News And Reviews

Just wanted to post a quick mention that Carving The Light has been reviewed favourably over at Living In The Kitchen With Puppies, which makes me feel better about how it's being received by people who don't know me!  ;)

Additionally, I have more crappy prizes coming in for the Spot The Ad contest - some of which actually involve a copy of the ad as the main image, so watch for photos and updates on that soon, as well!

Hope everyone is having a happy holiday thus far.  Bring on 2011!

And Now For Something Completely Different

Well...almost completely different.

I've done a handful of movie reviews on this wee blog of mine, so this discussion with The Mad Hatter about TRON: Legacy isn't entirely out of my norm, but it is a bit.

Vote For Carving The Light!!!

It has to be a write-in vote, of course, but how fun is it that you can actually vote for it as your Favourite book of 2010?  :)

You can also vote for it in Fiction, as well.  What the heck, right?

In fact, you can get away with writing it in for Debut Author, Goodreads Author, and Cover Art, to boot!  I would encourage you to vote for Timothy D Rideout's Cherubs in the Mystery & Thriller section, as well. 

Go vote!  No matter what you vote for, it's good to get people thinking about books, for a change, so get to it, folks!

Until soon,

S.A.M.

For The Browncoats!!!

I've been debating about whether or not to mention this here, as it's not exactly something that I "wrote", per se, so I wasn't sure whether it should be included as part of this blog, or not.

But really, it's creative.  And it involves words.  And it has taken up a lot of my time and energy lately.  I am kinda proud of it, AND there will be versions for Carving The Light and Ebon Black soon, as well, so I figured, what the heck?  Throw it up and see what happens!  ;)

For all you Browncoats out there, I have created our very own fridge magnet poetry set!  You can find it on Etsy and Ebay, so go have a look at the newly revamped Magnet-y Poetical Lingo For Browncoats!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/64081725/browncoat-fridge-magnet-poetry-set

I cut them by hand, which is more time-consuming and body-hurting than it sounds!  lol

And I package them all in wee Chinese food take-out boxes to make 'em appear more stylish and irresistably cute!

So go take a look...I'm getting faster at assembling them now, so I should be able to get orders shipped out quickly now.  And if I see you in person, all the better, because it'll save you on ridiculous shipping charges!  ;)

In the meantime, keep watching for my Ryerson ad around the city of Toronto, and enter the Spot The Ad contest for your chance to win!  Please also take a moment to check out the free preview of my next project, Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads! 

Lots on the go...'tis the season, I suppose!  So, with all that in mind, happy holidays one and all!

Until soon,

S.A.M.

FREE PREVIEW - Work-In-Progress!!!

Go here to read a short free preview of my current work-in-progress, Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads!!!

Carving The Light Free Previews

This will be news to some of you, a quick reminder to others, and met with complete indifference from still more!  ;)
But I wanted to just put it out there as we wade through this holiday season.  There are some free previews of Carving The Light available out there on the world wide interweb!  The first few pages of the book are visible through the Search Inside feature on the book page at Amazon.com (Carving The Light).

Additionally a full scene from further along in the story can be found here.

In other news, the Ryerson Chang School ad is appearing more and more frequently across the city of Toronto, on subway platforms and now in public transit vehicles all over the place.  So keep your eyes peeled and cameras at the ready!  The Spot The Ad Contest is in full swing, and there are tons of crappy prizes to be won!  Search Carving The Light on Facebook, and this blog, for full contest details!

Until soon,

S.A.M.

You Are Invited To The No Hope For Gomez! Birthday After Party!!!

“Instead of heading for the big mental breakdown, -- Gomez Porter

     I decided to have a little one every Tuesday evening.”



You are cordially invited to Gomez' online after party. It starts right now and runs till December 10th. You'll receive:



- ‘Activated Carbon’ exclusive short story collection

- Making of Gomez: behind the scenes eBook



A kindle will be raffled off. Extra prizes for those who bring friends.



Simply purchase your copy of "No Hope for Gomez!" from Amazon and forward your receipt to nohopeforgomez@gmail.com. Find out the details HERE

Toronto - Spot The Ad Contest Now On!!!

Okay, Toronto, here we go!  The Ryerson ads are going up all over the TTC, across the city, and will be up through the holiday season!  Keep your eyes peeled, and your cameras at the ready, to give yourself a shot at winning any number of the fabulously crappy prizes available to be won!  :)

Reviews For Carving The Light!

Thanks in no small part to the Goodreads.com community, I have finally started receiving reviews for my book online!  They are all visible on my book page, but here are some of the highlights thus far:

DangerGirl says: 

Have tissues at the ready.


Ms. Maynard is so apt at creating characters that are both vivid and complete that you are immediately drawn into their lives and empathize with their struggles and their joys. She has knit together a journey that truly will have you laughing out loud with tears rolling down your face.


Arliss writes:

I enjoyed this story of three sisters who endured a tragic event during their childhood.


Ms Maynard allowed me to travel with the sisters, feel their painful experiences, and know the secrets they kept from each other. Through her writing I laughed, I cried, I cheered, and I pitied these girls as if I too was part of their family.

I look forward to her future writings.

And Delilah feels:
 
I thought that this was a great book. It spoke from the heart and was a very true account of the feelings of guilt people can carry around with them. It is so true about the fact that if more people would talk about their feelings it would avoid so many misunderstandings. I would highly recommend this as a goodread.


I will be posting individually on Goodreads, probably later this evening, but I wanted to say overall how grateful I am to each of those women for taking the time to post their thoughts about Carving The Light.  And I am REALLY happy that people are enjoying it!  The Collins girls and the fabulous people in their lives became very important to me while I was writing their story, and I suspect that they will always occupy a special place in my heart.  So, thank you, to everyone who's taking the time to look at my book, or to pick it up and read it, and to those who spread the word and let others know (and me, too) how they feel about it, or how it's affected them.
 
And if anyone feels like posting similar thoughts on Amazon, please feel free to do so!  lol
 
In OTHER news, we are now just mere weeks away from the beginning of the Ryerson Chang school's winter ad campaign, and I can not wait!  I got an update email from them today, letting me know that they will be submitting materials to other print publications and such, as well, so that is outstanding...I'd love to see where else I turn up!
 
I've started putting together small prizes for the contest, too, so get ready to keep on the lookout!  I just got a cute little Carving The Light totebag in the mail the other day, and there will be much more to come!  Pictures to follow, but for now, this is what the ad will look like. 
 

 
Watch out for it all over Toronto via the TTC, starting November 29th!
 
Until soon,
 
SAM

Join my Author Q&A on Goodreads.com!

I've started a Q&A group on GoodReads.com, and I will be around fairly regularly to answer questions and join discussions as they crop up.  I'm hoping we'll be able to talk about everything from my first novel, Carving The Light, to participating in NaNoWriMo, to the experience of self-publishing with CreateSpace, to non-spoilery bits of information regarding my next project, Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads!

I'd love to interact with people who've read the book, or want to, other writers, readers, and anyone who has an interest in the industry at all.  I think it'll be fun, and I am looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say, so come join in when you can!

I'd also love to have that as one of the online spots where things like the contest I hope to run during the Ryerson ad campaign could be discussed.  I'm up for suggestions as to what would make my prize ideas even better, not to mention thoughts on other contest ideas that could be run in the future!

So, basically, anything goes.  Come sign up and join the fun today!  :)

Until soon,

S.A.M.

Everything Is Happening

So, here we are, with only 9 days left before I head to sunny California with my lovely girl for a whole week!  Mayhaps we shall even work on illustration ideas for Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads, especially when we will be exposed to such incredible ingenius ideas at Disneyland!  For certain, though, there will be much giggling and good times.  I can not wait.  :)

I am WAY overdue in sending out many thanks to the boys at my photo shoot last week!  Jim, Mark and Ted made it great fun for me, and it was actually kind of hard to leave!  I can't wait to see how it all turns out!  I will be posting it everywhere, once I get a look at it myself, of course!  ;)

Additionally, I have submitted Carving The Light to Guys Can Read, in the hopes that they might pick it as a finalist in their indie author contest!  Basically, they will announce a group of finalists on November 2nd.  If my book is among them, I will be looking for everyone I know to go vote for my book to win.  IF it wins, the guys will read and review it on their podcast!  Which is about the coolest thing I've heard in recent memory. 

I know my book is kind of girly at first glance (you know...all emotions and drama everywhere), but guys have been enjoying it, too, and I think it's likely because the characters are all easy to relate to, no matter what gender you happen to be reading from inside of.  So, hopefully, my little book will be given a shot at finally having a review or two done on it...and if some of those reviews come from the boys' perspectives, ALL the better!  I am really excited by the opportunity, and would encourage all of you to go check out their podcast/site, when you have a chance.  It's truly unique, and I look forward to hearing more from them as we go along!

OK, that's it for now.  I am too distracted to write much at the moment, apparently!

NINE MORE DAYS!  :D

Until soon,

SAM

Ryerson - Chang School Photo Shoot Tomorrow!!!

Everything is coming together for the ad I will be featured in for Ryerson's Chang School of Continuing Education!  The photo shoot is tomorrow morning and, with the exception of a still sore and bumpy eye, I am good to go!

Awesome Link!!!

Just found this awesome link to my CafePress store for Carving The Light! Gifts for Canadian Thanksgiving! Perfect! :)


Canadian Thanksgiving : Holidays Tees, T-shirts & Gift Ideas

Book Review: No Hope For Gomez! by Graham Parke

I loved this book! Gomez Porter is an instantly likeable character, and he draws the reader ever further into his (sometimes off-balanced) mindset through the openness and honesty of his blog entries. As a test subject in an experimental drug trial, Gomez is told to update his blog entries as regularly as possible, and record everything and anything, especially that which could be considered strange. Soon, however, Gomez starts to find pretty much everything in his world strange, and thus the reader is pulled into Gomez's messed-up internal reality, even as he struggles to make sense of it all for himself.


I was fortunate enough to win a copy of this book through a FirstReads giveaway on [...], and I am so happy that I did. The pace is fast and action-packed...from the first page, author Graham Parke takes his readers on one of the strangest, most hilarious rollercoaster rides of the psyche that they are ever likely to go on, and he doesn't let up until the end which, incidentally, just leaves you wanting more.

The story is compact, fun (I laughed out loud more than once while reading this), and while it may have you looking at the world a whole different (and possibly very askew) way, once you've been inside the mind of Gomez Porter, if you're like me, you'll find that you don't mind that one single bit!

Maybe there is no hope for Gomez, but after reading this hilarious, twisted little novel, I personally hope for MORE Gomez very very soon!

Updates and Musings

OK, first off, I should mention that I just got back to work from my first appointment with an eye doctor, to make sure that my injury from a few weeks ago is healing and that no further damage was done.  So, one eye is dilated a ridiculous amount, I am uncomfortable and can't see out of it, and I just want to go home and sleep it off.

Typing ain't easy, either, naturally, but there was some stuff I wanted to talk about, while I have a chance!

Congratulations!

First off, congratulations to all of the winners of the Goodreads.com giveaway!  Five lucky folks were drawn from over 700 entries, and each of them should be receiving a signed copy of Carving The Light in their mailbox sometime soon!  I shipped three copies out today, and will do the other two tomorrow, hopefully.  I'm just waiting a but longer to hear back on whether they would like it personalized, or not.  :)

Current Work In Progress

I'm heading downtown shortly to check out Word on the Street, but first, I would like to introduce you all, finally, to my latest work-in-progress. I've resisted talking about it in much detail before now, as I was still trying to work my way through the first draft, and just get the story down. But last night I completed said draft, so now I feel I can talk about it more without getting things mixed up in my head! lol


It's titled "Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads".   :)

Carving The Light Giveaway At Goodreads!

Enter to win a FREE AUTOGRAPHED copy of my first novel, Carving The Light!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Carving The Light

by Sue A. Maynard

Giveaway ends October 21, 2010.




See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Author Event!!!

Well, I am now registered and will have a table at Wordstock in Collingwood, ON on Saturday, September 11th.  My very first author sale and signing event!  And I couldn't be more nervous and excited, truth be told.  :)

Back to Writing - Finally!

That's right...I finally sat down today and did some more writing on my current W.I.P.  And it was not a moment too soon! 

Quick Note

Check out the free preview scene for Carving The Light, available at CreateSpace, here.  Also, the opening pages can be read on Amazon.com, using the Search inside feature provided.

In other news, I have several books available for sale in time for Fan Expo next weekend!  And my Carving The Light t-shirt is awesome, so watch for that to be making an appearance over the con weekend, as well!

Hoping for many more photo ops involving the book, which I will of course share in every venue I possibly can!  ;)

All of the promoting of Carving The Light, and working at my day job, has left me little time to write my current WIP, but with any luck I'll be able to make a few small strides in that area soon, as well.  For now, though, it's off to work I go!

Enjoy your weekend!

SAM

OT: ATTENTION ALL TORONTO AREA RESIDENTS AND FAN EXPO 2010 ATTENDEES!!!

Come meet James Marsters (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Caprica, etc) at FanExpo Canada, and check him out LIVE in concert on August 27th!

Reading Is Like Writing

Only not.

Reading and Writing

I only have a moment, so will make this one quick.  Have to get to my day job, after all!
But I noticed something over the weekend that I thought I would share.

Reading helps with writing.

Finally! Carving The Light Is Now Available In CANADA!!!

At long last, my first novel has made it's way across the border and into Canada.  It's showing up on Amazon.ca, and I am hoping it will hit the Chapters/Indigo market at some point, as well.

Even 5 Years Later, You Still CAN'T STOP THE SERENITY!!!

This is the 5th anniversary of a global event to raise money for Equality Now.  It is very near and dear to my heart, and I will be heading downtown in a little while to attend Toronto's contribution in the form of a screening of the movie, Serenity, directed by Joss Whedon.

It's going to be a great time, despite the heavy potential for rain in the air!

AND I will be selling and signing copies of Carving The Light, as well.  ;)

More after the fact!

SAM

PODCAST!

Please go listen to, and comment on, the recent podcast I did with my very good friend, The Mad Hatter, over on his movie-obsessed blog, The Dark Of The Matinee.  You'll hear us talk about all things movies, including our reviews of The A-Team.

Additionally, I get to plug Carving The Light a little at the end!

Have a listen, and enjoy!  :)

Thanks,

SAM

Book Review: "Invasion of the Blue Lights" by Ruth Glick

 The Invasion of the Blue Lights by Ruth Glick



My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I still remember standing in my elementary school library looking at this book over and over...picking it up, putting it back down, then going back for it, again and again. When I finally borrowed it out and read it, the book ended up being WAY better than I'd imagined. After that first time, I borrowed it several more and finally, as an adult years later, was able to locate it online and buy a copy for myself. I read it again just a few years ago, and it has certainly managed to hold up over the years, I must say!



The story starts off simply enough...a young boy witnesses what appears to be a battle between two blue lights in the night sky noe evening. The lights appear to crash to the Earth, in different directions, and the boy ends up investigating to see what happened to the one closest to him.



What he finds leads him on a personal journey of discovery - an adventure where not all is as it seems - as he tries to decipher which side of the battle he is really on, now that the blue lights have come upon us.



View all my reviews >>

Book Review: "V" by A.C. Crispin

V by A.C. Crispin



My rating: 5 of 5 stars

V by A.C. Crispin is a wonderful tie-in to one of my favourite television shows of all time. Like the miniseries upon which it is based, V follows the lives of several different characters, all of whom are brought together when alien ships suddenly appear in the skies overhead, hovering above major cities all around the world. As the press and governments scramble to maintain peace and order with the alien Visitors, some individuals begin to question the Visitors' real purpose and intentions for coming to Earth, and soon find that they have the need to band together and strike back against their potential invaders.



The miniseries was filled with awesome effects, wonderful characters, and gruesome storylines. The novelization takes all of those things and adds deeper dimensions and layers of understanding to the whole thing. V was never just a story about alien invasion...it was a study of the best and worst in humankind...taking cues from our very real and recent history...and casing it all in a sort of science fiction-y 'what-if" scenario.



Fans of the series - new and old - will find much to love about this adaptation, and if the reader is left with a somewhat uncomfortable and familiar all-this-has-happened-before kind of feeling, then creator Kenneth Johnson and author A.C. Crispin have done their jobs perfectly.



View all my reviews >>

It Has Begun

Carving The Light is now available at Barnes & Noble!  It's on sale, even!  ;)

A Couple Of Quick Things

Sorry for my recent silence...this work week is killing me, and to top it off, I am trying to land a very specific apartment in a very specific building, and that scrambling process has taken up a lot of my time.  Along with seeing movies (still hoping to write up a quick A-Team review, to go along with my spontaneous podcasting session with The Mad Hatter, and possibly seeing Toy Story tonight)...things have just been keeping me very busy lately, it seems!

Carving The Light on Goodreads.com

Starting to build the community love there, too, if I can!

Carving The Light

ALSO, I am up to #518 284 on Amazon.com's sales rank!  lol

And there are more buying options to come, which will be available shortly.  Today I went Pro on CreateSpace.  :)

Enjoy the day!

SAM

(Short) Book Review: Cherubs by Timothy D. Rideout

Cherubs by Timothy D. Rideout



My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Cherubs is absolutely chilling, from its spine-tingling start to its hair-raising finish! Rideout's use of phrase and imagery deftly paints a terrifying portrait of one child's innocence caught in a battle between ancient Judgement and a mother's love.



The author keeps his readers on the edge of their seats, hands and feet inside the vehicle, for the entire thrilling ride. An excellent debut in horror fiction from a promising new author!



View all my reviews >>

A Few Quick Thoughts On Promotion

I had completely forgotten, for awhile, that I'd created this previews page for Carving The Light over at CreateSpace when the book was first printed.

Though it would be difficult to stumble upon, I had given out the link at lot at first, so that people could get a taste for what they were hopefully buying.

Since then, I've set up an Author Page at Amazon.com (to which this blog is actually linked), and a Facebook fan page, of course, to help keep people updated.  I am trying to get people to interact with the Amazon.com book and author pages...in terms of ratings, discussions, questions, reviews, photos, etc.  I think that increased activity will also increase the traffic.  And, let's face it, I am a bit of a comments whore when it comes to stuff like that.

I've added a tiny note-like review of sorts to Timothy D. Rideout's book page for Cherubs, and I am hoping that some people who have read Carving The Light will do the same.  I also have a preview (Search Inside) feature attached to the book on the Amazon page, so I think that's why I forgot about the CreateSpace one for awhile.

Just over 100 views.  About 70 book copies sold thus far.

It's coming along.  :)

More soon,

SAM

So Very Tired :(

More later...have to run to work now!  Day Three of Six.  Not even halfway yet.  Sigh.

Until soon,

SAM

When Life Gets In The Way

Usually, I think I can be fairly disciplined, when I put my mind to it.  I wrote the first draft of Carving The Light within the 30 day time frame of NaNoWriMo, and got it ready to go to print within a few months - in time for my mom's birthday, even.

But lately, it seems that it's getting harder and harder to find the time to get it done at all during the day, let alone along with all of the other life-like stuff that has to be done.  And I am wondering why. 

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Safe to say that, as far as writing goes, today will be a total write-OFF.

Time Flies

What.  A.  Week.

Serenity One Shot, Float Out, by Patton Oswalt

I just wanted to mention that I love Patton Oswalt.  His unique brand of comedy helped in getting me through a very tough year, and still does.

Now, two of my favourite things in the world have been united, as yesterday, Patton's Serenity One Shot comic, Float Out, hit comic book stores everywhere!  I made sure to pick up one copy of each cover, because, really, how could I choose?  :)

Does Size Matter?

So, without going into a ton of detail, my newest book is a fairytale.  Well, a complete rewrite of an already well-known fairytale.

Compared with Carving The Light, this one is a lot lighter and more fun to write.

But are there fairytale-writing rules that I should know about?  For example, does the length of it really matter?

Today...

I received my very first royalty cheque.  :)

Holy hell!  XD

Film Review - SUCK

This movie hasn't had its theatrical release as of yet (in fact, I'm not even sure a date has been set), but my fellow movie-watching-blogger friend, The Mad Hatter, will likely be seeing it when it screens at NXNE this year, so I thought I would post my original review here, in honour of its playing to more audiences soon!

I saw SUCK at TIFF last year, and it was a late addition to my schedule, as I'd never heard of it. But in the end, I just couldn't resist the idea of a Canadian rock 'n' roll vampire comedy on a movie screen, let alone one which could boast the likes of Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop...could you?

Film Review: George A. Romero's Survival Of The Dead

I love movies.  I love attending the film festival (TIFF) every year.  And every so often, I like writing a review of some of the flicks I've managed to see.  Last fall, at the Toronto International Film Festival, I had the honour of seeing zombie master Romero's latest offering in his saga of the undead, Survival of the Dead.  In honour of its theatrical release (finally), here is the review I wrote after having enjoyed a Midnight Madness screening of its world premiere.

Moving On...

Now that I've forgotten what else I'd wanted to say about NaNo style pro's and con's, let's move on, shall we?  The laundry is in, and I have a good 20 minutes before I have to go down and change it over to the dryers.  ;)

The question now is, would I ever go and participate in NaNo again, now that I've done it once?

The short answer is:  Yes, absolutely!

The longer answer is:  It depends...

Pros and Cons To Writing NaNo Style

2009 was my first year participating in NaNoWriMo, and I really had no idea what to expect.  I didn't even expect to finish, truth be told.  And when all was said and done, I even now have no idea whether  would ever choose to write that way again...all frenzied and racing and not thinking and ... FUN!  I loved it and was terrified by it all at the same time.

So here are a few pros and cons to the NaNo chaos style of writing...or, at least, what I learned from my first time out.

Carving The Light - The Beginning

I have to get writing, but wanted to take a few moments to discuss how my first novel came about, as it was very different from how I usually do things.  For one thing, there were huge time constraints, so I had to set aside my personal inner editor for the duration of the entire first draft.  And for another, it was the fist time I'd ever actually finished anything like that.

One More Test

I'm trying to link this feed to my Author Page at Amazon.com...once that is all linked up nice-nice, I promise to make things more interesting here!  ;)

Test

EAVB_ZZMPWYLDXA
 
 
Trying a little remote-posting...please bear with me!  ;)

---

30 days of prizes to be won with Hotmail. Enter here

This Is Where The Fun Begins

I've been meaning to start an author blog for some time now...it's just been hard to find the time between my day job, a miniscule social life, writing a new book, and promoting my first novel, Carving The Light. It's fun (except the day job thing), but suddenly there haven't been enough hours in the day! At least, not for the things I want to do.
EAVB_ZZMPWYLDXA