Miriam Forster

New Website and Announcement

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 00:17:00 +0000

Well I finally did it, I have an actual website now! All my updates and information can now be found on Miriamforster.com I'll be keeping the blogspot blog until the end of the year, then deactivating it.

So what motivated this change? My new nonfiction book!

Sharks, a Mighty Bitey History, coming May 10th, 2022

preorder links here

This is going to be so amazing you all, the illustraitons are drop dead gorgeous and the book itself was so much fun to write. This is what Abrams says on it's website.

Sharks are some of the oldest creatures on the earth (or, rather, in its waters). This epic survey follows sharks from their earliest appearance in the Paleozoic era up through the challenges they face today. Along the way, readers will meet many different sharks from different points in history. They will get an up-close evolutionary look at what makes a shark a shark—like their skin, their teeth, their fins, and more. And they will get a crash course in archeological time, as the book mostly covers prehistoric sharks or modern-day sharks who have been around much longer than humans. Like the hammerhead, who has been patrolling tropical coastlines for more than 20 million years! With lush illustrations from Gordy Wright and meticulous research from author Miriam Forster, Sharks: A Mighty, Bite-y History is sure to delight shark lovers, science fans, and any reader who loves to discover new wonders about the world around them.

I've loved being here and connecting with you all, especially back in the blogging days, and I'm a bit sad to be moving on. But I'm excited for the adventures ahead!

Thanks for everything
Miriam

FAQ: Will there be another Bhinian Empire book?

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 21:10:00 +0000

So I've been on and off (mostly off) social media lately for a whole host of reasons, but I've been getting this question a little more often lately and I thought maybe I should actually put in on the blog, instead of just answering it on Twitter and Tumblr. This is mostly taken from my last Tumblr post on the subject, which you can find here.

Will there be a third Bhinian Empire book?

The answer to that, sadly, is...I don't know. Currently, I'm not able to continue the series.

See, I am what is called a “midlist author,” which is sort of a blanket term for anyone who isn’t a bestseller. A lot of midlist authors do quite well and get to write in their worlds for a long time. Currently that’s not what’s happening for me. I love my books and I love my readers but I simply don’t have enough sales numbers to sell a third Bhinian Empire book.

I have ideas for a third book in my head, one that goes into what happens to Nisha next, what happened to her parents, and what’s going on in the Empire. There are ideas for future books beyond that. But--and here's the hard part--it’s all still in my head.

If I had the book written already, or if I was a faster writer, or if I didn’t have other projects I was working on, I would definitly consider putting out the third book myself. And maybe someday that will happen, who knows.

But I am not a fast writer. And I do have other projects I’m excited about and believe in, and those projects need my attention right now. So as much as I love Nisha and her world, I have to set it aside indefinitely.

Does that make me sad? Absolutely. But I tried hard to make both books as complete and satisfying as possible, so even though I know there are a few threads that still need to be picked up, I hope people can enjoy the books as they stand. And maybe one day the third book will stop being just vague ideas and I will write it and get it to you somehow.

Everyone who has reached out ot me and expressed your love and support for the Bhinian Empire books, you are amazing. You make me smile, you make me want to be a better writer, and you make this whole journey incredibly worth it. I’m intensely grateful for that and I will absolutely continue writing, even if it’s not in this particular world.

Thank you.

Well it's been a while, hasn't it?

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Fri, 06 May 2016 20:44:00 +0000

Hey lovely readers and blog friends!

As you probably noticed, I sort of...stopped updating all of a sudden. Part of it was Life Things and part of it was the changing nature of the Internet, and honestly, part of it was that I realized, at least for a while, that I didn't have a lot to say. I've been active on other social media like Twitter and Tumblr, but even there I tended to spend most of my time listening rather than talking.

So where does that leave this blog?

Well for starters, one of my goals is to transition to an actual website sometime this year. I have no idea what that will look like yet, but now that Husband and I are in a better financial place, and I'm only working very part time, I have the space and resources to figure out who I'm going to be on the Internet , and how that's going to look. I'd like to start doing more workshops and Skype visits, and there will be a space on the website for all the writing advice I've done over the years. The blog will probably be archived somehow.

But what have I, the writer, been doing?

Well I've been writing. And living, and growing and rewriting and living and growing and writing. I have a couple of projects I'm VERY excited about, and between that and aforementioned Life Stuff, I've been pretty busy. It's been really good, but I think I'm ready to start slowly putting my Professional Writer Hat back on. Like I said, I don't know what form that will take, but I'm excited to find out.

So that's me. What have you all been up to for the last year or so?

Author copies, bonus Jerrit and random squealing

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 18:27:00 +0000

LOOK WHAT CAME IN THE MAIL YOU GUYS

Hardback of Empire of Shadows and paperback of City of a Thousand Dolls

THEY'RE SO PRETTY

BUT THERE'S MORE!

SPECIAL FEATURES! INCLUDING A BONUS EXCERPT WITH BONUS JERRIT POINT OF VIEW

I know how much you guys loved him, so this is my thank you.

EEEEE!!!!!

Both the paperback and the hardback will be out on November 4th, less than two weeks away!

Thank you guys, so so much. I can't believe we made it to this point and your support means more to me than I can say. I'll have a post up soon about the bookstore events I'm doing in Portland and Boise in November.

*hugs books*
*hugs readers*
*hugs everyone*

Help me give away my ARCs (and a link to a Goodreads giveaway)

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 22:08:00 +0000

So my summer has apparently vanished in a haze of heat and real life stuff and trying to GET THIS @#$%#%$#@ FIRST DRAFT DONE.

Ahem.

Anyway, it's September! Which means Empire of Shadows is out in about two months! Which is terrifying!

Yeah, kinda like that.

So right now, Harper is giving away 10 Empire of Shadows ARCs on Goodreads. So go forth and enter, if that is your sort of thing.

Meanwhile, I'll try to figure out some kind of giveaway for the ARCs of EoS that I have. I don't want to do a contest too close to release date, but it would be a shame to let this little stack of pretty books go to waste.

What do you all think? How should I give away my ARCS?

What I do when I'm not writing

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Mon, 21 Jul 2014 18:09:00 +0000

Wow.

It's been a while. I think this might be the longest I've gone without blogging since the blog started. There are a couple of reasons for this, but the main one is simply...well, I'm sort of low on things to say.

1. I'm not working a day job currently.

2. Empire of Shadows, the companion novel/prequel to City of a Thousand Dolls is done and edited and out of my hands. (I'm actually out of contract entirely at this point which is both amazingly freeing and rather scary.)

3. Anything to do with future books is currently at Secret Status

4. Empire of Shadows isn't out until November, which means it's a bit early to start yelling at you about it. (I have so some stuff planned though. For later.)

5. And honestly, there are only so many pictures of my cat being adorable that I can put up.

obligatory pic of cat being adorable

So you might be wondering, if I'm not editing and I'm not working and I'm not blogging, what AM I doing?

Well, writing is still a big answer, though lately I've had to step away and let my brain run on some story problems. (First drafts, ugh.) Also I've been teaching myself how to keep a consistently clean house, which is a skill I somehow got to my thirties without learning. And I've been pretty active in brickspace, with friends, a bit of volunteering, etc.

And when I'm not writing? I do this.

As some of you might remember from last year, I started a new craft called quilling. The story of how I got into it and why I love it is too long for this post, (hey, blogging idea!) but basically, this is what I've been doing when I get stuck writing. It's a lot of fun.

I guess I could talk more about quilling if people are interested. What do you all think? What do you do when you don't have anything to blog about?

#WeNeedDiverseBooks and the Diversify Your Shelves initiative

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Sat, 03 May 2014 14:00:00 +0000

Wow, what a great couple of days! I wasn't able to participate much yesterday because of errands and annoying adult things, but Thursday was amazing and the momentum seems to be continuing.

So today, I'm taking part in the third part of this campaign, Diversify Your Shelves. (contest at the link if you wanna win some books!) Sometime this afternoon, I'll be going to Powell's to pick up a book (or two) by a diverse author.

The only question is, WHICH ONE??!? There are so many great ones to choose from!

Any suggestions? And are you going to Diversify Your Shelves today?

#WeNeedDiverseBooks with bonus cute cat pictures!

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Thu, 01 May 2014 15:00:00 +0000

Happy #WeNeedDiverseBooks Days, part 1!

Are you tweeting? Are you talking? Wonderful! A whole lot of super smart people are saying amazing things as well, and you should check them out.

Tumblr conversation here.

Twitter conversation here.

Another thing that's going on today is the #WeNeedDiverseBooks visual campaign. I sent in a picture for it, but I thought I'd share the....creative process that went into the picture. And by creative process, I mean me trying to convince my cat to hold still for five stinking seconds.

(Yes, I'm supporting diversity by showing you pictures of my cat. What? IT'S THE INTERNET.)

Anyway, I started out with a simple message in horrid handwriting with some awesome books attached to it. (Also my books because they were there and why not.)

Then I thought. This picture needs a cat. So I tried to coax my cat over.

And I tried....

And tried...

As you can see it went very well.

I did eventually get a decent pic of him and the books, which you'll be able to see on the WeNeedDiversebooks tumblr at some point today.

Anyway, I'm going to try to be on the hashtag party today at 1pm EST. Will you be there?

#WeNeedDiverseBooks starts tomorrow!

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 18:02:00 +0000

Hey all! I've been off grid a bit for the last couple months, but I wanted to share something with you that's really important to me.

The We Need Diverse Books campaign was started as a response to Bookcon's all white author lineup. The amazing authors behind WNDB want to move past just talking about the problem, to actually trying to make a difference by raising awareness and support and by encouraging people to buy and read diverse authors.

Sounds awesome, right? But how can YOU help?

Here's how.

1. Tomorrow starts the three day social media campaign. You can read about all the different ways to participate here.

http://weneeddiversebooks.tumblr.com/post/83943947418/we-need-diverse-books-campaign

Blog, tweet, tumble, send in a picture if you want (today is the last day to do that), and Facebook. Add your voice to the chorus, and talk about why we need diverse books.

2. Talk about diverse books and diverse authors that you love. Call your library and request those books. Share them with your friends. Leave positive (and honest) reviews for these books on Amazon and Goodreads.

3. Vote with your wallet. Buy diverse books. Preorder them. (preorders are GOLD in the publishing world.) Especially buy books written by diverse authors. If you want a good place to start, I have a great list of Asian-inspired high fantasy here.

If diversity in books is at all important to you, I encourage you to get involved. There's a perception that diverse books don't sell, that customers and readers don't care about diversity. I believe that's wrong, and I believe we can change things.

Who's in?

In which spammers are writing better stories then I am right now.

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 22:37:00 +0000

So I was procrastinating like crazy today and decided to clean out my spam folders. This is always an adventure because I have more than one email address. Email 1 just attracts the usual spam: Lasik ads and Okcupid pitches and those fake "Apple" information confirmations. Boring as heck and easily deleted.

Email 2, on the other hand, gets a totally different class of spam. Deliciously amazing emails purporting to be from dying people, or trust lawyers or relatives of overseas government officials. I hate deleting them because they make such FANTASTIC writing prompts. So I thought I'd share one with you in case you wanted a bit of story inspiration.

Attention.

Greetings from Ghana Kotoka International Airport. We are glad to informed you that on 05/02/2014. we found a trunk box of consignment on board with south African airways after the arrival of the aircraft in Kotoka International Airport Ghana. The name of the passenger on board with the luggage in south African airline was diplomat Stephen Ushe and he was arrested upon his arrival in Kotoka International Airport Ghana at terminal A25 custom checking point after he was found quilt of using false diplomat International Passport to disguise as UN Official diplomat. also attempt to run away with two trunk boxes of consignment and after much investigation we discover that the consignment belong to you which the diplomatic was attempt to run away with before he was arrested. Perhaps, he has been detain in Fraud office Ghana and papering his way to face the law court for committed such act.

Delivery Arrangement of your consignment to you as the rightful beneficiary have been granted by the airport authority and I have been mandated to dispatch your luggage by the Airport commander.

Therefore kindly provide us your delivery house address including copy of your I'D and phone number to enable us prepare for the shipment to your home in your country without delay which shall be use to purchase for British airline company to book your consignment in flight and deliver to you without any difficulty. I have managed to deliver almost 100 consignment across the globe and the beneficiary appreciate my good work done so yours would not be an exceptional case.

Get back to us without delay.

So. What if this actually happened? What if someone got an email like this that was for real? What would happen next? What's in the trunks? And is anyone else after them?

You guys can play with this if you like. I'll be over here trying to get my word count for the day on my project. *stares at word doc* Maybe.

Cover contest winners!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 13:00:00 +0000

Wow, you guys, thank you so much for making my cover reveal last week so special and amazing! You are all my favorites. Between Twitter, Tumblr and the blog, there were a lot of entries, and a lot of counting. (noooo, not the maths!!!) And if I could give you all books I would. Sadly I cannot, so I pulled out ye olde random number generator and got to work!

*drumroll*

The winner of the ARC of Empire of Shadows

Laisai

Winner of the signed copy of City of a Thousand Dolls

Maria Pilar Albarran

Winners please email or private message me your address and I will get those books out for you! (The Advance Reader Copies aren't here yet, but I will mail the ARC when it arrives.)

And for those of you who didn't win, don't be sad! I will have more contests when the ARCs actually arrive. But for now, please enjoy this picture of my cat in a box.

Thank you all again!

Cover reveal!!!!!! (And contest!)

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 17:32:00 +0000

COVER REVEAL PART

Okay, are you guys ready for this?

Are you sure?

Click here.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! '

ISN'T IT PRETTY?!?!?

*swoon*

Now, do you want to enter to win an ARC of Empire of Shadows? How about a signed copy of City of a Thousand Dolls? Well I'm giving away both! Here's what you do.

SUPER EASY CONTEST PART

1. Comment: +1 entry

Leave a comment on this blog or reblog with a comment on the tumblr post.

2. Share: +1 entry

Share this cover over Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, whatever. Reblog it on Tumblr. (Likes sadly do not count as entries) Do something to spread the word! Then tag me or leave a link to your share in your comment so I can give you your extra entry. (Edit: To keep things simple for myself, the maximum entries per person will be two. One for comments and one for any shares.) I will pick two winners, one for the ARC of Empire of Shadows and one for the hardcover of COATD.

This giveaway is international and it closes midnight PST on February 12th.

Go forth and enter!

Empire of Shadows release date and cover news!

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 13:00:00 +0000

Hey all!

I'm battling the most creative head cold in the world right now, which means just when I think I'm over it, a brand new set of fun symptoms kicks in. (It's all very arty and ironic, the cold assures me.) So this will be short and sweet.

1. As promised in the title, we have a release date for Empire of Shadows. The book will be out November 4th, 2014!

2. The paperback of City of a Thousand Dolls will also be out on November 4th, including some yet-to-be-determined special features.

3. To celebrate the one year anniversary of City of a Thousand Dolls, (yay!) we're doing a cover reveal for Empire of Shadows on February 5th. And by we, I mean the lovely ladies of Diversity in YA.

If you've never checked out the Diversity in YA site, I strongly urge you to do so. Here's them in their own words.

Diversity in YA was founded in 2011 by authors Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo as a website and book tour. While the tour is over, we revived the website on Tumblr in February 2013, and we relaunched DiversityinYA.com in January 2014. We celebrate young adult books about all kinds of diversity, from race to sexual orientation to gender identity and disability. Our goal is to bring attention to books and authors that might fall outside the mainstream, and to bring the margin to the center. We encourage an attitude of openness and curiosity, and we welcome questions and discussion.

Awesome right? Both the website and the tumblr are great resources, whether you're interested in writing diversely or want to find diverse reads or authors to support. And they've graciously agreed to host my cover reveal, which makes me super happy.

4. There will also be an accompanying contest on this blog as well, so be sure and check for that on the 5th.

5. Finally, after the reveal and everything is done, I'm going to start my dialogue series. If you have any specific questions about dialogue, I'm taking suggestions in this thread.

I think that's it! Thank you everyone for being such amazing readers and being just generally cool people. Now I'm off to binge watch more Mystery Science Theater because it cures colds. Or something....

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your dialogue questions!

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 19:48:00 +0000

Happy January everyone!

So as we slip into the new year, I'd really like to do some more posts on writing and being a writer. And the first thing I'd love to tackle is dialogue. So I thought I'd turn to you lovely people for help. Is there anything you'd like me to talk about in a dialogue series? Any questions or problems or tricky issues you'd like to see addressed?

I'll trade you comments for this video of a baby otter being taught to swim. How does that sound?

Updates! Now in convenient list format.

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 22:32:00 +0000

1. I did not, sadly, win National Novel Writing Month, or even get to participate as much as I wanted too. *endless sad face* But I DID write about 15k words and get a good start on a new project which makes me very happy. I can't tell you a lot about it, because I'm not sure it's going to grow up to be a book yet. But here is the first paragraph or so, if you're interested.

They tell me that running is best done outside. They say it’s the wind in your face and the smell of the road and the scenery going by that makes running worthwhile.
They are wrong.
I take a deep breath and center myself, my feet pounding on the treadmill. The little screen attached to the top shows a running path in the fall, red and yellow and orange trees whirling by like brightly dressed ladies at a dance. There’s no wind and the only smell in the air is the smell of my own room, warm and dry, with a slight antiseptic tang underneath. My breathing and my feet sync as I run and for a moment, that’s my whole world, breath and muscle, body and bone. Everything else burns away, the knot in my chest loosens and for a moment, just the briefest of seconds, my mind is blank.
This is what makes running worthwhile for me.
Because it’s running away from myself.

2. There were a lot of reasons that I didn't get to write last month and one of them was moving. We moved to a smaller, cozier (and Lord be thanked, QUIETER) apartment. It was an awesome decision and I don't regret it, but it did mean WEEKS of sorting and packing and giving stuff away so we could fit into the new place. And those of you who are long-time blog readers will remember just how much I love moving. (hint: not at all)

But it's done and the new apartment feels more like home than the old one ever did. Also we got a giant new couch which our cat loves because it makes him invisible.

Do you see a cat? Look closer....

Cutest ferocious predator ever

3. Reason number two I didn't write was copyedits, which turned out to be due at the end of November. Copyedits and I do not have a happy history, but this time they were surprisingly uncomplicated and unstressful. Which was good because I was spending so much of my time packing.

But they are done now! And Empire of Shadows is off to the great publishing machine, where it will be spit out in Fall 2014. I might have an official date for you soon as well. (Yay!)

4. And finally, reason number three that I didn't get to Nano much. I was crafting.

Yep. I'm a crafter now. I do a thing called quilling, which is basically rolled strips of paper and glue. And I made stuff for people for Christmas presents and had a booth at a DIY craft fair and taught other people how to make stuff. It's a bit weird, but it does help manage the stress.

What did I make, you ask? Well I made Christmas ornaments.

And also a bunch of other stuff that I can show you in a separate post if you're interested. :)

5. I still haven't given up on getting back to some sort of regular blogging schedule. I miss it. Maybe that will be my New Year's resolution! But regardless of whether or not I update again before the end of the year, I wish you and yours the happiest of holiday seasons. Have a snowflake.

National Novel Writing Month and writer fear

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 06:52:00 +0000

I'm sitting in a Shari's waiting to start writing for National Novel Writing Month.

I'm horrifyingly nervous.

This is the first new thing I've written in over a year.

I'm also wildly excited, to the extent that I think I'm scaring people.

BECAUSE THIS IS THE FIRST NEW THING I'VE WRITTEN IN OVER A YEAR.

I want to cry and clap and run screaming away from the blank page. But I know that past the fear is writing.

And writing is home.

*cracks knuckles*

*gets ready*

*waits for midnight*

BHINAN EMPIRE BOOK TWO HAS A TITLE!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 16:23:00 +0000

I know what you're thinking.

"A blog post AND book news? Is the world ending???"

Happily, it's not. At least not in lovely, cloudy Portland where I'm currently writing this from. While under my covers. Because it's freezing in my house but the thermostat is DOWNSTAIRS and I don't have to be anywhere for another hour or so. Therefore blankets.*

The big news around here of course, is that I've officially turned in my edits for Bhinian Empire Two, The Companion Novel of Doom!** That means several things:

1. It is now almost completely 99.9% certain that Book Two will be out sometime next fall.
2. I can now devote more time to other writerly things, like...hypothetically speaking... blogging. And maybe a contest or two as well. :)
3. WE HAVE A TITLE.

*drumroll*

Coming, Fall 2014, for your enjoyment and delight....

EMPIRE OF SHADOWS.

YAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!***

Remember, this is a companion novel, not a sequel. There will be a few shared characters, some in unexpected places, but this book isn't really focused on Nisha. Instead you'll get to meet a new character, Mara, whom I hope you will love just as much.

Posting on the blog will be still be sporadic for a while, as I take off my Editing Helmet of Great Solitude and try to get back in the groove of social media a little more. But I'm looking forward to some good writer-advice posts and a few wow-what-a-year updates. In the meantime, leave me a comment and let me know how your summer went!

(I assume unlike me, it involved some kind of outside.)

*Can you tell I've been on Tumblr a lot this year?
** Dun dun duuuuuun
***no more big edits!!!!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and the changing face of storytelling.

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Wed, 15 May 2013 02:00:00 +0000

As some of you know, I'm an Avengers fan, and a fairly obsessive one.

I'm a newbie in this fandom.. Up until the Avengers movie, the only Marvel superheroes I knew anything about were Spiderman and some of the X-men. Now my superhero knowledge is expanding. I'm beginning to get into comics and I have a handful of lifelong Marvel fans and content creators that I stalk online. I listen to them talk about comics and characters and plot arcs, learning about this amazing world of stories that I never really knew existed.

But my first real exposure was the Avengers movie, and one of my favorite characters in that movie was, of course, Agent Phil Coulson.

Which is why this trailer made my week.

It's not just that Coulson lives. (Although that's kind of amazing on its own.) And it's not just that I adore episodic secret agent shows. There's a chance that they might use this TV show to shine some light on lesser know Marvel heroes, which means more stories for me to discover, and I love that.

But those aren't the only reasons I'm excited.

I'm excited because last month at the Boise SCBWI conference, I gave a presentation on the changing face of storytelling. And one of the things that I said was that in the new story age, story trumps medium. Readers and fans are getting used to having stories that are told in several different ways. Books become movies, musicals and TV shows, TV shows become graphic novels, movies and books, etc. And now we have this: a comics universe that became a set of movies and is now a TV show.

Story trumps medium. And that's exciting for storytellers like myself because it means that readers and fans put value on story. That no matter what happens to books or publishing in the digital age, that the act of telling a story is alive and well and that there are still many, many stories out there to be told. In all forms.

And I think that's pretty amazing.

Drowning in story

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:35:00 +0000

I've been gone from the blog for a while, and there are a whole lot of reasons I could give. Two moves in the last year, couchsurfing, a debut book launch, acclimating to a new place.... But really, there is one real reason for my absence.

Book Two.

(If you didn't read that with a Jaws-like ba-dum, you should.)

Not that I don't love Book Two, because I do. And it's not because I'm feeling pressured or stressed. My wonderful editor and reassuring agent have been fully supportive while I work on this. But Book Two is a very different beast than City of a Thousand Dolls.

COATD is, at its heart, a small book. A book set on one estate, about one girl's struggle to figure out where she belongs, and who she's going to be. It's about murder and secrets and what happens to love and friendships under stress. Sure there was a background of political intrigue, but it was all just that, background. Fun, complicated background.

Book Two is ALL about the background. In Book Two, the internal politics of the Empire are front and center. There are rebels and princes, wandering Kildi and ~~undercover killers~~ who are mercenaries now because I had to take some stuff out which is sad. (It also has two point-of-view characters, because doing things I've never done before is SO MUCH FUN.)

In short, Book Two is bigger than COATD. Quite a bit bigger. And because of that, it's been much more difficult to edit. A little like swimming in open water, when most of your experience is playing in the community pool. Or like winning a goldfish at a fair and discovering you've suddenly got a baby whale in your fishbowl instead.

Actually, now that I think about it, it looks a lot like this:

(Okay, that doesn't fit with my overall 'water' metaphor, but I just saw Iron Man 3 and I've been fangirling for days.)

Anyway, that's what's happening over here. It's not bad, really, just kind of overwhelming and a little terrifying. And there are a lot of awesome things going on too! I love the book and I love the story and I really think it's going to be fantastic. Ultimately, every book has its own speed, and its own learning curve. And I know I'll be a better writer at the end of this, which is really what I want.

So I'm going to start trying to post once or twice a week, but if for some reason I disappear again...well, I'm probably busy swimming.

Have you ever been over your head in a project?

A vlog! A vlog!

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:41:00 +0000

It's been a while, I know. But I made you a thing.

How have you all been?

Mailing update and some late winners

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 19:13:00 +0000

Okay, so I'm caught up on mailing for pretty much everyone who sent in an address. If won something from me and you don't get it within a reasonable time frame, feel free to email me and let me know.

If you don't know whether you won something, check the winners tag.

Also when I was making this post this morning, I realized that I never put up my last winners post! I was positive I had posted everything, but apparently not. (My brain must have shorted out for a while there.) My apologies for the delay, everyone.

Here are the last four winners of my 30 Days of Bookery Contest!

The winner of Claws is:

Bn100candg

The winner of Geeks, Girls and Secret Identities and I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It is:

Natasha

The winner of Equal of the Sun and Wrapped is:

And finally, the winner of The Archived is:

Sunny Duvall

And as if finding out that I was missing a winner post wasn't bad enough, I went back and counted all my winners to make sure I wasn't missing anything else. And sure enough, I was. For some reason, the winner of Time Between Us and Return to Me was never announced. (The next time I do a giveaway like this, I'm using a spreadsheet.)

So, the winner of Time Between Us and Return to Me is...

Paula Cotton

There you go! All the winners have been announced, and I'm caught up on mailing for anyone who already sent in an address. If you won a book, shoot me an email!

Now, I have to go back into the editing cave for Book Two. Send help. And snacks.

*dives back into editing cave*

Everything you ever wanted to know about Book Two. (Okay, not everything. But some things, anyway.)

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 18:13:00 +0000

Happy Wednesday! Today I thought I'd answer some of the questions about the mysterious and secretive BOOK TWO that I've been working on. Things are still in process, so I can't tell you as much as I would like, but I will do my best.

BOOK TWO FAQ.

(hey that kind of rhymes!)

Will there be another book after City of a Thousand Dolls?

YES. I'm editing a second Bhinian Empire book right now.

Is it a sequel?

NO. I'd love to do a sequel someday, but this story needs to be told first. So it's a companion novel.

What's it about?

Love, identity, and revolution. And that's all I can say.

When is it coming out?

Not until later in 2014, unfortunately. I don't have a specific date yet, but I know it won't be February. This is a much bigger book in scope than City of a Thousand Dolls, and in order to do everything justice, we had to push the release date back.

Will there be more of the world?

SO MUCH MORE. That's one of the reasons it's taking me longer to do. You'll find out a lot more about the Sune, and the caste system, and get to see the capital city of Kamal. And there's a little bonus Black Lotus too, for those of you who wanted more of that.

What about Nisha's story?

The second book doesn't follow Nisha, but it's a big part of her story all the same. It will answer some of the questions left over from the first book, but probably not the ones you're thinking of.

Will Jerrit be in the second book?

This is by far my most popular (and most favorite) question. And the answer is... I can't tell you. ONE of the cats will be in the second book, along with several other familiar characters, but for now their identity is a SECRET.

So that's what I can spill so far! You can leave other questions in the comment thread, and I'll answer as best I can.

And now, back to work! *tackles Book Two*

In which Miriam recaps her month (and finds a new website to play with)

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:39:00 +0000

It's March! *cheers*

As of tomorrow, City of a Thousand Dolls will have been out exactly one month. And what a month it's been! Here were the highlights. They're illustrated in pulp sci-fi magazine style because I've been obsessed with this website for the past few days.

First there was the release itself, which was crazy and awesome and scary and wonderful.

Then I settled back in to work on edits for the companion novel to City. There was only one small snag....

Curse you, Shiny New Idea!

Also I drank a LOT of coffee...

Forgot my anniversary...

And mailed stuff.

(Note: I am almost caught up on mailing. My goal is to be done by the end of the week. There will be an announcement when I finish. And maybe a party.)

Also I went to a concert with my family, got to hug a lot of friends at book signings and gave up naps for Lent.

How was YOUR month?

Just updated my Asian-based fantasy list....

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 20:43:00 +0000

... if you want to see what I have so far, it's here. If you have a suggestion--and I do love suggestions--you can leave it here.

(I've gotten a couple recommendations that are actually dystopian and I'm not sure whether or not to include them, since the idea was originally for fantasy. Any thoughts on that would be welcome.)

In other news!

Writer's Digest has an interview and giveaway up right now for City of a Thousand Dolls. I talk about what I would do differently in my publishing journey and how my platfrom is mostly reblogging Hobbit pictures.

My brother-in-law and fellow blogger Nic Casey is also giving away a copy of City of a Thousand Dolls. Leave a comment by the end of February to win!

And if your curious to know the Big Idea behind City of a Thousand Dolls, (and how it was actually a very small idea), there's a guest post up today on the estimable Scalzi's blog that covers that very thing.

And finally, because I'm visiting North Idaho right now and it's snowing big fluffy flakes outside, here is a link to a photo of a fluffy puppy in the snow.

You're welcome. *grin*

A song for Wednesday.

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:40:00 +0000

I have been singing this in my head for the last few days. My husband says it's a really sad song, but I think it's lovely.

Dreaming by Loudon Wainwright.

I'd rather be dreaming than living,
Living's just too hard to do.
It's chances not choices.
Noises not voices.
A day's just a thing to get through.
Living's just too hard to do.

I'd rather be dreaming than talking,
There's nothing to hear or to say,
With ears covered mouth closed,
The world is opposed.
Nothing gets in or away.
There's nothing to hear or to say.

I'd rather be dreaming than thinking,
Thoughts are small comfort to me.
Dreams might be pretend,
But at least dreams end.
And I just can't stop thinking you see.
Thoughts are small comfort to me.

I'd rather be dreaming than sleeping,
Just sleeping you're just as well dead.
In dreams I can fly.
In dreams I don't die.
That's why I lie here in this bed.
Just sleeping you're just as well dead.

I'd rather be dreaming...

Do you have a favorite sad song?