Books for Company

5.9.12

Guest Post - Yannis Karatsioris

Please welcome Yannis Karatsioris to Books for Company.

Yannis is the author of The Books of the Forsaken which won the gold medal on authonomy.com's HarperCollins UK hosted competition

Yannis has written a guest post to tell us how he came to write in English when he is Greek.

Thank you Yannis

"I was invited by X to talk about my experience on Authonomy, the online platform for writers sponsored by HarperCollins UK.

This invite came as a result of me being and Editor’s Desk winner on Authonomy, the latter meaning I get an award –a review from one of HC’s editors (unofficial consideration for publication too). But before I get into how I made it, and what happened along the way, I’d like to mention that I’m a non-native, I’m Greek actually. And a young one at that, as I just turned 29.

This is the main reason I signed up for the authonomy experience. I wanted to see how good I am in respect to producing literature in a second language. I have already published a fantasy novel in Greece, have already staged a play and have won a national award for a fantasy novelette. But I wasn’t sure I had it in me to compete with English native-plus-talented authors, aspiring as the case may be.

The second reason I chose authonomy and not another site for writers is that I’m a goal-oriented person and knew that I would do my best if there were something tangible at the end of the road. Being reviewed by HC felt tangible enough. So I registered and uploaded the 10k words that is the minimum for one to take part and go public.

The response to the story from the community was immediate and I hit #40 (out of six or seven thousand books at the moment) within two months. The shinning reviews made me doubt my earlier doubts and I thought I actually had a chance. I won the gold medal this February, after six months of being reviewed by the members of the site.

I learned a good deal of things regarding the editing and/or revising my manuscripts, I met great people, made a handful of friends and I answered the question whether as a non-native writer I’m good enough to be read out of Greece.

Yes, I am.

After submitting the manuscript to thirty agents, (a low number for those who know how this works) only because I chose who to submit to carefully, I got the known polite response twenty something times and two positive comments. I chose not to contact indie and other small publishers and just go with it on my own.

“The Book of the Forsaken” is available for less than a month now after being proofread and edited, both in Kindle format and as a paperback. And all one has to do is read the opening pages to see how different and engaging the book is.

It has a long way to go, but as I said, I’m goal-oriented…"

Author’s Short Bio:
Yannis Karatsioris, Greek born and raised, is 29 years old and lives in Athens, Greece. He has already staged a play, published a fantasy novel in Greek and, after winning with The Book of the Forsaken the gold medal on HarperCollins' competition on authonomy.com, is now making his first steps in the publishing world out of Greece. It is the first of a series called “The Game” series.
His tastes, dark and sarcastic, guide him to a style reminiscent of Neil Gaiman, Douglas Adams, Jonathon Stroud and Mikhail Bulghakoff.
More about Yannis and his writing? www.yanniskarats.com

Find Yannis

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Buy The Book of The Forsaken

Amazon (UK/USA)

Blog Tour - Author Interview with Samantha Durante

Please welcome Samantha to Books for Company. I really appreciate you stopping by Books for Company, I'm very excited to put this interview up as I loved reading it myself. Knowing there is more to come after Stitch has got me so excited, especially knowing there is so much more to come.

Samantha is the author of the recently released book called 'Stitch'. I have read Stitch and absolutely loved it (My review will be up VERY soon!)

Please describe Stitch in three words?
Oooh, this is hard! If there’s one thing I’m NOT, it’s succinct, haha. Okay, here goes: Surprising. Twisty. Different.

When did the idea for Stitch first arise and how long from having the idea till you finished the book?
I got the idea just a few weeks before I started writing it, and I was so excited about it that I started planning the book and writing it pretty much immediately. I finished the first draft about four and a half months after first thinking of the idea.

Who designed the cover for Stitch? (I love it btw!)
Thank you! All the credit goes to Damon at Damonza.com. I had some ideas about the general look and feel and some elements I wanted to incorporate, but he really brought everything to life. I’ve been getting SO many compliments about the cover, I can’t even tell you – Damon, you are amazing. (Read more about the cover design process in my September 13th guest post at Darlene’s Book Nook).

How did you choose the names for your main characters?
They honestly just came to me – I don’t know how else to describe it. I tried to think of names that were a little less common, but still familiar, and that just sounded right for the character I was picturing in my head, and these are the ones that popped into my head. Alessa, Isaac, Janie, and Joe were just how I thought of these people. I struggled with Joe a bit since I think that name is a little more boring compared to the others – I think we all know about a million Joes – but when I tried to call him something else, it just didn’t feel right, so I stuck with it.

Once I thought of those names, I did the online baby book thing to look up the names and see if the meanings had anything to do with the characters I was envisioning. Alessa turned out to mean “defender” which is perfect for her and really solidified that I’d picked the right one for my main character. Her last name, Khole, means “victory of the people” which is also awesome for a heroine, don’t you think?

The meanings associated with Isaac Mason were less spot-on. Isaac means “he who laughs” which is appropriate since he’s a bit of a jokester, but that’s not something I would say is a huge part of his personality or his defining trait in any way. And his last name, Mason, just means bricklayer, or more broadly “one who makes” which I guess is somewhat relevant but again not really so perfect (like it happened to be in Alessa’s case). So really I just picked Isaac’s name because I liked it. And that was how it went with most of the others in general!

Did you have the whole series planned out before starting the books or did you go along with the characters?
Planned, totally. I figured out the whole backstory, the timeline, the major plot points in each chapter – all before I wrote a word. I’m pretty much a compulsive planner when it comes to any area of my life, and my writing is no exception. If I made any mistake with Stitch, it was not planning enough! There were a couple areas of the book where I wasn’t sure what to do at first, so I thought I would try out the going-with-the-characters thing, and those ended up being the most boring spots or needing the most rewriting. From now on, I will plan every detail of every scene and make sure it’s awesome before I write it.

What's the main three things you need when you are writing?
1. To be in the right mood. If I’m distracted or just can’t lose myself in the story for whatever reason, it’s hard for me. I find it’s better to just put it aside and come back at another time when I’m feeling it. Usually, if I opt not to write one evening I’ll wake up the next morning raring to go, so that works pretty well for me.

2. Quiet, or at least no songs/TV with words. I’m most productive in silence, with no TV or music on, and my cat napping next to (or on) me, so that’s how I prefer to work. I’m pretty flexible, though, since I’m also pretty good at tuning things out. So if my fiancé is home and watching sports or something, I can generally still get a lot done. But if he starts playing music I know the words to or TV shows where people are talking to each other, it’s over. Which is why I usually write in the mornings when he’s still asleep! It’s hard to get any peace and quiet in a 600 square foot apartment (thank you, Manhattan)... I’m REALLY looking forward to having a dedicated office in the house we’re buying!

3. My laptop. I’m useless without this thing. I could never write so much by hand, and even on other people’s computers, I just can’t type quickly enough to keep up with words flowing out of my brain.

What is the main feeling you want readers to come away with after reading your book?
I want them excited for the next book! There’s nothing I love more than finishing a great book and knowing there’s more yet to come. As frustrating as it is to wait for the next installment, that’s my favorite way to end a book – just craving the next in the series. I also hope that readers come away from Stitch feeling like they’ve read something a little a different and feeling curious about the details of the world that Alessa lives in and her background and that of the other characters. There’s still so much more to reveal, so many different facets of these characters to explore – I just hope readers are as excited for the next one as I am. ☺

Find Samantha

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Buy Stitch

Kindle Amazon (UK/USA)

Paperback Amazon (UK/USA)

Giveaway

- 2 Prizes ;

1 Paperback Copy (UK Only) 1 E book Copy (International)

- Both End 24th September

- Please only enter ONE of the giveaways. Even if you live in the UK, please choose either to enter PB or E book giveaway.

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3.9.12

Blog Tour : Rage Within Extract

Rage Within is the second book in the Dark Inside series by Jeyn Roberts. If you have read Dark Inside I am sure you are very excited to read Rage Within. If so I have a special treat today but I have the first two chapters of Rage Within!

Please note I have had to slight change around the layout of the text when I copied it over from a pdf version.

Nothing

Greetings and salutations.

I know you missed me.

I missed me too.

What can I say? I’ve been around. I’ve been seeing everything. Slinking through the streets. Crawling through the train tunnels. Walking across water with my eyes alight with fire. Licking the crud off spoons and picking at the chewing gum on my shoes. None of it really matters. They’ve left me alone for now but I know those days are ending. The Baggers want me back. They dropped their apron strings for a split second and the naughty child bolted into the wilderness. They won’t make the same mistake again. I hear them calling me. Now they’re starting to look. I’m on their radar. Eventually they will find me and drag me back by my heels. And things will change.In a blink of an eye, history will repeat itself. Remember, we’ve been through this before. From the moment mankind stepped out of the primordial ooze, they’ve been here to keep us in our places. Obviously a select few lived to tell the tale otherwise we wouldn’t be here now. But how many of us are going to survive this round?

Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

Time is running out.If a tree falls in the middle of the city, does anyone notice? Do they hear the creaking of the wood? Do they witness the leaves shaking above them? Do they sense the desperation or feel the sudden gush of wind against their faces?

That one great second before gravity takes over, and what was once magnificent becomes nothing but lumber.

Timber!

Or do they just go about their daily chores, continue on to work with their lattes in hand, iPods blaring, BlackBerries ringing, ignoring everything they’ve witnessed?

There were warnings. There are always warnings. But we missed them. We chose not to see. We didn’t believe.

And now we are finished.

Game Over

The Baggers are gathering their armies around the world. They are taking back the cities, rebuilding civilization on their terms. They have ideas. You wouldn’t like them.

Now humans are considered a virus. A mutation. A disease. They need to be removed from this world. The Baggers will control those who are left to make sure humans don’t go back to their nasty ways.

I wake up sometimes in the dead of night. A panic I can’t explain from a dream I can’t remember. Is this my 3life? Am I destined to spend the remaining days wondering what is real and what is a nightmare?

Who am I?

I am Nothing.

Am I?

Or am I the one they’ve grown to trust?

I want to be the one she wakes up to when the morning sun nuzzles her pillow. I want to walk along the sea wall with her, holding hands and exchanging gentle glances. I want to hide her away in a castle or a log cabin where she’ll be safe and nothing can ever make her cry again.

But I’m more likely to be the one who holds the knife against her skin.

Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

What happens next? Your guess is as good as mine.

Three weeks before

the earthquakes,

before the world ends,

before the Baggers awaken.

Click here to read chapter two.

Find Jeyn
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Buy Rage Within
Amazon (UK/USA)
Book Depository

From Fame to Shame - Veronica Blade

Series : No

Released : April 2012

Publisher: Crush Publishing

Format : E Book

Source : From Publisher

Buy : Amazon (UK/USA)/Smashwords

Overall rating

.................................... The Blurb ....................................

When good-girl Maddie switches places with her famous bad-girl twin Jackie, she has some pretty high stilettos to fill.

Despite the danger of tabloid drama if their identity swap is discovered, Maddie has to save her sister's butt. When Jackie’s ex-boyfriend shows up with a rekindled spark for “Jackie,” his deep gray eyes and sweet kisses make Maddie's heart thumpety thump. But dating the guy who dumped her sister is a no-no. Too bad Dallas isn’t used to girls saying no. What will happen when he discovers Maddie’s deception?

.................................... My Thoughts ....................................

From Fame to Shame is only a short book so I will admit I was unsure about if it would be long enough for me to get into. This worry quickly evaporated because I straight away liked the main character, Maddie.

Veronica has created some great characters with different personalities. I liked seeing how different Maddie and Jackie were although they are twins. I mostly disliked Jackie but I did warm to Maddie, she was a great main character. Dallas is a sweet guy, I wouldn’t say I fell in love with him but he is sweet and I definitely saw why Maddie felt a connection.

The storyline was fun and easy. I definitely wasn’t ever left guessing and could pretty much always predict what was going to happen but I wasn’t looking for a book which keeps you in suspense. I was looking for an easy and fun read and From Fame to Shame was definitely that.

If you’re looking for a sweet cotemporary book to read while you relax then this is definitely the book for you. I enjoyed the storyline and finished it feeling content.