Author Tuesdays: My Writing Process Blog Tour

by in Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams, Author Tuesdays, Local Authors, Rachel Barnard and tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

This blog tour stop brought to you by the lovely Takako Wright at http://www.tommiastablet.wordpress.com. She is an avid writer of multiple forms and multiple formats. Thanks for this opportunity to join your tour! And here I go answering the following questions:

  1. What Am I Working On?

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My list of goals and deadlines is always growing. I’m working on promoting my novel Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams (which happens to be free for Kindle today!) by getting reviews and telling people how wonderful it is. I’m editing a different young adult manuscript, At One’s Beast. I’m also attempting to write a trilogy, starting with Camp National Novel Writing Month Project with a 25,000 word goal that is not going very well at all. I’m having plot complication difficulties and am only a couple thousand words in. I did write a connected short story that was my very first attempt as an accomplished writer at a short piece.

 

  1. How Does My Work Differ From Others of Its Genre?

 

Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams is unique in that it is in first person (I like to do this. I thought that. I said those things. Etc.) and employs my own writing style. The story features a bizarre training landscape for the characters that is a mix of dodgeball, capture the flag, and laser tag that you won’t want to miss!

 

  1. Why Do I Write What I Do?

I have always liked to write and only recently have developed enough skills and knowledge to write good stuff that others would care to read (like you dear reader). I write young adult in particular because that is my favorite genre. I love dystopian fiction and have incorporated elements of a dystopian world into Ataxia. I write for myself, essentially, and since there are so many readers similar to myself I know that many others can enjoy my writing much as I have.

 

  1. How Does My Writing Process Work?

 

I have a lengthy list of novel/short story/etc possibilities in google drive that I have been developing over several years and when I am unusually inspired I grab one of those ideas and run with it. Ataxia was born from a dream I had one night about the training landscape and the story followed from there in a very natural way for me. The characters begged me to write sarcasm for them. I write what I see and I saw so many cool things I just had to write them all down. Of course, during the editing process I cut some of the unnecessary parts to make the story a more cohesive whole.

 

As I write I edit so that my first draft is essentially a fourth or fifth draft and quite nice. After finishing I like to let the story sit so that I won’t immediately recognize every individual sentence. Then I dive into editing, going through several rounds of painstaking readings. I enjoy marking up a physical book during this process and Createspace lets you order proof copies quite easily for this purpose. During this time I will finish the cover and formatting as well so that during proof review I can make sure both the cover and interior formatting are perfect.

 

If possible I’ll have some beta readers jump in to help and point out anything I might have missed and then copy edit. I copy edit multiple times so that I won’t miss anything ridiculous and voile: finished work of art (aka manuscript has turned into novel).

Miscellaneous Mondays: Free Download on Kindle – Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams

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Ataxia cover

 

My debut novel, Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams is free to download on Kindle today and tomorrow:

http://www.amazon.com/Ataxia-Ravine-Dreams-Rachel-Barnard-ebook/dp/B00J93S5TM/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1397486754&sr=8-1&keywords=ataxia+and+the+ravine+of+lost+dreams

 

As the U.S. government prepares to take over the world, MC infiltrates one of their elite academies that trains future leaders. MC must rise to the top in the Cube training grounds in order to be placed high up within the government so she can stop them in their takeover.

It is not until her fourth and final year at the academy that her top-student status is threatened by the sudden arrival of Li, the new transfer student. MC is completely focused on her self-created mission until she gets sidetracked by Li, who might be bad news in more ways than which she bargained.

 

Author Thursdays: Norwescon!

by in Author Thursdays, Free Valley Publishing, Local Authors, Local Events, Maple Valley Writers, Rachel Barnard and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

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Maple Valley Writers and FreeValley Publishing authors will be hosting a booth at Norwescon in the lobby.

Rachel Barnard and her work Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams will be promoted at this event.

You can talk to her in person Saturday during the event.

What is Norwescon?

The Pacific Northwest’s premier Fantasy and Science Fiction convention.

For more information on Norwescon: norwescon.org

Miscellaneous Mondays: Fablet/Phablet

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As an author, poet and geocacher in the process of searching for a device that does everything I want it to do is difficult.

I want a device:

  • I can check my emails and that new emails will “push” or automatically download to the device and notify me of their existence
  • I can run netflix/Amazon Instant Video
  • I can update my websites/blogs/Author Platform (wordpress, google+, facebook, Amazon Author Central)
  • I can do writing (good keyboard/keyboard enabled)
  • I can read books!
  • 10+ hour battery life

So basically I want a phone/tablet/e-reader all in one

Also: It would be awesome if I could hook it up to an external monitor…

 

According to PC Encyclopedia, a phablet is: “A smartphone with a 5″ to 6″ screen. With a display larger than traditional smartphones, a phablet offers a better visual experience for viewing Web pages but can be bulky in an small shirt or pants pocket.”

I think 5″ to 6″ might be too small for use and too big for a pocket.

Here’s a cool comparison website I found:  http://tablets-review.toptenreviews.com/

What do you use and why? Do you use it as an author, reader, employee, researcher, etc? Can your device do it all?

Author Thursdays: Camp NaNo – Like NaNoWriMo but in April

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Of Ducks and Writing
Remember these pictures?

 

Camp NaNo is a looser form of NaNoWriMo in which you -still- attempt to write a novel in a month (April) but you create your own writing goals. Mine is 25k words. How am I doing thus far on the morning of the third day? Behind of course! I’m still fleshing out my novel but it will be grand. My goal is to finish the first book in well-edited first draft mode this year. It is the first in a young adult fantasy trilogy and I’m still fleshing out the plot particulars.

Any of you participating in Camp NaNo this year? It’s not too late to start!

Author Tuesdays: Author Costs Breakdown and Money Recovered from Book Sales

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Selling Events: Money spent to purchase copies to sell at events and specific event fees

Book Creation: Proof copy costs and professional cover design costs

Author Resources: Memberships, workshops, and conferences

Author Platform: Domain registration and marketing materials such as business cards

Materials: Stamps and envelopes to send out manuscripts

 

*Estimated money recovered from sales: %37 of cost*

Book Review: Review of Pickled Apocalypse of Pancake Island from bizarre Eraserhead Press

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Gaston Glew is a pickle and Fanny W. Fod is a pancake. From the very beginning, the reader can tell this book will be bizarre. This story was everything I have and have not imagined about pickles and pancakes. The writing style was curt and to the point and the author spared no details when it came to sticky subjects such as suicide, death, murder, and sex but he did provide a strange perspective: that of a pickle. This pickle was not just any pickle. It was a sad pickle. Did the author choose a phallic vegetable on purpose? Pickles do come with their own associations and prejudices.

As I read the story, I felt like I could smell and taste the sickly sweetness of the maple syrup and the briny sourness of the pickled pancakes and it totally grossed me out! Cameron Pierce effectively captured all my senses in relation to pickles and pancakes, unusual subjects. Pierce has imagined every nook and cranny of these two subjects and then mashed them together in an uncommon storyline that is so bizarre I don’t know what to think. Pierce was able to capture a different perspective with his edible characters, translating death, sadness, and happiness into tangible shaped concepts.

The plot was straightforward, to find Happiness (as a pickle) but the plot seemed wandering and mildly purposeless. I thought the story got a little chatty with the author’s own musings on the subjects of happiness and sadness with too much emphasis placed on the characters’ thoughts and feelings. However, Pierce wrote a wonderfully imaginative story about what could and would happen if pickles and pancakes were alive in a world where unequivocal certainties are not complete realities on Pancake Island.

Pierce’s writing style reminded me of the curiosity of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry mixed with the emotional wanderings of The Missing Piece Meets the Big O by Shel Silverstein.

 

Would I recommend this book?

This book is different. If you are not willing to read something bizarre, then I would not recommend this book. Also, the detailed sex scene might be overwhelming for certain readers (even when it’s between two made-up characters: a pickle and a pancake). I enjoyed the book, it gave me some ideas for my own unusual fiction. Also, the author is highly imaginative and I appreciated reading the book just for the odd tidbits of imagination.

Author Tuesdays: Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams

by in Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams, Author Thursdays, Local Authors, Rachel Barnard | 1 Comment

 

Local Author Re-releases Debut Young Adult Novel

 

Seattle, Washington, March 25 – Rachel Barnard, a driven young author in the Seattle area, released the new version of her debut novel, Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams. The novel is version four, according to the Amazon version counter, and features a stunning new cover from Dodo’s Design as well as improvements within the front and back covers. The novel is available in both print and eBook formats on Amazon and Createspace.

Barnard wrote her debut novel after graduating from New College of Florida and has not stopped improving the novel since. She released the first version in 2012 but decided that she wanted a more vivid and professional cover. She has been working for months to solidify both interior and exterior of her book and has now released the updated and final version.

Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams follows MC three years after she has infiltrated one of many elite academies across the U.S. The government has created these academies in order to train the youth for high end government positions in order to take over the world. MC must rise to the top in the Cube training grounds in order to be placed high up within the government so she can stop them in their takeover. It is not until her fourth and final year at the academy that her top-student status is threatened by the sudden arrival of Li, the new transfer student. MC is completely focused on her self-created mission until she gets sidetracked by Li, who might be bad news in more ways than which she bargained.

“Rachel is a writer with a strong head on her shoulders. This is evidenced by her presentation of the main character. MC has a purpose, that’s at odds with her school life. She doesn’t need friends, sneers at getting a crush on a guy, and is willing to vanquish her enemies. Travel with her as she explores the underside of the school, finds her hiding places and learns strategy while fighting with the other students at the Cube,” says Victoria Bastedo.

Rachel Barnard released a book of poetry, Wandering Imagination, early this year that is also available on Amazon in print and eBook format. For more information on either the author or Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams, you can visit her website at www.rachelauthorbarnard.com