I just had to share this!
At the Festival of Writing – in York September 2012, a video was shot of the happenings during the 3-day event.
I happened to find myself used in the video.
Enjoy 
Click – http://vimeo.com/54084473
Details for the 2013 Event in York (UK) September will be up soon.
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Each day has a task set aside to it, whether it be redrafting, editing, tweaking, designing, scribbling, or reading.
And lately, I have been up against that vicious thing known as time.
However – I am keeping on top of tasks to ensure that Books 2 and 3 to Divided Worlds will be out for June 2013.
Reviewers of Book 1 have been kind and have expressed their delight with the twists at the end, and how they want to read the sequels. Well … if you thought that twist was major, wait until you see what I have in store for Book 2. And for that reason, I want to release Book 3 on the same day.
Thus – now waiting.
Here’s the low down.
Never a quiet day in my life.
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Here’s how I created the wraparound cover
+40January 4th saw many bloggers around the world help to reveal the final cover for Disconnect.
Feb 22 2013 is the release date. At the moment, I’ve just finalised the polished version. The MS is with a formatter to check it meets e-publishing requirements and then it will be over to another 3rd party to covert and distribute.
But in the meantime – I hope many of you will participate in the Blitz and Book Tour.
Pop over here to find out more - http://www.xpressobooktours.com/2013/01/tour-blitz-sign-up-disconnect-by-imran.html
+90Here’s my review of Non-Compliance written by Paige Daniels, and published by Kristel Ink
The main character, Shea Kelly, came across initially as a testosterone-infested female with guts and sore attitude in her knuckles. That might satisfy many, but I felt like I’d seen that representation of a female before. Wrong – I took a step back, and after the first 4 pages, went back to reading it with clearer thoughts. Although movies and many television programmes promote strong women characters they aren’t a common feature of novels. Sure – they exist but Paige Daniels returns us to the old concept of a strong willed women who doesn’t rely on a vampire bite or a sword blessed with the seven heavens to get the job done.
And it was great to see that return.
I imagined Shea to be a Ripley (Alien[s][3][Resurrection]) type of character but with more drive about her. She has a humorous side and you’ll chuckle at moments, I sure did.
At times, Shea possesses a aura of leave me alone and don’t mess me around, so I didn’t get attached to caring when the risks heightened, but that’s the character and I respect that. I am not prescriptive over world building and hate to see minute details such as every grain of wood, or each light in the skyscraper and what type of lampshade there is, but in some places painting a picture of the novel felt distant. It’s not easy – and I have fallen foul of not giving a clear image – but some explanation might have helped me in footing Shea and her movements. If you are not keen on having descriptions slow the pace, then the world building will work fine. Don’t get me wrong – I could see the world, but couldn’t jump into it fully. (Almost like 3D glasses but slightly smudged).
Many say that Dystopian novels are so yesterday – and I would agree unless you find a new take, and the courage of Shea to non-comply with the controlling organisations delivers that. Trust me it’s not all smiles in this novel; there are some gruesome parts that cause a shudder at how evil and sadistic a human can be. The moments when I did attach to Shea are when her luck is battered and she’s on the verge of losing. Nobody likes to see a female hurt, but as a reader, you’re willing her to fight back and find a way out.
Paige Daniels stays away from purple prose and that’s good. Yes, a little description might have helped, but the quick scenes and the witty dialogue placed cleverly helps to make this a brisk enjoyable read.
As a summary: Although Shea refuses to have her life controlled, she wants control to return her Sector rather than see a newbie unsettle the norm. It contradicts how someone without respect for complying wants it back for her own, but is very true of rebels and groups in the modern world where order within disorder satisfies them.
A comparison I can make to Non-Compliance and my debut: Disconnect is how the nitty-gritty nuts and bolts of how everything works in terms of technology isn’t fully explained. I understand why. It’s up to the reader to form their own conclusion of the techy bits so they can relate to the character’s struggles. If we wanted to know how all work, we’d be picking up a non-fiction novel.
I would give this 3.5 out of 5
And that’s not a bad thing.
My ratings:
0 = Dropped after a few pages.
1 = For when bored.
2 = Kept me going.
3 = A good read.
4 = A really good page turner.
5 = Awesome, didn’t want to put down.
Non-Compliance is a good read that I’d recommend.
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Want to know my answers to the following questions?
Click here… http://nomadnovelist.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/flickimp-refle…riting-in-2012/
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Guest Post by Margaret Yang and Harry R. Campion - writing together as M.H. Mead
Sibling rivalry isn’t the central conflict of our new novel, Taking the Highway, but it certainly affects the narrative in key ways, and was uppermost in our minds as we wrote. Is there anything more important to character than family? We both have siblings of our own, although none of them nearly as annoying as Andre LaCroix’s much older brother, Oliver.
Oliver is a member of Detroit City Council, and Andre can’t imagine anyone more irritating. Nothing is worse than a politician, especially one who can’t seem to turn off his campaign. And if he’s ten years your senior and constantly telling you how to run your life? Unbearable.
But Andre LaCroix has to bear it, because his brother is constantly in his life, telling Andre how to do his job, giving him unwanted advice, and keeping extra-close tabs on the valuable classic car they both inherited from their father. But it’s the way that Oliver constantly pushes himself into the public eye that bothers Andre the most. Oliver can’t even eat at a fast-food place without choosing the most visible table in the room. His motto: see and be seen.
Andre tries not to let his brother get to him, but he looks at Oliver and sees the most frustrating aspects of his own jobs. Andre makes his living as a homicide detective, a job with plenty of politics of its own. He also moonlights as a paid hitchhiker called a “fourth.” Since every highway in Detroit is restricted to cars with four passengers, carpools that come up short must either take surface streets through dangerous neighborhoods or hire extra riders—fourths—to fill their cars.
Like all fourths, Andre is more than a warm body. Competition is fierce at pick-up spots. Every fourth has to be sharply-dressed and well-groomed. But more important than looks is charm. Andre has to flatter, appeal to the people in the car, and be interesting without being offensive. In short, he has to be a politician.
Andre would never admit to Oliver exactly how much he likes his second job, nor would he admit how much it makes him act like his older brother. For his part, Oliver wishes Andre would concentrate on law enforcement, especially when someone starts killing fourths, threatening to bring the entire city to a standstill.
Success as a fourth has made Andre a slacker of a cop. Yet, the harder he works for the city, the less time he has for fourthing. With both jobs on the line, Andre has to find the killer and he has to do it fast, before he becomes the next victim. But when his investigation exposes a terrorist cell, one of whom may be Oliver’s son, more than two jobs hang in the balance.
Playing politics only makes things messier, and Oliver can’t help. But he can do something for Andre—the one thing that little brothers always want their big brothers to do.
Stay out of the way.
About the authors: Margaret Yang and Harry R. Campion are the authors of three novels and many short stories, all written under the shared pen name M.H. Mead. To find out more about them and Taking the Highway, or if you have a key lime pie recipe to share, come visit their website www.yangandcampion.com.
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Things are moving in the right direction for the Feb 22nd 2013 Launch of my YA Sci Fi: Disconnect – Book One of the Divided Worlds Trilogy.
There is lots to do, and unless I’m getting too over-excited, I’d like to think that I’ve got it covered.
… except, not everything is so simple. There are some aspects, such as the cover and the blurb that have to be a little bit special to ensure a customer is intrigued to have a bite.
The final cover for Disconnect will be revealed on Jan 4th 2013. Please, pop over to (and join in with the reveal): http://www.xpressobooktours.com/2012/12/cover-reveal-sign-up-disconnect-by.html
Now, then to the blurb.
I think it does enough to introudce the Character, the setting, the conflict and risk associated with how the tale will play out. Do you concur, or would you move on? Honestly, your views are important to me, and if I can make the blurb bounce or linger in a reader’s mind for a second longer, it’ll be the best move I make.
The Blurb:
Even in space, love has boundaries
If all the Underworld has to offer is dodging junk and digging within filthy sewers then life is fast approaching a worthless state for Zachary, a 16-year old scavenger. Except one day, he discovers the imagery of a girl from Overworld that pulls his desire in wanting to know why she sounds so sad with her lavish lifestyle.
Zachary will seize the chance to meet her, and although hatred builds, with time, friendship and something he’s never felt, even for his parents, will grow.
Though nothing unbelievable can last without harm. The rulers of Overworld have plans for the Research Base that orbits Jupiter’s moon, Europa, and Underworld stands in the way.
Zachary must overcome boundaries and climb from darkness to light, but in doing so, he’ll uncover a twisted secret that may devour his new reason to live; Rosa
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If you didn’t know already … (hint hint – see the Novel Updates section on the right) – I’m working on the sequel to Disconnect – with the first due for ebook release on March 1st 2013.
In fact – that’s not all I’ll be doing. I plan to start the final part of the Trilogy straight after. The next 4 montsh will be an intense period of writing, redrafting, editing, reading and of course the important promotional aspect for Disconnect.
Lots to do…
But so far, I’m surprisng myself – because in the last 12 days, I’ve written 12 chapters and at 30,300 I am 54% complete of the first draft.
Believe me . . . by my word rate, that’s epic!
So, if all goes well, I should complete the sequel mid Dec, and the last part mid-Jan.
Yes, yes, yes, it can slip and with Christmas around the corner, my mind may dash off to other tasks, but heck if I can maintain my writing mojo and have all polished by March… then releasing each part with a 2 month break between each one is a doer!
I am feeling good.
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It’s recommended that you have at least 2 novels ready before you release the first as an ebook.
Why? To please the market and the kajillion of fans that demand more.
That’s not to say that readers won’t return if you release your second a year later, but if you can have them on standby it’ll prevent you from getting lost in the ever-increasing online presence of ebooks.
Of course this is easier said than done and a lot will depend on the time it takes for you to have a novel ready.
Now then . . . if you have a couple of novels ready, and you decide to release the second not long after the first, an alarm bell might ring if the second is in no way related to the first.
Huh?
Sorry – I’ve purposefully misled you here.
My first novel is Part 1 of a Trilogy, and the second novel is Part 1 of a Trilogy. Neither Trilogy is connected in any way whatsoever except that they’re both created by me.
So here comes the conundrum.
Plan 1
- Release Part 1 of Trilogy A
- Release Part 1 of Trilogy B
- Release Parts 2 when they’re ready…
Plan 2
- Release Part 1 of Trilogy A
- Release Parts 2 + 3 of Trilogy A when ready
- Release Part 1 of Trilogy B
- Release Parts 2+ 3 of TB when ready…
Obviously I need to get Parts 2 + 3 of TA ready before I go to market with Part 1.
Thus, causing a delay to release of Part 1, but the advantage of not double-whamming your reader with two separate trilogies is evident.
Or is it good to show the diverse nature of your writing – and allow the reader to pursue whichever Part 1 interested them the most.
I reckon most would go for Plan 2.
What do you think?
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