It's All In 'The Kiss'!!!

Okay, so today I was writing a Kissy Kissy scene and I always find them EXTREMELY hard.

*The kiss* is one of the highlights of a romance book, it's the moment your hero and heroine finally show how in to each other they are. It's a BIG DEAL! The reader has probably waited 200 odd pages for this moment. 

Now when I'm writing 'the kiss' I have to constantly fight the desire to simply state: 'they kissed' and move swiftly on.

When I'm reading, I feel cheated if I don't get a bit more info than that! On the other hand, I don't really find an explanation of the mechanics of the thing very 'romantic'. In fact a lot of kiss scenes leave me gagging!

So I got to thinking: what IS it that I like to read?

After a bit of thought I came up with a list of what I like:

1.  I want to know how this moment makes them feel closer, not just physically but emotionally as well.
2. I want to see their relationship change. The kiss showed the truth about how they felt for each other, lets not kill the moment with a: it was *just* a kiss, remark.
3.  I like anticipation before my kiss, please don't hand it to me in the first few chapters. I like to work for my dose of kissy kissy; if I've had to wait, I'm more invested when it finally happens! (The second/third/etc book in a series can ignore this rule! ;-P)
4. Sweet gestures!!! The hero gets bonus points for gently caressing the heroines cheek or lifting her chin!
5. Build up! Not just throughout the book, but also in this moment. Holding hands, hugging, reassuring each other about something that has happened, it doesn't really matter. Just get me to question whether this will be 'The' moment.
6. When the heroine is embarrassed and the hero helps her to get over her nerves.
7. Non aggressive touchy feely. (Not to be confused with grabbing at bits and bobs!) This is 'the kiss', you're supposed to be proving that your love is pure! ;-P

And what I don't:

1. If I'm still reading, I already know the hero is hot, please don't feel the need to remind me at this delicate moment, it just makes the heroine look like a shallow bimbo.
2. Please, please, please don't mention tongues: It's as much of a mood killer as mentioning spit!!!
3.  Please don't throw this beautiful moment of trust in to the middle of an argument! I've waited forever for this, I want it to mean something! 'The kiss' is a gesture of affection, not an underhanded way to win an argument!
4. If the hero is kissing her, yet there are unresolved issues about whether or not they are free to do so. (i.e. do they have a not quite ex?)
5. No fighting! Either the hero is a rapist, or the kiss is by mutual consent.
6. Endless staring at each others mouths... this just gets creepy after a while.
7. Kissing a random person to make the hero/heroine jealous. Congratulations: your hero/heroine is a douchebag!
8. Do NOT tell me how innocent the heroine is and then turn her into an expert. I do not buy it!
9. Stop eating each other, if you're hungry get take out!

So, now it's your turn! What do you like? What don't you like? Comment below and tell me!

In the mean time, here are some of my favourite kiss/romantic scenes:

DeeDee. xxx 

Broken Truce: The Finished Cover!!!

So here it is at last!!!

The cover for the next book in my Broken City series: Broken Truce!!!

I would love to hear your thoughts (and/or questions!) on the cover! I'm hoping those of you who have read Broken City will be intrigued.  ;-P 

Also if there is anyone out there looking for an illustrator and you like the cover for Broken Truce, my illustrator is available for commission. Just drop a note at the bottom of the page and I'll send you her info!

Getting Back To Editing!

I'm not sure how many of you remember that when I started my 3 book challenge this year, it was with the intention of editing Broken Truce while writing The Vow.

It turned out that I couldn't do it; Broken Truce is written in the first person present tense, and The Vow in the third person past tense. Going back and forth between the two was driving me NUTS!!!

Now I'm half way through Severance, and I'm trying again! So far it seems to be going well, I've just passed the 30.000 word mark in the first edit. For those of you who haven't studied my writing habits (why haven't you?!?!?) I always write my first draft by hand, and use my first edit to copy the manuscript over on to the computer...

O.O

Yes. 100.000 words. BY. HAND!!!  ;-P

I'm not sure why but I'm more comfortable with a pen and paper, filling up a blank page with my untidy scrawl elegant copperplate, than typing away on the computer. There is something about staring at a blank computer screen that sucks the ideas clean out of my head!

But I digress...

I really got stuck in to Broken Truce last night and managed to do a fair bit of editing.  As I was writing I couldn't help thinking about how readers would react to certain parts of the story. I'm so excited with wondering what people who read Broken City are going to make of Broken Truce!!!

There is this one scene that I've just edited and I know it's going to cause SUCH an uproar when people read it (I hope so anyway!!!) I have a friend, Claire, who I met through Broken City (she read it, friended me and the rest, as they say, is history!!!). She's my first fan girl, and a without her I might never have decided to turn Broken City in to a series. She's been HUGELY supportive and has taken on the role of head cheer leader!

I'm digressing again, aren't I???

Anyway: I just know that at various points in the book I'm going to be receiving an irate email from her, demanding to know what the heck I think I'm doing!

I cannot TELL you how encouraging that is!!! The idea that someone enjoys your book as much as you do, that they care about the characters, that they want to TALK about them!!! It's incredible! It's what keeps me going through the good, the bad, and the down right ugly!!!

Broken Truce has taken me by surprise, I think it's quite different from the first book in the series; not so hopeful, a bit darker and you see the City from more peoples points of view. Deeta has grown up a lot, and she's wiser than before.

I've had soooo much fun with the characters in this book. Yes, Deeta and Tom remain the focus of the story, but they share the limelight with Tom's brothers, most especially Jayden. (For those of you who don't remember who Jayden is: he's the twin that Nova tipped orange juice over in Broken City.) You really get to know Jayden in this book, his faults as well as his strengths, he's very much a fish out of water. I really enjoyed writing him, he has such an attitude on him, but at the same time you can't help liking him (I hope!)

I had a blast with some of the secondary characters this time round as well, the first story is quite insular, focused the the group of people that Deeta loves and cares about most. Broken Truce introduces you to a lot of new characters, some good and some bad.

These side characters were some of my favourites to write; Ian, a scout from the Brownly tribe, Julian, Max, Ned and Linus, I can't really tell you who these are without being too spoilerish, but they were sooooo much fun! Wren, Falcon, Raven and Peregrine, siblings from a tribe known as The Birds, and so much more!

I'm hoping to knuckle down and have the manuscript ready to go live in January...

Contrebutions to the cause in the form of brownies and fluffy pillows are very much appreciated! ;-P


DeeDee.

It's Almost Ready!!!

Broken Truce's book cover, that is!

I have an artist friend who very kindly took on the job of designing the art word for the 2nd book in the Broken City series. I've always loved her work so I'm MEGA excited!

I wanted to keep the theme from the first book, but I wanted to incorporate some thing new and, if you've read the first story, something unexpected. 

Are you curious yet???

Broken Truce has some major new elements to the story, the biggest difference for me as the writer is that, unlike the first book, only a third of the story is narrated by Deeta. The remaining two thirds follow other lead characters. Because of these diferent point of view chapters, you start to see different sides of the world that Deeta inhabits.

I also had a lot of fun introducing new tribes into the mix, as well as new characters that become very important as the book, and the series, goes on.

Now I just have to finish editing the manuscript...  ;-P



DeeDee

Goodreads Review Guidelines Update: What Do You Think???

Someone posted this( http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1... ) on my Facebook page and it seems to be getting people hot under the collar.

So I was wondering what you thought of it???

As an author I can't help feeling a tiny bit relieved: you hear such horrible stories of bullying. 

But on the other hand, I can't help feeling that some Indies really do ask for the trouble they receive, by being very rude and thinking that they have a right to spam and demand good reviews just because they've written a book. 

No one likes to hear that their 'baby' is ugly, but when you put yourself out there, you should be ready for people to not like you're work. It's their prerogative, and I always like to say that if something as universally yummy as chocolate can have it's haters, the rest of us haven't a hope!!! ;-P

I guess what I'm saying is that if you want to be treated like a professional writer, then you must behave in a professional way. As authors we have a duty to treat the public with respect, after all: without readers, where would we be???

It's that old saying, isn't it: the customer is ALWAYS right?

I don't understand the nastiness, and I don't think I ever will.

You didn't like the book?

I can understand that, I've read a lot of books that I didn't like and you have my full sympathy. There's nothing more irritating than wasting your time on a book you end up hating!

You give it a bad review?

That's fine by me, I've written bad reviews myself! Yes, as an author it's depressing to receive a bad review, but hey, as the song goes: you were never promised a rose garden. 

Along with the good reviews that bring sunshine to your day, there's going to be a little rain sometime. You just have to learn to deal with that.

But attacking someone whose behaviour you deem unacceptable?

This is where I stop being on your side. 

The very thing you are accusing them of, and are disgusted with them for? You've just done exactly the same thing.

Don't get me wrong: I've had authors be horrible to me too. Sometimes it was because I didn't like their book, but more often because they didn't think that I was important enough to be nice to.

I've met those people, I've been on the receiving end of the nastiness, so please don't think that I don't know that there are some authors out there who don't know how to behave.

But I have my revenge: I never buy another thing from them. I don't 'like' their activity on goodreads/facebook/amazon/etc. I gain satisfaction from knowing that they will never see another penny from me, not ever again!

And for me, that's enough.

As an author, I've never replied to a bad review. It doesn't help the situation and in my opinion this is where the problem starts. By putting your book out there for others to read, you are ASKING for their opinion. You're asking them to part with their hard earned cash, shouldn't that entitle them to decide whether your story was worth it or not?
Even if you gave it to them for free, they still spent their time on it, probably their precious leisure time! They should be able to say if it was time badly spent!

On the other hand, I've met a lot of fellow Indies who are very nice! They've helped me with proofreading, and in return I've helped them when they need an extra pair of eyes. I've even criticized their work and had them thank me for my opinion!!! Sometimes they ignore what I say, and sometimes they take it on board. Either way, I'm happy. I want people to know that I'm telling them the truth, that when I tell them I loved a book they KNOW that I mean it, and that when I say that a book wasn't for me, they know I've actually READ the book and I'm not just paying someone back for not liking my stories, or for saying something that I've took offence to.

I guess what I'm taking so long to say is: 

Readers, 

please don't give up on us Indies. Not all of us are crazies that will stalk you and be unpleasant to you just because you didn't like our book!

Authors,

someone posted a bad review of your book that you think was unfair, or targeted you personally? That sucks, but it's also life. Engaging in ANY kind of interaction with them will only make things worse. Not for them, you understand, but ALWAYS for you. 

Think that's unfair? Well, maybe it is. That snarky comment you post, the down votes you hand out in retribution, or the friends that you rally in your defence, isn't going to make it any fairer. You'll just prove them right, because all of those things you do in revenge DO make you a jerk. 

That might not be the most pleasant truth to handle, but it's still the truth.

This is just my opinion of course, feel free to disagree without fear of retribution!

D.D. Chant

Star Trek: In To Darkness.

Yes!!!

DeeDee has finally watched Star Trek 2!!!

This film combines two of my favourite things: Star Trek and Sherlock! Or to be more precise: Cucumberpatch!!!

First off I just want to say poor old Admiral Pike! ;-(
I liked his character a lot in both films and was sad to see him go. Also I could have done with a bit more 'old' Spock, I missed him.

I really enjoyed the movie, it had the same snappy dialogue that characterised the first film, and I think it shifted from excitement/suspense to comic/wise cracking very smoothly.

Some funny in jokes and the continuation of some old gags in the first film worked nicely too, I particularly like Bones ever more inventive metaphors. I also want to see Sulu get his own ship, just so I can hear him say his first name more often.
Hirkaru, just in case you were wondering.
I really love that name...

Anyway... If there was one niggle it's that Spock wasn't really Spock-like enough for me this time around. In the first film I think Zachary Quinto really nailed it, this time I felt a little disappointed. I liked how he explored Spock's struggle to contain his anger, but I feel he was too soft in this film.
Gotta be honest, I don't want to see Spock crying.
That is just wrong on soooo many levels... I can't even... just no.

Then of course there is Captain Kirk... I don't really have a lot to say about Kirk. As a child William Shatner was my favourite character in the TV series.
Don't judge me!
Chris Pine is an okay Kirk, I just don't find him very memorable, or very likeable. Spock gets to be all reserved and mysterious, with all that pent up anger that makes him interesting. Bones gets to be all dry wit and wise cracks. Chekov gets to be sweet and nerdy, plus he has a cute accent. Hirkaru, because I'm refusing to call him Sulu now I know his first name, has skills when it comes to a samurai sword, the guy needs nothing else to be epic! And Scotty: well Scotty is SIMON PEGG!!! He just has to stand in front of a camera to be funny!!!

What does that leave poor old Chris Pine???

He's stuck playing a womanising hothead, with a seriously bloated idea of his own cleverness, who seems to stumble upon the right thing to do by accident rather than any merit of his own.

Did that sound harsh???

Blame it on all the exersize I'm doing lately! ;-P

And then we have Khan... or Cucumberpatch, as I like to call him. Well... what can we say about Khan other than he wasn't a baddie: he was just tragically misunderstood!!! ;-P
Great acting and very much a scene stealer!!!

So I guess this is where I tell you which of the crew of the Enterprise was my favourite this time round...

Bones takes it again!!!

Consistently good in both film, I'll like to see more of his grumpiness in the next film.

Who's your favourite???

Comment below and tell me!


DeeDee xxx

Starting At The Beginning (Again!!!)

Yes, it is that time once more!

Yesterday I made a start on the third book in my three book challenge. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with writing the first fifteen to twenty thousand words of a new story. It is of course easier if it is the second in a series, and you're not introducing a new world, and new characters, to your readers from scratch. However the follow on books in a series come with their own problems.

First lets list the Pros:

1. I love the feeling I get when I open a brand new writing pad and set pen to paper.

2. I love knowing that in a few months time the book will be completely full of my handwriting.

3. I love that I know already the path that I want the story to take, but also know that the twists and turns that get me there are going to take me by surprise!

If it's the next book in the series then there are even more Pros:

4. Catching up with familiar characters. I love writing about characters I've already developed, when I started writing Broken Truce I could hear Deeta's voice in my head as though she'd never been away.

That sounded crazy, didn't it?!?!?

5. Revisiting a world you love. It is soooo much fun to pick up where you left off in the last book, and add more and more detail to a world that exists entirely in your head...

I'm back in to crazy territory, aren't I???

The Cons

1. Engaging the reader. I know that's pretty basic but it is SO HARD to set up the story, everything that's to come, and hook the readers interest at the same time. Information overload is a big risk at this point!

2. Don't rush! Another thing I really struggle with: as the writer I know what's coming, and I can't wait to start writing about it! Building up to the BIG scene, the one that hooks the reader completely, is sooo important.

If it's a book in a series:

3. Making sure your characters are the same. This one is the one that's giving me sleepless nights at the moment. We've all read that book, had our favourite characters and waited, oh so impatiently, for their book only to be disappointed when finally reading it. THIS isn't the character you love, sure they have the same name, live in the same world, and have the same friends as the character that you love. But that doesn't make them the same person!!!
I hate, hate, hate it when that happens!!!
I want to find the writer and demand a re-write! Somehow it's very personal, like the writer destroyed my favourite character on purpose, just to hack me off!!!
Sooo obviously I don't want to be putting anyone reading my books through that experience!



On the plus side I'm really enjoying writing 'Severance', it's my Nana's and my cousin Bobby's favourite series, and they both keep telling me how excited they are for me to finish...

So there's no pressure then!!!



DeeDee   xxx

D.D. Chant

Oh. My. Goodness!!!

I am sooooooo excited right now!!!

For those of you who remember my 2013 self challenge to write the next books in all three of my series: I have news!!!

*Clears throat*

I have just finished 'The Vow', 2nd book in The Lady Quill Chronicles series!!!!

Yay!!!

'The Vow' is Finan's story but all the gang are back, along with some new faces. ;-P   This book took me a little by surprise, there were a lot of twists and turns that I wasn't expecting. Finan proved a very hard hero to pin down, his bluntness and silence not making him the easiest romantic lead to write! In fact he fought me most of the way through the book, but in the end he did what I wanted him too, even if it was on his terms!

You get to see a different side to him: in 'The Promise' he is cool headed, very protective of Rafe and Leofric but some how a little remote. 'The Vow' shows you why he's like that, and you get a clearer idea of just how Evoric's death affected him.

I think that the character I had most fun with this time around was Daegmund, I have to admit to having a rather large soft spot for his brand of arrogant carelessness. He gets to say and do all the things that everyone else is thinking, but is FAR too polite to say! He and Rafe's sister, Aisly, dislike each other intensely on sight and I had a right giggle putting poor old Rafe in the middle of all their arguments!

Now I'm going to have a few days off before I start on the 3rd and final book of my challenge: Severance (Chronicles of Discord, 2#)

DeeDee xxx

Review: Vet on the Loose.

Vet on the Loose
Gillian Hick

I wanted to like this book. 
I love James Herriot and was delighted by the prospect of finding his female counterpart. Unfortunately I just couldn't warm to Gillian Hick, it seemed to me that she had a perpetual axe to grind. Farmers were misogynistic idiots, pet owners were either bimbos who shouldn't have been let anywhere near an animal or just plain unpleasant. 
While I understand that the 'lady vet' no doubt met a lot of rotten clients who should never have been able to look after another living thing, it seems strange to me that those were the cases she chose to write about. Surely there must have been some more upbeat stories she could have related??? It just seemed a little unbalanced; too much of the bad stuff that had happened and not enough of the good. 
The whole 'when's the real vet coming?' gag was funny... for the first few stories, but it got old pretty quick. After a while it started to sound less like humour and a lot more like bitterness. Which again, I can understand, but it didn't make for fun reading.
The thing is that when you read James Herriot, however obnoxious the owner/farmer is being to him, James always paints himself in a ridiculous light. He's always inadvertently made a fool of himself in some way and THAT was why it's so funny. You feel for him because you know that he knows what he's talking about, it's just that something he's done is making him look silly. Like the story where he's trying to deliver a calf and the cow is in difficulties. Everything's going wrong, the farmers are losing patience: yet what is James worrying about??? The fact that he added and over generous helping of his landladies bath salts to his bath water, and now with all his exertion, he's giving off a strongly feminine scent!!!
You really feel for James Herriot, but you can't help but laugh at him just the same. 
I never felt that with Gillian Hick. I didn't feel sorry for her: her stories were a thin layer of humour, that by the end of the book, had pealed away to show an underlying thread of resentment. Like I said, it's understandable, just not very entertaining. I kind of came away with the idea that she didn't really like her job at all.
Obviously this is all just my personal opinion and, like all opinions, it might be completely different to yours. So by all means, give the book a try. ;-D

'Claire and the haircut of Doom' is FREE today!!!

Hi everyone!

So today is the day!!!

Claire and the haircut of Doom is free on Amazon, just click here to download! It is a 2962 word short story, the second in the 'Claire' series. Pretty please check it out??? ;-P

I'm back!!!

Hello everyone!

Long time, no see!

I've been out of action with a pretty ghastly combination of the flu and tonsillitis, I'm only just starting to feel human again! That means I haven't been concentrating on The Vow as much as I would have liked. One the plus side I did get to watch a lot of Wimbledon! ;-P

So you may have noticed that I've added a new page to my blog!

Gentian is the name of mine and my sisters band, and you can find links to our music and download tracks for free from reverbnation. Please, please check the link below out and, if you like what you hear, fan us. Record labels are looking for artists with their own following, so every fan pushes us one step closer to our dream. Also it's only through word of mouth that our music is heard, so if you like our songs please share them with your friends. Thanks so much for listening. ;-D

Gentian's Reverbnation Page

Exciting News!!!

Okay, so you may or may not know that, as well as writing, I am one half of a band called Gentian.
Didn't know???
Well surprise!!! ;-P
My sister, Jingle, is the driving power behind the band, she's taken on all of the self promotion and publicity herself to give me time to concentrate on getting my books out there.

I have an awesome sister, don't I???

Well all her hard work is beginning to pay off! Our songs have been featured on a few radio stations and have received some great feedback. Today comes our biggest triumph (hopefully!!!) yet! We are doing a live session and interview on The Voice FM!!!

We're both really excited and terribly nervous at the same time. If you want to tune in and listen online, we go live at 7.30 PM UK time. The link to listen in is right here: The Voice FM.

Here's a link to Gentian's website: Gentian where you can find our songs, videos and check out what we're up to on the band's blog.

DD  ;-D

Dahl's Doll Guest Post and Review!

Hi Everyone!

I can hardly believe it but summer has come to Devon today!!! How long it will stay is another matter...

Also brightening up my weekend is the fact that I've just had a review and guest post go live! I'd like to thank Zooey (fellow goodreader and all around nice person!) for havng me on her blog! I had lots of fun.

I would love you all forever if you could go and check out her blog at this link here.

Have a lovely weekend!

DeeDee. xxx

Sneaky Peeks!!!

Hello everyone!

So as I'm sure you must all know by now, I'm doing a 3 book challenge this year! ;-P  I have already completed 'Broken Truce' the 2nd book in the Broken City series (though it still needs editing!), and I'm 27.000 words in to 'The Vow' the 2nd book in The Lady Quill Chronicles series!

And so I have a bit of a sneek peek for you all! The synopsis for both books are completed and I've posted them below. I'd love to hear what you think!

Broken Truce:

Life isn't turning out the way that Deeta thought it would. With the Lewises defeated and peace between the tribes, she had believed that the dark times were a thing of the past.

But troubles between the tribes continue, and the Andak council have selected Tom as their ambassador and spokesman to the other tribes.

Deeta knows that there is still much resentment against the Andak, and that Tom is in danger every time he leaves the safety of Andak City.

Struggling with her own complicated feelings against the tribe that she is now a part of, Deeta tries to ignore the changing attitudes growing within her.

But when Tom is betrayed and they are thrown into great danger, Deeta finds that reality can't be ignored forever...




The Vow:

Dear Reader,

My next story begins with Velrek, where Lord Rafe and Lady Adele's arrival was cause for much celebration and rejoicing.

However Finan of Gourney, Rafe's foster brother and the captain of Valreks army, could not help a lingering feeling of worry.

Were Rafe and Adele truly safe from Lord Kyule's hate?

Adding to Finan's problems was the unsettling presence of Rafe's sister, Lady Esme. Used to keeping his distance from the woman of Valrek, Finan found that he could no longer escape as before.

As danger and treachery enveloped Valrek, Finan and Esme found themselves drawn together to fight the shadowy assailant that threatened the lives of those they loved.

What secrets would they unearth in their search for the enemy that taunted them?

Would they find that their stories were more closely linked than either of them ever knew?

Allow me please to answer these questions...

Lady Quill



If you're interested in reading either (or both!) of these books, go to this link to recieve an update when they are published!

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my post, have a lovely day! ;-D

DeeDee.

Update Time!

So I think it's time for a quick update!

First of all just to let everyone know that Momma Says Read is having a HUGE book giveaway to celebrate launching it's new site. Free copies of 'Broken City, The Promise and Fracture are up for grabs so don't miss out!!! ;-P   The link is below.

Momma Says Read

Next 'The Promise' is currently 25th in historical romance on wattpad and 49th in the watty awards!!! I'm super excited about that!

I'm 10.000 words in to 'The Vow' and things are hotting up!!! I've already made a few changes to how I *thought* the story was going to go and I'm having fun introducing Rafe's mother and sisters into the story. Finan is turning out to be a hard man to thrust into the spotlight, but I'm going to manage it despite his reluctance to take centre stage!

Broken City received another 5* review from Cyristal at Books Are Sanity. This has given me a huge boost as she says that she's dying to review Broken Truce the second it's finished! 

Fracture received a 4* review from Emily at Musings From An Addict Reader. Launching a new book is always a slow process but I think it's starting to get easier, I have a few reviews yet to come.

Must love you and leave you because The Vow awaits and I left Finan in a decidedly sticky situation, now I've got to get him back out of it!!! ;-P

Have a good weekend, people!!! ;-D

Big News!!!

DeeDee has finished the first draft of Broken City 2!

I can't believe it, and I'm terribly excited about the whole thing! I still have to edit but just for now I'm wallowing in that just finished feeling of smugness!

I was rather surprised by how the story has turned out, only 1/3 is told from Deeta's POV and the rest is in the third person. We get to know Tom's brothers much better, particularly Jayden and Cayden, the twins. Deeta's has also changed a lot since the first book, she's no longer so trusting, she's grown up and developed a side to her character that she is a little scared of.

But no more spoilers!

Here is the synopsis for the book, I hope it grabs your interest!



Life isn't turning out the way that Deeta thought it would. With the Lewises defeated and peace between the tribes, she had believed that the dark times were a thing of the past.
But troubles between the tribes continue, and the Andak council have selected Tom as their ambassador and spokesman to the other tribes.
Deeta knows that there is still much resentment against the Andak, and that Tom is in danger every time he leaves the safety of Andak City.
Struggling with her own complicated feelings against the tribe that she is now a part of, Deeta tries to ignore the changing attitudes growing within her.
But when Tom is betrayed and they are thrust into great danger, Deeta finds that reality can't be ignored forever.


Now I just have to settle on a title!

I can't decide whether to stick to something plain:     Broken City 2.

Or whether to enlarge on the 'Broken' theme:     Broken Truce.

Or maybe just combine the two:      Broken City: Truce.

Decisions, decisions!!!

Thanks for reading!

What's In A Name?

What's in a name? That which we call a rose,
by any other name would smell as sweet.

At least that’s what Will Shakespeare tells us, but is it really true??? L.M. Montgomery protests in Anne of Green Gables that if a Rose were called a skunk cabbage it couldn’t possibly smell so sweet.

I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

I know what you’re wondering: where is she going with this? I know she has ‘Random’ in the title of the blog but there are limits!!!

I promise I have a point, so stick with me!

Yesterday I watch ‘John Carter’. If you haven’t seen this film I’d like you to stop here and think about the genre that title inspires in your mind…

…

…

…

…

Got it? Good!

Now when I heard the title I was immediately resistant to watching the film: to me it sounded like a 70's thriller full of ugly people in grungy, seedy settings discovering all manner of filthy scandals in an underworld setting. 

What did it bring to your mind? I’d love to know so please leave a comment in the comment box bellow!

Anyway, back to ‘John Carter’. It turned out that this film was set during the American civil war and had the titular hero transported to Mars where, due to the difference in gravity, he is able to jump like the hulk! Imagine my surprise!!! Add a heroine that strides about in very little and wields a sword and I think you’ve pretty much got every angle covered.

That sounds like something I could be entertained by!!!

The story is told in flashback as John Carter’s (who is now deceased)  nephew Edger Rice Burroughs reads the diary his uncle left him, the diary details an incredible story that has his uncle the savior of an alien planet, Mars to be exact. We learn that poor old John, filled with fervor for a just cause, signed up for the army and left his family (wife/daughter) only for them to be killed. Now John has no hope left and no meaning to his life, and this is when he gets transported to Mars.

And that is as far as I’m going to ‘spoil’ it for you!

Now back to my original point: ‘John Carter’ tanked at the box office and I can’t help thinking that the title was part of the problem.

Is this the best film ever made?

No of course not! That would be ‘Thor’! ;-P

Was it a clever commentary on corruption and the blame culture in our society that left the audience deep in thought?

Did you read the synopsis???

The heroine wears a form fitting armor bustier! Of course it wasn’t!

Was it fun?

Yes! It was huge fun! Just because it wasn’t ‘serious’ or ‘deep’ it doesn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable. 

Was Batman Begins/Knight/Rises ‘serious’? Was the Avengers ‘deep’? 

Of course they weren’t, characters can’t (no matter how hard they try) make pertinent points when wearing Lycra and pleather!

But I think that the target audience heard the name and thought ‘sounds like a boring film’ and all those people that like deep and serious went and watched it and got... well... fluff!

I could be wrong, but somehow I don’t think so.

Think about the names of hero/heroines in stories. How many times have you heard someone say:

1.      Oh yeah! I loved that book, but the hero’s name just made me cringe! Who would call their hero that???

2.      Oh yeah! But the heroine had a weird name; does anyone even know how to pronounce it???

I think names make a HUGE difference: they give you an idea of genre, time period, characteristics and so on. And, a the beginning of a book, when you know nothing about the characters you can find yourself drawn to a character purely because their name sounds like a 'good' name and disliking a character because they have a 'baddie's' name.

Or is this just me???

As for John Carter, I liked it a lot. I would watch it again, if there was a sequel I'd watch that too (they left room for one). I do think James Purefoy kinda stole the film though...

D.D Chant is interviewed by Sara Boyd!

So this is my newest interview! Thank you to Sara Boyd, goodreads pal and fellow author, for having me on your blog. I had a great time!
Sara is the author of coming of age romantic novel Nothing Else Matters.

Sara Boyd Author: Books I Read: Broken City, by DD Chant I enjoyed this dystopian novel very much and, since I know the author from a Goodreads group I decide to inte...

'Caire' Is Live!!!

Both 'Claire and the Party' and 'Claire and the haircut of Doom' are now available on Amazon!!!

Woot, Woot!!!

Claire and the haircut of Doom will be free from 18th to the 20th of Feburary so please check it out an be sure to tell your friends to check it out too!!! ;-P

They are both short (hopefully humourous!!!) stories under 4000 words each. So far the response has been good so I'm hoping to add more stories to the series at a future date. I still have a few embarrassing situations it would be fun to make Claire face!!! ;-P

Add them to your Goodreads 'to read' list here:

Claire and the haircut of Doom

Claire and the Party

Buy (or down load for free) from Amazon here:

Claire and the haircut of Doom

Claire and the Party

'Claire' Unveiled!!!

I've been thinking about putting some short stories up on Amazon for a while now for the express purpose of entering them in to KDP select. But I've been holding back wondering if it's a good idea or not. Finally yesterday I decided to go for it, I would upload 'Claire And The Party' (previously published in 'A Splendid Salmagundi') and write a new adventure for Claire as well: 'Claire And The Haircut Of Doom'.
So today I've been making covers!!!
And I have to say I'm very proud of them, and I want to show them off and see what you think!!! So here they are:

And...

A Random Lesson Learnt.

Okay, so I broke a rule. I started work on 'Severance' while in the middle of writing 'Truce'.

I know, I know... bad DeeDee!!!

The thing was that I had it right there, it was in my head, writing itself and I was scared of losing it! It's a sad peace of writing, a letter written by an older brother who knows that he's going to die, to his only sibling, also a boy, who will be left all alone when he is gone.

It was hard to write for a lot of reasons. It is an emotional subject, yet the purpose of the letter is to comfort and 'be there' for the brother that will be left alone. Then there was the fact that it was a letter written by a man and I am a woman. I didn't want it to be too emotional, Jae Shin has accepted that he is dying and wants to help Di Ye accept it too.

Fortunately I have a brutal  honest 'editor' who read the letter through and, after some thought, drove a neat red line through my most cherished passages the more maudlin phrases. I have to admit that the letter is better for the corrections.

It's also half as long.

With the sentiment stripped away, you really get a sense of Jae Shin's character, his personality springs from the page; strong, clever, a little bitter that his frailty has limited what he sees as his purpose in life, but not uselessly so. He sees a way to make a difference, even after death, by guiding his brother. He seems more vibrant, more alive somehow. You understand why Di Ye thinks so much of him, why he has allowed the letters his brother left behind to have such an impact on his life.

I think for the first time I understood that 'less is more' can apply in writing too. The bald facts, set out starkly and without emotion, gave a much clearer picture of the man Jae Shin was than all the extra information I had  added to the narrative in the form of feelings. It also re enforces my belief that having someone, that you trust completely to be honest, look over your work is a must. Because there is always more to learn, and sometimes the only person who can teach you is a reader.

Showing Some Love For 2013!

So far I'm loving 2013!

Some really great things have happened so far:

'The Promise' placed 3rd in 'Indie Book Bargains' best indies of 2012 awards and 'A Splendid Salmagund', an anthology that had a short of mine in it, won best anthology! So I now have two lovely badges to show off on my side bar!!!

At this point I would like to say thank you to everyone who voted, I really appreciate it! ;-D

'Blood, Sweat and Tears' book blog listed 'Broken City' 8th in the best books read in 2012! (Wish I had a badge for that!!!)

And I received a 4 star review of 'Broken City' from an Amazon vine voice reviewer.



Due to my 2013 challenge I've been busy writing, I'm now 34.000 words into 'Broken City: Truce' and I'm getting really excited about it! I'm already starting to think about the cover and hope a friend of mine will take the job on. If she says no I'm going to be in deep trouble!!!

I've just started sending out pre - release review copies of 'Fracture' to a few blogger friends of mine, I'm looking forward (with nervous excitement!) to their reviews!

Also you may have noticed that I've been blinging out my blog! I thought it was time for a bit of an 'update' and it kind of got out of hand!