Beautiful, as everything that Hodder & Stoughton does :-) I believe that the paperback with be out in the UK in August.
By the way, I tucked myself away in a hotel last week for a couple of days of intensive writing, like I did last year while finishing DAYS -- though I am not in this case on the brink of finishing book 3 (title to be announced SOON, yayyy!). I did have a chunk of scenes I was hoping to put to bed, and though I didn't get quite as far as I wanted, it was a really productive shut-in couple of days. It was so shut-in, in fact, that I forgot to even bring a hairbrush, so that if I wanted to emerge into the light of day for a coffee run (inessential, as I had a coffee maker in the room), I looked ... interesting. It proved to be additional impetus to not leave the room! Ha. Ploys. I also make sure not to have a wireless connection on these mini-retreats, and I don't bring a book with me, and I don't turn on the TV. Key: never emerge from the spell of your story.
Speaking of writing retreats, I had the wonderful pleasure, yesterday, of finally meeting Cassandra Clare in person, while she was in Portland on her extravaganza promotional bus tour!! I am a big fan, so it was a treat, and she is so much fun, so funny and smart. It was fabulous, on top of which Sarah Rees Brennan is traveling with her, and local author Sara Ryan was along too, and we had the most wonderful dinner and gab. (Gab? Really, Laini? Yeah, I'm gonna go with it. Gab.) Anyway, Cassie and Sarah do a lot of writing retreats in wonderful places with wonderful writer friends. It's really quite a dream. This is a fairly new idea for me. I mean, I always knew about/heard about retreats, but I mean the idea that one might not be able to incorporate the main portion of one's work into one's daily life, but have to set aside dedicated chunks of time to it, apart from regular life. I always envisioned writing as part of the day, and so it would be immensely frustrating when other commitments -- life, but also all the non-writing things that writing demands, like PR etc -- would shove writing out the window.
When I was up against the deadline on DAYS, I did my first mini-retreat, and was astonished at what I got done in just two days, when shut away in a quiet room. I did it again during revisions, I think it was three days, and again was astonished by the productivity. I'll probably pull a couple more before this book is through. I'm just mentioning it here to plant the seed for those of you who might not have considered it before. It doesn't have to be a villa in Italy -- in fact, probably best if it's not. No lure to sightsee! I still incorporate writing daily, but there's just something about having a whole bunch of uninterrupted time, never leaving the story. Massive increases of word count = happiness :-)
Cheers!
Oh! Late addition, arrived just this second:
DANISH edition, Daughter of Smoke & Bone:
Love those foreign editions deliveries :-)
6 comments:
Your UK covers are always incredibly beautiful! Yay!
The Danish title means "The Fire Angel," under "The wish peddler's daughter." Or maybe wish merchant.
And yes. I'm starting to feel like the everyday is a great big undertow. I need some days to swim!
There are a couple of centres in the UK called the Arvon Centres (don't know if you've ever heard of them?) which run writing courses/retreats for writers; although I think they might be more directed towards writers still learning their craft (like myself!) since there are professional authors tutoring most of the weeks, I seem to recall they do winter retreats simply for writers to gather together in the house and spend a week writing in the beautiful countryside. Being 17 I've yet to go on one of the adult courses (been on three school trips, for five days each time, to one of the centres)but it's definitely on the to-do list in a couple of years time. C:
The Title for Book 3 will be announced SOON! Please make SOOONER! I just hope the you don't pull an April Fool's joke like last time. What was it? Ahhh... "Yeti of Smoke and Bone".
I have contemplated retreats in the past, yet have never done one. I like the idea of shutting yourself up in a hotel room and getting some serious writing done. But you are so right: No distraction allowed, otherwise what's the point, right? We get plenty of that at home...Happy writing!
What kind of PR cuts into your day. I'm always curious what authors mean when they say 'PR'. Like interviews?
Laini, Pleeeeeaaaase finish the Dreamdark series. You know, fans are just crazy about it. Including me, of course. By now you have a very very devoted fan following and we want to read everything you write. I mean, EVERYTHING. The Dreamdark Series is just as good as Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy, if not better. For me, personally, Dreamdark series is just as good as the Harry Potter series. And I'm not saying this lightly. I am very critical of a lot of stuff that is published to fill the gap Potter left in the literary world. The Dreamdark series is a breath of fresh air. And while you're at it, please revise the plan for Dreamdark books to anything more than 5 books. Or make each book as long as Order of the Phoenix.
Oh I forgot! Would it be too much to ask you to somehow convince one of your publishers to reprint "The Drowned: A Tale of Mystery and Horror"? I really want to read that story too.
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