Sunday, November 13, 2011

Guest Post: Nansi Kunze

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As part of the Dangerously Placed blog tour, Nansi Kunze has honored us with her digital presence here at Inklings Read! It is wonderful to have such a talented author stop by and give us some insight into her development as an author as well as some advice for aspiring authors.

Nansi’s Thoughts on becoming an author

I wasn’t one of those kids who dreams of becoming a writer one day. As a teenager, I didn’t really give my career plans much thought – to be honest, I mostly just thought about boys. But I was good at foreign languages, so I decided to become a language teacher. It was only after teaching for a couple of years that the idea of being a writer began to entice me. Once I’d started writing, though, I quickly became addicted to it. Creating my own worlds, making characters do – and be – anything I wanted: what a rush! I soon learned, however, that writing a novel and becoming a published author are two entirely different things. Of course, you can get the writing rush without anyone ever reading your work; writing purely for your own enjoyment is cool too. But if you really want to be a published author, here are some things you might want to bear in mind:

Only a complete idiot would become a novelist for the money! Most novelists only earn a few thousand dollars a year. So you’ll probably need a steady day-job to support your writing habit (I recommend plumbing – it seems to have worked well for Mario).

It usually takes years to become a published author. Just like any other profession, you have to train and practice for a long time to become any good at it. I started writing my first novel in 2000. My first published novel hit the shelves in 2008 – and many writers have to wait longer than that!

Writing a novel means spending months shut up alone with your computer. And then more months fixing up what you wrote the first time. And then more months fixing up what you wrote the second time. And then … well, you get the idea.

So, are you still interested? Then here’s my advice:

Aspiring authors are often told to ‘write what you know’. Possibly more important, though, is writing what you like. I started out trying to write for adults, and it just didn’t work, because that wasn’t really what I liked. I liked reading YA, playing video games and watching the TV shows my high school students watched … so when I began to write YA instead, it felt so much more me. Don’t limit yourself to one genre when you start writing – try a few out, and see which ones fit you.

Successful writers have to walk a fine line between overconfidence and self-doubt. If you want to be an author you have to believe in your ability and the value of what you’re writing in order to keep working at it. But you also have to accept that what you write won’t be perfect. The first novel manuscript I wrote was awful – most first novels are, though I didn’t know that at the time. It took me over a year to write, and it really hurt to hear that it wasn’t all that great! But, looking back, my readers were right. Find yourself some readers who know good writing, and whose opinion and objectivity you can trust. Only let them read your work when you’re ready to hear what they really think. If it’s bad news, go wallow in self-pity (preferably with ice cream) for a few days, and maybe start a new writing project. By the time you’re ready to take a look at your work again, you may well find that your readers’ assessment is useful to you.

Setting goals can be helpful when writing – after all, if you never finish a manuscript, you’re never going to get it published! But goals need to be flexible, too. You’ll need to do several drafts, you may get stuck at some point, and you might need time away from the manuscript – possibly months – before you can see it clearly enough to improve it. (You could also consider sending it to a professional manuscript assessment agency for another viewpoint.)

And finally, remember that you’re writing for the love of it. If you’re finding a chapter less than fun to write, chances are it’s going to be boring to read too – think about changing or removing it. If you’re finding your whole project isn’t enjoyable, put it away and start something else. Don’t despair if that happens. Being an author is totally worth the huge amount of time and effort it takes, because you get to do what you love and share your worlds with thousands of other people. Hearing that your first novel sucks? Yeah, that’s painful. But hearing that a reader you’ve never met loves your latest book? That’s priceless.


Would you like to learn more about Nansi and her projects? Check out these links for more information:


Thursday, November 10, 2011

Review: Dangerously Placed

Dangerously Placed by Nansi Kunze
Publisher: Random House Australia
Format: Paperback
Pages: 274
Source: NetGalley
Amazon | Goodreads
★★★☆☆

A fantastic romantic sci-fi thriller for teens featuring virtual reality, simulated environments, and just the right mix of mystery and first love

He lay on the ground, his eyes open but unseeing, his pinstriped body blinking in and out of existence like the picture on a fault television.

Alex Thaler can't wait to start her dream work experience placement at Virk, where staff from all over the world mingle in an astonishing virtual office. But when an employee is found murdered, the dream becomes a nightmare—because Alex is the prime suspect. Fortunately, Alex's friends are willing to brave shark tanks, disgusting pathology specimens, and even a nude beach in order to clear her name. Can a hippie chick, a goth girl in a lab coat, and two guys with a taste for  blowing things up really help solve the mystery before Alex becomes the next victim?

Dangerously Placed was quite a thrill ride. I was blown away by how developed and realistic Nansi’s virtual reality technologies were! They were extremely well thought out. So much that I could definitely see us using similar technologies in the future. I also enjoyed how the book was physically broken up: Each chapter takes place over one day. This made it easy to keep track of how time progressed. Sometimes, for me, it is easy to lose track of how much time has passed in novels. Unfortunately, I did find Dangerously Placed lacking in character development initially… BUT by the end the flatness I felt at first was gone and I had a chance to see the intricacies of the secondary characters.

Though this was an interesting, developed story, it did not grab me like the many sci-fi books I have read before. Perhaps the timing was off, but I just wasn’t “feeling it.” I do however feel that this book definitely has a place in the YA sci-fi genre!

Dangerously Placed finished as a strong sci-fi adventure! At 274 pages, this qualifies as a quick read. I definitely recommend this to fans of the sci-fi and adventure genres. I’m very curious to see what Nansi has in store for us next!


I’m the last stop on the Dangerously Placed blog tour!! Cheers to an good book and some awesome bloggers. Thank you to NetGalley, Nansi Kunze, and Shara Zaval for allowing me to be part of this tour!
 
Don’t forget to enter my giveaway of Dangerously Placed HERE and watch out for a guest post by Nansi this Sunday!

 
Goodreads | Amazon | Author Site

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Giveaway: Dangerously Placed

Hi Inklings!

As part of the Dangerously Placed blog tour I will be giving away one paperback copy of the book! Stay tuned for my review and a guest post from Nansi on November 13th! For more info see below:


Dangerously Placed by nansi kunze

Goodreads | Author | Amazon

A fantastic romantic sci-fi thriller for teens featuring virtual reality, simulated environments, and just the right mix of mystery and first love

He lay on the ground, his eyes open but unseeing, his pinstriped body blinking in and out of existence like the picture on a fault television.
Alex Thaler can't wait to start her dream work experience placement at Virk, where staff from all over the world mingle in an astonishing virtual office. But when an employee is found murdered, the dream becomes a nightmare—because Alex is the prime suspect.

Fortunately, Alex's friends are willing to brave shark tanks, disgusting pathology specimens, and even a nude beach in order to clear her name. Can a hippie chick, a goth girl in a lab coat, and two guys with a taste for  blowing things up really help solve the mystery before Alex becomes the next victim?

tour schedule

Nov 7 (Monday) Jex at Everything and Nothing
Nov 8 (Tuesday) Lyndsey at Strangemore
Nov 9 (Wednesday) Kellie at Reawrite
Nov 10 (Thursday) Bonnie at A Backwards Story
Nov 11 (Friday) Pica at Pica Reads
Nov 12 (Saturday) Lacey at Owl Love You Books
Nov 13 (Sunday) Sarah at Inklings Read

giveaway

Please click "read more" to enter using the rafflecopter form!

Review: Geek Girl

Geek Girl CoverGeek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett
Publisher: Cedar Fort Publishing
Release Date: December 8th, 2011 
Format: Kindle Ebook 
Source: NetGalley  
Amazon | Goodreads
★★★☆☆ (3.5 stars)
"Think I can turn that boy bad?" 17-year-old Jen turns her life upside down when, out of boredom, she makes a bet that she can turn school geek Trevor into someone like her. Instead, the goth girl finds herself sucked into his world of sci-fi movies, charity work, and even-ugh!-bowling. To truly belong with him-and with her new foster family-she must first come to terms with her violent past.
First off, Geek Girl is one to own simply for it’s stunning cover!! The original cover was ok…. but this immediately made me want to grab it from NetGalley. If you weren't sold on the cover, let me tell you there is quite a good story found within it. I was so happy to finally see a NICE guy as the love interest. I’m getting so tired of the YA genre with all of the love interests who are just plain assholes.  

Geek Girl was a refreshing change for me. Not only is there a nice love interest, but there is also a completely refreshing main character! Jen is nothing like the usual insecure, boring, dependent,  YA females. Not that I mind those types… I not only found her story intriguing, but her character was extremely complex. I’m a sucker for complex characters… I love that Cindy was able to make me hate Jen for playing with Trevor’s emotions in the beginning, but then have my mind completely changed by the very end. I really enjoyed watching Jen discover that Trevor wasn't exactly what she thought he would be like. Definitely a book with a "Don't judge a book by it's cover" theme.

For me, there were definitely some issues with pacing, but overall this was a very enjoyable read! Geek Girl would be great for readers looking for a light, quick read that they can finish in one sitting (at least I did). It will leave you smiling and laughing throughout! Though this book may have its flaws, there is a wonderful story to be found here and it is most definitely worth checking out!


This review is featured as part of the Geek Girl Blog Tour


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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

In My Mailbox (14) Tuesday Edition?

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. This is where you will find the most recent books I have received for review, purchased, etc. Enjoy and start participating if you are not already!

Sorry I’m a bit late this week guys. I had a SUPER busy weekend…

Print Books

Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward
Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward 
The Vampire Diaries, Vol. 1 by L.J. Smith
The Return: Nightfall (The Vampire Diaries) by L.J. Smith

Here’s the Kindle cover I mentioned in the video: CE Compass Cover for Kindle 3 (Black)

Kindle ebookS

tempus
Tempus by Tyra Lynn – THANK YOU YA SISTERHOOD!