Monthly Archives: April 2012

Book Tour: Socialpunk (Preview, Q&A and Author Insight!)

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How would it feel knowing that your hard work, your passion and your time has finally resulted in something that you only dreamed about: a novel? What if, before your eyes, you felt the excitement of your future fans and saw your words being bound within covers and printed online?

All those feelings and more are exactly what Monica Leonelle’s heart and mind overflows with, and she stopped by at A Novel Place to share her thoughts, feelings, challenges and favourites — and to preview her first trilogy Socialpunk. In the first novel in the trilogy, social media and technology take a whole new turn when lives become trapped in a virtual reality.

About the Book: Socialpunk

Ima would give anything to escape The Dome and learn what’s beyond its barriers, but the Chicago government has kept all its citizens on lockdown ever since the Scorched Years left most of the world a desert wasteland. When a mysterious group of hooded figures enters the city unexpectedly, Ima uncovers a plot to destroy The Dome and is given the choice between escaping to a new, dangerous city or staying behind and fighting a battle she can never win.

About the Author: Monica Leonelle

Monica Leonelle is a well-known digital media strategist and the author of three novels. She blogs at Prose on Fire and shares her writing and social media knowledge with other bloggers and authors through her Free Writer Toolkit.

10 Not-Always-Serious Questions For This Seriously Talented Author:

1) Let’s start at the very beginning… where were you when came up with the idea that formed your Socialpunk trilogy? 
I was inspired by the city of Chicago, by social media issues in our current world, and by the cyberpunk genre. The book is a bit like the Terminator series and I reference that a couple times just for fun. James Cameron is basically my favorite director ever, and he really inspires me with his world-building and storytelling skills.
2) When you began planning your first novel, what were the reactions like from your friends and family? Did they encourage you? Hinder you? What were your initial thoughts when you officially decided to write the novel?
I’ve been writing forever, so a new book came as no surprise to anyone. My friends and family always encourage me with whatever my endeavors are. When I first start a new novel I’m excited to get my ideas down on the screen.
3) Inspiration comes in many forms, and it would be impossible to believe authors aren’t inspired by the world and those around them… in that case, what inspired you? Events? People? Places?
I wouldn’t say any one person or thing is my inspiration, because that doesn’t create anything new. You create new things by combining inspirations from all sorts of different sources and then adding your own touch or twist. But if you want to be inspired, you should expose yourself to all sorts of media—books, television, movies, radio, art museums, you name it. If you are writing one book you should consume at least ten books, ten movies, ten TV shows, ten songs, etc. to prepare. It doesn’t matter if they are related or not—in fact, the more diverse, the better. And how much fun is it that I just told you to watch TV in order to do work? You’re welcome for that.
4) When you began to write, what challenges did you face? Did anything come easier than you expected?
Since I’d written a novel before, I didn’t face as many challenges as with the first one. There was one point after I’d written the first half of the book where I thought, “the rest of this is so wrong.” So I re-plotted the entire second half of the book.
5) As with many authors, did you have a writing routine that you stuck to? What did a typical writing day look like?
I’m a “burst of energy” type of person rather than a “little every day” type of person. So I will write a whole book in a week or two, then go back and edit it all in a week or two. And then I won’t write as much for the next few weeks. On an average day I probably write a couple thousand words, during a book writing session I write closer to 5000 words a day.
6) What did your writing space look like? Did you have a particular playlist you listened to? Drink? Food?
I mostly just write on my couch and often with the television on! It’s really bizarre. If I’m writing fiction I typically need quiet, so I’ll write in the dead hours of the night. All I need is typically my computer, and sometimes my Spotify account. Writing is one of those lucky professions that you can do anywhere.
7) Who do you owe most for your novels?
Myself. I wrote them :)
8) If there’s one thing you learned most from your experience, what was it?
Just keep writing. Good writing comes with practice, and you do just get better and better. But it takes awhile. Patience! It’s the worst thing to tell a writer. I hate hearing it too, which is why I’m saying it now. To remind myself to have patience with writing. It’s not easy to make a living at it. A lot of people advise that if you can see yourself doing anything besides writing, you should do that instead.
9) What would you tell other aspiring authors out there who are fearful about starting that first novel and publishing it?
That they can combat fear by hiring a good editor. Writers should also learn marketing because they are either going the indie route or they are under fire to sell through on their advance with a traditional publisher. You can learn more about marketing your writing with my Free Writer Toolkit here: proseonfire.com/the-free-writer-toolkit.
More importantly, writers should inject their marketing directly into their manuscripts. Writers often think of marketing as this separate thing from writing, but it’s not at all. 80-90% of books are sold through word-of-mouth and most of the marketability of a book is right there in the manuscript. So even if you are going the traditional route, if you are serious about getting published you should hire an editor to go through your book and see how marketable it is. Traditional publishers are looking for marketable books. It’s a business and they need to make money.
10) For fun, tell me about your five favourites: book/author, musical artist, city, language and historical event – and why?
Book/author: I have tons. But my favorite book from the last year is Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. It’s so romantic and lovely and sweet. It’s actually the second book in the Infernal Devices, so start with the first one, Clockwork Angel.
Musical Artist: I’m loving Jessie J right now
City: Chicago, easily.
Language: English, I guess! I don’t know any others well enough.
Historical event: The signing of the US Bill of Rights. I recently visited DC and went to the National Archives to view these documents. And I’m in amazement at how relevant they are today. I genuinely believe too many Americans are ungrateful for how the country was formed and who the men were who put the systems into place.

“Date a Girl Who Reads” by Rosemarie Urquico

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“Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilightseries.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.”

Novel Preview & Author Interview

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Almost everyone I know has said at one point in their lives that they want to write a novel. But hardly anyone ever does. The world is brimming with untold stories, but thankfully, Loved is one story we will soon have the chance to read, relish and remember.

Kimberly Novosel recently shared her thoughts with Books, Tea & Me regarding her upcoming novel, anxiously awaiting the day all her hard work can finally be realized and enjoyed by those looking for a novel that will speak to them. Not only is this young woman gifted with words, but she has the ability to bring forth those raw emotions and challenges we all face growing up into a new light with a fresh perspective on that classic coming-of-age story.

I had the opportunity to speak with Kimberly about her life, her favourite things, her fears and her passions, and I hope you are just as intrigued about Loved as I am!

Let’s start at the very beginning… What moment in your life made you really stop and think “I should write a novel about this”? Was there one particular event or a combination of events?
In general, I was fascinated by the way that people come and go in our lives, how not everyone we get close to remains in our present, but each person has an impact. Positive or negative, always an impact. Specifically, one person I lost was very special to me. He really defined who I am as a person. This story started out as his story, then I realized I was really saying so much more. (Disclaimer: Find out who this person is in my next interview with her in a couple of months!)

When you first decided to write Loved, what were your initial fears? What did your support system (friends, family, coworkers, peers, etc.) say about your goal? What challenges did you meet while writing Loved? What was surprisingly easy for you?
I didn’t have any fears at first because I was only writing for myself. If no one else is going to read something, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Little by little, I started to want other people to read it and feedback from friends and some friends-of-friends was positive, which encouraged me to keep going and put it out there. Now I have fears!
I read a quote somewhere about how writers hate to write but love to have written. That couldn’t be truer. I love the feeling of reading something back and being so excited about what you’ve accomplished. Sitting down to write can be challenging. The hardest part of the whole process is editing. Once you have written the story, the last thing you want to do is go through it with a fine toothed comb and rewrite and rewrite and move commas around. That was agony!

Why do you believe Loved is a story that needs to be told?
I wish someone had told me at seventeen, or twenty, or even twenty-five that I wasn’t alone in my struggles and heartache, or encouraged me about the woman who I would become, in words that I would understand. Those messages come from parents, teachers, pastors and they don’t really sink in. In our young adult lives we tend to feel really isolated from most of the world and from our future selves.  Life isn’t that hard. These young women need a new way to look at things and I’m hoping this story speaks to them in a way they really hear.

Without giving the whole story away, in 50 words exact summarize Loved… And go!
Kimberly leaves her small town to chase big dreams of working in the entertainment industry, falling in love, all the beautiful things life has in store. She’s hit hard by loneliness, heartbreak, and the disappointment that things don’t always work out ideally. She has to learn to manage the letdowns.

Wow, spot on! Nicely done! Okay, now moving away a bit from Loved because I want to get to know the person behind the novel…  Other than writing, what are some of your hobbies and interests?
I love to travel — Portland and Las Vegas are favourites. I’m taking my first trip to Mexico later this year and I’m really excited about that. I also try to stay really active. I love yoga and kickboxing, and I’m hoping to find an adult ballet class. Ballet is one of the things from my youth that I miss! Planning events is also something I love, whether for work or for fun. My two best friends and I founded a charity event planning group called Giving Back is the New Black, through which we host events for charities that we’re passionate about, like young adult cancer advocacy and various issues in Africa.

Describe your perfect day.
Let’s do this schedule style!
7:00am: Waking up in New York in an apartment that I love, checking in with my assistant and answering emails and phone calls in my pj’s, drinking coffee.
10:30 am: Working out and making lunch.
12:00pm: Getting dressed up for client meetings and generally being a marketing/PR rock star.
6:00pm: drinks or dinner with friends.
9:00pm: Reading or writing at home unless I have an event.  Hopefully eventually someone I love will be there when I get home.
11:00pm: Bedtime.


As you can see, this lady is a delight to speak with and her debut novel will definitely be making an impact on young women everywhere. I actually can’t describe how excited I am to read her novel, and I hope this has peaked your interest as well. She has created a Kickstart campaign to get her novel printed, so please click on this link to find out more. I’ve already pledged money and I hope you do too! Let’s help Loved kick off from the ground running.

Please?

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If you haven’t already, please vote for my blog for Goodread’s Independent Book Blogger Awards! The deadline is fast approaching and I need your votes! I realize I’ve only been blogging for a few months (whereas other blogs have been blogging for years) but your vote would mean the world to me! You can find a link to vote on my page, so please do – it only takes a minute out of your day  =)

Liebster Blog Award

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This feels like forever ago, but on April 7th, I was nominated by Biblio Mania for the Liebster Blog Award! It was certainly a wonderful surprise to wake up to, and I thank her so much for the recognition. Her blog is fantastic, by the way — I don’t follow too many Blogspot blogs, but I was glad to find her blog and followed promptly. You all need to check it out!

"Liebster" means "beloved" in German. Who knew?

Anyways, the Liebster Blog Award is given to those who have less than 200 followers. It’s considered to recognize those blogs that are “the best kept secrets” out there, and I can’t even begin to express my gratitude that people actually enjoy reading A Novel Place. When I had created the blog five months ago, I hadn’t really expected many people to actually care. But the fact that I’ve got so many followers (and the number just keeps growing) makes me incredibly happy. So thank you!

As far as I know, I don’t have to do anything for this award other than nominate five blogs that I feel are “the best kept secrets.” So without further ado, here are my nominations (some don’t say how many followers they have, but I included them anyways):

1) The Life of Mugs: This girl is fantastic. After reading her super long post on The Hunger Games, I knew we had a lot in common. From music to books, Meg makes sure her blog is different from the rest. If you like this blog, make sure to check out her other blog Meg Says.

2) Bridget’s Books: This blog is definitely a gem. It’s written in such a captivating way and I love reading her thoughts on the publishing world and books. It’s a must-follow.

3) Scribbles & Wanderlust: I love this blog. We share many similar thoughts on books and I look forward to seeing what she’s going to post next.

4) Thoughts On My Bookshelf: After feeling like I was the only bookworm who doesn’t love borrowing books from the library, I happened to come across this blog. And boy was I glad when I realized I’m not alone. (Bonus: She shares the same name as myself).

5) Back to the Bookshelf: I’m only a recent follower, but I absolutely enjoy reading her reviews on YA books and movies. While I may not  be as engrossed in YA literature as she is, she makes me want to read a lot of the books she reviews.

Well, that’s it for my nominations. Make sure to take a look at the blogs above because I know for a fact you won’t be disappointed. Thanks again Biblio Mania for the award!