LJ Smith – Page 2

The Next Big Thing: The Blood She Betrayed

admin Authors, Books, Creativity, LJ Smith, Shahkara, Taloner Trilogy, Urban Fantasy November 27, 2012February 16, 2013 8 Comments

Today I’m playing tag in the latest blog hop game, The Next Big Thing. Thanks, Carol Marvell and Jason Nahrung, for inviting me along and here are my promised answers to 10 questions about my book…

What is the working title of your book? Shahkara was the working title of my book but it is about to be launched as The Blood She Betrayed, Book I of the Heart Hunter series. Shahkara is the name of my kick-butt heroine, but we’re still looking at other title options before next year’s publication date.

Where did your story idea come from? A few years ago, an image flashed through my mind of a princess in an Aztec-style fantasy world who chanced upon a hidden corpse. This princess was Shahkara, sworn to protect her people from the heart-devouring Taloner demons, but she was hiding a secret: She was half-Taloner. It made me wonder what lengths Shahkara would go to in her efforts to protect her people, and how they would react if they discovered her secret. Those “what if’s” spawned Shahkara.

What is your genre? Young Adult Urban Fantasy, but my hero turns 18 in the second book in the series so it overlaps the New Adult market.

What actors do you imagine in a film version? Every author I’ve met has bemoaned that their written work is a paltry imitation of what they see inside their head. I think the same goes for transposing your characters to film. The first actress that comes to mind is Dakota Fanning (without her gold hair). She’s able to morph into personas beyond her years or experience. Shahkara has survived coven attacks, court politics and the death of loved ones (plus a good few other spoilers that I can’t reveal). Amy Acker also captures that indefinable mix of fragility and power and while she’s no longer young enough for the Shahkara role, she certainly looks fab with her fairy dust in Once Upon a Time.

Max is Australian so I’d love to see an Australian cast in his role. He needs to be boy-next-door with a dash of geek. The only American actors that vaguely resemble him are Connor Paolo (Revenge, Gossip Girl), Tyler Possey (Teen Wolf) or David Giuntoli (Grimm).

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? A female demon slayer is torn between restoring her own world and saving Earth when her mission to destroy a coven of heart-devouring Taloners is skewed by demonic meglomaniacs and a boy whose loyalties could be dangerously divided.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Clan Destine Press will publish my book as a paperback and e-book in next year.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript? About nine months to write the first draft, and about nine months to rewrite it when a Publisher suggested I add about 25,000 words to the original 62,000.

What other books would you compare your story to? Possibly a mix of LJ Smith’s Vampire Diaries, Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones and Amanda Hocking’s Switched. There’s elements of each of those stories in Shahkara. It also contains elements of the films Wolverine and Blade and TV’s Buffy.

Who or what inspires you? My husband Shane is my Highest Level Muse – he inspires me when my story’s flagging or the chips are down. My Middle Level Muses include awesome friends and family members. I’m also inspired by Other Authors, Other People’s Book, Other People’s Real Life Experiences and Awesome Film and Television.

What else might pique the reader’s interest? YA Story Goddess LJ Smith describes The Blood She Betrayed as unique and filled with ingenious twists, turns and surprises – and my Shahkara heroine as one of the most engaging, strong female role models she’s seen in a long time. I feel privileged that my Heart Hunter series has been endorsed by authors I esteem, and whose books always took me away to a magical, far-off place. I hope I can do the same for readers one day.

Now I’ve answered the above 10 questions, it’s time to tag some of my friends and fav authors for next week’s Next Big Thing Blog: LJ Smith (author of The Vampire Diaries and Secret Circle), Kallee Buchanan (ABC Radio announcer and emerging author), Rowena Cory Daniells (author of the Outcast Chronicles, King Rolen’s Kin and the Fall of Fair Isle trilogies), Chris McMahon (the Jakirian Cycle) and Keren K (Gothic Angel Book Reviews). These talented writers will all blog by Wednesday, December 5. Stay tuned, folks!

Next Big Thing just around the corner…

admin Authors, Books, Creativity, LJ Smith November 26, 2012 0 Comment

It started as a ripple – a few authors wanting to share their works-in-progress with the world and spread that love but now The Next Big Thing blog hop has grown to tsunami proportions and I’m excited to be part of it. Authors Jason Nahrung and Carol Marvell asked me to answer 10 questions about my latest book and tag some of my friends and favourite authors to do the same. I’m tagging story goddess LJ Smith (The Vampire Diaries and Secret Circle), ABC Radio journalist and emerging author Kallee Buchanan, the divine Rowena Cory Daniells (Outcast Chronicles and the Fall of Fair Isle trilogies), unassuming but talented fantasy author Chri s McMahon (the Jakirian Cycle) and beautiful Keren K, emerging YA author and blog mistress of Gothic Angel Book Reviews.

I’ll post my answers to The Next Big Thing this Wednesday but, in the meantime, check out how other epic authors answered the same questions: Amanda Ashby, Sandy Curtis, J Keller Ford, Kirstyn McDermott, Thana Niveau, Angela Slatter and, naturally, Jason Nahrung and Carol Marvell.

Pinch me: LJ Smith likes Shahkara

admin Authors, Books, Creativity, LJ Smith, Shahkara, Urban Fantasy, Writing Tips/Events October 20, 2011October 20, 2011 12 Comments

Have you ever had a secret you were dying to tell but didn’t know whether you could or should?

My secret for 2011 was the most delicious of my life: I entered Shahkara (my manuscript) into a competition where it was read and liked by LJ Smith. I mean, THE LJ Smith, author of the Vampire Diaries (TVD), the Secret Circle and the Night World Series. LJ was the creative force behind the modern urban fantasy vamp, way back at the dawning of the 1990s, when mobiles were nearly as big as your toaster – long before Whedon’s Buffy slayer dazzled our TVs or Meyer’s Twilight tried to rock the Earth off its axis. LJ Smith is one of my favourite authors. She creates characters that resonate within us. Her heroines are smart and sassy, her heroes sexy-as and her plots contain more twists, turns and emotional punch than a cocktail party at Las Vegas.

Life can be tough when you’re a struggling, unpublished author. You juggle full-time work with late night and early morning scribbles. You fuel yourself on coffee and chocolate, then feel guilty when yet another weekend social event forces you to choose between those you love and that story that burns inside you, begging to be let out. If a big publisher has requested your manuscript, you’d think it would settle you but as the months drag on, you wonder if they’ll ever find time to read and assess it.

Imagine my delight when Lisa (LJ Smith) emailed me personally and said she’d been sucked in by Shahkara! The fan girl inside me was delirious with delight. I felt honoured that she’d even taken the time to read my entire manuscript, but then she wrote this: “Shahkara, the book, is unique, and Shahkara, the character, is one of the most engaging strong female role models I’ve seen in a long time. This girl can handle herself! The plot is full of ingenious twists, turns and surprises, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.” Yabba-Dabba Do! Lisa also offered valuable feedback on how to enhance my manuscript. It was back to the keyboard and I felt truly blessed.

So whenever you doubt yourself as a writer, or feel disillusioned by the passion you’ve given so much to, often without visible rewards, all you need to do is enter a competition or touch base with a fellow writer or friend. The act of entering a comp will buoy your spirits. It’s harder to lose enthusiasm when you have a few lures out on the water, waiting for that tasty bite to come in. Otherwise, put aside a night to spend with your faithful laptop and immerse yourself in your story. When you feed your passion, your confidence grows, and brings you closer to sharing your stories with readers across the world.