Location, Location, Location

You've heard it time and again; it's all about location. But have you ever thought about how that plays into your writing? No, well perhaps it's time you did. It's no mistake that my first novel, The Secret Of Spruce Knoll, takes place in a tiny town in Colorado. I chose carefully based on the history of the area being colonized, and on the needs of my story and characters.

A truly good story uses setting as a sort of character. It becomes so much a part of the story that you feel as though you know the place, have been there, can feel it's weather, breath in its scents, and taste its native foods. If the location is well done in a novel, chances are you want to go back to it. This is the kind of experience we want to give our readers.

In To Ride A Puca, I worked hard to make the location of ancient Ireland take on a life of its own. From the damp mists that seem ever-present, to the towering trees (ancient Ireland remember) and rolling green fields, it is a place with a life of its own. A place I hope my readers will fall in love with as much as I did.

I can't help but think of location as I lounge upon the beach this week while on vacation in one of my favorite places on Earth. Oh yes, finally, I'm on vacation! I hope each of you get to take a vacation this year and use the experience to enrich your writing.

~Heather

Special Edition of Heather McCorkle's Secret of Spruce Knoll

I'm excited to be participating in my wonderful critique sister, Heather's, blog tour to announce her special edition of The Secret Of Spruce Knoll. It's being released from Compass Press this month! The special part, a percentage of the proceeds from every special edition sold (in every format) between its release date and 12-12-2012, will go toward Heather’s favorite charity that protects endangered species. Her goal is to make at least $10,000 for the charity.

Of course there are prizes during the tour which goes from December 1st though the 17th. Prizes include a symbolic endangered species adoption of the winner's choice (a $50 donation by Heather to the charity for the endangered species of the winner's choice, and a cute stuffed animal for the winner!), signed copies of her novels and great swag. For full details, and to enter, go here: http://heathermccorkle.blogspot.com

For the tour Heather has asked each blog host to pick their favorite endangered species and she will tell us a fun or interesting fact about that animal.  My choice: the adorable, incredible ring-tailed lemur. I've loved these little guys since my son was a toddler, and he had a stuffed toy of one. With that big-eyed look that conveys "What! Oh, no, you don't!", they look just like I feel sometimes!

Heather: Ring-tailed lemurs not only look totally cool, they're quite advanced as a society. They are social animals that live in groups of twenty five or so, have several distinct sounds that could be considered a type of language, and the females are dominant. See, advanced. ;)

Hey, I knew I loved lemurs for excellent reasons, and now it's clear what those are. Thanks so much for sharing your exciting news with us, Heather. What a fantastic way to contribute to a great cause. Best of luck getting to that $10,000 donation goal asap! We're all rooting for you.

You can purchase a copy of The Secret of Spruce Knoll here:
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Spruce-Knoll-Channeler-ebook/dp/B006BL0WR8http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1036661905

http://heathermccorkle.blogspot.com/

~ Linda

Reading Your Genre

What are the current bestselling novels in your genre? What are some of the all-time bestsellers in your genre? If you don't know the answers to these questions then chances are you're doing yourself a disservice by not reading your genre thoroughly enough. In this ever tightening market where publisher's lists are shrinking and competition is becoming fiercer, you need every advantage you can get. You don't have to write what sells, you can still write what's in your heart, but you must know what is selling. Knowledge is power.

When an agent or editor asks for comparables, you need to be able to give them accurate comps and the only way to do that is to be well read in your genre. If your answer is "it's completely original, there's nothing out there like it," chances are you may not be as well read as you should be. That answer is a red flag to agents and editors. Agent Ginger Clark recently tweeted something very similar to that statement. If your story is completely original (and it may be) that's great, but there are still comps out there. 

Maybe another author has a writing style that is reminiscent of yours, chances are it's someone you admire. I love lyrical novels with rich description and characters that I can clearly visualize, this is reflected in my own writing. Therefore my comps are novels that have a style which reflects those things. If you write in first person chances are your comps would be novels written in first person (though not always). If you write novels in multiple POV's, chances are your comps are novels that are written in multiple POV's. You can see where I'm going with this. There are always exceptions of course, but the idea is to know what's out there, know what you write, and support the industry you want to work in by reading.

On a personal side note, today is the last day to enter the Tour Of Secrets contest so if YA is your genre, stop by my blog to enter to win some great YA books or a gift certificate!

~Heather

Debut Author Heather McCorkle!!!

We are so honored and proud to be the first of many blogs who will help a fabulous debut author launch her blog tour and contest this month: our very own Heather McCorkle. Whoo Hoo!!!! I wanted balloons and champagne and, especially, noisemakers, but Heather is a dignified author, with an excellent plan. So here we go, into the Tour of Secrets for The Secret of Spruce Knoll. (We'll get to the noisemakers later, never fear.) First, a bit about the book:

Following the death of her parents, Eren Donovan moves to Spruce Knoll to live with her aunt. Little does Eren know the entire town of Spruce Knoll is filled with "channelers"—a magical group of people who immigrated to the small Colorado town when they were driven out of their own lands.


Channelers are tied to the fate of the world. As the world slowly dies, so do they—and they alone have the power to stop the destruction of Earth. Now, Eren learns she not only lives among them, but she is one. When she meets local boy Aiden, his charm convinces her that being a channeler may not be all bad.

Wow, Heather. I, of course, am one of the privileged few who've seen parts of this wonderful book. I love this story. And I understand that the tour encompasses a number of blogs, all of which will run the contest, with great prizes, that's outlined below. On each blog you will answer one question about one of your very own secrets! So, knowing how you loooove secrets, here's your question from CSC:  What is your secret obsession? 

HM: Oh, that's a fun one to start off the tour with! My secret obsession would have to be traveling. I LOVE it, almost as much as writing and reading. Something about going to new places and meeting new people is so exciting for me. I've been to several states in the US, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Canada, and Japan. Here's a picture of one of my favorite places in the world: Hawaii! I must admit, I love it there so much in part because it's where I first met the Critique Sisters.

Awww, shucks. I know I speak for Karlene as well as myself when I say, right back atcha. That was one great workshop. Nice picture of you, btw. But before we get too goopy, lets talk about the fabulous contest you're running in conjunction with your blog tour. Can you tell us about it?

HM: Absolutely. Here are the rules for the giveaway:

Heather's young adult urban fantasy, The Secret Of Spruce Knoll, is releasing this month! To celebrate its birthday she's doing a blog tour and contest followed by a live chat on YA Bound  August 30th with a separate giveaway. The blog tour and contest begins today and ends August 31st. Here's what you can win:

1st place: 

*$50 gift certificate to B&N (or the Book Depository if you're over seas). 

*Autographed copy of The Secret Of Spruce Knoll 

*Special swag bag

2nd place: 

*Swag bag filled with:

*Autographed copy of The Secret Of Spruce Knoll 

*Spoiled by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

*Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan 

*Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick 

*A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young 

3rd place: 

*Autographed copy of The Secret Of Spruce Knoll 

*Swag bag

You can earn extra points, but if you don’t want to, you don't have to. You can just be a follower of Heather's Odyssey and leave a comment saying you'd like to enter to win. But if you want extra points/entries here's how you can get them:

+1 for being a follower of Heather's Odyssey and commenting (+1 for each blog participating in the giveaway that you follow and comment on. Winners must follow Heather's Odyssey but aren't required to follow each blog participating, you just get more points if you do!).

+2 for adding The Secret Of Spruce Knoll to your To-Read shelf on Goodreads or Shelfari.
+3 for tweeting or posting on Facebook about the giveway.
+4 for Blogging about The Secret Of Spruce Knoll giveaway.
+5 for placing a link on the sidebar of your blog about the giveaway.

For the stops along the blog tour where you can earn extra entries click on Heather's News/Events page. Don't forget to list in your comment what (if anything) you are doing for extra points. You're welcome to come back at the end of the blog tour and leave your comment then if you'd like so you can hit all the stops and rack up the points.

This is amazing, Heather. Thank you so much for sharing your debut with us. May you get tons of participants in your wonderful contest and launch, and even more readers of The Secret of Spruce Knoll. They will be so happy they got the book. Wishing you the very best of luck. You deserve it!

~Linda

Winner of Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes

The time to announce the winner of Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes by Denise Grover Swank has arrived! First I want to say thank you to everyone who read about her novel, entered, and supported her. I'm thrilled to report that reviews are rolling in and they are absolutely glowing! 

But I won't keep you waiting any longer. The winner of a paperback copy of this fabulous book is: 

Ansley!

Congratulations to Ansley, an email has been sent. If you didn't win don't worry, next month the Critique Sisters Corner is taking part in my Tour Of Secrets and you'll have a chance to win one of three fantastic prizes, including my debut novel, The Secret Of Spruce Knoll. Until then, feel free to order yourself a copy of Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes, you won't be disappointed. To check out the Tour Of Secrets or even get in on it, click here. 

~Heather