News!!

Hi everybody,

Well, here's what's going on right now. I've been VERY busy finishing up edits on Aeralis (it is currently with my editor, and when she sends it back then it'll be only a few weeks before I have it ready to release. In the meantime, the cover is coming along nicely and I'll reveal that soon. :)

I have another fun reveal today. Darkest Worlds: A Dystopian Anthology. I've written a story called "Survival Lessons," set in the Frost world, and it will be part of this dystopian anthology along with a bunch of awesome stuff written by some other fantasy/dystopian authors!

Check out the beautiful cover:

And all the proceeds go to a charity for girls' literacy. I'm pretty excited about it.

Here's the summary of my story:

Survival Lessons – by Kate Avery Ellison, author of Frost. A young Farther prisoner named Eva escapes into the monster-filled wilderness of the Frost with a band of fellow inmates, all of whom are harboring secrets...but little do they know that Eva has secrets of her own. Set in the world of The Frost Chronicles.

The anthology should be released September 13! Stay tuned for more information. :)

Thoughts on ending a series

Right now I'm almost done with edits for Aeralis, the fifth and final book in The Frost Chronicles series. And I'm kind of sad about it.

TFC is the first series I've ever successfully written. Well, okay, I've written a few sequels to a few unpublished things from my days as a young hopeful writer, but I've never stuck with one story world for five books before. I didn't think I'd like writing a series very much, so I only originally planned to write three books. But there's something really nice about it--you already know the world and all the characters, so by the time you get around to writing books 3+ it's just like visiting old friends.

So I'm trying to really make Aeralis a good finish to the series, and I tried to take my time with it and make sure it wrapped up every character's story in a way that I found satisfying. And honestly, I feel a little cranky about the idea of starting a new series. It's like transferring to a new school, away from all your friends. But! I have some GREAT ideas that I am really, really excited to write. Apprehensive, yes, but also excited.

But back to TFC...a lot of things about writing a long series like this one surprised me. For one thing, I didn't expect to end up having so much story. I feared I'd run out of things to tell and have to start fluffing the story around the end of book two, so I planned to have only three books, but as I wrote the story and the characters' journeys kept growing and so I kept telling it. I changed the number to four eventually, but when I was writing Bluewing (book four) I realized I needed AT LEAST one other book to fit everyone's endings in. My husband said I was "George RR Martining" by continuing to extend the series, and that I'd better finish writing these books before I died. That made me laugh. I plan to write dozens and dozens more books before I die, hopefully.

The characters surprised me, too. They had secrets that I discovered gradually. They had more to say than I'd ever expected. They fell in love in ways that surprised me, and some of them died when I wasn't expecting it, either. They truly took on lives of their own.

It's been a wonderful journey, and I'm honored and thankful for every reader who shared it with me.

Hopefully Aeralis will be available in late September! Check back at the blog or sign up for the newsletter to be sure you don't miss the release.

Interview with SK Falls ~ SECRET FOR A SONG

Today we have an interview with my friend and fellow author S.K. Falls. She's here to talk about her book Secret for a Song!

Saylor Grayson makes herself sick. Literally.

She ate her first needle when she was seven. Now, at nineteen, she's been kicked out of college for poisoning herself with laxatives. The shrinks call it Munchausen Syndrome. All Saylor knows is that when she's ill, her normally distant mother pays attention and the doctors and nurses make her feel special.

Then she meets Drew Dean, the leader of a local support group for those with terminal diseases. When he mistakes her for a new member, Saylor knows she should correct him. But she can't bring herself to, not after she's welcomed into a new circle of friends. Friends who, like Drew, all have illnesses ready to claim their independence or their lives

For the first time, Saylor finds out what it feels like to be in love, to have friends who genuinely care about her. But secrets have a way of revealing themselves. What will happen when Saylor's is out?

What gave you the idea for Secret for a Song?

I’m a huge psychology buff; I majored in it in college. When the idea for a character with Munchausen syndrome popped into my head one day, I couldn’t get the idea to go away. I was enthralled with the idea of creating an unlikeable character. People with Munchausen struggle with a lot of different issues, a personality disorder being one of them. I did a lot of reading on the subject, past what I’d learned in college, and was even more fascinated with what I found. So I ended up writing down a loose plot outline, and the rest is history. :)

You’re best known for your dystopian novel World of Shell and Bone. Was it difficult to switch gears and write a contemporary story?

Not really. I tend to jump from story idea to story idea in my head a lot when I’m deciding what to write next. I like stories with a big psychological pull, no matter what genre they happen to be in. That’s pretty much how I view or think about stories—I ask myself how the current condition affects the main character’s psychological makeup.

So to me, it was a matter of switching from Vika’s (the protagonist in World of Shell and Bone) psychology to Saylor’s rather than switching genres, if that makes sense. In a way, Secret for a Song was a bit easier because I didn’t have to keep track of the world building aspects that I did in World of Shell and Bone.

With her illness and her issues, Saylor isn’t always easy to relate to. What was it like getting inside her head?

I’d had her in my head for so long that Saylor began to feel very, very real to me. She was my constant companion through the day’s chores and activities, and I had her “voice” going 24/7. So, in that way, it was easy—and a relief!—to get her reactions down on paper. It was simultaneously emotionally draining, though, because, like you said, Saylor has a lot of flaws and a lot of internal pain. I’d never quite written a character like her—one who is so obviously doing the wrong thing and is cognizant of the fact. That was an interesting line to toe.

Which part of Secret for a Song was your favorite to write?

My favorite had to be the end, which is funny because some readers have written to tell me the end made them cry. The end, to me, was like a big sigh of relief. I just felt like the story had come full circle, and Saylor (and therefore I) could move on. 

Are you planning any more contemporary novels in the future?

Most definitely. I love writing contemporary fiction. Right now I have a contemporary series planned with (again) a heavy focus on psychology. J

Thanks so much for having me, Kate!

Buy links:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Goodreads

Bio:

A huge fan of spooky stuff and shoes, I enjoy alternately hitting up the outlet malls and historic graveyards in Charleston, SC where I live and imbibe coffee. My husband and two small children seem not to mind when I hastily scribble novel lines on stray limbs in the absence of notepads.

Since no writer’s biography is complete without mention of her menagerie of animals, you should know I have one dog that doubles as a footstool, a second that functions as a vacuum cleaner, and a cat that ensures I never forget that my hands are, first and foremost, for pouring cat food.

Visit S.K. Falls:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Aeralis Teasers

Hi lovely folks!

I cannot believe it's almost July. Seriously. In some ways this year has really dragged by for me, and in some ways it's passed in the blink of an eye.

I'm still working on Aeralis. I had another project that commandeered my attention for a few weeks, but I'm back to the novel now and I'm now two-thirds of the way done with the rough draft.

Earlier today, I tweeted some teasers for the final book. Here they are in case you don't have a Twitter account. (and if you don't follow me on Twitter but you want to, you can find me here!)

So #Aeralis is coming along. I'm about 2/3rds of the way through the first draft. Lots of new characters in this one. Lots of reveals.

We'll learn another Weaver family secret #Aeralis #Frostteasers

Some relationships will be tested #Aeralis #Frostteasers 

There is a traitor #Aeralis #Frostteasers

I'm excited about this book, friends! I hope you love it as much as I do. Hopefully I can finish the draft by mid July and have it ready for release sometime in September.

Stay tuned for more teasers, hints, and excerpts in the coming weeks. :)

FROST Summer Sale! The First Book Is Just 99 Cents!

Right now Frost is on sale for the Kindle at just $0.99! This is a summer deal and it won't last long, so if you haven't bought Frost yet and have been planning to read it, or if you know someone who might like it, be sure to snap it up now or alert your friends!

GET FROST ON SALE AT AMAZON

Updates and Things

Hi folks!

A few updates:

Aeralis (Frost #5) is coming along well, so yay for that. I'm getting close to halfway done with the first draft. I am hoping for an August release at this point. We'll see!! I know you lovelies are impatient to read it, and that warms my heart. It also motivates me to work harder/faster. It also makes me want to reassure you! So just so know you, I am working on it.

I wrote a post over at the group blog I share with some other writer folk about the pros and cons of writing a series. You can read it here.

Annnnnnd I am just finishing a ten thousand word novelette set in the Frost world (but featuring some new characters) that I wrote for a short story collection I'm doing with a couple of other authors. I'll let you know more about that and when it will be available as I have details.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day, those who are American/celebrating, and the rest of you, have a wonderful Monday!

Can't Wait for Inspiration

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” — Jack London

I love that quote. That's what I'm doing these days...going after that inspiration. And sometimes I seriously feel like the inspiration is fighting back. Drafting a novel can be pretty emotionally exhausting. You're creating a world from scratch, and you're conjuring up all these emotions along with the characters, and you're grinding out a lot of things that feel mundane at the moment (but will work well once everything has been edited and polished). It can be intense work, and some days I'm utterly spent when I finish working. Right now I'm staying motivated by rewarding myself with episodes of my favorite TV shows when I finish my word count for the day. It's keeping me on schedule.

On a more cheerful note, I'm about 1/3 of the way through the first draft of Aeralis. Woohoo! I'm still hoping for a late July/early August release date, but I can't promise that. These things have a way of taking more time than I expect. But hopefully!

Teaser: Earlier today I finished writing a sad scene (well, it made me sad) between Lia and a male character who will remain unnamed. You'll have to speculate who it is, and what "sad scene" means, because it could mean just about ANYTHING. Muhahaha.