Trinity Doyle's Blog

Hey friends,

So I’ve not blogged in about a million years also being a total slacker on instagram; I’m occasional on the twitter but I have been tumbling like nobody’s business. So if you’d like to see the images swimming through my brain head on over there. Hopefully I’ll one day find some brain space to update this space.

much love yo x.

The post Silent Trin appeared first on Trinity Doyle.

It’s a party! A book party–the best kind of partay!

.

Everyone is invited to the Pieces of Sky book launch! Please RSVP so I know how much food and drink to get (fyi there will be food and drink!) The event is free and all ages. Maclean’s will be selling books on the night–which I’ll totally sign for you–and Suspension will be selling coffee–can sign that too if you like–and I’ll be saying some things and lovely Kirsty will be saying some things (probably less jittery than I.) I do hope you can make it! Let me know in the FB event or call Maclean’s on 02 4969 2525 or email sales@macleansbooks.com.au.

EDIT: So turns out I had the fax number down for Maclean’s–massive apologies if anyone called a fax machine! Number will now call a phone. 

The post Pieces of Sky Book Launch! appeared first on Trinity Doyle.

My words have found paper, found edges and a spine. They are a thing you can lift up and flick through. They have started to feel less like a series of question marks and more like something fixed. And, weirdly, something separate.

Holding my book, with it’s banner of UNCORRECTED PROOF dashed across the top, is surreal. I can tell you the cover feels nice, the stock is smooth and shiny, and the edges are square. It’s fat too, fatter than I thought it’d be, it’s sixty-five thousand words, two hundred and eighty-seven pages fat. One of my strange fears, there are many, was it’d be too skinny–that I hadn’t written enough. Well, my baby is fat.

I can tell you the copyright information made me emotional, seeing my name there felt more official than the cover. Copyright © Text, Trinity Doyle 2015. I made this. My publisher’s logo had a similar affect–they have my back, they believe in these words I strung together.

One of my other fears I mentioned above: the question marks. Here is this thing I wrote; do you believe it? This is what happened; is it? Writing is so much trying to find and pull out the story inside you, something that thins and spreads and then builds and suddenly you can glimpse it before it disappears again. Here is this thing I made up. And you fill it up with words, too many words, is that right? No. Pull it back, chuck them out (never delete), more words, new words, better words. No. Move that here, switch those paragraphs, cut that character. Is this the thing inside me? Maybe.

Here are my words in a book shape. Not even the final draft. Oh no. There’s some more line editing and proofing to go. And yet this shape has settled them. The questions, so loud when typing and hi-lighting, are quiet. Now my words tell the story.

So here I am holding my ARC.

Would you like to hold one too?

The wonderful folk of Allen and Unwin have gifted me with a spare ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of PIECES OF SKY to give away. Open worldwide! I might even sign it too–which would mean my first ever signed anything! See details below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Some days are Death Cab days. This is one of my all time favourite music videos and I haven’t watched it in ages but right now I’m writing a story full of fire and it is fitting. This video kills me, I’ve cried a couple times watching it, the whole what to take, what’s precious to you and Billy’s brother! People are always worth more than things.

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Here it is, you guys, the thing that makes this thing so so so much realer. THE COVER for Pieces of Sky. It is here and I am showing it to you and I’ll just get out of the way so you can SEE IT.

Isn’t it just amazing?!! The illustration is by Paula Bonet and the hand lettering is by Bianca Cash. I got chills the first time I saw the illustration, the girl is exactly Lucy. And the way her face is just above the water and how there’s no sky and ugh, it’s all just so so perfect. Plus, check out that beautiful blurb from Vikki Wakefield!

And speaking of blurbs, here’s what’s happening on the back.

Lucy’s life was going as smoothly as any teenager’s could. She was in the local swimming club, and loved it; she lived with her parents and her brother, Cam, in the small coastal town she’d known all her life. She had friends, she had goals – she had a life. Now Cam is dead, her parents might as well be – and Lucy can’t bear to get back in the pool. All she has to look forward to now is a big pile of going-nowhere.

Drawn to Steffi, her wild ex-best-friend who reminds Lucy of her mysterious, unpredictable brother, and the quiet, music-obsessed Evan, the new boy in town, Lucy starts asking questions. Why did Cam die? Was it an accident or suicide? But as Lucy hunts for answers she discovers much more than she expects. About Cam. About her family. About herself.

What do you think?? Oh, and go add it to your goodreads xx

The post My Cover!!! appeared first on Trin In The Wind.

If you’ve known me for any length of time it’s pretty safe to assume you’re aware of my love for the one season of perfection that is My So-Called Life. The story, the acting, the writing, I would happily cocoon myself in this show forever. So when Alexis Bass tweeted needing help with top romantic moments it took me all of five seconds to come up with the below Hallway Scene in MSCL.

AAahhhhh! I’ve shed more than a few tears watching that moment.

There is so much going on here: the tension between Angela and Jordan because he’d rather keep making out in the basement/boiler room (what is that place called? Obvs need to rewatch entire series) and Angela would like to have a conversation in front of his friends. Earlier in the ep she tries this and it’s horrible and awkward and makes you want to punch Jordan Catalano in his Jordan Catalano face. So you’ve got Angela with her friends, Jordan with his and Brian just awkwardly in the middle–classic Brian. Both looking but not looking at each other–Ang being so strong, keeping it together and Jordan being all swoon and jacket. And THEN Jordan crosses the Brian-line in front of everybody while Buffalo Tom sing I’m not a thoughtless kind. You can see he’s made a choice and you can see Claire Danes’ incredible acting every emotion cross Angela’s face as she realises he’s choosing her. And then he’s all, can we go somewhere? And she’s like, sure. And THEN–the moment I die–they walk away and his hand slides down her arm and holds her hand. That hand sliding right there is so real and wonderful and just aaahhhhh.

I love this show.

The post When TV Is Perfect appeared first on Trin In The Wind.

It’s my privilege to have marketing and communications expert Robin Houghton on the blog today! Robin contacted me last year to be a part of her new book Blogging For Writers and I said, well, yes of course! And now a swell pic of my legs is part of her wonderful resource. Today she’s sharing her top tips for getting out of a blogging slump.

No matter how enthusiastic you are when you start blogging, there are always times when it’s the last thing you want to be doing. You may be right in the thick of writing your novel, or going through an extra busy time. Or experiencing family or emotional distractions. Perhaps you’re just feeling out of love with it all, or you simply can’t think of anything new to say.

Whatever the reason for the slump, there are ways to get your blogging mojo back. Here are some winning ideas to try.

1) Get out your editorial calendar

What do you mean, you don’t have one?? If not, then now’s the time to start. By planning in advance what you’re going to blog about, you’ll have a framework to guide you and a goldmine of ideas for when your mind’s a blank. It can be as simple as a basic grid, with dates down the side and blog post ‘types’ across the top (list post, review post, how-to, guest post etc). Spend a little time once a month brainstorming some ideas for posts and you’ll be surprised how easy it is once you start. Refer to this when you’ve run out of ideas and it may just be the trigger you need.

2) Go for a walk

What do you do when you’ve got writer’s block? The same remedies apply. And one of the easiest is to go for a walk, breathe in some fresh air if it’s available and come back refreshed. Sometimes we can get into a fug from too much sitting and, well, writing! Recent research suggests that compared to sitting, walking in any form (even indoors on a treadmill) was shown to boost creativity by some 60% – even when subjects sat down at a desk afterwards. And author Haruki Murakami says he runs or swims every day whenever he’s writing a novel.

3) Recycle an old post

Go through your blog stats, right back to the beginning, and see what were your most popular posts. Choose something you could update, re-position or even just re-post. Many of your readers will have missed it the first time around, and even those who remember it won’t mind the reminder and it will probably get liked and share all over again. You can also take advantage of the ‘schedule in advance’ option. For example, over the Christmas holidays, poet Anthony Wilson made a point of re-scheduling his most popular posts from the past, as a way of giving himself time off yet still supplying his readers with great material.

4) Buddy up

Check out those blogs you subscribe to – peers, influencers, experts – what are they blogging about? Reading other blog posts can often help suggest ideas for your own blog. If nothing else, try to comment – it shows you’re still present and engaged, and may generate a response such as a return visit or a conversation. We all need blogging buddies – not just for moral support or inspiration, but also as potential guest bloggers. Approach one or two people whose writing you like and who have something to say that will interest your readers, and ask if they’d be interested in writing a guest post.

5) Give yourself a break

If you’re really unable to blog right now, there’s nothing wrong with taking a break. The trick is to manage readers’ expectations. If you’re going to take a week off, say so. If you’ve got a couple of guest blog posts in hand, now’s the time to schedule them while you’re taking a blog vacation. Just make sure your guest bloggers know their post is going up, so they can keep an eye on comments and reply as appropriate, and also share with their social networks.

6) Cut out the distractions

You know what it’s like. You sit down to write something and find yourself ‘just checking Facebook’ or following a link to a product review because it’s something you’ve been thinking of buying, or every time an email pops up you have to read and respond to it …if that sounds like you, consider taking steps to limit the time you spend doing other things online. You could just unhook the wi-fi, but sometimes you do legitimately need to research a piece as you’re writing it, insert links, source images and so forth. The good news is there are plugins (for Mac and for PC) that can help set browsing limits, ban access to Facebook and generally help you focus. Check out this blog post for a whole list of apps to try.

7) Escape the ‘time scarcity trap’

‘Time scarcity’ is the state we can get into when we feel over-busy, overwhelmed or permanently behind with things. According to Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir, authors of Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much, a ‘time scarcity’ mindset can negatively affect our creative thinking. It goes even further than that – frantically trying to get everything done and feeling you’re never on top of it can make us less productive and unable to pay the necessary attention to long term (but less pressing) things like our health, reflection, or relationships. Tackling the time scarcity trap may mean something as simple as knowing what time of day you’re at your most productive. Take a look at what Janet Choi suggests in this interesting piece on the subject (and the comments are definitely worth reading too.)

Staying motivated and keeping the blogging momentum going is tough for us all from time to time. Are there other tips and tricks that work for you? Let us know in the comments!

Robin Houghton has over two decades of experience in marketing and communications, formerly with Nike, then running her own business Eggbox Marketing since 2002 specialising in online. She now works primarily with writers and publishing industry professionals to help them make the best use of social media. Robin writes blogs on social media and poetry and has been a guest blogger for a number of sites including Social Media Today and MarketingProfs. She is a published poet and a commercial copywriter for web and print, and an experienced trainer and conference speaker. Her first book ‘Blogging for Creatives’ was a best-seller and resulted in two more commissions, ‘Blogging for Writers’ and forthcoming in 2015 ‘The Rules of Blogging (and How to Break Them)’, both published by Ilex in the UK and Writers Digest Books in the US.

Twitter   LinkedIn   Social Media for Writers (blog and email newsletter)   Blogging for Writers

Buy the book in the Writers Digest Shop (US)

or on Amazon UK

The post Guest Post: Has Blogging Become a Chore? appeared first on Trin In The Wind.

Hello!

So I think I may have missed the window for 2014 roundups so I’ll just tell you…2014 was bonkers! From selling my book to spending three weeks in the US and a million other life stuff in between, it was a very mad, wonderful year. I feel like I owe this space so many posts! I’ll try to up my game this year and be more consistent. (Spoiler: I have a guest post coming up that may help me get my blogging game back on!)

Some things I’ve been doing/planning lately:

Copyediting like a boss

This week I pressed send on my copyedits (line edits, for the US folk) and now my words are off to be typeset and ARCs will be printed! These ARCs go off to booksellers to get them all pumped up (hopefully) and ready to shower the land with PIECES OF SKY! This outcome, coupled with editing over Christmas, made me a tad more stressed than usual. Some stress dreams I had included my dad becoming a serial killer and being hunted by giant wasps. Do you guys stress dream? I haven’t had them this bad since I got married and kept dreaming I turned up at the wrong place, didn’t have my dress, and who knows where my man was.

On the fun side! I saw the first version of my cover (!!!!!!!) and received an incredible blurb from amazing author Vikki Wakefield. I can’t wait to share both with you!

The biggest non-book thing I’m doing this year is jetting off to Europe with my family! My wee little brother is getting married in Sweden. He’s been living there, in the land of snow, months of dark and months of light, for the past few years and bagged himself a scandinavian stunner! I’m so excited to be there for him and I just know I’m gonna cry like a wee babe. I’m also equally excited for our side trip to PARIS!!!!!!! We’re spending ten days in the city of lights and, oh my gosh, I can’t wait! In the lead up I’ve taken it upon myself to learn French (apprendre le française). According to Duolingo I can now read 28.9% of all French–go me! I’ve been rocketing along for weeks now and have just hit pronouns and my brain has exploded. Why is it so hard?!

Since yesterday I have decided to stop being a slug and start moving! After trawling around youtube for a bit I found POP Pilates! And now I’m entering into a month long Pilates beginners torture of awesomeness! I am not one for gyms or leaving the house or exercise in general but I’m sick of feeling so heavy and tired and these videos seem super fun. Plus there’s a calendar checklist to follow and boy do I love checklists. I think everyone should sign up with me!!

pretty bras!

And lastly, for today’s endeavour I’m wanting to get back into sewing. My beautiful grandma taught me to sew and whenever I take out the old machine she gave me it makes me think of her. This amazing woman was wasted on teen me, how I wish she was still here so I could call her up to chat gardening and stitches. Anyway, I’m thinking of making my own bralettes–since I can’t afford the ones I want! So I’ve been checking out material and patterns and dreaming of being a fab lingerie designer. We’ll see how it goes, the last thing I made was an uneven pair of curtains.

I’ve also been rereading a few favourite books (The Piper’s Son, Hunting and Gathering) and making crazy plans for book 2! I haven’t gotten around to voting in the Hottest 100 yet, if you have I’d love to know what you voted for.

Peace.

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Morning, everyone! I was tagged by the most awesome Courtney Leigh to join in the Terrible Titles blog hop. The idea is simple. Scroll through a WIP and let your cursor randomly land somewhere. That phrase or sentence becomes a terrible title. Do this about eight times and see what you come up with.

These Terrible Titles came from my upcoming Pieces of Sky.

All That’s Left is an Ear and a Chin

Vibrates In My Hand

Havaianas and My Shorts

A Stubby Red Candle

Stare at Him Forever

Eyes on Me

Most Mobile Signals

My Pocket and it’s Dead

I’m totally using Havaianas and My Shorts for my next book! This was fun, thanks for tagging me, Courtney! I’m tagging Kirsty Eagar, Elle Blair, Natalie Williamson, and Trish Doller.

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1. Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

The epicness and awesomeness of this series cannot be understated. Laini’s writing is like nothing else out there and I completely love where she took the series in the final book. SO MANY FEELINGS.

2. Every Word by Ellie Marney

Every Word picks up not long after Every Breath and is the perfect kind of sequel, taking everything that was wonderful about the first book and heightening it. The stakes are bigger, the characters are bigger, and the swoon is, well, very good. I highly recommend this to fans of the first book and if you haven’t read Every Breath please consider this me hurling it at you.

3. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak is essential reading for, well, everybody. This novel is short, powerful and confronting.

4. Cracked by Clare Strahn

Strahan can definitely weave the magic of Aussie YA, creating realistic flawed characters, with gorgeous prose and a story that reads like the confidence of a close friend. I loved following Clover’s journey through her awkward high school years, the friendships that come and go and that working out of who you are and what you care about.

Thanks to Allen & Unwin for my review copies of Every Word and Cracked. 

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