Amanda’s news (archive)
18 May, 2011
Six months seems to pass in the blink of an eye when you have a new baby! I have been working tirelessly on edits to Talon and building my graphic design and proofreading business, Greenslade Creations. Recently a 19-year-old male had a read of the first half of the novel and had some very useful constructive criticism! It’s never ending when you are trying to perfect a novel!
18 Dec, 2010
Since my last post, I have given birth to my first baby, a gorgeous little boy we have named Phoenix. Needless to say, the first few months have been hectic and challenging, but I’m absolutely loving being a mum. While I’m on maternity leave from my job, I hope to work on my writing as well as my freelance editing and design business Greenslade Creations.
14 May, 2010
What are some worthwhile fantasy novels? I recently posted my thoughts on a number of good fantasy novels and organised them by their features to help you find one you will enjoy. Click here to see the reviews.
Rebecca Wylie, my continuity editor, now has a website at sagewrittenword.webs.com. Rebecca is a friend I made when I attended a seminar at the Queensland Writers’ Centre and she has since enjoyed reading Talon and helping me out with some of the problems I have introduced during its many rewrites. There is such a thing as too much editing!
Speaking of editing, I do believe every writer needs to get their work edited before submitting to publishers. Even if you consider yourself an editor, as I do, a writer becomes blind to their own mistakes.
If you are looking for an editor, I offer this service as part of my Queensland-based freelance editing and design business Greenslade Creations.
20 March, 2010
Time sure does fly and for us writers, we must be on constant vigil if we want to get our projects finished and not become distracted by all the challenges of everyday living. Talon has been “finished” for some time now, but as I have moved out of the arena of self-editing and rewriting and into allowing readers and professional editors to go through it, there have always been more ways for it to improve. The second half of Talon is currently undergoing a continuity edit by a friend of mine who I met at a Queensland Writer’s Centre event a few years ago. While I wait for that, I am working on book two.
I have also recently posted the first three chapters of Talon to Authonomy, a social network built by Harper Collins back in 2008 to provide a new avenue for talent spotting (and utilising the masses as a way of filtering through the slush pile). It seems like a great idea to me, but alas it is fraught with abuse. It seems that the only way to rise to the top is to read as many other people’s books as possible and put them on your own watch list so they hopefully return the favour. Time will tell if Talon stands any chance of rising on this website, but if you can spare a moment, please go and read the first few chapters and back my book. Click here.
1 January, 2010
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. It is going to be a fantastic year. With Australia coming out on top in the economic downturn (not even entering a recession), we are in a country filled with opportunities.
I think more and more people are taking an interest in speculative fiction, so this has to be good for all the creatives like me who wish they could make a living telling fantasy or sci-fi stories.
I saw Avatar a few days ago and boy did it blow me away! I have a new number one favourite movie. Check out my blog about Avatar here. There are even some free widescreen Avatar wallpapers to download.
2 July, 2009
I may be a bit behind the times, but I've only just finished the fourth Twilight book. I must say I love the saga very much! It’s way more dialogue-driven than my book, which is interesting. I made an Edward Cullen/Robert Pattinson wallpaper, which you can download here. Also see my comments about the popularity of Edward on my blog here.
25 May, 2009
Some of the greats in epic fantasy like The Lord of the Rings seem to be the benchmark for modern fantasy, but is this tendency shifting as more fantasy appears in literature and in mainstream movies and TV? Read more on my blog.
26 Mar, 2009
Talon did not advance to the next round of the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, but I am advancing with my work on Stephen Thompson’s edit. I have the privilege of knowing another freelance editor who enjoys fantasy, who is also doing a comb-through it for me. Soon it’s going to be so tight and polished it will be ready! A small press has shown interest in publishing it. You can check out Wombat Books here.
21 Feb, 2009
I’m more than half way through a substantial edit of my novel by Stephen Thompson of essteemedia. I have also cut the word count down to 150,000 so I could enter Talon in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.
