The winner of Rouge is MEGAN!
The winner of LULA BELLON GEEKDOM, FREAKDOM, AND THE CHALLENGES OF BAD HAIR is JILL at THE O.W.L.! (I love her blog BTW.)
Congrats! I've contacted both winners and forwarded their contact info to the authors.
Today I’m thrilled to help Miriam Forster, my
blogger friend and debut author, celebrate the release of CITY OF A THOUSAND
DOLLS. It releases tomorrow! When Miriam’s publisher sent the ARC to me at the
November, I planned to save it to take on my trip to China. But then, I started
looking at it and immediately began reading it. And I finished it in two days.
It was that good.
Miriam did a fantastic job of creating the world of
the City of a Thousand Dolls, with all the smaller houses that trained girls in
specialized skills, like beauty, music, and pleasure that would be useful when
potential suitors came to the City once a year looking for wives and mistresses
to purchase. Nisha has a unique role in the City as the Matron’s assistant and
moves freely within the houses. Yet even the Matron cannot protect Nisha and
Nisha faces a terrible fate if she somehow can’t make herself super useful to
the City. She’s such a strong, sympathetic character and I totally was routing
for her till the very end of the story.
Here's a blurb from Goodreads:
Here's a blurb from Goodreads:
An exotic treat set in an entirely original, fantastical world brimming with deadly mystery, forbidden romance, and heart-stopping adventure.
Nisha was abandoned at the gates of the City of a Thousand Dolls when she was just a child. Now sixteen, she lives on the grounds of the isolated estate, where orphan girls apprentice as musicians, healers, courtesans, and, if the rumors are true, assassins. Nisha makes her way as Matron’s assistant, her closest companions the mysterious cats that trail her shadow. Only when she begins a forbidden flirtation with the city’s handsome young courier does she let herself imagine a life outside the walls. Until one by one, girls around her start to die.
Before she becomes the next victim, Nisha decides to uncover the secrets that surround the girls’ deaths. But by getting involved, Nisha jeopardizes not only her own future in the City of a Thousand Dolls—but her own life.
Hi Miriam. Thanks so much for joining us. And Happy Debut!
1. Tell us about yourself and how
you became a writer.
Once
upon a time there was an awkward, uncertain girl named Miriam who loved to
read. She read anything and everything she could get her hands on. Books were
her friends and her teachers, her warm blanket and her magic carpet. Stories
became her great love and soon she was seeing stories everywhere, in television
and movies and computer games. She even told herself stories, in daydreams on
the bus and in the car, and at night, like lullabies, to fall asleep. Stories
made her happy. One day the girl told herself a story that was so much fun that
she decided to write it down. That was how it started.
It
took many more years before she realized she was a writer. But she never
stopped making up stories.
2. You sound like me only it took me until I was in my 40s to try writing anything down. At the beginning of the
book, there’s a two page description of the main characters, the houses in the
City of the Thousand Dolls, and the caste system. I loved all the different
houses and you did a fantastic job making me feel like I was right in Nisha’s
world. Share your world building process for this story and any tips you have
for us aspiring authors.
Thank
you! Actually, most of that particular description happened in edits. Both my
editor and my critique partners wanted more of an idea of the layout of the
city. I had originally just jumped into the plot, but the world was so
complicated that people were getting confused. I had everything in my head, but
it wasn’t coming across on paper clearly enough.
I
think the biggest thing about good worldbuilding is that it’s consistent. All
the details fit together and make sense as a whole. I tend to model my
worldbuilding on the real world as much as possible for that reason. Good
worldbuilding is also very specific. What kind of houses are there? What kind
of clothes? What kind of food do they eat? What does the air smell like?
Generic surroundings are dull and don’t add anything to the story.
3. That's such great advice to add lots of specifics. You sure did. It seems like there’s some
Asian influences in this story. For example, the reason for the City of a
Thousand Dolls reminded me of China’s one child policy. What Asian influences
did you weave into your story and why?
Hahaha.
It would be easier to tell you what parts of my story weren’t Asian influenced,
honestly. Basically what happened was that I started researching the ancient
Indus River Valley civilization and fell in love with South Asia. It’s such a
rich area, and severely underrepresented in fantasy. The caste system, clothes
and food are all inspired by India and the animals—spotted wild cats, monkeys,
cashmere goats—they’re all found in South Asia as well. Because I was dealing
with an isolated empire, I took a few cues from Japan as well, but most of the
worldbuilding revolved around India and the surrounding areas.
4. I love India too. That's where I met my husband. I read in another interview
that you’re a very detailed plotter. Tell us about your plotting system.
I’m
very much a list person. Lists of things I want to happen in the book, lists of
settings that need describing, lists of characters and themes, a list of reasons
why two people would be good together…. I just write lists forever. Then I take
my handy-dandy three-act breakdown sheet which I’ve adapted from the amazing
Alexandra Sokoloff’s blog (http://www.screenwritingtricks.com/) and start building a structure for my story.
Of
course, the last book I started writing had none of that. *grin* For a lot of reasons, I just
jumped into it and did things on the fly. Now I’m having to impose structure
after the fact and that’s a harder thing for me.
5. I follow Alexandra's blog too and her advice on structuring a story. But I don't start with nearly as much detail as you. I loved that this is a
fantasy and a mystery. And you plant clues and have twists in both aspects of
the story. What were some of the challenges in weaving them all into your story
and how did you overcome them?
Oh
gosh, it was really hard to balance the two, more so than I expected. Mysteries
have to be very tightly plotted, in a way that doesn’t usually lend itself to
worldbuilding. And fantasy, especially high fantasy needs good worldbuilding. So
some parts of the book were too fast and some were too slow. It was hard for me
to find a pacing that would work for both, and I’m still not sure I succeeded.
Still, getting to write in my two favorite genres at once was worth it.
6. Your agent is Jennifer
Laughran. How did she become your agent and what was your querying process
like?
Jenn
was
a very happy accident. (Sort of) I had queried someone else at the
Andrea
Brown Agency very early on in the submission process and gotten no
response. A few years and several MAJOR
rewrites later, I was on the verge of shelving City of a Thousand Dolls
entirely, but I thought I’d send one more query, just to keep my
momentum up. I
chose Jenn because I loved her Twitter presence and because she’d
represented
several books that I’d read and enjoyed very much. I thought that might
mean
our tastes were similar. But I honestly wasn’t expecting her to want the
book,
and I was bowled over when she fell in love with it. And she’s been
great to work with. (Plus when she recommends a book, I’m pretty
much guaranteed to adore it.) J
7. So glad you didn't shelf this. It's such a great story.
Let’s switch to the
marketer hat authors need to wear. What steps did you take after you got your
book deal? What are the essential marketing things you recommend authors do
from signing the book deal contract to the release of our books?
Ack!
Um…I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask about promotion. My pre-debut year
was mostly taken up with two moves, six months of living at my inlaws and some
serious couch surfing. I had a second book to write and my husband couldn’t
find a job. I was stressed and broke for most of the year, so there were a lot
of things that are recommended that I just didn’t have the energy or money to
do. I didn’t do postcard mailings or get
a street team or email book bloggers. In fact as of me writing this on the
first of January, I still don’t have any swag. (I’m going to try and get some
this month, but there won’t be much.)
I
do think authors need some sort of website, something that says “This is me,
this is my book.” It should be something updateable so you can do things like
cover reveals and announcements, but it doesn’t have to actually be a blog. At
the very least, people need to be able to find the basic information about you
and your book.
As
far as social media goes, I say do what you’re comfortable with. For me that
meant mostly hanging out on Twitter and Tumblr and running contests—both for my
book and other people’s—on my blog. I also responded to as many interview requests
as I could. I was lucky enough to be working for the bookstore that’s doing my
launch party, so setting that up was easy. I’ve scheduled two other signings,
one in my former town and one in my parent’s town. But those are mostly for
family and friends.
Honestly,
the most essential thing is the next book. Everything else is negotiable.
Because a fantastic second book will sell more of your first book than most
promotion ever will.
8. Actually, your advice is reassuring. Because I'm guessing I would have to juggle my book release with a full-time job and a family that needs my attention. It sounds like it can be done with a lot of other things going on. Phew! I'm not quite so nervous about it all.
What other advice do you
have for aspiring authors?
Write
the next book. That’s my go-to advice. Having another book in the works makes
everything easier. It takes some of the sting out of rejection, it gives you
hope and it teaches you things that will help you rewrite earlier books. And
before you sell is the best time to build a list of works that you might be
able to fix up and sell later. Experiment, take chances and write new things.
Because once you sell, the game changes. They’re good changes for the most
part, but they’re still changes.
9. That's great advice. What are you working on
now?
Rewriting
the un-organized book I mentioned earlier. It’s a companion book to City of a
Thousand Dolls and is scheduled to come out sometime in 2014. If I can fix it,
that is. *scowls at book *
Well, I'm sure it's going to be fabulous. Thanks Miriam for sharing all your great advice. You can find Miriam at:
Miriam's publisher generously offered an ARC for a giveaway.To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if
you’re not a follower) and leave a comment by
midnight on February 16th. I’ll announce the winner on February 18th. If your e-mail is not
on
Blogger, please list it in your comment.
If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. International entries are welcome.
And don't forget to enter my contest for PRODIGY by Marie Lu too! The link is at the top of the blog.
Here's what's coming up:
Next Monday I'm interviewing debut author Elsie Chapman about her dystopian novel, DUALED and giving away an ARC of her book. It's about a world where everyone has a genetic alternate that you must battle at some point in your teenage years to the death. It is a fascinating concept.
Next Wednesday I have a fascinating interview with Chuck Sambuchino of Guide to Literary Agents about his new book, CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM: THE KEYS TO BUILDING AN AUDIENCE, SELLING MORE BOOKS, AND FINDING SUCCESS AS AN AUTHOR, with a giveaway of his book. His book really got me thinking about how I can improve my platform and social networking. I'm really excited to share Chuck's advice and his book with you. Chuck's interview is filled with awesome advice whether you're an author or book review blogger. I can't encourage you enough to read his interview.
The following Monday, I have an interview with a high school teen for my ASK THE EXPERT series and will be sharing and giving away THE CADET OF TILDOR, a fantastic debut fantasy and OBSIDIAN MIRROR, a fantasy set in our world by one of my favorite authors, Catherine Fisher.
And Wednesday that week, Casey and I have a super awesome 3000 follower mega giveaway. IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME! You won't want to miss it.
And don't forget our Tuesday Tips and Casey's Thursday agent spotlights.
Hope to see you on Monday!
Next Monday I'm interviewing debut author Elsie Chapman about her dystopian novel, DUALED and giving away an ARC of her book. It's about a world where everyone has a genetic alternate that you must battle at some point in your teenage years to the death. It is a fascinating concept.
Next Wednesday I have a fascinating interview with Chuck Sambuchino of Guide to Literary Agents about his new book, CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM: THE KEYS TO BUILDING AN AUDIENCE, SELLING MORE BOOKS, AND FINDING SUCCESS AS AN AUTHOR, with a giveaway of his book. His book really got me thinking about how I can improve my platform and social networking. I'm really excited to share Chuck's advice and his book with you. Chuck's interview is filled with awesome advice whether you're an author or book review blogger. I can't encourage you enough to read his interview.
The following Monday, I have an interview with a high school teen for my ASK THE EXPERT series and will be sharing and giving away THE CADET OF TILDOR, a fantastic debut fantasy and OBSIDIAN MIRROR, a fantasy set in our world by one of my favorite authors, Catherine Fisher.
And Wednesday that week, Casey and I have a super awesome 3000 follower mega giveaway. IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME! You won't want to miss it.
And don't forget our Tuesday Tips and Casey's Thursday agent spotlights.
Hope to see you on Monday!
