Author: ransomnoble

Published Writer: young adult and science fiction

Blog Tours

The Angeline Jellybean tour continues at Vivian’s blog today.

Participating in the tour, I’ve been thinking ahead to my own book. I will have a blog tour near its release date. I wonder who to include, how to get the word out, and where to get the niche audience who really wants my book. Finding all of that isn’t easy, but it also isn’t impossible.

(It better not be impossible, because I’m going to do it anyway!)

I’ve been reading up on things and figuring out how to do that. One resource to find blogs by category or country or on a global scale. This blog is ranked there! … I’m ranked below 19 million others, literally. I’m taking heart that I’ve only been blogging here for a few months and only very consistently this month as a reason to keep coming back.

One day I’d love to be able to connect the niche audiences to books they’d love but haven’t heard of yet. I love even more to write them, but reading a story is so much faster.

Check out your favorite blogs for their ranking and audiences at Alexa.

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Angeline Jellybean!

Everyone loves jellybeans, but probably none of them as much as Angeline. All she eats is jellybeans!

You’ll find out more during this tour about the author, Crystalee Calderwood, the illustrator, Stephen Macquignon; and the book, Angeline Jellybean! I have the feeling this book has given all of us jellybean fever – so watch out. It might not be contagious…

A little information about jellybeans:

  • Jellybeans emerged around 1900 with other shaped candies.
  • Former President Ronald Reagan’s favorite candy was the jellybean, which marked a resurgence in popularity and also brought a lot of gourmet or designer flavors.
  • Some manufacturers make formed shapes for holidays like Easter, Halloween, and Christmas.
  • Mostly, they’re part of Easter traditions and about 15 billion jellybeans are sold during the season.

Angeline Jellybean, the book: Publisher Site

As a picture book geared toward children 2 and up for listening and 1st to 3rd grade for reading, Angeline is going to get them thinking. It’s filled with beautiful pictures and a fun story to keep them entertained, as well. I received my copy earlier this month and am extremely happy with it.

Crystalee Calderwood: Website Blog

Favorite jellybean flavor? Cherry
Favorite holiday? Thanksgiving
Favorite age of children to read to? Babies and Toddlers – the lap-cuddling age.
Favorite age of children to write for? 3-5 years, but I like to write for all ages.
What’s your next challenge? Revising and expanding my first YA novel and hopefully getting it published. I’m also working on a new website where kids can ask me questions about my writing, books, and send in their own work.

Stephen Macquignon:

Favorite jellybean flavor? If I had to choose one, it would be the black liquorish.
Favorite holiday? Halloween is my favorite. I used to love putting on costumes and going Trick or Treating with my friends.
Favorite age of children to illustrate for? I don’t have one. I enjoy working in all age groups. “Angeline Jellybean” is for children ages 2 and up, “Colors” that has just been published and is written by Danna Warren is for children no older than 7 years.
What’s your next challenge? “Would a Kangaraffee Make you Laffe” and I have two more  books in production “If Fish Could Drive” and “The Marshmallow Man” coming out in October 2009.

Make sure you check out the entire tour! Click for schedule.

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Of all the amazing things…

I finally released the lyrics to Michelle Tuesday, after we chatted about them a couple hours and I tweaked what I really wanted to say. She’s very helpful to understand how to make it come through once I had a draft down.

She played it for me live, over the computer, and then recorded it.You can find it on YouTube: Another Piece of Me. I’m delighted with how it turned out; while I could tell words could be set to music it doesn’t really play in my head.

I’m looking forward to trying this collaboration again with Michelle. We’re definitely having fun!

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Self-Publishing

Sometimes I wonder what exactly to say to someone who decides to self-publish. There are a hundred different reasons to choose any given publisher and there are benefits and drawbacks to each decision.

For self-publishing, the onus of the work rests solely with the author. This includes writing, editing, marketing, selling, and probably a few other things I can’t think of off the top of my head. It sometimes gets a bad rap, too, because anyone can do it.

They dont actually have to do editing, of course. A person could choose to pen fifteen pages of an endless litany of “I will not smash cars” and self-publish it. Not that anyone would buy it or be extremely happy about receiving a copy, but it could be done.

I’d like to meet someone who could market that, though. I bet I could learn a lot! In the meantime, I’m in search of a word that isn’t congratulations (from dictionary.com “an expression of joy in the success or good fortune of another”) and means more of a “good luck on your endeavor.” I’ll reserve the congratulations until it’s a successful venture.

All of us need the luck, no matter what publishing route we take. We work to achieve any published status and we earn our laurels based on factors not always under our control.

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In deference to the holiday

I looked for a cheery news article to share. You know, something happy and upbeat to show the spirit was alive and well.

I found a boy who’s thriving after being born with his heart outside his chest. Everything else had a decidedly downbeat vibe: 10 dumbest things from Wall Street in 2008, Retailers who are simply trying to survive with the economy, and the weather.

The worst part about winter is the cold, snow, ice, sleet, and all that other junk. Why do I live in Iowa again? Luckily my husband takes care of the driveway and I don’t have to go outside the house again today.

Happy Holidays to all!

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Holiday Cards

I wait for them in the mail, but don’t usually get as many as I send. I’m trying to update my list, so if I haven’t heard from someone in several years (at least 3) I usually figure they’re not into the card thing. If there hasn’t been other contact, it’s time to take them off the list.

But I did find one useful thing about holiday letters for people I haven’t been in touch with the best: they get updates on me they don’t always hear through the friend grapevine. Sure, everyone manages to share the pregnancy and the relocation, but somehow the upcoming novel dropped off the radar.

If only I could tell them all in person. Maybe next book!

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Colors of Friendship

I have a lot of friends and am thankful for all of them. One thing that I have always attempted to do is portray friends in fiction as they are in real life. So many elements of stories are inspired by actual events, whether they’re ‘based on true events’ or simply to add the feeling of reality.

One problem I face in that attempt is what happens in real life is differentiating characters. We see differences between people when they’re standing in front of us, but in short stories especially readers get confused. It forces me as a writer to dig deeper to really show different nuances, but I notice that isn’t always readily apparent in everyday interactions.

Another big problem is that truth is stranger than fiction. I have a short story on friendship that a few readers commented, “I don’t believe anyone could ever be like this.” I’d made the person less extreme than she really acted, so I never figured out how to really reconcile the story. Friendship takes many forms, and each of them depends on the dynamic between the two or more individuals who are together.

Then there’s the question of what makes friends not be friends anymore. It comes up more in my YA than it does in science fiction, likely because the teenage years are such a volatile time. Each time I write that, I wonder about friendship itself. I pick relationships apart and then analyze what I know about people.

It might not always help some ‘real’ relationships that seem doomed, but it has helped me make more realistic interactions for my characters. Next up ought to be someone who gets a phone call out of the blue from someone who’s been out of contact for two or three years. But after that amount of time, are the two still friends? It’s a question I haven’t yet been able to answer. Most of the time, I’d say no.

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Collaboration

I’ve been working on some song lyrics for a friend of mine. It’s not something I’ve done before, but she’s a singer and this poem-type thing started popping out of my head. I felt a tempo behind it and so I played with it enough to get a chorus and verses.

When I spoke to Michelle Tuesday about it, she was pretty excited. I let her read my draft last night. Turns out she wrote a song yesterday, too, but her efforts at lyrics might be revamped into something with a bit more of a message. (I got to read it – I can’t wait to actually hear it.)

I had to laugh because our original plan -yes, we had a plan- was to start collaborating in February when some of our other projects had died down a little, but I guess our imaginations just ran wild and when inspiration strikes, it must be captured. She’s very talented musically, and I’m trying to be patient to see what she comes up with.

I’m hoping it’s just the beginning, but I don’t have song ideas popping out of my head every day.

Listen to Michelle Tuesday:
Youtube: WDCBrandiwyn
MySpace: Brandiwyn

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Holiday Madness

The traffic clogs the roads. Shoppers fill the stores. Lines at the post office stagnate.

Okay, my two visits to the USPS (or affiliated postal station) haven’t been that bad. Hoping to keep it that way!

As we finish our shopping, my husband left at the crack of dawn to get the few remaining gifts and let me sleep. Later we went out for breakfast and dodged people at every stop. It’s nice to be done and home.

Traveling gives me an excuse to focus on my writing projects since my husband would rather drive.

I’m amazed how many people rush through the frenzy to get ready to spend only a day resting with their families before beginning a new rush with New Year’s Resolutions. Maybe we just don’t know how to relax.

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Honest Scrap Award

Honest Scrap Award
Honest Scrap Award

Wow. This award can make the rounds, but it’s about honesty in the telling. I’d hope everyone is all about telling it like it is, but the beauty of anonymity sometimes means people take advantage while others can express themselves better.

Part of the honor means sharing ten honest thing about myself, preferably interesting. Right, because the easy part about being honest is sharing the boring parts. The boring parts to one are sometimes the interesting parts to someone else.

So, the interesting facts:
1. Critters are cool. This includes spiders and snakes and all manner of creatures, fictional or not.
2. I found out what snow was when I was 8, and I’m still not happy about it.
3. I have a lot less trouble driving manual transmissions than automatics, which is one reason why my husband and I were thrilled to get our hands on a Cadillac with a stick shift.
4. One of my goals is to visit all 50 states before I turn 50. I’m currently 31 and have visited 37 – not to mention 5 foreign countries. I love to travel.
5. I’m learning to play guitar.
6. I practice yoga every day, and have for several years now.
7. My dream is to see my novels in bookstores and have people love my stories.
8. I realized recently that my protagonists had a nasty habit of all being closet artists, so I am broadening their horizons, and mine, by making them interested in other things.
9. My friends consider me something of an enigma, though I don’t understand why.
10. I’m expecting my first child on April Fool’s Day, 2009.

7 Blogs to Nominate:
Dawn Arkin (Can’t see her blog, but I know she has one.)
Crys Calderwood
Elysabeth Eldering
Jamie Eyeberg
Karina Fabian
Susan Smith Thompson

Part of the fun of this award is reading in other blogs what the winner thinks is interesting about herself. I had trouble coming up with the list, but a friend rattled off several ideas when I only had about two left.

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