Tag: Fall of the Mantle
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A Writing Update
So, I mean, we all know there was supposed to be another book by now. The crickets that used to hang around A Curse of Venom & Scales have either died or moved along to chirp in some other tardy writer’s office. 😅 And I’m lucky to have a really supportive group of readers, who […]
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Point of View (Podcast Episode #5)
I’m super excited to be back with another podcast. In this one, I chat about why I write in deep third point of view and how I choose characters for each scene. I hope you enjoy it! Links mentioned in this one: A Study of Ash & Smoke purchase links: https://yolandiehorak.com/books/a-study-of-ash-smoke A Trial of Sparks […]
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Pretty, Pretty Books
Honestly, there’s no other point to this post than to show off my pretty book babies. A Trial of Sparks & Kindling came in the mail a week or two ago, and I pulled out the props for a quick photoshoot. I just love the way the two books look together, and am once again […]
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Bookish News
Folks, it’s been a long while since I’ve had any news to share with you, but I have a few things I want to let you know about today. 🙂 A Trial of Sparks & Kindling is officially available in paperback! The new cover edition of ATOSAK has me swooning all over the place. The […]
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A 2021 Writing Update
This is a bit weird, I’ll concede. It’s mid-August and I’m posting a writing update that will cover all of 2021 so far. The timing is wonky, but it’s been a wonky kind of year. For the greater part of 2021, I was unable to write. There were moments in between, a week here and […]
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July in Photos
The month of July was heatwave upon heatwave, with the odd smoggy day thrown in the mix due to many raging wildfires in North America. You’ll clearly see the effect of those in the final handful of photos, though the photos do look worse than it was IRL. The air smelled of smoke for a […]
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Writing During a Pandemic
After writing for over a year, I finally finished A Curse of Venom & Scales on the 6th of May. Once I’ve finished a book, I’m usually a bundle of excitement. I almost immediately start plotting the next book in the series, and I gush to everyone who will listen about my upcoming novel. This […]
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Some Weekend Stuff
It was a busy one, folks. Kayla wanted a girls’ day, so that’s how my Friday went down. In the late afternoon, I had another buddy write with the fabulous JR Rainsville, and actually got some stuff done! With the lockdown restrictions tightening again, the only time we can see other people is while outdoors. […]
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Cover Reveal
If you read Friday’s blog or noticed my Facebook post on Saturday, you knew this was coming. Fall of the Mantle got some brand new covers. Now, I know the old covers have a cult following (there’s like 5 of you, so it’s definitely a cult 🤣) but I’d like to assure you this wasn’t […]
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A Summary
I feel like this is the first time this week I’ve sat down and attempted to actually get my ducks in a row. At this stage, they’re all over, running and quacking and pooping wherever they want. It’s chaos. Feathers everywhere. Please send help and or coffee. A lot has been happening. I’ve been revamping […]
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I Fell, And Other Life Stories
This post will come to you in four parts. Part One – I Fell People who know me well know I’m super clumsy. I can trip on air (and I have). I’m hasty by nature. Everything has to be done quickly, so it’s quickly this, quickly that, and scurrying in between. Ents would hate me. […]
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Look At My Babies
As one does, I had a photoshoot with my books sometime last year. I was just so excited about the paperback of A Trial of Sparks & Kindling that I couldn’t not take photos of the two books together, but then the self-doubt set in, which is why I haven’t shared the photos. Until now. […]
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What Can You Tell Us About A Curse of Venom & Scales?
There’s more sex and swearing in this book. The general idea was that Cara is really innocent in book 1, and the adult themes will multiply as she gains experience.
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Down the Rabbit Hole, We Go
As a writer, I have to know about writing, tropes, self-editing, working with professional editors, and that kind of thing. The obvious stuff. What they don’t tell you when you enter this rabbit hole, is you also have to know about cover trends, blurbs, sensitivity readers, trigger warnings, marketing, and how to unravel the algorithms […]
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PUBLISHED! 2.0
Folks, the day has finally arrived. A Trial of Sparks & Kindling is out in the world! I can’t believe this, but I’m a twice published author. 🙂 I’d like to thank everyone who made this possible. My husband and daughter, family and friends. Thank you for your constant support and love. <3 Everyone over […]
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An Update
Friends, it’s been a hot minute. My mental state has been especially low, and I’ve just not had the capacity to put myself anywhere online. Both my Instagram accounts have been abandoned, my Facebook page gathered cobwebs, and though I’ve made a lot of little tweaks to the website, I’ve basically ghosted the blog. But […]
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A Trial of Sparks & Kindling Playlist
I was a bit disorganised with this, I have to admit. I have this general playlist in which I just dump all of the songs that stir up a certain emotion in me, and I always have this on in the background while I write. A while back, my cousin suggested I actually share the […]
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Have a Free Colouring Book
A Trial of Sparks & Kindling is set to land in July! The first ARC’s have gone out and are already being read. Eek. This part of the publishing process is both my favourite and what freaks me out most. Like, the book is done. Out there. It’s out of my hands now, and that’s […]
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I’ve Been Busy
Friends, I think a great many of us vote to have 2020 struck from the record. It’s only June, and most of us feel aged by ten years, never mind six months. It’s been strange in my house, too. To summarise, my mental state hasn’t been what it should be, and I’ve been beyond tired. […]
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Giveaway Winner!
Last week, A Study of Ash & Smoke turned one. I still can’t believe it’s been a year, but here we are. To celebrate, I ran a little giveaway. The grand prize was a signed paperback copy of A Study of Ash & Smoke, with some added merch. I also gave away 10 electronic copies […]
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Birthday Giveaway
A Study of Ash & Smoke is one today! One year ago, this debut of mine first entered the world. I can hardly believe how the time has flown. Can you? Anyway, to celebrate, I’ve put together a little giveaway. You can check out the rules and terms and all the details on this giveaway […]
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A Trial of Sparks & Kindling Trailer
Folks of the world, I’m super excited to share the book trailer for A Trial of Sparks & Kindling with you! Do be advised that the video contains a minor spoiler. I had so much fun putting this together. I used a lot of stock videos from Pixabay and Pexels (sources attributed below) and made […]
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About Yesterday…
So, yesterday. One of my author buddies, Suneé le Roux, posted the book trailer for her upcoming novel, Myth Hunter, on Facebook. Seeing the video reminded me that I started working on a book trailer for A Trial of Sparks & Kindling aaaaaages ago, and promptly forgot about it. Here’s a disclaimer for you. This […]
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Face Claims – Fall of the Mantle
This post is brought to you by random discussions. A bunch of my writer friends and I were talking about whether we base our character descriptions on real-life people and actors, and it got me thinking about where I got inspiration for my characters. Now, though I do have a Pinterest mood board for A […]
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The New Normal
Welcome to my captain’s log, day who the hell even knows anymore. We’ve been isolating since mid-March and are officially in the third new month of doing this weird thing. Seven weeks. But I guess it’s normal now? Everything is weird. My husband had a birthday this week, but it didn’t really feel that way. […]
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Sexuality — Fall of the Mantle
Someone asked me the other day if the Fall of the Mantle series is LGBTQIA friendly, and if any of the viewpoint characters are a part of the community. The answer to both questions is yes. Before I get into this post, however, I want to make it clear that members of the LGBTQIA community […]
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Hello From the Inside
This weekend, we went for a drive. We didn’t get out of the car, we just drove. It had been so long since I’d been out of the house, I almost felt weird leaving. Which got me thinking. (In my head, I hear Lefou singing it’s a dangerous pastime.) But I’ve realised I’m one of […]
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Growing Out a Pixie Cut & Other Random Tales
Hey, I’m growing out my pixie. My hair is now at that awful stage where it’s really thick in the back and not yet long enough to make a ponytail–which, by the way, it the only reason I’m growing it out. I love the pixie cut, make no mistake, but short hair is a lot […]
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Art Inspired By A Trial of Sparks & Kindling
I mentioned a while back that I’d commissioned the epic Doodleeeeeeeee to create a doodle artwork inspired by my favourite line in A Trial of Sparks & Kindling. Doodleeeeeeeee (check out this awesome insta account) worked fast, and I got to see this artwork last weekend. And let me tell you, it blows my mind. […]
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Tales from Self-Isolation
Honestly, as someone who spends the greater part of her day typing away in the basement and avoids going out as far as possible, this isn’t much different than business as usual for me. Sure, my kid isn’t going to school, so I can now get up at odd hours to write and pass out […]
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Fangirling
You know the writing is at that intense stage when I can’t sleep in on a weekend. For the third morning in a row, I was up at 5. On Friday and Saturday, I tried (in vain) to fall asleep again, and finally got up at 7. This morning, I held out until 6, then […]
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Rot – An Illness Based on the Bubonic Plague
A major plot arc in A Study of Ash & Smoke is about a mysterious plague that breaks out in the kingdom of Aelland. Under normal circumstances, it shouldn’t be strange that an unknown illness spreads to a new kingdom, except Aelland is closed off from the rest of the world by an impenetrable forcefield, […]
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A Study of Ash & Smoke – 7th Annual WD Self-Pub e-Book Awards
Sometime around September last year, I got an email about the Writer’s Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards (I’m subscribed to WD’s newsletters). I made the mistake of opening this email in front of my husband, who was immediately of the opinion that I should enter. I didn’t want to. My feelings of inadequacy make these kinds […]
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It’s Happening Again (A Life Update)
I guess you all know by now that when I disappear from cyberspace, it’s because I’m up to my eyeballs in either A) a new manuscript, B) revisions, or C) obsessed with reading. For the past few weeks, it’s been C. I’ve reread the Harry Potter series, and spent every moment not reading working on […]
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A Trial of Sparks & Kindling Cover Reveal
I should probably have waited with this until a bit closer to publishing day, but hey, who cares. I can haz cover, and it is glorious. That glorious, BTW, sounds in my head as Varvatos Vex would say it. For the design of this cover, I once again teamed up with the endlessly talented and […]
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We Want Spoilers! A Trial of Sparks & Kindling Edition
So, recently, quite a few folks have been asking me for anything I can tell them about my upcoming novel, A Trial of Sparks & Kindling. Anything at all. And this is where it gets super tricky, because there are literally spoilers from the first chapter. Now, since I don’t want to put a bullet […]
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Spot the Differences – Writer vs Main Character
I posted an excerpt from A Study of Ash & Smoke over on Instagram yesterday, and wrote a bit about the anxieties that Cara and I share. Which got me thinking. People often assume that authors base protagonists on their own personalities. While I suspect there are loads of authors out there who do just […]
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November Life Update
The last time I wrote a life update, I had a wrist injury. Guess what. Funny story, but I tend to fall a lot. I’m a pretty clumsy human, which means I spend way too much crashing to my butt or knees. Yay me. So, the other day, I eye this set of stairs, decide […]
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How AHA moments changed A Study of Ash & Smoke
We all have little aha moments while writing. Those moments come to us either through brainstorming, talking to others about our work, feedback from betas or editors–heck, even the most random of places–but those aha moments spark the changes in the story that pull everything together. You could probably guess I had plenty of aha […]
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Inktober 2019
I want to start by saying I don’t feel like a failure this time. But that makes no sense, so I’ll elaborate. 🙂 Whenever I take part in something online, something with deadlines and prompts and goals, I get totally crazy. I have to reach each goal and tick them off as done. It’s an […]
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What’s Happening with A Trial of Sparks & Kindling?
As you all know, my summer was a whirlwind of writing. I wrote the first draft of A Trial of Sparks & Kindling (and then some) in 7 weeks. It was intense. I’m still not fully human after that sprint. Now that I have one book out, I have a teeny tiny itty bitty fanbase, […]
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On Writing Sequels
Somebody recently asked me how I found the process of writing the sequel to A Study of Ash & Smoke. I finished A Trial of Sparks & Kindling at the end of August, after one of the most intense writing sprints of my life. Of course, this isn’t the first sequel I’ve ever written. Cringe. […]
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Wake Me Up When September Ends
Well, I’m back. I’m happy to inform you the two blog-free weeks haven’t been spent in vain, as the first draft of A Trial of Sparks & Kindling is officially done. Did that read first draft? What I really mean is first complete draft. You see, it’s the fifth version of the document on my […]
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Published!
People of the world, it’s finally here. After five (official) drafts, almost five years, two titles, all the sweat and tears, extreme keyboard bashing, lots of swearing, squeezing in moments to write while also being a mother, general anxiety, crying because none of it worked, celebrating because it wasn’t so bad, threatening to toss the […]
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A Study of Ash & Smoke Book Trailer
Friends, I had something else planned for today, but then this happened. My incredibly epic best friend Liani and her husband Franco took some time out of their hectic schedules to make this little video montage for Ash & Smoke. Can we just take a moment to appreciate how fabulous they are? I could sit […]
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Meet the Characters
I don’t know if you know this, but A Study of Ash & Smoke is officially available for pre-order. Can you even? I can’t even. Everything is happening so quickly now, it’s almost unreal after all the time I’ve spent working on this book. And let me tell you, it’s looking good. I’ve been assisted […]
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Cover Reveal
I was supposed to do this tomorrow, but who can wait until tomorrow when today is still here? I’m out of my mind with excitement, if you couldn’t tell. The incredible Tallulah from Covers by Tallulah joined forces with Cat Hellisen, a magician of endless talents, to make this lovely work of art. I wanted […]