Now I have a REAL book!

Looking for the Imagination Sparks Blogfest? My post is here, click to see how music can inspire your writing...

Just a quick update to let you know, my paperbacks arrived!

First the proof copy turned up. And I fell in love. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, and that's all thanks to bookcovercafe.com - fantastic team there. Even the spine has special details...

And now I have boxes and boxes of books, all ready to distribute!

The paperback is not yet available online, but it will be very very soon.

In the meantime, here's a sneak extract...

...  
‘Hey, Kitty-Cat.’
  Jessica Jones. We shared a maths and science class, but that’s all we had in common. Jessica always had swarms of friends around her, and her happy voice twittered along the school halls.
  Yass was a close-knit country town and I was still an outsider. I felt stumpy and plain next to the tall blond girl.
  ‘Oh, uh, hi,’ I mumbled. Why are you here?
  I kicked at the ground with my shiny black patent shoe. My toes hurt and I wished I could go barefoot.
  ‘Are you a junior handler too?’ Jessica furrowed her brow as if the idea was puzzling.
  My stomach sank. Jessica would be competing against me. I would be pathetic, and everyone at school would hear how hopeless I was.
  ‘Uh-huh,’ I said.
  ‘I haven’t seen you here before. I guess you’re new at showing. I’ve been handling dogs since I was seven.’ She grinned.
  ‘This is my first.’
  Spade pulled. Tug-tug. He wanted out of there too.
  ‘Last year I was regional junior handler,’ Jessica flicked back her curls and smoothed her hot-pink blazer. ‘This time I’m aiming for junior handler of the year, and I’ve got a good start already.’
She checked out my outfit, cringed and slowly shook her head.   
  ‘You’ve already missed the first three shows of the season. That’s going to put you behind.’
  ‘Your dog is pretty,’ I said. And she was. The Afghan hound’s golden fur shone almost as much as Jessica’s own perfectly formed curls.
  I reached up and shoved my stubborn, loose string of mousy brown hair behind my ear.
  ‘Oh, Sheeba’s not mine,’ said Jessica. ‘I just borrow her for the show. The owners trust me because I’m an experienced handler.’
  Sheeba gave me an aloof stare.
  My cheeks burned. ‘I have to walk Spade now.’
  Jessica furrowed her brow, this time at my dog.
  ‘You’re going to handle him? Oh well, never mind, the judges will be looking at you mostly, not the dog.’
  ‘Yeah, thanks.’ I strode away, Spade in tow.
...

Imagination Sparks Blogfest has begun!

I've popped my post up here, and am now visiting other sites, join in!

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We have WINNERS!

It's official, the competition for the Kindle Fire and Amazon Gift Card to celebrate the release of DOGNAPPED? A Dog Show Detective Mystery, is over! We had almost 100 entries, and Rafflecopter has generated our first place and second place winner. And now, for the....

The prize is the current model.
I have no idea if this photo is the same one or an older one, but you get the idea.

And the winner is...

And there was a runner up prize of:

And the winner for the gift card is...

How exciting! Stephanie, I'll send you an email today to get a postal address for your awesome prize (if you don't have a US postal address, the prize is a Kindle Paperwhite because Amazon will not post Fires outside the US - as per my earlier post 

http://clancytales.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/competition-to-win-kindle-fire-still.html)

And Sally, I'll email you your Amazon credit very very soon!

*I'm in the library today, and sometimes my email use is dodgy, so I might end up sending them tomorrow from home.

CONGRATULATIONS!

AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO DOWNLOADED DOGNAPPED?!

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Competition to win a Kindle Fire still running, plus Dognapped? is FREE today!

Dognapped? is free on Amazon today (free promo finishes 25th July)

I received an email from a reader who had trouble accessing the entry form below. If you have ANY problems entering, please feel free to email me with your name, postal address (in case you win) and your order number from Amazon. I'm happy to add you to the entry list myself.

As I write this post, Dognapped? is currently #1 in both its categories and #495 in the Free Kindle Store. This is a great response, a big thanks to everyone who posted, tweeted and blogged about this competition!

If you've only just found out about the competition, here's the info:

I'll be giving away a Kindle Fire! (Kindle Paperwhite if winner resides outside the US - Amazon won't ship the Fire to non-US countries). That's not all, one lucky runner-up will receive a $25 Amazon gift voucher! (Competition closes 7th July), there are two ways to enter:

1. Purchase your copy of Dognapped?, then fill in the entry form below. You'll be asked for your receipt number from Amazon (it will be on the receipt Amazon email you - keep a copy of your receipt as proof of purchase if you win). Dognapped? will be FREE June 23rd to 25th, and yes you can still enter if you downloaded your copy FREE! 

or

2. Blog about this competition or about Dognapped? (you can review, talk about or interview) then fill in the entry form below. You will be asked for your blog post link in the entry form. 

*If you'd like to review the book, but miss the free Kindle promotion, I'll be happy to send you a free review copy in mobi or epub file, simply email: charmaineclancy@gmail.com. 

If you blog and purchase the book, then yes, you get two entries.

Too easy! This competition runs from now until 7 July 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A lost dog

A stolen dog

A mysterious will

It all equals murder!

Meet twelve-year-old Kitty, friendless bookworm and amateur sleuth. All Kitty wants is to gain her mother’s attention, spend time with her miniature schnauzer Spade, and avoid Miss Perfect, Jessica Jones. 

Kitty’s world turns upside down when she finds a lost dog, and she needs Jessica’s help to find the owner, hunt down a dognapper, and solve a murder.

Introducing Kitty Walker and her mischievous dog Spade in the first Dog Show Detective Mystery.

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Supanova!

Big weekend for me! I'm heading down to the Gold Coast for the annual Supanova Pop Culture Expo. 

This is an amazing event where lots of people come dressed as their favourite characters from pop culture tv, books, games and film. The first time I went, I never even knew what one of these was:

But since then I've become a huge fan and what I want to see most this year is:

I'm also going to have my own stand! I'll be selling and signing copies of:

The kids love to dress up:

I won't, but maybe I'll just wear a cool hat:

My next big event? In May I release Dognapped?

Help me celebrate the release of Dognapped?

I'll be releasing Dognapped? in May and I'd love and appreciate your help! Dognapped? is a mystery novel for girls aged 9-12yrs. If you'd like to join the blog tour, sign up below. I'll email you closer to the release date to provide you with a fully-formatted post you can simply add to your blog to save you time and effort (or feel free to write your own, send me interview questions or provide a topic you'd like me to write about for your blog).

Will there be prizes? YES! I'm thinking... Kindle Fire and Amazon gift cards.

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7 Tips for Choosing Your Book Cover Art

Cover reveal! Dognapped?, the first book in the Dog Show Detective Mystery series is almost ready for release! Can you tell I'm excited? If you'd like to be involved in the Dognapped? blog tour, check for details at the bottom of this post.

Cover design is an essential elements for your novel if you want a professional product. And you do want a professional product. The first impression readers will have of your novel is your cover. Make sure it entices!

Here are my tips for choosing the perfect image:

1. Represent your genre. Research to see what styles are trending in your genre. E.g. Romance readers like a couple embracing or often a hunky fellow with his shirt off. But if you write romantic comedy, you might show a couple back to back instead (to emphasise the conflicts rather than the romance scenes).
2. Professional images. There are so many sites such as Shutterstock, where you can purchase a licence to us professional images. Many will need very little manipulating to turn into a brilliant cover. If you are illustrating your cover, keep in mind composition. Make sure the artwork covers the entire space, it looks terrible when it doesn't quite reach the edges.
3. Don't over-clutter. I see a lot of covers where the author has tried to include every element of the story, setting and characters on the cover. It just gets busy. Less is more. A simple symbol (like a crow or tombstone for horror  stories) is more effective than a crowded cover.
4. Go with the trends. For YA novels, the grunge look is huge with the faded or blackened edges. Almost all genres are embracing the vintage look too now, with a silkscreened or cut-out look that you would expect from the 1950s.
5. Experiment. If you're releasing an e-book and you can't narrow down your choices, upload one for a while and then change. See which one sells better.
6. Trust the experts. I always have a clear idea of what I want on my cover, and then my graphic designer (www.bookcovercafe.com) shows me something better. Don't be stubborn, be open to ideas and suggestions.
7. The reader's choice is more important than yours. My books are mostly for kids 10-13, so even if I love, love, love a cover design, I have to listen when a whole bunch if kids tell me they don't like it.

Want to know more about cover design? Here's some more links:

DIY Book Covers - an overview of everything you need to know.

How to Font Your Cover - Font, it's more important than you think!

Help me celebrate the release of Dognapped?

I'll be releasing Dognapped? in May and I'd love and appreciate your help! Dognapped? is a mystery novel for girls aged 9-12yrs. If you'd like to join the blog tour, sign up below. I'll email you closer to the release date to provide you with a fully-formatted post you can simply add to your blog to save you time and effort (or feel free to write your own, send me interview questions or provide a topic you'd like me to write about for your blog).

Will there be prizes? YES! I'm thinking... Kindle Fire and Amazon gift cards.

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Writing Blurbs

Kitty's little dog Spade, sometimes known as 'No-Spade-No!'

Dognapped? A Dog Show Detective Mystery is almost ready for release. As the cover is getting put together by the team at Book Cover Cafe, I'm writing the blurb. Hey, it's just a short description for the back of the book, how hard can it be? 

Um, yeah. How to summarise the story without making it sound dull or too complicated? 

There are no rules, but, I try to include: Character (this is the most important part for me), premise or plot, setting, conflict and a hint at the theme or message of the story (although I don't think it needs to be stated). Then I try to find a creative way to portray this, so it doesn't read like a list.

So how do you start? I cheat. Yep, I do. I grabbed about twenty novels in the same genre (girls' mystery novel) then rewrote their blurb out with my story's information. 

Here's an example changing Trixie Beldon's story to suit mine:

Kitty can't believe she's stuck in this sleepy little town with nothing to do and no friends. Then she enters her miniature schnauzer Spade into the local dog show, and things start to liven up. A lost dog is found, and another stolen, a secret inheritance is revealed and Kitty teams up with an unlikely sleuthing partner. Could all this lead to murder? Maybe living in the country won't be so boring after all!

I didn't stop there. I rewrote at least ten more. By the time I finished this exercise I knew which things were important for me to include, and what could be left out. If the blurb is too long, the reader will lose interest. Then I took the parts I loved, tweaked and merged them and came up with this:

One dog found

One dog stolen

A mysterious will

All this equals murder!

Introducing Kitty Walker and her mischievous dog Spade in the first Dog Show Detective Mystery: 

Twelve-year-old Kitty, friendless bookworm and amateur sleuth. All she wants is to gain her mother's attention, spend time with Spade and avoid Miss Perfect, Jessica Jones. But now she needs Jessica's help to find the owner of a lost dog, hunt down a dognapper and solve a murder!

Can you solve the mystery before Kitty?

And look, I managed to get a list in! What do you think, does it work? Do you like writing blurbs? Any tips on blurb-writing?

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Writers have a lot of balls

Wait, what did you think I meant?

With the popularity of authors breaking out on their own and publishing their own works, the role of author is expanding. I know many authors who are also their own publishers, editors, marketers, promotors, sales coordinator and graphic artist. Phew! It's a lot of work, for sometimes very little return. 

Through my small press publishing house, Hot Doggy Digital Press, I produce my own books and ebooks, but I definitely am not a one-woman show. I rely on lots of beta-readers (including avid readers, writers and my target market which is usually kids), employ professional editors, work with graphic artists and book designers and enlist various marketing programs. This costs money, but produces much more professional results than I could ever achieve alone.

Right now I'm sending out the final draft of Dognapped? A Dog Show Detective Novel to beta-readers. I'm also playing with cover designs. I like to do mock-ups, so when I talk to my book designer I have a clear idea of what I'm after. While this is going on I'm beginning edits on Undead Kev, writing short stories for submission, designing writing workshops for kids, attending my writer's group and undertaking masterclasses for editing. Soon I'll be designing and ordering promotional material for Dognapped (bookmarks, postcards, magnets, etc) and planning a book launch.

It's not easy juggling all those writer's balls (you thought I was going in a different direction with that post title, didn't you?). To be honest I find it easier to label all my balls, but only toss one in the air at a time. How are you going with time-managment and multi-tasking? Got a lot of balls?

Here's some of the very rough drafts of cover ideas for Dognapped? Feel free to be opinionated!

 

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D is for Detectives

My last post was on chaos and that might be appropriate, because today is detectives and the good ones have this uncanny ability of being able to tune out the chaos, the static noise and busyness to focus on a single point, a clue.

I love detective stories and most of my novels have a mystery to solve involving clues. At the moment I'm editing the first book in the Dog Show Detective series called DOGNAPPED? In this mystery series, 12 yr old Kitty, with the help of her mischievous mini schnauzer called Spade, solves the mysteries that come her way. You'd be surprised how many times a young girl can be involved in a murder mystery (especially in small country towns, happens all the time). Here's my favourite detectives, which ones are yours?

1. Dexter. Dark, disturbing, deadly Dexter. I'm enjoying the books and love the tv series (they're quite different except for the premise and characters). Dexter is a serial killer, but he's a good guy, he has a code - only kill people who are... serial killers.
2. Columbo. I just loved this show. He was so clumsy, ragged and had no social skills. But boy, his 'one last thing' was always a showstopper.
3. Miss Marple. Old and frail, but incredibly quick witted.
4. House. The Sherlock Holmes of today, with Wilson as his Watson. House is not a people person. He is selfish and rude. No mysterious illness can stump him.
5. Harry Dresden. I have the audiobooks for The Dresden Files, Sam Spade style detective, only, more of a coward and he's also a wizard with a few enemies.
6. Christopher Boone. Christopher is a 15yr old boy who decides to solve the mystery of the death of the neighbors dog. He is a mathematical wiz and able to analyze all the clues, he's also autistic.
7. Castle. Alright, I just think he's yummy.
8. Trixie Beldon. Childhood favourite. Trixie is a teen tomboy who solves lots of mysteries with her best friends and brothers. For some reason I could never warm to Nancy Drew.

Click here to visit the source for this pic

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Ready, Set... What was I saying?

NaNoWriMo has begun! Actually it began on the 1st of November, but I was having issues deciding which story to begin. After running through all the possibilities, I decided to go with my original idea of book 2 in the Dog Show Detective series.

Kitty Walker continues to chase those elusive show ribbons with her best friend, Miniature Schnauzer, 'Spade'. Unfortunately, Spade happens to be the worst show dog ever. While Kitty tries to mend Spade's naughty ways through obedience school, she stumbles upon another mystery. Someone is breaking into the cars of the obedience school members while they are busy on the field. Things escalate to house break ins. It starts to become obvious that one of the obedience school members are responsible for these thefts. But who? 

Surely not Kitty's mother? 

Mrs Walker tries to prove her own innocence, after all, Kitty is banned from solving mysteries after she put her life at risk when got involved in the last mystery. Sadly Mrs Walker is as bad at detecting as Spade is at dog showing. Ultimately, Mrs Walker will need Kitty's help, especially since the crimes have escalated from theft to murder.

Day two, I've managed 1632 words. Opening with a show, Spade nicks a scarf off the judge and makes her chase him around the ring until he gets bored. Now Spade has been sentenced to dog obedience school or his showing future is over.

Schroeder, my less naughty, more sooky Miniature Schnauzer

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D is for Dog Show Detective

As I have many new visitors, I thought I'd introduce you to my first finished novel: Dog Show Detective.

12yr old Kitty Walker decides to enter her Miniature Schnauzer, Spade, into a dog show to impress her mum. Kitty expected it to be difficult, Spade is not the best behaved dog, and she expected it to be embarrassing, Jessica Jones is sure to win, but she didn't expect it to be dangerous.

At the show, Kitty finds a lost dog, but, when she returns it, the owner insists it's the wrong dog. Only Kitty believes the owner and sets out to uncover the mystery of the missing dog. There are clues along the way, but why is someone trying to dognap the little terrier she found? And would someone really be desperate enough to kill to keep the identity of the little dog hidden?

While writing Dog Show Detective, I learned the importance of conflict, pace and most of all, allowing your first draft to suck. I had so carefully planned out the crime, clues and culprit, it was about halfway through I realised I only had one suspect (not much of a mystery'). I learned not to break my pace and go back to rewrite, but to continue as though the beginning was exactly as I wanted it. I add some great suspects, all so appropriate that towards the end of the book I surprised myself and found out it was actually not the person I suspect who'd actually 'done it'. This taught me that although planning helps, you have to leave some room for impromptu changes.

I was terrified about editing, until I took on Holly Lisle's course, How to Revise Your Novel.

I learned how to take criticism from my beta readers and the wonderful readers at http://www.critiquecircle.com/. I learned to edit again. And again.

Now I'm learning to be brave. I've sent my first 1,000 words into a writer's competition and I'm about send out queries to publishers. I wondered at times if I would ever get to this point, but I'm glad for every hurdle I've come across. This has been the best education I've ever received.

I won't stop while the queries go out. I'm doing up my first round of edits on The Costume Maker (a YA fantasy), and during the school holidays, I'll write up my first draft to My Zombie Dog.

So, the only advice I can offer up today, is keep going. It seems like a long road but you will get there.

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The Perfect Critique Reader

Matilda reading Dog Show Detective on her iPad

There's a lot of advice online on how to find a critique partner. Here are the best tips I found.

1. Know what you want from your critique - do you want advice on how to fix the plot problems or do you just want to know if the story is paced well?  Pick the sort of person to suite the job, are they literary or just great spellers?
2. How much effort do you want to make? Are you happy to swap manuscripts and have another writer critique your work while you critique theirs? If you think you just don't have the time for that, then you might want to find a keen reader who is happy to critique your work for a free read, or pay a professional to critique your work. You can check out sites like Novel Doctor, The Manuscript Appraisal Company, or,
3. Jessica Andersen in a guest post on The Knight Agency suggests you find a writer with strengths that differ from yours. I'm not strong on dialogue, so I'd  look for someone who writes great dialogue to pick up on my weak spots.
4. You can find a critique partner at your local writer's group, or by joining your state writer's organisation and checking their website for notices. Or you could even advertise for a critique partner online through your blog, facebook or twitter.
5. Put up a notice at your local library looking for readers of your genre, that's were readers gather!
6. Writing childrens books? Then let kids critique your work. My middle grade novel is being read by my kids and their friends who are submitting notes on the experience. Matilda, my youngest, is one of my most astute readers, she has no problem at all telling me when the story gets slow.

Emily reading my book on her Kindle

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New Year Resolution - Finish Novels!

Happy 2010!

Blogging got forgotten during the holidays for me, I had a great time with my father visiting our little country home and even building an outdoor bar area for us, I think it'll be my favourite place to write!

Editing also got conveniently pushed aside over the last few weeks, but on the 2nd of January I sat back down at the computer, determined to finalise the last chapter of Dog Show Detective (the story of 11yr old Kitty who takes her Miniature Schnauzer to dog shows and solves mysteries). 

I've been stuck on this chapter for a bit, so, I had a crazy old guy pull out a gun and shoot a character, that got things moving! I then had my MC faint and wake up inside a caged and padlocked pen. How was I supposed to get her out of there?

The idea of the gun wielding lunatic is an old trick of adding  surprise to a narrative. In Revision & Self-Editing (James Scott Bell), surprising behaviour is a key way to liven a story that drags. Bell quotes Raymond Chandler as saying when things get boring, "Bring in a guy with a gun" (I sure did).

My puzzle now is how to get the Lead character out of the cage where she's trapped with her friend and a badly wounded boy. Bell has also helped me out with this predicament, he suggests the Lead character needs to show inner courage, experience conflict and act with honour. This great instructional book tells the self-editor to write a list of at least ten things that the Lead character could do, what would be unexpected?

So I wrote, keeping in mind all of the above suggestions, this is what I came up with:

When the old man returns with his gun, so does the wounded boy's dog. Just as the man raises his gun, the dog leaps and knocks him down, the bad guy hits his head and is unconscious. Kitty eventually gets the keys and opens their prison, they want to run, but Kitty won't be able to leave the boy bleeding with a bullet wound. Here is Kitty's conflict, she's only eleven, she wants to get to safety, but instead sends her friend for help and picks up the crazy man's gun, in case he wakes. Kitty chooses bravery and honour.

Bell also suggests if you come up with some outrageous solutions, it may be a good idea to use the 'Pull-Back Technique', basically you invent an over-the-top solution and then tone it down by about 25%. For example, I thought I would have the bad guy wake up and Kitty would have to shoot him. That's too extreme for a kids' book, so instead, I'll have Kitty think about what she has to do, get scared and decide that she can't kill a person. Kitty will lower the gun, and shoot his foot. That should be enough to keep them safe until help comes - extreme, minus 25%.

Revision & Self-Editing is proving to be a valuable tool for my first experience at editing a novel, I definitely recommend you check it out.

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