to report! In light of the decision by Random House to release TIW earlier in the UK on 20th January 2011, I have just been told that Flux will also be bringing TIW forward to January!

Even though none of the publication date info will change on sites like Amazon, B&N or Borders, we are looking at The Iron Witch being in stores across the US by Tuesday, January 25th 2011. I’m seriously thrilled about this! We’re back to just a few days difference between the two editions, and I hope that readers in the United States are as happy as I was to hear this from Flux today. Huzzah! :) This also means there’s a good chance you’ll see TIW floating around at ALA’s 2011 Midwinter Conference in San Diego (January 7-11).

Once again, online stores will still say February 8th, but the book will come out 2 weeks earlier in the US. Don’t worry, I’ll remind you nearer the time… once or twice, maybe… ;)

(x-posted to my LiveJournal)

Posted in publishing | Tagged | 12 Comments

Three Things for Thursday

Posted on December 9, 2010 by


Thing The First:

I absolutely love Stiletto Heights (the talented Jennifer Gordon) on Etsy. Her work is my new passion, and I already own four of her prints. In my defence, she is currently doing a ‘Buy One Get One Free’ offer on many art prints. Jennifer is a mixed media collage artist (and indie comic writer!), who creates quality prints of her evocative collage work. Even the titles for each piece are delicious and totally inspiring. Here she describes some of her influences:

I am very inspired by Neo Victorian and Edwardian themes. Steampunk, vintage belly dance images, Ziegfeld Follies, Ophelia, Flappers, and circus girls to name just a few.

Cool, right? The print at the top is called ‘Ghosts of Manderly’ and is one I have right now, waiting to be framed. I have some that will make awesome gifts, too. :) Here are two that caught my eye recently, but there are LOTS more at her Etsy shop:

'Salome' (Jennifer Gordon)

'I Saw a Girl Who Wasn't There' (Jennifer Gordon)

~All images used with permission of the artist – please do not reproduce. Thanks!~

Thing the Second:

Here’s another Jennifer for you. I don’t think many people know this about me, but I’m a huge Garth Ennis fangirl. It’s true. I used to buy Preacher back in the day when it was a monthly comic book, and not just a collection of awesome graphic novels/trade paperbacks. Dudes. Check out the stunning cover art for his brand new creator-owned project, Jennifer Blood (covers by one of the best artists in the biz, imho, Tim Bradstreet):


(Click to embiggen)

The press release says:

Every day she makes breakfast, takes the kids to school, cleans the house, naps for an hour or two, makes dinner, puts the kids to bed, and kisses her husband goodnight,” said the press release. Then comes night, when she’s a “ruthless vigilante.”

More info and a preview can be found here. Jennifer Blood #1 is out in February 2011.

Thing the Third:

One of my all-time favourite TV heroines (and really, I should do a whole post about this when I’m not… you know… trying to gnaw off my own arm with anxiety over how I seem to be writing The Book That Will Never End*) is Dana Scully from – need I say it? – The X-Files. Oh, Dana, how I love thee. I am quite tempted to write an ‘Ode to Scully’, but who needs to when there is this awesome video to watch instead:

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*Please don’t worry, lovely editors. TWQ really does end. I swear it…

Posted in comics, videos | 18 Comments

News (mine), awesomeness (Johnny Depp’s), and warrior women

Posted on December 7, 2010 by

First the news stuff:

The Iron Witch will now be released earlier in the UK. This has been confirmed and is official, but was already noted on amazon.co.uk when they jumped the gun a bit with changing the pub date on TIW’s page a while back.

But, yes, The Iron Witch will be released in the UK on 20th January, 2011. There are reasons for this change – Very Good Reasons that I’m not allowed to say anything about yet, but all will be revealed. :)

This does, of course, mean that there is now a 3-week gap between the UK and US editions (since Flux moved their release date one week later, to February 8th, 2011), but I’m sure things will work out fine in the end. Overall, it’s good news and I can’t wait to share WHY the change has been made.

Okay! Now the business has been done, I can tell you how much I loved hearing that Patti Smith interviewed Johnny Depp for the latest issue of Vanity Fair. Imagine being in a room with those two creative geniuses… I think it would singe my eyelashes to sit too close to the energy that must have been flying around. I’m going to buy the actual magazine asap so I can read the whole thing!
[Thanks to the lovely Beth Kephart for the heads up on this.]

And an extra treat for you: check out the gorgeous gallery of Vanity Fair images of Depp throughout the years.

You’re welcome. ;)

In more randomness, here’s a great post by Jodie from Book Gazing all about her take on ‘Warrior Women’. It’s a few months old, but wow… All I have to say is: What she said! In many ways, her post explains a big part of my lifelong love for Wonder Woman – although that’s not who the post is about.

For me, Wonder Woman is the ultimate ‘warrior woman’ – and I’m talking about Diana as she’s written in the comic books, not the old TV series (though that was awesome in its own way!). She is strong – on the same level of power as Superman – but she is also filled with compassion and the desire for peace. It’s such an interesting and complex combination, but only a very few writers have done her true justice. Take the two panels below for a perfect example of how I think Diana should be written:




Writer: Gail Simone & Artist: Bernard Chang

Posted in links, publishing, randomness | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Standing at the threshold

Posted on December 2, 2010 by


It’s really strange being just a couple of months away from your first novel being released into the world. On the one hand, I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity. I’ve dreamed of this moment since I was a child, and to think I’m on the threshold of achieving such a huge dream… Yeah, that feels amazing. :) But… (There’s always a “but,” right?)

But it’s also pretty damn terrifying. Lots of lovely people talk to me on Twitter every day and say nice things about The Iron Witch, and it makes me blush (I blush easily) and feel all warm inside (in a good way). I get emails from people who are interested in reading the book, or who just want to ask me something about writing or whether I think they should apply to this school or that school in the US.* I even get emails from readers asking me about the Moth stories and whether there will be more.** I try to reply, because at the moment I am not like the incredible Maggie Stiefvater, who gets 4,000 emails a month.

This is not me

Despite all of this, I genuinely feel shocked that this is happening to me. Sometimes I am not even quite sure that it’s real, even though places like Goodreads and Amazon assure me that it is. I am not being falsely modest or anything silly like that when I say these things. Truly. I’m just an ordinary kinda gal who has lived her entire life so far in and around London in the UK. I am not widely travelled (travelling actually scares me, a little), and I’m not as fierce or adventurous as I’d like to be. I’m sensitive and probably have way too thin a skin to be a published writer, although I do love to talk to people and am quick to smile and treat them as friends.

Still, I am passionate about writing and I’ve always dreamed that one day I would get to share what I write with an audience (and I don’t just mean my mum or BFFs). I have wanted to make my living as an author since I was about 12 years old. And in order to do that, well… it means I have to ‘put myself out there’*** and support my work in the best way I can. The amount of promotion fiction writers are expected to do these days came as something of a surprise to me, although I tried to take it in stride and do what I do best: be myself (as much as is reasonably possible, anyway), both online and when I meet fellow writers, book lovers, bloggers, etc.

There are so many things to think about when you have a novel published, and I am only now realising how behind I am on some of those things! But I’m also still not quite done with finishing The Wood Queen – which is why the blog has been a little quiet lately. If I’m slow to respond to emails or messages during the next week, I’ve set myself the deadline of Friday, 10th December to get this sequel done and handed in to my agent and editors. Let’s see if I can make that happen…

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*Which I find very hard to do, because I don’t live in the United States (sadly).
**Answer: Maybe.
***Now it sounds like I’m talking about dating. ;)


Quick giveaway reminder:

Over at the Deadline Dames I’m giving away a couple of recent YA urban fantasies. Don’t miss out! (Closing date is 10th December.)

Posted in deadline dames, giveaways, thankful thursday, writing | Tagged , , | 24 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on November 25, 2010 by

To all my friends who celebrate Thanksgiving in the US (or wherever you happen to be living in the world), I wish you a wonderful day spent with the people you’re most thankful for.

~*~


Posted in thankful thursday | 16 Comments

News & Links

Posted on November 24, 2010 by


Busy writing, trying to get through the end of THE WOOD QUEEN before everything closes down for the holidays. I had set myself the deadline of 1st December, but due to some personal stuff (and other deadlines that became more pressing) I won’t make that. However, I still hope to finish by 8th December if at all possible. That gives me two weeks… I can do eet!! *rolls up sleeves*

Let’s see… what else? How about some news from Publishers Marketplace:

International rights: Fiction
Italian rights to Karen Mahoney’s THE IRON WITCH, to Newton Compton, by Heather Baror-Shapiro at Baror International in association with the Irene Goodman Agency.

Can you believe that? Italy!! I can’t believe it myself, I am truly grateful. Heather rocks! :)

Also in TIW news, my little book is part of The Story Siren’s 2011 Debut Author Challenge (Kristi runs this each year and it’s a great way for bloggers/readers to try new YA and MG authors). You can sign up here and the FAQs are here. Thank you to all the bloggers who have already picked The Iron Witch as part of their challenge for 2011. I’m excited that so many of you are looking forward to it, and I’ve promised Kristi some cool swag… *makes cunning plans*

More links for a cold and quiet Wednesday:

WATCH author Hal Duncan’s response/contribution to the ‘It Gets Better’ project (nsfw re. language, but totally awesome and fierce and right. I love it!)

BUY Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Freelancer’s Survival Guide. I wholeheartedly recommened it for anyone even thinking about going freelance (and it’s not just for writers, it’s written with all freelance workers in mind). There’s a free version on her website, but I hope you’ll consider buying one of the formats to support such a wonderful project.

READ this post, Persistence of Desire by (Barbara) Caridad Ferrer and remind yourself that you should never give up on the things you believe in most. Then check out her brand new book, When The Stars Go Blue, a YA retelling of Carmen (I am so there!):

(Ari has a great review of it here.)

ENTER the huge charity Child’s Play Giveaway at Literary Escapism (starting TOMORROW!). There will be tons of signed books as prizes – including a signed copy of The Iron Witch from me – and it’s all for a wonderful cause. Thanks for doing this, Jackie!

ENJOY this video (you’ll need 12 minutes, but they are 12 mins well spent) of Maggie Stiefvater’s TED talk at NASA (yes, The NASA). Her talk is on the subject of “How Bad Teens Become Famous People” and is most awesome. I envy her ability to speak (and be entertaining) in front of so many people and not look or sound even remotely terrified:

Posted in books glorious books, links, publishing, videos | Tagged , | 10 Comments

In which Kaz falls in love… twice!

Posted on November 22, 2010 by


I declared it on Twitter the other day, but I have to share it here: I am totally and utterly in love with my Kindle. Seriously, I was always one of those people who said: “Oh, I’ll never get one of those eReader thingies. I love the smell of paperbacks in the morning!”

And yet here I am, clutching my Kindle to me and wondering how on earth I’ll manage to not order anything new for it until I’ve read all the stuff I already downloaded. I have no self-control. Broke Kaz + Kindle = A Recipe for Disaster. This is my Christmas present from the folks, and I’m glad I managed to emotionally blackmail convince them to let me have it early. ;)

But, hey… Life is short and books are like air to me. (That’s my new motto. I just made it up. *g*)

I’m finding it surprisingly easy to read on the Kindle’s screen, and they’ve done a great job of making it seem like you’re really reading ‘on the page’. I read a novella on it last night and I can’t say I noticed any bad effects on my eyes; no strain or sign of a migraine. That’s half the reason I don’t read much on my laptop anymore – I have such trouble with headaches and my screen is so crappy (I really need a new computer), I don’t dare read for too long at a time. I’ve had to seriously reduce the number of manuscripts I read for friends as a result, unless I print them out – which costs too much money to do it as much as I’d like. With the latest Kindle, I can actually email Word docs and PDFs to the device (for free!)… This is pretty exciting; it could make a very real difference to me in the future. The only downside so far, is the lack of books available in the UK. I read a lot of US (adult) urban fantasy, and unless it’s also being published in the UK you can’t always get a Kindle download in the UK. Yet. I’m hoping that will change as time goes on.

If there’s more to report I’ll let you know, but so far: two thumbs up!

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Quick reading update:


I am FINALLY reading this series. I’ve tried over the years to get into it, but for some reason – I honestly don’t know why – I just haven’t quite managed it. It’s not that I didn’t admire Kim Harrison’s writing or her stellar worldbuilding (The Hollows is incredible!), but I couldn’t connect with… something. I’d already read Book One twice, and then always sort of stumbled after that and drifted onto other books. So, I recently picked up Book Two, The Good, The Bad, and The Undead, and tried again – with completely different results. I’ve already almost finished Book Three and have Book Four lined up (on my Kindle, yay!). I don’t know what has changed, but I’m suddenly – finally – in love with Rachel Morgan and her world. Sadly, I already know some of the spoilers for later books (boo!), but I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t add more in the comments here. I’m hoping there are still some surprises left for me. :)


What are you reading at the moment? And have you tried an eReader, yet?

Posted in books glorious books, geeky kaz | Tagged , | 23 Comments