An Interview with Becky from One Literature Nut

It's the final day of The Sea Queen's Daughter blog tour and today I'm answering questions at One Literature Nut. Find out what work of art I based Serena's mask off of, the truth behind the legend of the Sea Queen, and whether or not I'm planning on writing another story set in Venice (one never knows!).

Thank you to all the bloggers and readers who participated in the blog tour this week. Just in case you missed a day, here are all the posts:

• "All the World's a Stage: Venice and Carnevale" guest post at Dina Rae's Write Stuff
• The Sea Queen's Daughter review and giveaway at Penelope's Romance Reviews (giveaway runs through October 1st, so there's still time to enter!)
• Interview at A Buckeye Girl Reads
• Interview at One Literature Nut

It's been a great week, everyone! Now back to writing.

An Interview with Colette from A Buckeye Girl Reads

The Sea Queen's Daughter blog tour continues today at A Buckeye Girl Reads, where I'm answering a few questions. Find out about what topics I researched, what my next release will be, and who my favorite characters are in The Sea Queen's Daughter.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway at Penelope's Romance Reviews and stay tuned tomorrow for a guest post at My Cozie Corner.

THE SEA QUEEN'S DAUGHTER Giveaway Today!

The Sea Queen's Daughter blog tour continues today with an awesome giveaway at Penelope's Romance Reviews. Not only is Penny giving away a copy of The Sea Queen's Daughter, she's also sending one lucky winner a pair of unique, handmade Venetian glass earrings from Vickie Joe's Jewels (pictured above). Love them!

To enter, simply comment on Penny's review of The Sea Queen's Daughter. Tomorrow the tour will continue with an interview at A Buckeye Girl Reads.

All the World's a Stage: Venice and Carnevale

Welcome to the first day of The Sea Queen's Daughter blog tour! Today I'm at Dina Rae's Write Stuff discussing the strange and wondrous world that was the Venetian Carnevale. Here's an itty bitty excerpt to whet your appetite:

During Carnevale, everyone who appeared in public wore a mask. This wasn't just a gesture: the anonymity the mask afforded was considered sacred, giving everyone from the Doge to street urchins the illusion of equality. One 18th century visitor even reported seeing a masked mother nursing a masked baby!

Read the rest here! And stay tuned tomorrow for an awesome giveaway at Penelope's Romance Reviews.

In the Queue 11

Hiro from Heroes, just in case you hadn't realized I am a geek yet.

I did it! I survived deadline hell week! I met all my deadlines, even the ones for pitches that I didn't really *have* to do. Hallefreakinlujah.

All work and no play makes Ellis a dull girl, so I'm looking forward to wrapping this post up and then chillaxing in the sun for a while. Now on to the queue!


Fiction

With pressing deadlines looming, I didn't get any work done in my novel this past week. I am, however, excited about The Sea Queen Daughter's blog tour, which kicks off on Monday. It's going to be epic! I'll be posting much more about it next week and hope you'll take time to say hi on my perambulations across the bookternet.

Reading: I started Zen Attitude, the second book in the Rei Shamura series by Sujata Massey, last night during an insomnia attack. I need to move somewhere where there's not a big difference in the seasons; changes from summer to fall and spring to summer kill me.


Nonfiction

Too much to detail, so in summation: this past week I wrote and edited 2 feature articles, a chapter for an essay collection, 4 short articles, 2 guest blog posts and an interview, plus 2 pitches. I'm not sure my brain is functioning as normal right now...

Reading: I have one chapter left in Take a Closer Look and I'm bound and determined to finish it SOON. Today, if possible.


That's all for this week. See you next week for The Sea Queen's Daughter blog tour!

Writing Links Wednesday: DOCTOR WHO Edition

Yes, Doctor.

Sorry there were no posts last week; I'm in the middle of deadline hell right now and writing as fast as my fingers can type! I'm not out of the weeds yet, but I thought it necessary to take a break and share some awesome Doctor Who links with you all that I discovered in the course of my research (for an article I should be writing right now... anyway):

• It's a truth universally acknowledged that the Doctor can only regenerate 12 times, and Steven Moffat has recently confirmed he will hold to this convention. Since Peter Capaldi is the 12th Doctor, one wonders what's going to happen upon his inevitable exit to bigger and better things. Bring back Tennant? Start a new series called Son of the Timelord? Also: which Doctor is John Hurt supposed to be? I'm very confused.
• "I hate strong female characters." This article in The New Statesmen isn't about Doctor Who, exactly, but I think the female characters on Doctor Who do fall into this trap of being "strong" and little else, one of the reasons why female viewers are so frustrated with Moffat. I also hate the phrase "strong female character." It should be dashed from the lexicon.
• We can all agree Moffat is a terrific writer, but his female characters suck. This absolutely brilliant essay at Of Dice and Pen details exactly why and and how the women of Doctor Who have been re-imagined as characters without agency who only serve at the whims of men. I would just like to add: Clara's not even a character, she's a plot device.
• But maybe that's because there are no women writers on the show. There hasn't been a single episode penned by a woman since Moffat took over, and even during the Russell T. Davies era there was only one female writer on staff. The Guardian investigates why.

Hopefully I'll have everything finished in time to post the queue on Friday. If not, I'll see you for The Sea Queen's Daughter blog tour, starting next week!

In the Queue 10

Just swimming along...

What a weird, stressful week. I decided over the weekend that I wasn't going to write for a certain company anymore; unfortunately, they were my major source of income, so I'm a bit worried and stressed about finding another gig to replace them. I haven't been sleeping, my reading time keeps getting interrupted, and one of the dogs got really sick on Wednesday night. She kept panicking and flailing around and would only calm down if someone was holding her. I need some major happy, distracting and/or inspiring entertainment, stat.

In the meantime, on to the queue...


Fiction

Planning/Editing/Writing: Not much news to report this week. I only managed to write a few pages in Bank Robber's Special (still working on the title) over the week, probably one of the reasons I'm in a MOOD. Writing isn't therapy but sometimes it has the same effect. The blog tour for The Sea Queen's Daughter is filled so now I just need to focus on guest posts.

Reading: This week I finished Death Without Company by Craig Johnson. It was much better than the first book in the series, The Cold Dish—shorter and with more things happening. Currently I'm reading Animal Farm by George Orwell for an essay I'm writing. If Boxer dies I am going to be VERY upset, you guys. Oh, and I'm re-listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on audiobook.


Non-Fiction

Planning: An article on Doctor Who and how it's become a touchstone for feminist and colonial issues because of its popularity and worldwide audience. Just heard today that the new season won't start until fall 2014, incidentally.

Editing: More artist profiles.

Writing: Today is more of editing day for me. If I get time to write I want to focus on my fiction stuff and write up a review of Death Without Company.

Reading: Since I haven't had a lot of time to read, I haven't made much of dent in Take a Closer Look, the book about art interpretation I started last week.



What have you been up to this week?

Writing Links Wednesday

I decided to start a new feature on here for writing and book links I've found interesting or useful during the week. Let me know what you think!

• "99c books are the foundation for the tragically forgotten book pile." Many self-pub'd authors, including myself, are at a loss when it comes to figuring out how to price their books. Most of the advice I've read basically runs along the lines of, "Try out a price and if you're not selling books, change it." So far, this article at Dear Author is the only essay I've encountered with a solid break down of price points and how they relate to buying habits. What's the Right Price of a Book for You?
• "I said she dumped me, but really, I dumped her (body)." I remember when I started thinking about a story where a murder was solved online—what eventually became the plot of Tweet the Police—the idea seemed quirky but incredible. An editor actually told me there was no way that would happen in the RL. Now there are whole Reddit threads dedicated to solving crimes like the Boston Marathon Bombings. This mystery about a map and murder confession sent to Post Secret (an "art project" where people anonymously mail their secrets via postcards so they can be posted on a website) in particular is begging for both an official investigation, and for a writer to turn it into a novel. Did Post Secret Pass Around a Murder Confession?
• "It's the kind of word that you can, actually, build a book around." Do you have a favorite word? Neil Gaiman shares his.