Monday, 9 December 2013

Reflections on 2013

Reflections on 2013

As the year draws to a close I think that like most people, I become a bit reflective and look back upon what has happened during the last twelve months as we bid farewell to yet another year…

2013 saw two family weddings, one selling of a house and a long awaited second Anchorman film!

A couple of things I learnt this year;

  • ·         All of my coat pockets are full of dog poop bags, unused of course. Guess it’s one of the side effects of being a besotted dog owner!!


  • ·         Yellow never was and never will be my colour, it makes me even paler if that’s even possible!


  • ·         Blondes seem to have more fun, so far anyway…


  • ·         You can never have too many shoes. I have pairs I’ve never even worn but continue to hold on to, waiting for that fabled event that they will just be perfect for.


  • ·         Despite growing another year older, I feel I’ve regressed further in to childlike ways. My Disney DVD collection grew, my adult sensibilities did not. Peter Pan had the right idea; I’d love to never grow up!


  • ·         Forging your own path can be tough. 2013 was the year I decided to dedicate my life to my writing and it can lonely, frustrating, stressful and manic but ultimately, I’ve never been happier.


On the topic of my writing, I’ve managed to accomplish a lot this year but know that 2014 is going to be an even bigger year for me! This year I;

  • ·         Wrote six novels in my capacity as a freelance ghost writer


  • ·         Wrote two novels of my own, one a sequel to my very first novel, the second a historical romance novel


  • ·         My second book, Sunkissed, was published in August


  • ·         I’ve signed with a large publishing company and will be releasing two more books next year


And upon looking ahead to 2014, as mentioned, I will be releasing numerous novels including politic thriller Prime Deception as well as looking to write and complete sequels to Sunkissed and another YA novel I’ve written, along with starting a new YA series all together.

So it looks set to be a very busy year! Outside of my writing I will be moving house and going to see Maroon 5, Backstreet Boys (with Kevin!!) and Justin Timberlake in concert throughout the year!

There is so much to look forward to! So with December, and of course both Christmas and my birthday, I can begin to wind down and enjoy all the trimmings of the season!

To all my friends and readers, I wish you all a truly fabulous Christmas and New Year! I hope you get everything you wished for and find that someone special beneath the mistletoe…xoxo


P.S if Santa was wondering what to bring me this year, my wish list never changes, all I want for Christmas is one Leonardo DiCaprio! ; P 

Monday, 25 November 2013

YA Bloggers are the Best!


Since Sunkissed's release I've been busy trying to drum up interest and generate as many reviews as possible and am so grateful to the numerous YA Book Bloggers who have been kind enough to take a chance on an unknown author and read and review the story.

It is incredibly tense waiting for reviews to come in but when someone loves your story and gets what you are trying to say it is an amazing moment. It justifies all the blood, sweat and tears which go in to writing a novel. All the moments of self doubt when you're sat alone at your laptop wondering if anyone will ever want to read the novel you are pouring yourself in to.

So thank you, to the bloggers who have been wonderful enough to share their reviews of Sunkissed. Below are some of my favorite comments;

'It was a truly magnificent read that deserves all the recognition it gets.' - @Little Memoirs

'If Snow White was a vampire she would be Dawn!' - www.kookiekrysp.com

'An exciting adventure that you won't be able to put down!' - www.curseofthebibliophile.blogspot.co.uk

I particularly love reading people's reactions to different characters, Thomas seems to have people divided! Anyone, massive thanks, keep reading and keep blogging! And thanks to those reviewers for the inspiration, my aim for 2014 is to complete Sunkissed's sequel, Sunburn!

Thursday, 24 October 2013

Sunkissed in Paperback!

So excitingly, today my publisher informed me that Sunkissed is now available in paperback! As much as I love ebooks, I have to admit that there is something nice about being able to physically own a book.

There is an ongoing debate among readers as to whether ebooks or physical copies of books offer the best reading experience. I am hoping to join the digital revolution at the end of the year when Santa hopefully gets me a Kindle for Christmas. The benefits will be being able to own numerous books without having to physically store them somewhere.

But then, when I really adore a book I want to own it, want to be able to hold it in my hands and pass it on to friends to read and enjoy.

I don't think owning a Kindle will drastically change my reading habits I will hopefully just be able to read more books and then only buy paperback copies of the ones I truly love.


Wednesday, 16 October 2013

First Reviews...

The first reviews for Sunkissed have started to come in. It has been a tense time waiting to hear what people think of the story. Some YA book bloggers were kind enough to read Sunkissed and promote and review it through their blogs.

With reviews, you anticipate that there are going to be people who don't like it. Its such a subjective area and you can't please everyone, but for me, knowing that someone has read and enjoyed my book is a massive deal as ultimately that's why I write - so that others can lose themselves within the stories I create.

So when I read one of my first reviews, courtesy of Katie at Curse of the Bibliophile I was thrilled that she enjoyed the book and gave it 5 stars!

http://curseofthebibliophile.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/sunkissed-by-carys-jones.html

I know that not everyone will feel the same way, but its nice to know that someone out there loved reading the story as much as I loved writing it!

I look forward to getting more reviews and feedback from people. I've also commenced work on the Sunkissed sequel which is currently untitled.

Thank you to everyone who has agreed to read and review the story, I admire the time and dedication bloggers put in to their sites! And a massive thank you to Katie. It might be a typical rainy day here in England, but I'm smiling! : )

Tuesday, 24 September 2013

Waiting and Pacing...

Sunkissed is out which can mean only one thing...the inevitable pain of waiting on reviews! A couple of YA book blogs have been kind enough to agree to read and review the story and I just hope that they enjoy it! It is such a scary process to put your work out there and find out what people think of it. People might love it, then again, they might hate it. People's tastes are so subjective you can never tell what will happen.

With Sunkissed I just hope that people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Will all my books I just want to create stories that the reader can escape in to.

So I'm waiting on those first reviews to come in, once they do I can relax a little and stop pacing so much!!

Sunday, 25 August 2013

Sunkissed is here!

After lots of editing and preparation Sunkissed is finally available for purchase through my publisher's website; http://www.bookstore.kellanpublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22_53&products_id=38

I'm so excited to have the book out and to hear what people think of it. Shortly it will also be available through Amazon in both digital and paperback format.

A massive thank you to Kellan Publishing for all their hard work in getting the book out in time for summer. I just hope that everyone enjoys reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Tuesday, 6 August 2013

Its Tempting to Beg...

Pitching a novel is never easy. Check out my post via The Renegade Word with some useful tips for how to tackle that tricky query letter!

http://www.renegadeword.com/making-money-2/how-to-pitch-your-novel-to-publishers-in-9-steps/

Whilst at times you might feel like begging them to read your work it is never the best approach!

Saturday, 3 August 2013

Nearly there!

After a much needed two week holiday I'm back home battling jet lag and also the non stop heatwave which we are having in England!

Sunkissed should be released very shortly which I'm really excited about. I'm just approving some final tweaks to the manuscript and then everything should be good to go! I can't wait to get the story out there and see what people make of it (though that is also a very scary part of the whole process, what if everyone hates it...)

Its lunch time now but I'm still in breakfast mode so am about to delve in to an epic sized bowl of Frosties which are my food fad du jour!

Sadly whilst in America I didn't get chance to appear on the cable network talk show I'd been invited on as I literally just wasn't in the right place on the right date. Maybe next time!

Thursday, 11 July 2013

Looking Ahead

So I've got a lot of positive things lined up. My second book will hopefully be out before the end of this year.  As soon as I get a release date I'll post it on here. I'm also in negotiations with some other publishers about a British crime thriller I've written so that's potentially pretty exciting.

Very randomly I've been invited to speak on an American talk show which actually terrifies me. Those who know me will be aware of how much I struggle with that sort of thing. For me, the writing is the easy part its the selling myself aspect that I find horrific. I wish I could create a clone Carys to go out and do all the PR stuff for me whilst I stay home relaxing in a onesie... Oh well.

Back to enjoying this rare bout of beautiful British weather. I've even managed to do some writing outside this week which has been lovely (just don't mention the sunburn).

Monday, 24 June 2013

Editing

So I'm pretty much done with editing my Young Adult vampire novel, Sunkissed, so hopefully it won't be too long before it has a publication date.

I never enjoy editing. Compared to writing, which is fun and creative and without boundaries, editing can seem tedious and frustrating. I'd much rather be creating a new story than polishing a previous one.

But editing is an essential part of the whole process. I'm sure other writers find it just as much of a chore as I do.


Monday, 17 June 2013

My First Post...


So I thought that it was high time I started my own blog. So here it is! Ta-dah! lol. I'm still new to the wide world of blogging so please bear with me. 

I will be using my blog to update about my current literary ventures as and when they occur. 

 A current update; my second book, Sunkissed, has recently been picked up by an American publisher so I'm now in the long process of editing my manuscript. Exciting! 

If you can't wait that long you could always check out my first book, Not All Stars Sparkle. 

When I'm not blogging, writing new material or editing old stuff I'm hanging out with my dog Rollo who is, in my opinion, the best dog in the world (not that I'm biased). 

For the cute factor, here is an adorable picture of Rollo for you to go awwww at! : )