Winner of My Sparkling Misfortune

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 Giveaways Ending March 2

My Sparkling Misfortune - ebook

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Thank you to those who entered.

Interview with Laura Lond, Author of My Sparkling Misfortune - With Giveaway!

Today please help me welcome Laura Lond, Author of My Sparkling Misfortune.
Hello Laura-
I have to say that I am glad I read the book before I prepared these questions. You have a wonderful sense of humor that comes through in the book.

Q1.  What inspired you to write for publishing?

A: I wanted to be a writer as long as I can remember. Even as a young child I knew I wanted to write books, and not just as a hobby. I knew I wanted to do it for a living. How a young child would get such an idea, I don’t know, but there I was, writing my first “book” with a pencil, in huge all caps, shortly after I had learned my letters.

That sounds like fun and good practice. :-)
Q2.  It appears that you have had experience with traditional publishing and now self-publishing. Could you share some brief thoughts on why you chose to self publish My Sparkling Misfortune?

A: My Sparkling Misfortune was actually my last attempt to go the traditional publishing route. I had completed the book and, as usual, wasted well over a year querying agents and publishers. After 150+ rejection letters I signed with a small publisher, mostly out of desperation. I knew they were new and inexperienced. I decided to take the risk, and I had paid for it. They’d botched the nice, professionally drawn cover I had ordered and paid for. They’d botched the text. They’d botched the formatting for Kindle. Having wasted another year or so trying to get them correct all that, I pulled the book from them and re-released it independently.

 I am glad that an unpleasant experience turned into something good for you.
Q3.  What was the best piece of advice you received regarding your writing career?

A: Write the books you want to read.

There is some succinct, good advice!
Q4.  If you were to start over what might you do differently?

A: If I were to start over right now, I would release books to Kindle and other e-platforms and follow up with paperback and audio versions -- independently, never worrying about agents or publishers. There was no such option back when I was starting out. You either worked with a publisher or paid hundreds, if not thousands, to self-publish a paperback with very limited distribution options. Thank goodness things are so different for authors today.

It seems you learned from tough experience.
Q5.  I am inclined to think that marketing a book is much the same for traditional and self-published unless you are a really big name author. Do you find this to be true and what is your favorite part of marketing/promotion?

A: Yes, unless you are a big name it’s pretty much a one man show -- or a one woman show in my case. :-) You have to find ways to spread the word about your books, all by yourself. My favorite part is interaction with readers. It is always fun to hear from my audience, see what they like and dislike, what they want to know, what they expect from the upcoming books. Another recent favorite is working with voice artists to create audio versions of my books.

I think My Sparkling Misfortune would be a fun audiobook to listen to.
Q6.  Do you have a least favorite part or most difficult element of writing/publishing/promoting?

A: Writing itself can be and usually is difficult, but it is certainly not my least favorite part; it’s what I was born to do. Publishing, now that I do it independently without having to wait for months or years, isn’t a problem, either. Promotion… Yes. I am no social butterfly, I’ve never liked being in the spotlight; for someone like me, there’s little to like about it. The worst part? Radio or TV interviews. I have done them in the past, and it’s just too stressful. “Never say never,” I know, but right now my stance on it is, Never Again. :-)

Hmm - I wonder what trick you could use to help relax for interviews. Maybe practice with a friend?
Q7.  When you started My Sparkling Misfortune did you intend a series and did you have each book plotted out before you started the first one or did the subsequent book(s) flow from the first book?

A: I thought it was going to be just one book. As soon as I had completed it though, I began to suspect there was more to the story. Readers’ feedback had confirmed that suspicion right away: virtually everyone who had read it wanted the second book.

There are certainly questions left open at the end of book one that call for more!
Q8.  Is there an ancillary character in My Sparkling Misfortune you had the most fun with?

A: That would be Tulip a.k.a. Jarvi, of course. The way he keeps driving Lord Arkus, the main character, up the wall is something I wish I could do more often in my books.

It had to be Jarvi! He is so much fun.
Q9.  Who did the illustrations for the book and cover and did you get to input a lot with that?

A: The artist is Alla Alekseyeva, she usually does covers and illustrations for foreign language editions of my traditionally published books. I had hired her directly to work on this series, and she has done an excellent job. I had discussed the main characters with her before she started, so we both knew exactly how they should look. The rest was up to her. I just told her I wanted one illustration per chapter, letting her choose what parts of the story she wanted to capture. Having seen her work before, I could fully trust her with that.

Alla did a wonderful job bringing the character views to life and your trust was well place.
Q10.  Do you have a favorite mentor or author that you have learned from?

A: I have learned from many authors and books and I continue to learn. It is hard to name one, but if I absolutely have to, I’d pick C.S. Lewis. He wrote what he loved to write, and he wrote in a magical way.

Yes, C.S. Lewis did write in a magical, gifted way. Thinking of Lewis, your villain profile reminds me a bit of Screwtape. :-)
Q11. If you could ask the readers to finish a question, what would it be?

A: A global question: “I love reading because … ?”

Thank you for sharing and for offering a book copy!

Laura: I’d be happy to provide a Kindle-compatible copy of the book.

Take a peek at my review on the previous post and check the blog tour here.

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for a Kindle Compatible copy provided by the author: 

1. Visit the author's website and tell me something of interest you found there.
This is required for entry.

2.  For two extra entries, comment on this interview and answer the author's Q in paragraph 11.

3.  For two extra entries, comment on my review (one post back).

4.  For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

5. For two more entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Eight total entries possible.)

THERE WILL BE ONE WINNER!

* This contest is open WORLDWIDE.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on March 2, 2012.
The winners will be randomly selected from all entries and announced on March 3 with 72 hours to complete the winners form.

Book Review: My Sparkling Misfortune by Laura Lond

This is a fun, fast read with lovely illustrations; good for adult or young readers.

My Sparkling Misfortune 

by Laura Lond

• Paperback: 126 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (March 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1460922360
• ISBN-13: 978-1460922361

Gernre:  YA, Fantasy

My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2011

***1st place Reader Views Literary Award 2010 winner in the Young Reader category***

Lord Arkus of Blackriver Castle readily admits that he is a villain and sees no reason why it should stop him from being the protagonist of this book. After all, Prince Kellemar, an aspiring hero, has defeated him in a rather questionable way. Bent on revenge, Arkus attempts to capture a powerful evil spirit who would make him nearly invincible, but a last-minute mistake leaves him with a Sparkling instead--"a goody-goody spirit that helps heroes, watches over little children, and messes up villains' plans." Bound to Lord Arkus for five years of service and sworn to act in his best interests, the Sparkling is not easy to get rid of, and of course his understanding of "best interests" is quite different from what Lord Arkus has in mind.

Review:
Lord Arkus loves being a villain known as Arkus the fearsome and Dreaded Lord. Prince Kellemar is a neighboring enemy and would be hero.  Kellemar flatters and tempts Arkus to steal a gold stash. The plotting Prince has set a trap so that just as Arkus is about to retrieve the prize he is faced with the beast that is set on killing him. Arkus usually escapes the beast by running to the white towers where the beast won’t go but Prince Kellemar has destroyed the surrounding towers! Arkus runs far away to escape.

Prince Kellemar claims that he killed the infamous Lord Arkus and Arkus wants revenge. But Arkus can’t return until he heals and finds a way to stay protected from the beast. Arkus decides to capture an evil spirit, a mighty Gormak, to give him power. Instead the creature he captures is a “sparkling”, which is a good spirit who only helps heroes. Arkus doesn’t think he can use the help of the sparkling, whom he names Jarvi, until Arkus discovers that Jarvi can be very helpful by preforming three miracles each day. The trouble is that Jarvi cannot do any evil or harm.

Jarvi finds a way to twist Arkus’ evil intentions to something good and suddenly, against his own wishes, Arkus rescues the local Princess and becomes a hero known as the Lakeland Knight. The ambitious Prince Kellemar appears as the fiancé of the Princess and tries to expose Arkus as a villain. With a twisted irony, Kellemar is now becoming a villain while Arkus remains a hero. When Kellemar kidnaps Arkus friend, the young prince of the local royal family, Jarvi offers his special sword to help Arkus. Arkus may be able to use the sword to defeat the Kellemar and the ever hunting beast, but his victory may cause great injury to Jarvi.

The story is told by Lord Arkus in a first person account of his life and adventures. It is quickly clear that Arkus is a likable villain and you wonder what set him off on the path of misdeeds. There are hints of an event where he lost a childhood friend but the details are not revealed in this book. It is heartwarming to watch as Jarvi shows Arkus how to trust and do good. Jarvi is an absolutely adorable character. He is a cross between an angel and a genie with a joking, prankster attitude. I have to say he almost steals the spotlight from Arkus, although he doesn’t mean to.

This is a good book for an older child and it is entertaining for adults too. My only disappointment was the ending which seemed very abrupt, leaving open questions  which can only be answered by the next book.

Arkus' comments on villainy:

There are no heroes without us villains. Location 51

Arkus' thoughts when Prince Kellermar says "Arkus, you are despicably wicked."

Blatant flattery, I noted. He must want something. Location 70.

I received this book to review as part of Bewitching Blog Tour.
Please learn more about the author in the Interview with a Giveaway in the next post. 

I will add this to my ARC and New Authors challenges.

Check the blog tour here.

Purchase links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004JXVYR2

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-sparkling-misfortune-laura-lond/1103787180?ean=2940012086907

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/38174

iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/my-sparkling-misfortune/id418425922?mt=11

Sony: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/laura-lond/my-sparkling-misfortune/_/R-400000000000000340276

BooksOnBoard: http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=viewbook&BOOK=1149022

DriveThruFiction: http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product_info.php?products_id=97527