Stunning Saturday: Book covers by HelzKat Designs

Okay a little self promotion my alter ego here.

But for those who don't know, here are some book covers I've designed.



It all started with the Little Gems Cover Contest win for the 2010 issue.

And then I some friends asked me to design their covers....

 

Two you wouldn't have seen yet for are Shona Husk's two free reads. 

Writing Buddy Wednesday - Tracey O'Hara

Fellow DarkSider Tracey O'Hara is the author of dark urban fantasy series, The Dark Brethren.  A computer programmer by day, Tracey lights up the page with her writing and brings a new twist to the vampire tale at night.

I've known Tracey since the first RWAus Claytons many years ago, even writing an article about it together for Hearts Talk. Since then we've become chat buddies, and met in person for the first time in Brisbane 2009. At WorldCon last year, Tracey let me tag along with her and her friends to some events and she made me feel like one of the gang. So you can guess, she is a sweet and caring person.

She is also currently pimping the cover I did for Dante's Rising as her as my alter ego. LOL! It was such a pleasure working with her on getting the cover right.

Tracey's latest release is Death's Sweet Embrace, Book Two of the Dark Brethren series. This is waiting patiently on my TBR pile, but I'm sure I'd love it as much as I loved Night's Cold Kiss.

Here is the blurb:

After thousands of years of secret conflict, humans and parahumans have reached an uneasy truce. But unspeakable evil now threatens to shatter the tenuous peace.

Teenaged shapeshifters are being slaughtered by a twisted, sadistic serial killer who rips their still-beating hearts from their paralyzed bodies. A task force must be formed to halt the madness—a union of avengers including the vampiric Aeternus, Christian Laroque and Antoinette Petrescu, as well as Kitt Jordan and Raven Matokwe, members of enemy Animalian tribes…and forbidden lovers.

A centuries-old blood feud has divided their peoples—pitting wolf against snow leopard in a battle to the death—and if their passion is discovered it will doom them both. But past hostilities must be put aside in light of the scourge that is now upon them. For the killer they seek is but the first sign of a blossoming terror rising up from their long-buried pasts: the all-consuming nightmare of The Dark Brethren.

The third book of the series will be released about mid-2012. 

You can find Tracey at her website. Tracey also writes Erotic Fantasy stories as Tracie Sommers. They are Hawt (yes with the couple H).

As a special treat this week, I have another giveaway. Tracey's first book in the Dark Brethren tale, Night's Cold Kiss. So please leave a comment for your chance to win.  

~yia~

Thrilled...

Hi everyone,

Well my alter ego has been busy with cover designs for authors. You can see all designs at HelzKat Designs.

At the beginning of the month, was the release of Mel Teshco's Identity Shift.

I'm thrilled with this as well as my latest project for Tracey O'Hara for a Dark Brethren short story, Dante Rising.

The guy is just creepy as is the character in the story, which is the prequel to Night's Cold Kiss. A revised version will be released later in the year, and the cover is all ready to go.


I'm really enjoying this work and working with images, which as most of you will know how visual I am and how much I admire artwork.

Now it's about finding balance between writing and design.

~yia~

Book covers

And here a blog I prepared earlier....

For me a good book cover is a bonus when buying an author you know - you will buy the book if it has or hasn't got a good cover.

But how about those authors I don't know? I would have thought, no it doesn't make a difference. If I recognise the name (i.e.. have heard of the author but not read anything), it might not, but maybe it matters more to me than I thought. I'm a visual person so I love looking at artwork and of course an appealing book cover would make me more likely than not to pick up a book.

I have always tried to abide by 'don't judge a book by its cover' but who knows. Next time I'm at the library or the book store I might have to check what I do and do not look at, and how much the covers actually influence me. Though I don't think it has any influence on  me in category. But single title?

Some fab covers from writing friends:

  

 

   

 

Do covers influence you?

~yia

Count Down....

In just over 2 weeks, I will be flying out to Sydney for the Romance Writers of Australia's conference: Sun, Surf and Sizzle!!!!  Yeeha.... 

I am really looking forward to sharing an apartment with my Bootcamp buddies, catching up with everyone I know, making new friends, learning, pitching, convening (I'll be the conveyer to a workshop by Tracey O'Hara and Vanessa Barneveld called Book Trailers and other author promotions - how cool is that?!!!), going to the cocktail party, the awards dinner, the Silver charity lunch, the AGM, the Paranormal breakfast, e-list dinner, attending workshops.....and more.....

After the conference, I head to BootiCon - writing retreat with my Bootcampers. Woohoo!!

 So I'm going to be gone for 8 days.

The past week has been a flurry of errands. Goodness, just when you think you have them under control, more pop out from under a rock!!!

I'm going to be blogging over at the Romance Writers of Australia's blog on Monday 26th July on the topic of Graphic Novels. Please come along and have a look.

And of course I am counting down until I get to see the next installment of the Harry Potter films. Part one coming out in November this year, and part two next year in July.

Here's the trailer:

You tube

I have been re-watching the other films - up to The Order of the Phoenix which somehow has escaped being in my collection. 

~yia~

Books that go bump in the night

My fabulous writing buddy Tracey O'Hara has started a new blog with other authors who write Books that Go Bump In the Night. It's called Supernatural Underground.

Books on werewolves, vampires, shifters, demons, immortals, fairies.....Enticing isn't it?

You can find them at:
http://supernaturalunderground.blogspot.com
and Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/supernatural.underground

And they have a whole month of giveaways, so go check them out.




In other news, I started of the June challenge better than expected thanks to sprinting with the RWANaNoWriMo Gals. Total word count so far 2056.






~yia~

Parnanormal Writing Buddies doing good....

Tracey O'Hara's DEBUT book Night's Cold Kiss was shortlisted for horror category of the Aueralis Awards. Fantastic work....




The full jugde's report is available here. (opens pdf document)

Tracey O’Hara, Night's Cold Kiss, HarperCollins Publishers Australia 

Night's Cold Kiss offers the right mix of vampire romance and horror with a slight "pulp" element that keeps the story grounded. In the crowded field of supernatural/horror romance with a strong female at the centre, O’Hara’s characters and story stand out; the development is strong and the story arc is satisfying to the end. O’Hara has created a world that is believable and exhilarating. Unlike many novels in this subgenre, the story is told from various perspectives, which gives the reader an insight into each character’s motivation and adds depth. The romantic relationships are realistically passionate and add to the thrilling violence and horror of the tale.

Here's the book trailer to Erica Haye's Shadowglass (Book 2 of the Shadowfae Novels). Pretty impressive trailer and the book will be released next month. 

Mel Teshco has a new cover for her first Nocturne Bites, Her Dark Lord coming out in March. I must say ....very nice indeed. 

Denise Rossetti is doing a Cross-Blog tour with the other members of the Laced with Desire authors. 

Anna Hackett has a new Nocturne Bites coming out in April called Hunter's Surrender. Cover yet to be released. 

I'm sure you recognise these names, they were part of Eleni-fest back in October last year.


And here's a couple of names I'm sure you will get to know soon, I'm sure.


Kylie Griffin has had her SF romance Dark Shadows final in the Chase the Dream Contest. Go Kylie! 


Shona Husk has had a flood of good news lately- she has An Elemental Tail coming out with The Wild Rose Press; a story Black Widow in the Scary Kisses anthology by Ticonderoga Publishing; and a novella Boyfriend in a Bottle with Samhain publishing. 


Congratulations ladies!


~yia~

Eleni-fest: chatting with Tracey O'hara

Today we have my fellow RWA Paranormal member and IM buddy, the terrific Tracey O’hara on Eleni-fest. Tracey’s debut urban fantasy novel, Night’s Cold Kiss was released in August in the US. This is book is part of my website competitions – so enter for your chance to win a copy.

Welcome Tracey to Eleni’s Taverna and  Eleni-fest!

Congratulations on the release of Night’s Cold Kiss. Does it still feel surreal that you are a published author?
Thank you Eleni. Yes it does still feel a little surreal. But I guess seeing your book on the shelf for the first time is one way to make it seem more real.




How hard was it to keep quiet during the 2008 RWAus conference as to the Call (waiting to be official)?
Extremely difficult. Can you imagine finally fulfilling your dream, but not being able to tell anyone? Well my agent said I could tell my close friends only. Besides my roommate, Jo who was with me when I got the news, I told Rachel Bailey and Mel Teshco. Rachel had recently sold to Silhouette Desire and the three of us had been together in writing for a few years, sharing our dreams as well as our skills. It was great to be able to share it with these girls.




Yay for writing friends to share the joy (Mel & Rachel). Do you have critique partners?
At the moment I am working with my husband and a good friend of mine, Cathy who isn’t writing much at the moment (though I wish she would—she is awesome). So no, I don’t have a critique partner as such. I also have a couple of beta readers who read it for the story content.




The cover art of Night’s Cold Kiss is fantastic (& perfect for the first scene) – did you have any input into how it would look?
I was asked by my editor if I had any ideas for the cover. I said it would be great to see the opening of the book when she is hunting. Mel Teshco helped me to flesh it out so it was the part where she was crouched on the windowsill with broken glass surrounding them. And when it went to cover conference – they loved it. Hence you get the truly fantastic cover you see.




You recently went to Conflux. How was that?
Conflux was fantastic. Although I only went to about have of it due to writing pressures and getting a headache. Getting to hang out with Keri Arthur is always lots of fun and there were several panels I enjoyed both participating in and being on. For more on my Conflux experience read the blog on the Harper Voyager online blog here. 




What has changed since getting your book deal? What has surprised you?
I work harder and longer. People often talk about the journey to getting published, but it is only the beginning. Don’t get me wrong. I love writing, I love telling a story and love being a writer. I don’t want to do anything else. But is not all rose scented candles and angels singing hymns. It’s hard work, the hardest I have ever done.




Do you still have the ‘imposter’ syndrome?
Hell yes. Every day I struggle against it.
(EK: For an explanation of the 'imposter' syndrome, check out this blog where Tracey explains)




How do you think your writing groups and associations have helped you in your writing?  
I think that writing groups were a large part of my success. Without the knowledge and support of those in both my local group and RWA I would never have achieved what I did, or it would have taken a lot longer. 




You recently got a tattoo  – what was the inspiration for it? Do you have any others (well that you can tell us about anyway *grin *)?
I am got my tattoo to try and represent the need I have to have more balance in my life. It was my fourth tattoo. To go with my new yin and yang style dragon tattoo, I have a large blue and red dragon on my thigh, a small black and red dragon on my right ankle and a Pegasus on my left shoulder.
(EK: So cool!)




Love the banner on your site and blog.
I have to thank the lovely gnomeangel of  http://www.greentangerinedesigns.com/ for the banner. Isn’t it awesome?

As always Tracey, it’s been a blast and I'm loving reading NCK. Thanks for joining in the Eleni-fest fun! Tracey has kindly offered a NCK promo pack (hat, tote bag and t-shirt) as a give away and I’m adding a wizard shaped pen since Tracey’s book helped get Eleni-fest kicking!! 

For your chance to win, please comment below. Comments will be open until the end 19th October.

Comments are now closed. Congratulations Nicky!

Please visit Tracey's website for a look at Night's Cold Kiss. (Hint: it would help answer the questions for my website competition *grin*)

Good luck!

~yia~

Eleni-fest: this week and CFS

Before I get into my topic of the week - CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), I'm just going to run over the schedule for this week.

Special Guests

On the 12th October, my special guest will be Mel Teshco, an Ellora's Cave (erotic romance) author. She has a choice of either  copy of her debut release Stone Cold Lover or a critique of your first chapter as a giveaway.

On the 13th, Sexy Sensation (Modern Heat) author Anne Oliver will be my special guest. She is giving away a copy her latest release, Memoirs of a Millionaire's Mistress or a copy of a title from her backlist. 

Urban Fantasy author Tracey O'hara is my special guest on the 15th. She has NCK promo pack (tote bag, T-shirt & hat) as a giveaway, and in honour of Tracey's book, Night's Cold Kiss helping Eleni-fest kick into gear, I'm adding in a wizard shaped pen too (see website competition for your chance to win a copy of NCK).  

R*BY nominated Claire Baxter will be my special guest on the 16th She will be giving away a copy of The Best Love Stories of 2009 (which has 6 of the short category nominations including Claire's The Single Dad's Patchwork Family). 

R*BY award winner and historical romance author Anne Gracie will be my special guest on the 17th. She will be giving away a copy of her R*BY award winning book, The Stolen Princess. 

What a fantastic line up eh?!

Blogs visiting

I will be at the Romance Writers of Australia's blog on the 14th, so pop over there for your chance to win a writer's pack & souvenir pack.

Now to the topic at hand - 

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)

You know those days when you feel so tired, you just want to crawl into bed and sleep for a year? Yep, I get many of those days on a regular basis. Some weeks  more than others, sometimes less than other days. It's not just the fatigue, it's the aching pains of the body, the headaches, the feeling as if you are drudging waste deep in mud, your head is twirling, the emotions, and the lack of mental and physical energy. The overall sluggish feeling.

CFS is an umbrella term for those conditions where someone has had constant fatigue for more than 6 months that can't be explained by another diagnosis, does not get a huge amount of relief from resting, energy levels diminish, and there is no extra exertion to explain. Basically it is not known what the exact cause of CFS nor is there a one stop cure. You can read a fact sheet and an overview of CFS (opens a pdf document) from the ME/CFS Australia (SA) site. They can put it into words much better than I can. Yes I know I'm a writer but these folks have a better way of conveying the right information the right way. 

And here's a snippet taken from on their website -

"Well known people who are or have suffered CFS (or CFS-like illness) include: 

•	Charles Darwin (naturalist)
•	Florence Nightingale (nurse, writer, statistician)
•	Andrew Lloyd Webber (composer)
•	The Duchess of Kent (British Royal)
•	Linley Frame (Australian Olympic swimmer)
•	Barry Sheen (World Champion motorcycle rider)
•	Tottie Goldsmith (Australian media personality)
•	Johanna Griggs (Australian media personality)
•	Richie Richardson (former West Indies cricket captain)
•	Alastair Lynch (former AFL footballer)
•	James McDonald (AFL footballer)"

I wanted to shed light on this subject even though luckily in the last few years more and more people understand that this not a made up illness. It's real. And I live it along with many many other people.


I've had CFS for about 9-10 years (mine being largely inflammatory). But I was one of the lucky ones that initially I was able to go to work. I basically worked hard all day (in one job, I managed to grab a nap during lunch time) but I crashed as soon as I got home. I hardly saw my friends or extended family. I did eventually go to part time which helped me out. And seemed to find a balance for a little while. My work was not affected and until it did, I wouldn't give up my job. Another thing was that my employers didn't know. Again unless it interfered, I just went about doing my job.

That worked until 3 and half years ago. My CFS flared up and so did anxiety and it affected my work in a huge way. My work mates were fantastic and surprised to learn of the CFS and were a huge support to me when I tried to decide how to tackle it. I tried to keep going but my body just had enough. I was not only fatigued physically, but mentally, emotionally and even spiritually. It was a very difficult time. My family were amazing, as were my health care professionals. 


I haven't worked since that time. I didn't do anything for a very long. Reading was hard going. TV helped some. About 2 years ago, I started slowly to get back into writing and reading. Baby steps. Then the Bootcamp came along and that opened more up for me. Still more baby steps than others. I've made progress since then, but again it has to be balanced. 


Oh I do help out with things in RWAus, write/edit, studying very part time, and have been looking for work the last 18 months, but finding the right job has not been easy. And at the moment, my job case manager and I have decided to take a little break from job hunting.


Writing to me is the perfect job - I can write with my night owl tendencies (despite trying to break this cycle) and take breaks when I need them to balance out the day. It's still not perfect as I tend to still be a person who pushes themselves. There's pushing and there's over-pushing. I tend to fall in the latter group.

One thing about CFS that people don't realise is that even though on the outside you may look okay, on the inside you may feel truly awful. It's not something you can always 'see'. So it's akin to wearing a 'mask'. So even though I feel like my eyes are dragging down and burning, my body ready to collapse and in pain, it didn't always show. And then there are times when it does show through or I go visiting somewhere and can't keep my eyes open. Family are used to me closing my eyes abit on their couches. Some days I sluggishly move along...a snail could beat me!


While more and more people got to know about my CFS, I still held onto my old fear of prospective employers finding out, but seriously after so much time off, they would know something was up. And it was applying for the Arts grant that made me realise not to hide anymore from the wider world. Sure I didn't have to say a thing. But the choice was mine and it was freeing. It's like I 'own' the CFS now. It's why I never joined the ME/CFS association - for fear of discrimination. I was honest in one job interview (pre crash) that I had it, and even though everything had gone smashingly until that point, I think that put a huge cross next to my name, despite at the time feeling well enough to tackle the job. Then again another place offered me a casual job and was very grateful for my honesty. 


With being so mentally drained, I read about CFS in spurts in times when I do have the energy as I just didn't want information overload. I'm lucky I have one hell of understanding physician who helps me in my journey to find the right course for me. I've been along some paths that looked promising but I needed to hack my way through. It's not a static thing - CFS - there are moments you can actually feel almost 'normal' (whatever that is) and then moments when you can't keep your eyes open even though you've only been awake only for a couple of hours, or when mentally you are more awake but physically your body is aching, or vice versa. It's like a jigsaw puzzle that changes its image.

My writing buddy Nikki Logan and I were chatting via IM one day and she made a suggestion of maybe writing a story about it in a fictional setting. I'd been thinking of starting a blog and this resonated with me. I have started the blog but it's different from what I imagined. It's about Lo'EnGee who lives in the world of Fatiguedom. I will work more on the story later but I think these beginning posts are making me think of how I can convey the info...it's experimental... see what you think. Again, despite wanting to keep this up to date - it all comes down to energy.

I once heard a theory about a lady talking about lupus on a blog somewhere (& darned if I can find the link) but can be used to describe CFS. She had to explain to her friend about what it was like living her day. Basically she said you have a set number of spoons each day, say 12. You can not get more spoons and spoons can not be left over from the previous day. It takes say 3 spoons to wake up, crawl out of bed and take a shower. And so she continued to go through the day saying she couldn't do this or that because it would take more spoons than she had and needed to be mindful for the rest of the day.


I agree with the spoon theory though for me I think it is spoonfuls. Some days the spoons are heaped, others they are level, and other days there is very little or nothing there. 

When I was at the conference, you could wonder at me having CFS. I was upbeat and energetic when I was around people (well to my standards). Their positive energy and the buzz from being at a conference helped. But when I was alone and at night, my body reminded me how much it ached and I was taking pain killers every day more than once (I usually try not too have too much). When I crashed some nights I was just drained - mentally, physically, emotionally. I had a wonderful time don't get me wrong. I crammed in as much as I could into 5 days but of course I had to be prepared to rest when I returned home. Luckily for me my chiro, 'Mr Magic Fingers' as a fellow client calls him, saw me the day after I returned so I was able to get a good sleep after my appointment. Whenever I get an adjustment I know that I get the best sleeps. I still crashed but this helped lessen the depth.

The ironic thing about CFS is that you need energy to be sick. I mean you just want to let go and go with the flow, but you have to think about your diet, about going to appointments, about trying this and that, exercise. At times I have to admit I've had to say 'stop' and taken a break of thinking about it all the time. It takes energy.  But I've found that understanding health care professionals, understanding family, friends and co-workers make a very huge difference. I've not sought out support beyond that. Energy reasons and because I am one of the lucky ones who have had support from the start. Others unfortunately don't. You have to do right by you - and that is indeed the part I struggle with. Each day is different. I may think I can do a, b and c and maybe the day I plan them I can. But when I wake the next morning I can only cope with a and b, well that's just part of the package.


For example I'm having a blast with Eleni-fest but I've chipped away at it, stayed at the computer longer than normal, had less naps so far, to get it happening. But I have to keep the balance otherwise I will be headed for a major crash & I especially don't want that happening right now. Hence the chipping away.


Despite all the ups and downs over the years with CFS, I still feel blessed to have the support I do and that I have my writing. It has helped me in more ways than I can count. And so have stories where I have been able to escape too.


I hope you have found this post interesting and informative. 




Now while I know chocolate is not the best for those with CFS, it's okay to have some in moderation (dark preferably). I have a small packet of Haigh's chocolates, a bookmark, a little owl key-ring watch and some fantasy stickers as a giveaway.

Just make a comment below. Comments will be open all week until the end of the 17th October.

Comments now closed. Congratulations Nicky!

Be well all.
~yia~