C.A. Pack's Blog

I’m guilty … of procrastinating. My YA fantasy novels usually come out at this time of year; however, the Third Chronicles of Illumination is taking its time to develop. Or, at least, I am. The first draft is nearly finished. The main storyline is down, but I’m still weaving in subplots. And therein lies the problem.

I’ve built a fantasy library that is duplicated on twelve different realms, not including Lumina, which hosts “the library of origination.” So now I spend a lot of time world building. Don’t get me wrong; I love doing it. But it’s time consuming. And I have a bad memory. The solution is to use my website to catalogue most of the knowledge about the different realms. It’s like having my story bible online. Whenever I forget a name or description, I can look it up. Easy peasy. But that in itself creates a problem, because I don’t want my website to include spoilers. I have a lot of backstory, images, and future story that I would love to place on my website, invisibly. I haven’t done it yet. I have a few blind pages on my site, but none concerning the realms.

Now I’m thinking blind pages might make an interesting promotion. Find the hidden content; send me the URL; win a free ebook. There are a lot of smart people out there who I’m sure would persevere. The problem is: do I want to expose them to the spoilers? Definitely not.

So I guess I’ll just drop any thought of trying this particular promotion. Instead, I’ll create a safe place for information I haven’t revealed yet, and keep it hidden. It won’t help my memory, but it will keep the worlds in my readers’ imaginations from colliding with my own.

I usually come out with a new book each summer, but I'm still hard at work on the Third Chronicles of Illumination, which won't be ready on time. Instead, I'll be releasing a prequel novella called Becoming Johanna, which should give readers some insight into why Johanna is the way she is. And I've just designed my own cover for the novella. Hope you like it.

Second Chronicles of Illumination is going to be featured on a few additional book blogs during the month of October. Come by and visit.

October 5
Book featured at 3 Partners in Shopping

October 12
Book featured at Around the World in Books

October 13
Book featured at Archaeolibrarian

October 19
Book reviewed at Crystal’s Chaotic Confessions

October 20
Book featured at Chosen By You Book Club

October 26th
Book reviewed at I Smell Sheep

October 28
Interviewed at Deal Sharing Aunt

October 29
Book reviewed at A Room Without Books is Empty



Second Chronicles of Illumination

If you love reading sci-fi, paranormal, fantasy and the like, you won't want to miss this: an online book convention featuring authors who specialize in what you love.



I'm excited to be one of the authors taking part in Virtual FantasyCon during the first week of November. I'll be online Sunday November 8th talking about the Second Chronicles of Illumination, but there will be lots of authors taking part every day, starting November 1st. Don't miss it.

This guest blog appeared yesterday on Bent Over Book Words as part of my virtual book tour for Second Chronicles of Illumination, and it talks about why my female protagonist Johanna Charette isn’t as much fun as her partner Jackson Roth.

Every great couple survives because each individual brings complementary strengths to the relationship. In the Second Chronicles of Illumination, as in all the Library of Illumination adventures, Johanna plays the straight “man” to Jackson’s joking. Readers are always telling me how ‘great’ Jackson is, and how ‘mature’ Johanna is, adding that she doesn’t even seem like a teenager. It’s because Johanna is a serious book nerd who found solace from her miserable childhood at an orphanage, inside the pages of books. The rules at Peakie’s Foundling Home were stringent, and Johanna rarely got to play games or have fun. The home also frowned on individuality, so Johanna had to learn how to fit in. She did it by emulating the adults around her. And she learned to play it safe, not daring to do anything unconventional until the very end of her residency there.

Jackson’s childhood was nearly as miserable, but he had his brother Chris and his sister Ava to play around with, and a loving, if financially stressed, mother who encouraged his sense of humor. Sometimes there was barely enough money to put food on the table, but the Roth boys survived by out-joking each other to take their minds off what they didn’t have. Their younger sister was their greatest fan. Even their mother couldn’t help but smile at some of their antics. Jackson, being the oldest, was expected to be the “man” of the house. He learned how to face adversity and quickly diffuse problems. It forced him to become daring—and he took risks that many other people would turn their backs on.

So while both Johanna and Jackson both grew up poor, they had very different life experiences. Johanna is very insular. Her upbringing forced her to develop an acerbic wit and dry sense of humor, often meant only to amuse herself. Jackson is much more likely to joke around in an open, carefree way that will elicit laughs, and acceptance, from onlookers. People respond to him.

Consider them two sides to the same coin. And like every famous duo, you’re going to prefer one partner to the other. You know if they were playing “good cop, bad cop” Johanna would be the bad cop because it’s the role she’d be most comfortable playing. Jackson is the more likable of the two so, of course, he would play the good cop. There’s a line in Second Chronicles of Illumination when a flight attendant calls him “Sir.” His reply? “I’m not a ‘sir.’ I’m Jackson.” He’s real. He’s humble. And he’s cute.

But don’t think Johanna plays second fiddle to Jackson. She’s intelligent, methodical, and passionate about what she does. She’s the “prime” curator—a tower to be climbed; an ocean to be crossed; a force to be reckoned with; and appearing to be unattainable gives her a certain amount of allure.

Maybe the only person who likes Johanna better than anyone else—is Jackson. He’s absolutely under her spell. She was his mentor. She scolded him when he made mistakes, but never shut him out. He learned from her and learned to depend on her. And in turn, she learned to depend on him. They provide each other’s support system. They’re a team. And they bring out the best in each other. And that’s what makes them a great couple, even if you think Jackson deserves better!

I recently authored a guest blog for Mythical Books as part of my virtual Second Chronicles of Illumination book tour, and it allowed me to reveal some information about the Library of Illumination and its curators that might never make it into the final version of the book. That’s not to say these factoids won’t appear in a future episode. Just that they were either not stressed, or made abundantly clear in existing books, or were left on the cutting room floor. But anyone familiar with writers knows every word we’ve ever written is precious to us, and we can’t bear to cast precious pieces of prose or interesting ideas into oblivion. And so I’m going to share those bits and bobs with you right now, to give you insight into what I know—that everyone else may not be privy to.

Here are six little known factoids about the characters in my books.

• Jackson looks older than he is. Johanna looks younger. So they appear to be the same age. However, Johanna is seventeen months older than Jackson, which is why she’s reluctant to amp up their relationship.
• All the books in Libraries of Illumination appear in the language of the reader.
• Some overseers’ symbols in the ebook are different from the ones in the print version, because of font limitations.
• Jackson and Johanna are protected from the effects of the space-time continuum by a combination of their longevicus charm, and a special charm Myrddin placed on his workshop on Skokholm Island. It worked on them, but not on Cathasach or Beck, because Johanna and Jackson are curators. And so was Myrddin.
• There are seven doors hidden in the basement of the Library of Illumination that protect vastly different chambers. Door 7 is, of course, the vault. Door 5 leads to a crypt containing former curators. There’s a nuclear room from which the blue orb powers the library behind Door 2. And a Time-Map Room, which displays a requested place during different layers of time behind Door 6. Door 4 leads to a Duplication Room where many, but not all, items can be replicated. Door 3 is the entrance to the Alchemy Room where materials can be transformed into something they are not. And Door 1 is so secret; even I haven’t yet discovered what it protects.
• Jackson had a triquetra tattoo on his neck, but it disappeared during a time fluctuation.

There is so much more I could add, but those items would be spoilers for upcoming storylines. So for now, I’ll have to keep them to myself. Suffice it to say, Jackson and Johanna will have a fun time discovering what’s behind all the locked doors in the basement.

(Most of this post was originally published as a guest blog for Mythical Books on July 14, 2015)

To give away books … or not to give away books—that is the question.

I just read an interesting interview by an expert in book marketing who says once an authors' books are published, they shouldn't use them as prizes in giveaways and raffles. The reasoning is: people who might purchase a book don't click on the "buy" button because they're hoping to win a copy of it. That kind of delay apparently costs sales because there are so many new books coming out every week, people tend to forget about you. Out of sight, out of mind.

This saddens me, especially considering my YA Fantasy Second Chronicles of Illumination just came out this week, and I've got a book giveaway going on right now on Goodreads.

I just want to say to those of you who are hoping to win a copy of my book—if you don't win, please don't forget about it entirely. Instead, go to your local library and ask for it.

They probably won't have it on the shelves because it's an indie book. But they will have access to it, and if you ask for it by name, they may buy or borrow a copy for library patrons, like yourself, to read. And it won't cost you a dime.

Then, if you're a really nice person, you'll review it here on Goodreads. That's all an author can hope for (and yes, I am ending the sentence with a preposition).

And thanks for your interest in my books!

Second Chronicles of Illumination doesn't come out until June 30th, but the editorial reviews are looking good.


Kirkus Reviews says:

"Riveting adventures about an interdimensional library system" ... "Pack's prose is lucid and tight" … "Pack's aptitude for spinning plots major (time travel) and minor (Pru Tellerence's missing child) continues to make this a singularly engaging series. The stakes have never been higher in Pack's inventive epic."

And Readers' Favorite says:

"What C. A. Pack has produced is a genuinely thrilling adventure with vivid descriptions and a fully built world. The story was highly unpredictable due to its inventive concept and multi-genre style, making it an exciting yet sophisticated read for both young adults and their elders. Overall, an excellent tale with plenty of twists, vivid imagery, and a satisfying escape from the humdrum real world."

I'm excited. Publishing a book is like giving birth, and my new baby is on its way!

One of my former students just wrote to me saying he wants to write a book, but doesn't know how to get started. This is basically what I told him:

First, is it fiction or non-fiction?

If it's non-fiction, you've got to write an outline and a couple of sample chapters and put together a proposal (you can find out about book proposals online). Then submit it to some non-fiction agents to see if they're interested. With non-fiction, you don't write the whole book first.

If it's fiction - you do have to write the whole book first. To start, JUST WRITE IT. Put the pen to paper (so to speak) and DON'T go back and edit your pages until you've written the whole story. It will be a sloppy mess, but new novelists who keep tinkering with their first few pages or chapters, often don't finish their manuscripts. Get the story down. Then go back and re-read and edit it. You'll find a lot of stuff to change, add, or delete. When you're done doing that. Do it again. When you think it's perfect, then you can think about getting an agent if you want to pursue traditional publishing, or an editor, if you want to publish it yourself. Some people get an editor before submitting it to an agent, just to increase their chances of being picked up, but editors can be expensive.

Don't worry about that right now. JUST WRITE IT.

If you're writing genre fiction, know the basic rules for writing that particular type of fiction. Once you know the rules, you can break them if you have a good reason, but you should know what's expected before you start.

It's that simple. All you need is a pen and a piece of paper.

I am happy to announce my YA fantasy, Chronicles: The Library of Illumination, has just been named to Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2014.

       

Chronicles: The Library of Illumination