Putting the Fear Factor Back In Tentacles

As part of the Confronting the Demon blog tour, I'm guest posting over on Silly Hat Books.

Stop by to check out my guest post, Putting The Fear Factor Back In Tentacles, where I talk about what inspired me to put tentacles in Confronting the Demon and why I didn't toss them during revisions. Don't Google 'tentacles' and 'fiction' unless you already know what results you're likely to get, or you may be shocked. Or not.

If you'd like to pick up your own copy of Confronting the Demon, check out the buy links on this page - at $1.99, it's a steal! Buy direct from my Books page and it's even cheaper. 
 
If you're an author, you might also like to check out my post A Quick Reference Guide to Copyright and Cover Art. Does your cover use stock photos? You might not be able to do with your own book cover all the things you think you can!

As part of the Confronting the Demon blog tour, I'm guest posting over on Sheila deeth's blog. 

Ever found yourself reading or wtaching a sex scene, wondering when you'll get back to the actual story? Stop by to check out my guest post, Sex Scenes - In or Out, where I talk about why some stories need sex scenes, and some don't - Confronting the Demon being one of the latter.

If you'd like to pick up your own copy of Confronting the Demon, check out the buy links on this page - at $1.99, it's a steal! Buy direct from my Books page and it's even cheaper. 
 
If you're an author, you might also like to check out my post A Quick Reference Guide to Copyright and Cover Art. Does your cover use stock photos? You might not be able to do with your own book cover all the things you think you can!

Pinky Pollock Interviews Ciara Ballintyne, Author of Confronting the Demon

After reviewing Confronting the Demon, Sharon 'Pinky' Pollock is now interviewing me as well!
Stop on by and read the full interview to learn all about my inspiration, my writing process, and what I'm working on now. 
  If you'd like to pick up your own copy of Confronting the Demon, check out the buy links on this page - at $1.99, it's a steal! Buy direct from my Books page and it's even cheaper. 
 
If you're an author, you might also like to check out my post A Quick Reference Guide to Copyright and Cover Art. Does your cover use stock photos? You might not be able to do with your own book cover all the things you think you can!

Short Stories With Delusions of Grandeur

As part of the Confronting the Demon blog tour, I'm guest posting over on the blog Indie Authors You Want To Read. 

Stop by to check out my guest post, Short Stories With Delusions of Grandeur, where I talk about how long a story should be, and what happens when a story has been squeezed into jeans two sizes too small. Confronting the Demon may even have been in jeans smaller than that when it started!

If you'd like to pick up your own copy of Confronting the Demon, check out the buy links on this page - at $1.99, it's a steal! Buy direct from my Books page and it's even cheaper. 
 
If you're an author, you might also like to check out my post A Quick Reference Guide to Copyright and Cover Art. Does your cover use stock photos? You might not be able to do with your own book cover all the things you think you can!

Writers Have Voices Too (Even If We Don't Sing)

Library Girl reads and Reviews is a tour stop in the second week of the Confronting the Demon book tour, and is hosting my guest post on authorial voice, and how one's day job may indelibly shape the way one writes. Check out the full post on Writers Have Voices Too (Even If we Don't Sing). If you haven't already done so, don't forget to enter the giveaway.

If you'd like to pick up your own copy of Confronting the Demon, check out the buy links here - at $1.99, it's a steal! Buy direct from my Books page and it's even cheaper.

If you're an author, you might also like to check out my post A Quick Reference Guide to Copyright and Cover Art. If you use stock photos, you might not be able to do with your own book cover all the things you think you can!

Ten Signs A Writer Is A Perfectionist

As part of the Confronting the Demon blog tour, I'm guest posting over on the blog of J E Haldeman. 

Stop by to check out my list of ten signs that a writer may be a perfectionist. The fifth sign is that you pay actual money to buy actual castle floor plans to design a castle for your novel. Read the full post to find out the other nine signs. Do you have any of these signs, or know someone who does?

Sadly the Rafflecopter doesn't seem to be working, but if you'd like to enter the giveaway, you can do so at the last stop over at Pinky's Favourite Reads. 

If you'd like to pick up your own copy of Confronting the Demon, check out the buy links on this page - at $1.99, it's a steal! Buy direct from my Books page and it's even cheaper. 
If you're an author, you might also like to check out my post A Quick Reference Guide to Copyright and Cover Art. Does your cover use stock photos? You might not be able to do with your own book cover all the things you think you can!

Confronting the Demon Reviewed by Pinky's Favourite Reads

Another review tour stop as the Confronting the Demon book tour enters its second week. 

Pinky had lots to say but my favourite line (and it was hard to choose!) is this one, I think: "We are drawn into the story of Alloran right from the start. His story is painted on a beautifully described landscape that sets the imagination ablaze with a bombardment of the senses."

We are drawn into the story of Alloran right from the start. 

His story is painted on a beautifully described landscape that sets the imagination ablaze with a bombardment of the senses. 

- See more at: http://pinkypollock.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/confronting-demon.html#sthash.tmia8we6.dpuf

We are drawn into the story of Alloran right from the start. 

His story is painted on a beautifully described landscape that sets the imagination ablaze with a bombardment of the senses. 

- See more at: http://pinkypollock.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/confronting-demon.html#sthash.tmia8we6.dpuf

We are drawn into the story of Alloran right from the start. 

His story is painted on a beautifully described landscape that sets the imagination ablaze with a bombardment of the senses. 

- See more at: http://pinkypollock.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/confronting-demon.html#sthash.tmia8we6.dpuf

You can read the full review at Pinky's Favourite Reads. If you'd like to pick up your own copy of Confronting the Demon, check out the buy links here - at $1.99, it's a steal! Buy direct from my Books page and it's even cheaper. 

If you're an author, you might also like to check out my post A Quick Reference Guide to Copyright and Cover Art. You might not be able to do with your own book cover all the things you think you can!

The Fiction Fairy Reviews Confronting the Demon

I'm excited that the Fiction Fairy has reviewed my novella, Confronting the Demon, as part of the book tour, and had this to say: ...Confronting the Demon is Murder She Wrote mixed with Criminal Minds.

Not a comparison it ever would have crossed my mind to make, but then it's hard to get a clear perspective on one's own work. That said, applying an analytical mind to the question, I can see she's got a point - Confronting the Demon is filled not only with the magic you'd expect in fantasy, but mystery, a psychopath, and a serial killer. 

You can read the full review over at The Fiction Fairy's blog, and if you'd like to pick up your own copy of Confronting the Demon, check out the buy links here or on the Fiction fairy's review - at $1.99, it's a steal! Buy direct from my Books page and it's even cheaper. 

If you're an author, you might also like to check out my post A Quick Reference Guide to Copyright and Cover Art. You might not be able to do with your own book cover all the things you think you can!

Review of the Last Hero by Terry Pratchett

After reading my novella Confronting the Demon Samatha Saboviec invited me to guest blog on Magic and Mayhem by writing a review of one of the books that inspired my tale.

There are two books that had a large influence on Confronting the Demon, and they are The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett and The Rogue Agent series by K.E. Mills. I was torn which one to use, but I had already written reviews on two of The Rogue Agent books, so I decided to go with The Last Hero.

Pratchett's fable is the very reason tentacles were originally included in Confronting the Demon (although not the reason I kept them). To learn how it all started, read my Review of The Last Hero.

If you want to know why I kept the tentacles, there'll be a guest post from me later in my blog tour that tells you all about it!

Maer Wilson Interviews Ciara Ballintyne

Wow, this blog hopping is getting exhausting. Can you keep up? I'm not sure I can...

Today I'm being interviewed over on Maer Wilson's blog. She's come out hitting hard, and wants to know what the weirdest thing is that's happened to me as a fantasy author. You'll have to read the full interview to find out!

If you haven't already entered the giveaway for an Amazon Gift Card, don't forget to get your entries in.

Also, if you've ever had any questions about copyright in your cover art, check out my handy quick reference guide on Somebody Has To Say It.

Ciara Ballintyne's Playlist for Plotting

The third stop of the Confronting the Demon Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway finds me over on alwaysjoart talking about the music I listen to while plotting. Drop by to check out the twenty-six songs I listened to while plotting In the Company of the Dead and Stalking the Demon, sequel to Confronting the Demon.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway - there's a $25 Amazon Gift Card up for grabs. 

Virtual Book Tour - Interview with Ciara Ballintyne, Author of Confronting the Demon

Day 2 of the book tour for Confronting the Demon, and you'll find me over on Kelly P's blog, where she's interviewing me about life, writing and dragons! Stop by and check it out.

And here's a dragon, just to brighten up your day, since Kelly is grilling me all about why there are no dragons in Confronting the Demon!

Confronting the Demon Book Tour and Giveaway

I'm touring the blogsphere with my book, Confronting the Demon, for the next two weeks. The first stop today is Cu's Book Giveaways. Pop on over to see the review and enter the giveaway!

You can find the full tour schedule here at The Finishing Fairies, or check back here daily for links to each day's tour stop.

Ciara Ballintyne Reviews the Daedalus Incident By Michael J Martinez

A refreshingly original sci-fi/historical fantasy mash-up, with an incredible premise. The Daedalus Incident combines sci-fi set on Mars in the 22^nd century with historical fantasy set in the 18^th century of an alternative reality.

The story contains two major threads. The sci-fi thread, as I thought of it, featured Lieutenant Shaila Jain, a member of the Royal British Navy (and the JSC which I took to be some joint cooperative between the UK and USA) posted on Mars as part of a small military operation supervising a mining operation. When they begin experiencing earthquakes where there should be none, she discovers a subterranean cave in which rocks move of their own accord. There she discovers a journal that is writing itself.
 
The historical fantasy thread features Lieutenant Thomas Weatherby, a member of the Royal British Navy in the 18^th century on board the HMS Daedalus as it sails through space between planets. I was initially confused by this, but quickly decided this wasn’t our past, but had to be the past in an alternate reality, one where alchemy really can turn lead into gold and allow ships to sail through space on the solar winds. Of course, in our reality, the solar wind is something that would tear apart an 18^th century frigate, but placing us in an alternate reality allowed me to suspend belief and accept that this might be possible in a world with working alchemy.

The journal Lt. Jain has found is, of course, that of Lt Weatherby and she and her team watch in disbelief as words literally appear on the paper, describing what to them seems a work of fiction. Only when they run out of other possible explanations do they begin to think this might be real.

Lt. Weatherby, in his world, is on the trail of an evil alchemist, Cagliostro, who is in the process of collecting the various alchemical essences of the solar system so that he might perform some great alchemical working to achieve his nefarious purposes. It is unclear what his intentions are to start, but it was at least apparent to me that whatever he was doing was what was causing the blurring between universes.

The story threads and the universes do eventually merge so that Lts. Jain and Weatherby meet each other, but I won’t say more than that so I don’t ruin the ending.

Apart from the spectacular story, the thing that struck me most was the ‘voice’ of Lts. Jain and Weatherby. You could open this story anywhere and know immediately which thread you were in by the ‘sound’ of the narrator. It was so incredibly distinctive I think I’ve even learnt something from it.

That said, having established these distinct voices, it frustrated me that later the story fell more into an omniscient style POV. I didn’t find this as obvious at the beginning of the book, where we seemed well-entrenched in either the head of Weatherby or Jain, and the first time I found myself in the perspective of Dr Finch, alchemist to the Daedalus, I was badly jarred, and even more so when we switched back to Weatherby when Finch wandered away. This same issue then began to crop up in the other story thread, and became even more jarring when the threads merged, as I could find myself in the thoughts of either Jain or Weatherby without warning, and my brain evidently wanted to settle into one or the other unless very clearly signalled to switch.

While I am not a fan of omniscient, I usually find it distances me more than jars me, where in this case I found it particularly disorienting, perhaps because often I did feel I was inside the character’s head. I think this was largely because of the distinctive ‘voices’ of the two main characters, so the sudden switch between characters was about as pleasant as a bucket of cold water. Additionally, each Weatherby segment opened with his journal entry, written in the first person, so there was a tendency to want to stay with Weatherby and inside his head. While the genre mash-up was effective, I found this ‘POV mash-up’ less desirable.

I enjoyed the characters, particular Weatherby who had a very strong sense of ‘British stiff upper lip’. The story had a romance sub-plot, with French planetologist Stephane as Jain’s love interest, and budding alchemist Anne Baker as Weatherby’s. Stephane’s character was the more compelling of the two for me, funny and flirtatious but sincere, and I wanted Lt. Jain to be happy with him.

By contrast, Anne Baker fell flat. She seemed a woman out of her time, and while Weatherby chided Jain for her behaviour being unseemly for a woman, Anne seemed accepted even though she behaved almost completely contrary to the expectations of a woman in her era, and this felt odd to me. Her backstory never rang true to me, or the romantic conflict with Weatherby – I don’t feel the significance of her past was explored deeply enough. But mostly, I just didn’t find her likeable, and so didn’t particularly want the romance to blossom. Perhaps this was deliberate and this will develop further later.

This is a superb story, and my gripes are only minor. With a sequel (The Enceladus Crisis) due out next year, I'll be waiting to scoop it up for sure.

Castle Design and Sieges Poll: I Need Your Help

I've just started writing In the Company of the Dead, an epic fantasy novel for adults, and I've belatedly realised I need to do some research, something I don't usually find I need to do.

See, the story is set in a castle. Nearly the whole story. A small castle. So I think I need to have a very clear visual myself of the setting in order to be able to describe it, because there's not a lot of space here for me to get creative with, and if I make a mistake, that also means not much space to make excuses with.

I had already decided to loosely base the castle on Caerlaverock Castle in Scotland, purely because I stumbled across it and thought it was pretty. It has the advantage of being really defensible, too, which is important since the reason the whole story is set in the castle is because it's under siege. And we want it to be a long siege or, you know, the story would end prematurely...

So here's where I need your help.

Firstly, I've got most of my castle mapped out, but I have some empty space, and I'd like your thoughts on what else should be included. Here's what I've got:

• Guardrooms
• Well room
• Kitchen
• Servery
• Bakery
• Servant's Quarters
• Banqueting hall
• Withdrawing room
• Lords' suites
• Gatehouse
• Library
• Guest rooms

What else do I need? I'm thinking a small barracks, which was noticeably absent from the plans of Caerlaverock Castle, either because it was in the ruined section of the castle, or came under some other heading like 'public rooms' or 'private rooms'. At least, I assume it must have had somewhere for guards to sleep. 

What about stables? My people have horses, but it could either be inconvenient having the horses in the castle during a siege, or a source of food (blargh...). 

Anything else?

The other thing I need your help on is the siege. Caerlaverock Castle was famously defended for 36 hours by 60 men against 3000. Not long, but the fact that such a small number held out for any length of time against such odds is incredible. At least, the attacking king was impressed, and I daresay he was more qualified to judge than I.

So my castle is being attacked by 1000 soldiers. We'll say they have some small siege equipment, but nothing too huge. As you can see, the castle is surrounded by a moat, which is surrounded by a marsh, so the only approach is front on, at the gate. I want the siege to stretch out for some time, but the odds to be bad enough that the attackers will likely fail before help arrives.

Please do contribute any other thoughts in the comments below. I'm also open to suggestions for the name of my castle, as it remains nameless for the time being.

Club Fantasci Discusses The Daedalus Incident by Michael J Martinez

Here it is, the long-awaited September Hangout for Club Fantasci where we discuss The Daedalus Incident by Michael J Martinez. We also farewell Dionne Lister, who is sadly departing.

We were initially delayed by technical difficulties (I have ongoing internet problems thanks to a heartless telecommunications company) and then Dionne and I were overseas. We managed to get this one working, but again due to technical issues, we had to switch from G+ Hangout to Skype, and while everything seemed fine at the time, now the recording has our lips and voices out of sync *sigh*. Nothing is ever easy... We do apologise for the quality on this one. Don't even talk to me about the dramas I had getting my microphone to work, which resulted in a headset and a desire to smash something!

Michael J Martinez is absolutely lovely, and his books rock. If you haven't read The Daedalus Incident already, go out and buy it now, and keep an eye out for The Enceladus Crisis, coming in (northern hemisphere) fall. Oh, and follow him on Twitter - @mikemartinez72

On a sad note, I must announce that I have been forced to decide to leave Club Fantasci. My husband is part of the bushfire division of our National Parks department, and has been more or less absent for the last 4 weeks fighting the Sydney bushfires, and I don't even have enough time to manage two kids and still work my job. Reading and writing has more or less fallen by the wayside, and I just don't have the time to commit (which is at least part of the reason it was November before we did the September review...). That being the case, it's just not fair for me to remain with the club.

I may be able to revisit my options once the bushfire season is over.

Roughly how my technology has made me feel lately!

Lorna Suzuki Interviews Ciara Ballintyne, Author of Confronting the Demon

Lorna Suzuki, author of the fantasy series The Imago Chronicles, generously invited me to interview on her blog, All Kinds of Writing, and I was delighted to accept.

We talk about my new book, Confronting the Demon, publishing, my writing process, inspiration, and my writing plans for the next 5 years - including the Demon sequels. In Stalking the Demon, Alloran must venture into the very bowels of the first circle of hell!

Join us at All Kinds of Writing to read the full interview.

Lorna Suzuki is the author of fantasy series The Imago Chronicles and The Dream Merchant Saga. Book One of The Imago Chronicles, A Warrior’s Tale, was optioned for a major motion pciture in 2011 is now in development.


You can find her at:

The Imago Books Fantasy Realm Website
All Kinds of Writing Blog
@LornaSuzuki - Twitter

Chris Mentzer: Interview with the Author of The Askinar Towers Trilogy

It's been a little while since I've hosted an author interview (and if you're thinking of doing one with me, I am considering moving the format to video via G+ Hangout) but today we welcome chris Mentzer, author of The Askinar towers trilogy. thanks for joining us today, Chris. Could you share a little bit about your recent projects? 

My trilogy The Askinar Towers is completed and I’m waiting for book 1 release in December by Tiger Dynasty Publishing. In addition to these, I’m working on a new Towers story featuring a supporting character that appears in both book 2 and book 3 of the trilogy. I’m also working on a blog series called Observations of a Café Waiter. This features a waiter named Chuck and his employment at the Floor 17 Café found in the Tower of Water. 

Busy, busy! Do you tend to put messages or themes in your novels? 

Adventure can be found everywhere and anywhere you look. A simple trip to the grocery store can be made exciting just by using your imagination. But always remember that when you are out on an adventure, home is the place you always want to return to in the end. 

What was your favourite chapter (or part) to write and why? 

From book one, I would say my favorite chapter to write was How To Rescue a Damsel in Distress. The reason being that first, it is an off-the-wall title, and secondly, the chapter gives a breakdown of the rescue but it doesn’t go as planned.

From book two, my favorite part would be the Black Friday scenario in a sleepy town called Pleasington. I won’t say anymore for fear of spoilers.

From book three, it’s a toss-up between the chapter called Angry Villagers 101, and the pirate scenario. Both were fun to write and the outcome is somewhat unexpected. 

Did you choose your genre, or did it more choose you? 

I got interested in Fantasy primarily from reading the Chronicles of Narnia series in junior high. From there I progressed to David Eddings novels and the Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett. The Askinar Towers trilogy was greatly inspired by Narnia in that it too is a Portal Fantasy series. 

Some of my own early favourites! I would have read The Chronicles of Narnia before I even knew what fantasy was, and David Eddings was my first 'real' fantasy as I understood it. I pinched Castle of Wizardry off Dad when I was ten. I was well into Discworld by age twelve.

What book are you reading now? 

Currently I’m reading The World of Karov by Elyse Salpeter. It’s book 1 of the Children of Demliee Series. I recently met her online and picked up an e-copy of her book. Very inspiring story.

I'm not familiar with that one. I might need to check it out. Are there any other new authors that have seized your attention? 

In addition to Elyse, I’ve been following Kayla Curry, Scott Bartlett, and Ciara Ballintyne. I’ve haven’t read much from them but I’m in the process of making the rounds. 

Awww, me? I'm flattered! I have to say this is a first for me.

Who is your favourite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work? 

Hands down it would have to be M.C. Beaton. She write small village mysteries featuring a local constable by the name of Hamish Macbeth. What I love about her writing is her ability to make the fictional town of Lochdubh seem real including the residents. I’ve read all her Macbeth books and hope to collect them all and reread them in the order that they were released.

That got my attention! Although the Scottish angle always does that for me. No, I do not have a 'men-in-kilts' fetish, just some relatively recent Scottish roots, as my Dad was born in Edinburgh.

I imagine like many authors (myself included) you have a day job as well. Are you happy to share that with us? 

Yes, I’m currently serving a life sentence in retail. Been with the company for 17 years and I hope to survive long enough to reach 20. Time will tell. 

Yikes, that's a long time. I hope you make 20 as well.

If you were a Star Trek® character, which one would it be? 

Definitely a Red Shirt crewmember; Ensign Expendable. I can’t see myself surviving any particular mission down to a planet (hostile or non) and most likely would die shortly after arrival. 

That has got to be the funniest answer I've ever received, although I certainly hope you are not that expendable!

What would I find in your refrigerator right now? 

Surprisingly this is a difficult question to answer. We have two refrigerators in our house. My wife is a diabetic and has a gluten intolerance and she (and our youngest daughter) has control of the main fridge. I have the secondary one which houses basic things like bread, tortilla shells, and other items that can’t be eaten by the other two. Of course if you look in just my fridge, you’d probably wonder how I survive! 

If you looked in my second fridge, you'd think I survived on a steady diet of beer and ice cream...

If you were a car, what kind would you be? 

A 4x4 car crushing monster truck. I am so sick of the way people drive on the road these days, I’d rather just run right over them to get to my destination. Plus I’d enter competitions on the weekend. 

*makes a note not to annoy Chris*

Thanks for joining us today, Chris. 

If you'd like to know more about Chris and his work, keep reading and check out his contact details at the end. Nexus of the Worlds, Book 1 of The Askinar Towers Trilogy is being published by Tiger Dynasty Publishing and is expected to be released on December 3, 2013. Watch Chris's Facebook Page and Twitter account for details of the release.   

About Nexus of the Worlds 

Sara and Erika weren’t looking for an adventure but when but they are given a special key, they find a portal that takes them into a world dominated by four towers. They soon realize the towers themselves are the center of every known world. Their quest is to locate the legendary fifth tower, encounter the entity that lives within, and then find a way back home. Meanwhile a sinister cloaked figure is watching from the shadows and following their every move. Are they ally or foe? Do they want the girls or the special key? Find out in book one of The Askinar Towers. 

About Chris Mentzer 

Chris has been interested in writing ever since 1982 when he was given an English assignment in the 9^th grade. He had to write a paragraph using a lot of detail. Although he wasn’t sure he completely understood the assignment, he wrote a scene in a bank where a guy was coming out of the bathroom and witnessed a robbery in progress. The detail portion came in when the witness described the robber to the police. From that moment Chris decided he wanted to be a writer.

Between 1982 and 2005, he made several attempts to write a story; it was his goal to write the great American novel, you know the one that everyone wants to own and read. The majority of his work lay incomplete in a personal slush pile in a filing cabinet.

Having read The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis and all fantasy books by David Eddings, he took a stab at Fantasy with minimal success. Even tried his hand at Science Fiction with a couple of buddies while he was in college. The bottom line was he lacked discipline and the desire to stick with any one project. But that was all to change in 2005.

In November of that year, Chris entered his first writing challenge held by the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) website. Although the goal was 50,000 words, he obtained his personal goal of 25K, which went on to be the foundation of book 1 of The Askinar Towers Trilogy. He later wrote foundations for books 2 and 3 in ’07 and ’09 respectively. His inspiration for the Towers books came from John DeChancie’s Castle Perilous series and Doctor Who’s Paradise Towers. 

Chris lives in Mesa, AZ with his wife and two daughters. He is currently employed in the retail industry working in the produce department. In his spare time, when not writing or stalking the social media streams, Chris loves to hike out in the Lost Dutchman area and Saguaro Lake. 

Here’s another interview with Chris Mentzer 

http://tigerdynastypub.blogspot.com/2013/09/meet-chris-mentzer.html 

Contact information 

Platform Blog: http://2150.wordpress.com 

Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/Chris.Mentzer.3D   

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/Mentzer.Author 

Askinar Towers Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/Askinartower

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chris_Mentzer

Email: fifth.tower@gmail.com