Parcel in the Post & Blogfest Wrap-Up

Thank you SOOOOO much to everyone who entered the Tension Blogfest. Now that all the entries are in I'm off to read them :-) And I'd better do that NOW because once I dive into the two new books I just received I likely won't be seen for a while!

Everyone's been writing great reviews about DIVERGENT so I'm super-excited to read that.

And Lauren Beukes (a South African like me!) won the 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award for her Urban Fantasy ZOO CITY, and around about the same time Joey HiFi received a Best Artwork award for the black and white illustration you can see there on the UK cover of ZOO CITY. So I had to get this book to support another South African author and I had to get the one with the UK cover (I mean look at it - it is so awesome! Click here to see it in more detail)

The Power of Tension Blogfest

We all know that in fiction, tension is vital. Tension ramps up the emotional stakes for your characters and keeps readers burning through the pages to find out whether that tension is resolved. Tension comes in many forms – it could be animosity between family members built up over many years, sexual tension between strangers, or jealousy between work colleagues as they vie for a lucrative promotion.

SO... 
*finger-drumroll on desk* 
*finger-cymbal-crash on mouse*
The Power of Tension Blogfest has arrived!

What do I do?

Give us an excerpt (up to 300 words) from your manuscript or recently completed work (or just a random scene) that just drips with tension and will tie us up in knots wanting to know more. It doesn’t matter what the piece is about, as long as it screams tension.

What are the prizes?

• 1^st prize: $15 Amazon voucher + interview on Cally Jackson Writes and Rachel Morgan Writes OR 1^st chapter beta read by Cally and Rachel
• 2^nd prize: $10 Amazon voucher + interview on Cally Jackson Writes and Rachel Morgan Writes OR 1^st chapter beta read by Cally and Rachel
• 3^rd prize: $5 Amazon voucher

Prizes? I’m in! What are the rules?

• The blogfest runs from TODAY Monday 23 May to Friday 27 May.
• Post your entry on your blog and then add a direct link to your post to the linky tool at either Cally Jackson Writes or Rachel Morgan Writes before 11.59pm Friday 27 May.
• Come back on Thursday 2 June to see the six finalists (chosen by us), and then again on Monday 6 June to see the winners!
• All genres and forms of tension are welcome, but if your entry includes anything graphic, please include a warning at the beginning of your post!

Anything else I should do? 

Glad you asked. These aren’t mandatory, but they’d definitely be appreciated :-)

• Include our badge in your sidebar during the duration of the blogfest (download the image above)
• Post and/or tweet about the challenge in the weeks leading up to spread the word.
• Throughout the challenge week, check out as many other entries as you can and give the entrants some comment love!

Can’t wait to read all of your entries!
The linky list is below :-)

PLEASE LINK DIRECTLY TO YOUR POST AND NOT JUST TO YOUR BLOG HOMEPAGE.

Flash Fiction: An Explosive Drabble

I found this image here.

Gregor stepped out from the shadow of the warehouse and strode towards the woman. She lay on the ground, limp like a ragdoll, blood pooling in the dirt around her head. Gregor settled on his haunches beside her, his dust-coated boots grinding against the loose gravel.

“You lose, Maria. Everything you worked so hard for is now mine.”

“Come... closer,” she whispered.

He leaned in, not caring what she had to say, only wishing to watch her die. Her hand fell open at her side, revealing a black, rectangular device with a single button.

"You lose."

She pressed the button.

PS. In case you're wondering, a drabble is a short piece of writing exactly 100 words in length. Hope you liked it!

PPS. Don't forget the Power of Tension Blogfest I'm hosting next week with Cally Jackson!

Book Review: Forbidden, by Tabitha Suzuma

Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.

(Summary from Goodreads)

Wow. Just wow.

I haven't read a book in a while where I've FELT SO MUCH for the characters. It's been several days since I finished it and I still feel a kind of heartbreak each time I think of Lochan and Maya.

I wasn't sure what to think about the incest thing. Sure, in the beginning I was kind of disgusted by it--a reaction that we've all been brought up to have. But as I followed the characters' lives my feelings began to mirror theirs. They were shocked at first--as was I. But they got over that--and so did I. Why shouldn't they love each other? They never felt like brother and sister, and the way they interact and depend upon one another is not the same as the interactions I've had with my own siblings. How cruelly unfair that the one person you find yourself loving more than anyone or anything else is the one person you can't have--simply because you share the same (awful, in this case) parents.

The writing is beatiful, the imagery unique. I found myself wanting to stop and take notes, and yet I was so captivated I had to keep reading!

I won't soon forget this story.

The Absurdity of the English Language

Phoney Phonetics

One reason why I cannot spell,
Although I learned the rules quite well
Is that some words like coup and through
Sound just like threw and flue and Who;
When oo is never spelled the same,
The duice becomes a guessing game;
And then I ponder over though,
Is it spelled so, or throw, or beau,
And bough is never bow, it's bow,
I mean the bow that sounds like plow,
And not the bow that sounds like row -
The row that is pronounced like roe.
I wonder, too, why rough and tough,
That sound the same as gruff and muff,
Are spelled like bough and though, for they
Are both pronounced a different way.
And why can't I spell trough and cough
The same as I do scoff and golf?
Why isn't drought spelled just like route,
or doubt or pout or sauerkraut?
When words all sound so much the same
To change the spelling seems a shame.
There is no sense - see sound like cents -
in making such a difference
Between the sight and sound of words;
Each spelling rule that undergirds
The way a word should look will fail
And often prove to no avail
Because exceptions will negate
The truth of what the rule may state;
So though I try, I still despair
And moan and mutter "It's not fair
That I'm held up to ridicule
And made to look like such a fool
When it's the spelling that's at fault.
Let's call this nonsense to a halt."

Attributed to Vivian Buchan, NEA Journal 1966/67, USA,
published in Spelling Progress Bulletin Spring 1966 pdf, p6, Reprinted from Educational Horizons.

Found at The Spelling Society

Win an Elana Johnson-doodled copy of POSSESSION!

Been trying to find something worth blogging about today and here it is!
In addition to this book you can also win an autographed bookmark and a $10 iTunes giftcard. How generous is Nichole of Random-ish??

Head over to her blog to find out more about this awesome giveaway :-)

This Night

I just have to share my new favourite song. The one that keeps swirling around my head, perfectly inspiring images and scenes of my latest work in progress. Love it when a song does that :-)

There are things I have done

There's a place I have gone

There's a beast and I let it run

Now it's running my way

There are things I regret

That you can't forgive you can't forget

There's a gift that you sent

You sent it my way

So take this night

And wrap it around me like a sheet

I know I'm not forgiven

But I need a place to sleep

So take this night

And lay me down on the street

I know I'm not forgiven but I hope

That I'll be given some peace

There's a game that I played

There are rules I had to break

There's mistakes that I made

But I made them my way

So take this night

And wrap it around me like a sheet

I know I'm not forgiven

But I need a place to sleep

So take this night

And lay me down on the street

I know I'm not forgiven but I hope

That I'll be given some peace

Some peace, some peace

A Game of Tag

I have been tagged by fellow SA writer/blogger Misha from My First Book to answer the following questions:


If you could go back in time and relive a moment, what would it be?
That exact moment when I opened the newspaper on the day my Matric results came out and FINALLY discovered what I'd got... And it wasn't just the results themselves, but the entire terrifying world of possibility that lay before me at that point.

If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?
I'd go back to my first year at Cape Town University and HAVE MORE FUN! (I was so darned responsible and boring!)

What movie/TV character do you most resemble in personality?
Ok, this isn't a movie/TV show, it's a book. The reason being because the whole way through reading it I was thinking THIS IS ME! The character was a neat freak, complete germ-o-phobe, scared of getting into trouble for missing classes, and quite happy to stay home and read a book instead of going out and partying. ANNA from Stephanie Perkins' ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS.

If you could push one person off a cliff and get away with it, who would it be?
Go see Misha's answer. We live in the same country with the same unfortunate politicians, and I feel the same way she does about this bloody agent (<--- if you've seen the interview you'll know who I'm talking about!) guy.

Name one habit that you want to change in yourself?
Biting my lip.

Describe yourself in one word.
Busy
(All the time!)

Describe the person who named you in this meme in one word.
Helpful
(She's doing a blog series (here and here) on tips to improve your and your audience's blogging experience)

Why do you blog? Answer in one sentence.
To amass adoring fans To chat with other readers and writers about stories, writing, publishing, rubbish and basically all things book-related.

Name at least three people to send this meme to, and inform them.
These are all people I've met recently:
Carla
Luana
Sammy



AND AND AND!! Don't go yet!

Sarah is hosting a blog hop (and competition!) to build links between and get to know other awesome writers :-)
(And I'm on her 20 Awesome People list! Eeeeee!)

Treasure Hunt Winner!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the X Marks the Spot Treasure Hunt!

I hope you guys had fun finding the golden eggs.

Mr Random.org was kind enough to choose the winner....

who is....

Crystal!

Congrats, Crystal. I'll be sending a $10 Amazon Gift Card your way.

Enjoy :-)

PS. Don't forget about the Power of Tension Blogfest I'm hosting with Cally Jackson!

The Power of Tension Blogfest

tension noun mental or emotional strain; intense, suppressed suspense, anxiety, or excitement.

We all know that in fiction, tension is vital. Tension ramps up the emotional stakes for your characters and keeps readers burning through the pages to find out whether that tension is resolved. Tension comes in many forms – it could be animosity between family members built up over many years, sexual tension between strangers, or jealousy between work colleagues as they vie for a lucrative promotion.

SO, we want to see how tense your fiction can be. Which means... Blogfest Time! 

Yup, Cally Jackson and I our hosting our very first blogfest!

"But, Rach," I hear you say. "I just finished the A to Z Blogging Challenge, and the alphabet is still whirling before my eyes, and to be honest I'm *$%#$#* exhausted!"

And to that I say... "Don't be such a party pooper! I know you've got some fabulous tension-filled scenes filed away somewhere in your computer/notebook/alphabet-filled brain. They're probably the scenes you had the most fun writing!"

Ok fine... What do I do?

Give us an excerpt (up to 300 words) from your manuscript or recently completed work (or just a random scene) that just drips with tension and will tie us up in knots wanting to know more. It doesn’t matter what the piece is about, as long as it screams tension.

What are the prizes?

• 1^st prize: $15 Amazon voucher + interview on Cally Jackson Writes and Rachel Morgan Writes OR 1^st chapter beta read by Cally and Rachel
• 2^nd prize: $10 Amazon voucher + interview on Cally Jackson Writes and Rachel Morgan Writes OR 1^st chapter beta read by Cally and Rachel
• 3^rd prize: $5 Amazon voucher

Prizes? I’m in! What are the rules?

• The blogfest will run from Monday 23 May to Friday 27 May. (So you A-Z challengers can have a few weeks breathing space!)
• At 12:01am (AEST) Monday 23 May, a linky tool will go live on both Cally Jackson Writes and Rachel Morgan Writes.  Post your entry on your blog and then add a direct link to your post to the linky tool on either blog before 11.59pm Friday 27 May.
• Come back on Thursday 2 June to see the six finalists (chosen by us), and then again on Monday 6 June to see the winners!
• All genres and forms of tension are welcome, but if your entry includes anything graphic, please include a warning at the beginning of your post!

Anything else I should do? 

Glad you asked. These aren’t mandatory, but they’d definitely be appreciated :-)

• Include our badge in your sidebar during the duration of the blogfest (download the image above)
• Post and/or tweet about the challenge in the weeks leading up to spread the word.
• Throughout the challenge week, check out as many other entries as you can and give the entrants some comment love!

Can’t wait to read all of your entries. Please leave a comment to let us know you’re planning to enter. :-)

The Big Reveal, and Reflections on A to Z

Ok, so if any of you have ever wondered what the wine bathed (thanks erica!), angel-sculptured (thanks Laura!) me actually looks like, here I am:

So what do you guys think about using a real photo

vs

a cartoon/your pet/a closeup of your eyeball/any other random image?

~ ~ ~

And, in other important news, we survived the A to Z Blogging Challenge!
My reflections:

• Thank you to all the FABULOUS people who visited here and decided it was worth clicking the FOLLOW button. Do you want a reward? Do you? Do you? Awesome! Click here.
• It was a lot of FUN to post about random things for a month instead of always trying to write something about writing! (Can I keep posting randomness?)
• I was very bad about visiting new blogs. In comparison to the whole list I only managed a FEW. I was on holiday with a limited internect connection, using my super slow BlackBerry to check blogs, and I considered it a good day if I even managed to get back to just the people who visited me first.
• I FOUND some awesome new blogs to keep up with :-)
• And... am I going to be doing this again next year? Um *gulp* probably!

Thank you soooo much to Elizabeth Mueller for creating this award for us :-)

Extreme Makeover!

Ok, so I'm not actually making over my blog, but I am making over me :-) Well, not me me, but the way I represent myself across cyberspace. I've been using the same picture on all my different social media platforms, but you can't actually tell from it what I look like.

I guess when I started out in the blogosphere I was scared of using a photo that shows exactly who I am (um... I can't actually remember why now!). Anyhoodle... The time has come (as the Walrus said, to talk of many things: of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of... ... I'm definitely getting carried away here, but I love that poem!) for the great reveal!!

Ok, not great compared to really great things... but still, this is a big step for me!

So come back tomorrow for the great reveal!

Oh yeah, and don't forget about the X Marks the Spot Treasure Hunt. Now that the A to Z Challenge is over you should have time to find the hidden Easter eggs ;-)