Tag: Elixir Bound (Page 11 of 15)

My Writing Process Blog Hop

February 17, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

I’ve been tagged! Author extraordinaire Kai Strand asked me to participate in the My Writing Process blog hop. Make sure to check out Kai’s post about her (many) works in progress and her blog at http://kaistrand.blogspot.com/.

Now on to the questions I must answer:

1. What am I working on?

I’ve been really mum on the blog lately (and in general) about my WIPs since putting myself in a creative bubble last fall. I’m not exactly ready to bust open the bubble, but a little sharing won’t hurt.

So I’ve been working on drafting two different YA projects. Elixir Saved (which I’ve mentioned on the blog before) is a companion novel to my published YA fantasy Elixir Bound. It has three point of view characters, is epic in scope, and has a central theme of sacrifice. My other YA project is tentatively titled Black Butterfly. And that’s all I’m going to say about that one.

I’m hoping to have good drafts of both done before Baby Boy #2 arrives, but that may be wishful thinking. We’ll see how the drafting progresses.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My work is different from others in its genre in exactly the same way as any other writer’s is (how’s that for a paradoxical answer!). What I mean is I write stories that only I can tell in a way that only I can tell them. Okay, you want me to be more specific. One important way I try to stand out in the fantasy genre is to feature dynamic female characters with complex relationships among themselves and with the males around them. (Admittedly, there are other fantasy stories, particularly YA ones, that do this, but I think there aren’t enough.)

3. Why do I write what I do?

I write for teens and kids because that is what I love to read. But it goes beyond that, too. Kids and teens are learning and growing in ways an adult never will. A book read by a child has a far greater impact on his/her life than a book read by an adult had on that adult’s life. I think it’s important to offer kids and teens important, deep, diverse, fun, and entertaining reading experiences (not necessarily all provided by a single work). And I’d love to feel like something I’ve created can have even a small impact on a child.

4. How does your writing process work?

I’m not sure I’d say it does work. I often feel inadequately equipped to be a writer. Not because I can’t write well, but because the process can be elusive. Most of my stories start with a driving plot point and a character and grow from there, but I’ve never written two books in the same way. But they eventually get written, so maybe it my process does work.

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Thanks for reading about my writing process. I’m tagging two more authors extraordinaire Erin Albert and Suzanne de Montigny. Be sure to check out both their posts next week!

Erin Albert (http://www.erinalbertbooks.com/erins-blog.html) is an editor at BookFish Books and author of The Fulfillment Series. Since she picked up Morris the Moose Goes to School at age four, she has been infatuated with the written word. She went on to work as a grammar and writing tutor in college and is still teased by her family and friends for being a member of the “Grammar Police.” In her free time, Erin enjoys acting, running, kickboxing, and, of course, reading and writing. Her favorite place to be is at home with her family and easygoing tabby cat.

Suzanne de Montigny (http://suzannesthoughtsfortheday.blogspot.ca/), author of The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy, was an elementary music teacher for twenty years where she discovered her knack for storytelling. She has nearly completed The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Deception.

Katora Duels in the Realms Faire

November 11, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Image[2] Katora, from my YA fantasy Elixir Bound, is taking part in the biggest literary duel of the year as part of the Realms Faire, an online literary event hosted by M. Pax. Writer and artist Cassandra Webb is hosting Katora and her foe. And there’s a giveaway going on, too!

In honor of this battle, Katora wanted to share a little about herself with a Q&A session. Please post any questions you may have for Katora in the comments. She’ll be stopping by throughout the day to answer them. Here are a few Katora has answered already:

What is your strongest personality trait?

My ma always tells me I’m stubborn when it comes to everything, but I think I’m only stubborn about the stuff that really matters.

What is your greatest fear?

I don’t like to admit I’m afraid of anything, but if I had to pick one thing, I would say a fear of being controlled. I like my independence and don’t want anyone messing with it.

What are some of the biggest stumbling blocks you’ve encountered while on your journey in Faway Forest?

Well, let’s see…there’s Roodesh, the crazy leader of the miniature tilli demick species; Yeselda, the power hungry witch of Faway Forest, who has three terrifying horse-riding spirits as henchme

n; Bhar and Kylene, my brother and sister who can’t seem to stay out of trouble. And well, the long-lashed, smooth-lipped Hirsten…but I promised I wouldn’t be feeling his lips on mine again. I had a quest to complete; it was not the time to be falling in love.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

“Great Mother!” I’m not sure Mother Nature would approve of me using her name so much to express my less-than-virtuous feelings.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I would love to be more open about my feelings, though if you told anyone I told you this, I would deny

it. Seriously, though, I think life might be easier if I could me more like my sister Kylene, who tends to wear her emotions on her sleeve. I keep mine all bottled up and then get annoyed when people don’t understand me. But how are they supposed to understand me if I never let them know how I’m feeling?

What words of wisdom would you like to share with our readers?

It’s taken me a long time to follow Pop’s advice. He told me to follow my heart, and when I finally did that, the answers to life’s hardest questions suddenly seemed simple.

Now it’s your turn to ask away. And don’t forget to check out Katora’s duel. Oh, one last thing. Elixir Bound is still on sale for $.99. Not sure how long this great price will last, so check it out on Amazon or the MuseItUp bookstore.

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Guest Posts and Elixir Bound Sale

November 4, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Despite falling back with the clocks this weekend, I’m running low on sleep this Monday morning, so a cop-out informational post. 🙂

First off, the ebook of Elixir Bound is on sale for only $.99 through Thursday. For all ebook platforms, you can get it at the MuseItUp bookstore, and it’s also on sale over at Amazon. If you do get a chance to read it and don’t mind posting a short review over at Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or anywhere else you feel so inclined, I’d really appreciate it. Reviews from readers really do help get the word out there about books!

No word on the date for when the paperback version of Elixir Bound will be shipping, but it is available for pre-order. Any day now I hope, and certainly in time for any holiday shopping you might be doing for a teen (or YA loving adult)!

I’ve also had a few guest posts up lately. Writing buddy Meradeth Houston featured me on her Sary in the Real World series with a fun post about my problem ridden trip to Alaska to run a marathon. My sister and I did this trip awhile back and keep saying we’re going to write a memoir about it one day, tentatively titled Loose Bowels and Butt Chap.

Also, Anne Nesbet interviewed me over at the Enchanted Inkpot. I answer questions about creating Elixir Bound, my current WIPs (though I’m still in the bubble, so not too much about those), and what magical portals I would like to be transported through. It was a really great interview!

How was everyone else’s weekend? Any good plans for the week?

Elixir Bound Blog Tour Giveaway Sneak Peek

September 25, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

The Elixir Bound in paperback blog tour is in the home stretch! Thanks to everyone who’s been following. As I announced last week, Elixir Bound in paperback is up for pre-order on my publisher’s website. You get a free ecopy of the book when you order it through MuseItUp!

Today, I’m at Behind a Million and One Pages talking about strong females in YA (those of you who have been following my Females in YA series might be intersted in this post). There’s also a small giveaway going on at Tina’s Book Reviews for an ecopy of Elixir Bound. And, of course, there’s the big giveaway that’s been going on throughout the whole blog tour!

Now for your sneak peek at some of the items that might be included (disclaimer: the items in the picture may only be representative of the actual items!). We’re close to having 200 entries…if we get to 200, I might even throw in a bonus signed copy to a lucky winner! So please feel free to spread the word about the giveaway. So without further ado (do people still say that?), here’s the sneak peek!

In addition to the above items (the signed book, bookmarks, your very own Elixir bottle, a map of the Great Peninsula, and a sticker for my picture book app The Bedtime Knight), I’ll probably throw in some Elixir inspired recipes, some bonus bookmarks for books by some of my favorite authors, and a few more surprises! Here’s how to enter:

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Elixir Saved Sneak Peek

September 20, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

First off a bit of news: I have received my print galley of Elixir Bound from the publisher and it’s up on my publisher’s website as available to order! Still no firm date on when I’ll be able to hold it in my hot little hands, but the galley and order option means we’re getting close. Yay!

So as the Elixir Bound in paperback blog tour continues (full schedule here), I’ve got a sneak peek at the companion novel (still a work-in-progress…and it’s kind of terrifying to be putting this out there at the this stage, but figured I’d be brave) Elixir Saved. In this next book, Kylene, Zelenka (both of whom you might know from Elixir Bound), and Devon (new character here!) have all been saved the by the Elixir. Now they must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice with their second chances at life.

As you can see from the description, Elixir Saved will feature many of the characters from Bound, but will also introduce some new characters. With three POV characters and new quests, Saved is even more epic than the first book.

I’ve mentioned before how I originally wrote Bound as a fantasy adventure after my sister Kylene passed away at the age of 16. I tried writing the story from her POV, but it was too hard at the time. I’m happy to say one of the POV characters of Saved is the character Kylene. This sneak peek is the first few pages from her POV (keep in mind this is an unedited version :)). Enjoy!

Kylene Kase waited in the wings for her big moment on stage when lightning struck. It hit a giant oak behind the outdoor stage, which split down the middle with a loud crack and caught on fire. The upper half of the tree toppled over and smashed through the backdrop, shooting sparks out toward the crowd.

The whole production—written by, directed by, and starring Kylene—flashed to a halt. A message, brought by the higher beings, filled her head. The implications of the six terrible words paralyzed her.

Kylene regained her senses and jumped off the nonstage side of the wings, tumbling to the hard ground covered in browning grass. The wood used to construct the stage served as kindling and the whole thing billowed with smoke and flames in a matter of minutes. She ran from the stage to escape the ashes, but acrid smoke curled toward her and burned her throat.

From a safe distance, she watched props of faux golden pillars melt and distort into shapes reminiscent of grotesque faces. As the stage collapsed in on itself, she sank to her hands and knees and sobbed. A strong hand pulled her to her feet. Her younger, but much taller brother, Bhar, grasped her hands. His blue eyes turned hazel as they reflected the orange flames.

He grasped her shoulders. “You okay?”

Kylene nodded; she was fine physically, if not mentally. She searched the frenzied crowd for the rest of her family, face stricken as she suddenly realized one of them might be hurt.

The list of her closet family members tumbled from her dry lips. “Ma, Pop, Katora, Lili, Ariana and the kids?”

“They’re all fine!” Bhar yelled over his shoulder as he ran to the perimeter of the disaster. “Pop says go home. I’ll see you there.”

He peered into the flames, presumably searching for anyone trapped in the ruins of the stage. A crowd of spectators, actors, and crew—some screaming—ran past. An old man fell in the chaos. Bhar lifted him up, offered him a shoulder to lean on, and escorted him to the road, disappearing into the throng.

Kylene stood, frozen in place, while her dreams of a successful production burned to the ground with the stage. The last support beam creaked and groaned, giving itself to the inferno. She fled for home, the early autumn leaves crunching underfoot in rhythm with her hiccupping sobs. Her white-blond hair flew wildly behind her and tears flowed from her bright blue eyes, obscuring her sight. Not that seeing mattered; her feet automatically knew the way down the dirt road to home.

It wasn’t the failure in front of her whole family and the entire town of Tussar that made her cry as much as the six words resonating in her head. In the Great Peninsula, higher beings—sometimes even Mother Nature herself—communicated with humans through the weather. The messages were often cryptic, hard to interpret. However, the message brought by the lightning came through clearer than the transparent bottles that held the essence—a renowned beverage in the Great Peninsula—brewed by her family.

Kylene sprinted straight through the front door of her family’s old, wooden farmhouse, up the rickety stairs, and into the room she shared with her sister Katora. She flung herself onto her bed and sucked in heaving breaths. Even with her face buried deep in her freshly laundered pillow slip, all she smelled was fire.

Before long, a warm hand caressed her back accompanied by Katora’s soothing voice. “Shhh. It’s okay. Don’t cry, Ky.”

Easy enough for Katora to say. She never cries.

She knew her whole family thought she cried too much, but surely the shocking message justified her distress. Eventually the sobs abated and Kylene’s body quieted. She sat and smiled at Katora, one of her three older sisters, the one closest in age to Kylene.

Katora’s blue-green eyes sparkled in her flushed faced. “You heard the message too. Sounds like another quest.”

Kylene rubbed her eyes and frowned. She shared neither her sister’s interpretation of the message nor her enthusiasm for quests. The last and only quest she had been on had nearly killed her. It had been Katora’s job to pick the flowers that contained the nectar for their family’s secret healing Elixir and take over as the Elixir’s guardian. Kylene, merely there to accompany her sister, received a deadly wound from a poisoned spear as a souvenir. If not for the Elixir, she likely would not have recovered.

Lately, nightmares of her loved ones, cold and blue-lipped, haunted her sleep. Would that be her fate if she went on another quest? She pushed away the thought as tears prickled the corners of her eyes.

“The message for the last quest to pick the flowers for the Elixir…” Kylene paused, not sure how to phrase what she wanted to know. “Did you hear it?”

“No.” Katora’s brow furrowed as she gazed at her. “I only saw the snow. The message was for Pop—he was still the guardian of the Elixir then.”

“Did Pop tell you what he heard?” Kylene asked.

Katora stared past Kylene to the wall, but she didn’t really appear to be looking at anything in particular. “I don’t know if he heard a specific message last time. What was it he said? Something about how the greater beings aren’t always clear on what they mean. He told me the snowstorm came as the Elixir’s supply was low, so he took that as a message we needed to retrieve more of the nectar.”

Kylene frowned. The message she heard as the lightning struck held no such ambiguity.

“But you heard a specific message this time?” she asked.

Katora smiled. “Oh, yes. It was like someone speaking right inside my head. No guessing games this time.”

The experience sounded the same as Kylene’s. Tears squeaked from her eyes again, blurring Katora’s face so much it reminded Kylene of the ugly shapes of the melting columns. Perhaps she misinterpreted the message and someone else would be made to fulfill it. She shivered. She didn’t want the message to be true for her or anyone else.