The Medoran Chronicles Characters Self-Isolate

ALEX, JORDAN, BEAR AND D.C. VISIT FREYA DURING THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK

JORDAN: Wait, so you’re saying we’re stuck here? In Freya?

BEAR: Only until we’re certain we’re not sick. Two weeks of self-isolating and we should be good to go.

JORDAN: [Clutches heart] Two weeks? Two weeks! [Turns to Alex] Can’t you just open a return doorway for us now?

ALEX: I—

D.C.: We have to protect Medora, Jordan. We can’t risk bringing an unknown illness back with us.

JORDAN: But—But Fletcher could heal us!

BEAR: Possibly. But what if it takes time for him to figure out a cure? Are you willing to risk passing this virus onto the people we care about? We’re young and healthy so we mightn’t get too sick from it, but what about our more vulnerable friends and family? What about people like Gammy?

JORDAN: [Pales] Gammy’s old. She could get really sick.

BEAR: She could die.

ALEX: We obviously want to avoid that—at all costs. Which is why we’re going to stay here in my old house for the next fortnight, just the four of us, keeping away from anyone who could potentially infect us. [Looks at Jordan] Don’t worry, the time’ll pass quickly. And hey, we’re all in this together. Which means…

JORDAN: We’ll all get through it together.

ALEX: [Smiles encouragingly] We sure will. And we’ll come out the other side as better people. You’ll see.

D.C.: [Waves paper] I wrote us lists. Stuff we should run out and get to help us through next fortnight. Nothing too crazy—I hear these silly Freyans are panic-buying all kinds of weird things. [Wrinkles nose] Just how much toilet paper do they think they’ll need?

JORDAN: [Pales further] Please tell me it’s not that kind of virus? [Looks around] How many toilets does this house have, Alex? Should we stock up on air freshener? Do we need a sign that says, “Give it ten minutes to air out, or enter at your own risk?”

D.C.:  [Turns helplessly to Alex]

ALEX: [Stifles laughter] He’s your boyfriend.

D.C.: [Sighs] On days like this, I’d like a refund.

BEAR: What’s on these lists, Dix?

D.C.: [Hands them out] You and Jordan are getting groceries. Alex and I will hunt down living necessities like bedding and towels and clothes and stuff. The electro-telebox thing said there’s a place where we can get it all—Doormart? Floormart? Something like that.

ALEX: It’s actually Wal—

BEAR: We should try and be as quick as we can, limiting ourselves to any exposure. If one of us starts symptomizing in a few days, we’ll have to start the two-week countdown from scratch again. So keep as much distance between you and other people as possible, and don’t touch your faces. We want to try and avoid catching anything at all, yeah?

ALEX, D.C. and JORDAN: Yeah!

BEAR: Let’s go, then. Come on, Jordan—groceries await!

---

— A SHORT TIME LATER —

---

JORDAN: [Closes front door] We’re back!

D.C. and ALEX: [Both hurry to meet the boys in the kitchen]

ALEX: Where’ve you two been? We were getting worried!

JORDAN: [Heaves grocery bags onto bench] It was a madhouse out there. I thought some guy was going to deck me when I reached for the flour. As if he didn’t already have five packets in his own trolley! Are Freyans always so crazy?

ALEX: Before I answer that, wash your hands. Both of you.

JORDAN: But I didn’t touch any—

ALEX and D.C: WASH YOUR HANDS!

JORDAN: [Hurries to sink beside Bear] All right. Jeez.

D.C.: Twenty seconds. Sing a song.

JORDAN: [Grins wickedly] Old Tim-Tom had a very big—

BEAR: [Splashes Jordan with water] Do not make us suffer through that. Twenty seconds of silence works just as well.

JORDAN: “Twenty Seconds of Silence” would be a great name for a band.

BEAR: [Musingly] “Ten Seconds of Silence” would be better. Rolls off the tongue easier.

D.C.: [Whispers to Alex] I’m not sure I can survive a fortnight of this.

ALEX: [Snickers, then looks back at the boys] To answer your question, Jordan, Freyans aren’t usually this crazy—or, not to this extreme, at least. But these aren’t normal times. People are acting in ways they shouldn’t be. Ways they’ll be embarrassed about when they look back later.

BEAR: Their behaviour is only adding to the problem. Making a scary thing even worse.

D.C.: [Nods] That’s why we need to lead by example. We keep away from other people—to protect ourselves and them—and we stay as calm as possible in the process. Anxiety is a shadow that grows in the dark. We need to flood it with light. With hope. Like you said earlier, Alex, we’ll get through this. We’ve just got to wait out the storm, then we’ll come through to clear skies on the other side.

BEAR: Well said, Dix.

D.C.: [Smiles modestly] Enough about the chaos—did you guys manage to get everything on the list?

BEAR: [Turns to Jordan] How’d you go, mate?

D.C.: Wait, weren’t you with him?

BEAR: There was no toilet paper, so I left Jordan to gather the food and went to find another store. Then another. Four shops later, I finally struck gold.

ALEX: [Peering at the grocery bags] I, uh, can’t see it anywhere?

BEAR: [Scratches cheek and turns pink] Well, the thing is, I did buy us some… but as I was walking back to Jordan, there was a woman crying on the sidewalk. She had a baby in her arms and a toddler holding her other hand, and when I asked what was wrong, she said she’s been trying to get toilet paper for days, but they’re always out of stock by the time she arrives. Her husband is a nurse and she’s barely seen him since the virus broke out, and now he’s had to quarantine himself to keep her and the kids safe, and she’s so worried about him and about them and about—

ALEX: [Places hand on Bear’s arm and gently interrupts] You made the right decision giving it to her, Bear. We can go without.

JORDAN: [Nods firmly] I agree. But… [Pulls a face] Did you at least get a sign for the toilet door? Because without TP, the gross factor has just multiplied—exponentially. Some might even say catastrophically.

D.C.: [Chuckles] We’ll be fine, Jordan. There are way worse things to run out of than toilet paper.

JORDAN: Name three.

D.C.: Air. Water. Food.

JORDAN: [Blinks in surprise] Okay, name another three.

ALEX: Sleep. Shelter.

BEAR: Human connection.

JORDAN: [Blinks again, then shrugs] Can’t argue with all that. And hey, catastrophic toilet adventures will be a bonding experience. [Claps hands] This is going to be fun, guys. Two whole weeks together. Woo!

ALEX, BEAR and D.C.: [All look worriedly at each other]

D.C.: [Clears throat] Yes. “Fun.”

ALEX: It’ll only be fun as long as we have enough food. [Squints at Jordan] You did get what we need, right? [Peers at the grocery bags again] Wait—did you say “flour” before? Was that even on Dix’s list?

D.C.: [Frowns] No—I assumed there wouldn’t be any left since it’s such a staple. I mean, it’s clever of you to grab some, Jordan, since we can use it for all kinds of cooking. If, of course, you managed to get the other things I wrote down…?

JORDAN: [Shifting guiltily] Now, don’t get mad. But I may have deviated from the list. Just a little.

D.C.: [Frown deepens] How much is a little?

ALEX: [Reaches for the closest bag and starts pulling items out] Sugar… butter… here’s the flour… all good so far. Eggs—that’s protein. Apples—oooh, these look nice and juicy. Great for Vitamin C. [Pulls out the next item and pauses, realisation hitting her] Oh, Jordan. Tell me you didn’t.

JORDAN: [Defensively] Protein. Vitamin C. You said yourself these are good things.

ALEX: [Places cinnamon on the bench, then continues to pull everything else out until the bags are empty]

D.C.: [Makes choked noise]

BEAR: [Mutters] I should have sent you for the toilet paper.

JORDAN: [Folds arms] I don’t know what you’re all looking so upset about.

ALEX: Jordan, you—you’ve literally bought two weeks’ worth of ingredients for apple pie. That’s it. Nothing else.

JORDAN: Right? This is going to be the best two weeks ever!

D.C.: [Weakly] But… all the things I wrote on the list? All the actual food?

JORDAN: Pfft, we have all the food we need right here! You know what they say: “An apple a day…”

ALEX, D.C. and BEAR: [All groan]

ALEX: [Sighs] Is the fortnight over yet?

 

The Magic of Book Covers

It’s no secret that I’ve been very fortunate when it comes to the cover designs of The Medoran Chronicles. All six covers are absolutely stunning, and as such, it’s something I’m asked about quite frequently: “How did you end up with such gorgeous covers?”

Well, the short answer is, my publishers hired brilliant cover designers. The longer answer is that it took time and communication and a LOT of drafts. But all those things combined (plus a heap of talent from the designers) ended up creating pure magic.

Since the cover design process is one of my favourite parts of publishing, the wonderful team at our Sydney-based designers, XOU Creative, have given me permission to share how it all comes together. So here goes, from beginning to end — AKARNAE through to VARDAESIA!

First up, I should mention that it’s my editor who sends cover briefs to the designers. After chatting with me about a vision and asking for any inspiration pics I might have (yay, Pinterest!), as well as talking with my publishers’ sales and marketing teams, my editor then sends through ideas to the designers, including portions of text directly from the book/s. The designers are left to draft up a few different possibilities — “concepts” — which they then send to my editor. Often, I won’t ever see these early concepts. It’s only once a draft is considered as having potential that it’ll come my way for feedback, sometimes with a few different options for me to decide between.

The first time I ever got to experience the excitement of cover design was for AKARNAE back in 2014 (for a 2015 release — covers are usually finalised 6-12 months before a book hits stores). I was sent two different concepts and asked my preference as to which path I’d prefer to go down:

The first cover was a bit too “Alice in Wonderland”-esque for me. It seemed a little juvenile for what I was after in my debut YA fantasy novel. The second cover, however, had the magic and wonder and mystery I was looking for, and I fell in love with it on sight. However, it still needed work — which is completely normal with cover designing, and also why I was brought into the conversation at this point.

One of my main concerns was that I felt as if Alex looked like she was some kind of middle-aged office executive. Her hair and clothes didn’t imply teenager — she just looked way too stiff and mature. Thankfully, this ended up being a really easy fix by letting her hair out (literally) and changing her outfit. We played around with a few different clothing choices before settling on jeans and a leather-look jacket, resulting in this:

The above looks pretty close to the final version, right? Well, the funny thing about covers is how many suuuuuper small problems you can find right up until the very end. Case in point, if you look really close at the above image, you’ll see that Alex has a ring — on her wedding finger. (#Awkward!) So little stuff like that was what we tweaked for the final few draft rounds, including changing the design of her hands and adding extra sparkles and things like that, until we hit the jackpot of the final version:

With AKARNAE done, RAELIA came next, about a year later. Of all the covers in this series, I didn’t see many of the early concepts for book two until long after we’d locked in the final version. (I have them now, though, so can add them into this post.)

I had a really clear vision for RAELIA’s cover in my head — I thought it’d be powerful to have a snow-covered forest with the mushroom-circled clearing, and a lot of the moodiness and mystery (and anguish) that comes from that final cliffhanger scene where you-know-what happens with you-know-who.

Unfortunately, I was told that all of the cover designs with snow and forests weren’t coming up “magical” enough, so that was a bit disappointing and it meant I had to wipe my vision clear and open my mind to what else might be presented.

The problem was, apparently there were some issues whereby too many different opinions resulted in too many cover possibilities. Here are just a few of them that I saw down the track, all of which are gorgeous, but none of which really epitomised the feeling or content of the book. (Also note the snow ones, which are super pretty, but I can see what they meant about the lacking “magic” — and also ignore the title typo, which was obviously corrected later):

As you can see, none of the above concepts really have anything to do with the book, even if they are pretty. And, confession: I actually still really love the snow ones, haha. BUT that doesn’t mean I’m not delighted with what ended up being the final version, with the city of Meya in the background, and the Silverwood trees as a feature:

Next up came DRAEKORA, and out of all the Medoran books, it was probably the easiest and the fastest cover to come together. Part of that was because we all had the same clear vision, which resulted in this being the first cover concept we received from the designer:

On the whole, we were all delighted with it. I absolutely LOVED that the floating islands were so obvious, though I did have concerns about the draekons being a spoiler. That said, it just looked so good that I was stoked. So then it was just a matter of playing with the colours — making it more vibrant overall, but also fixing up whatever was happening with the psychedelic flowers at the bottom. Plus, we wanted to see if we could add some extra elements, like details on some of the islands.

… Funnily enough, though, the next version came back perhaps a bit too extra:

You can see that it’s definitely vibrant, but it’s also a bit too OTT as well. There’s just so much happening, and so many colours. It’s like, “MY EYES, MY EYES!!”

So we had the designers tone things back a bit and even out the colours, and a few more back-and-forths resulted in the stunning beauty of the final version:

GRAEVALE was the next cover to come along, and similar to DRAEKORA, the early concepts came back really strong, with this being the first draft I saw:

I loved the moodiness of the colours and the city of Graevale being half in shadows, half in light, plus the storm added the sense of danger and mystery and just… ahh, so much love for this cover. But there were still some problems that needed ironing out — things like how the mist was blowing in one direction, while Alex’s hair blew in the other direction, and things like lacking clarity and having an oil-painting/smeared appearance. Plus I still have no idea what was going on with her pants and why they were red… Nor do I know what the creepy black root things are, but I think they were meant to represent shadows… *shrugs*… 

Regardless, again, I absolutely LOVED this concept and I was so excited to see where it would end up. A few rounds later and we were at this:

… And you can see that there’s a lot more clarity as well as a number of other tweaks. But I still wasn’t happy with her red pants, plus her hair seemed to have a mind of its own again (as in, it shouldn’t have been that windy if the mist/cloud wasn’t moving as fast)… plus, one VERY IMPORTANT THING was still missing: the sparkles!

All of those changes and then a few others led us to eventually reaching the gorgeous end result:

Next up came WE THREE HEROES, and this cover presented us with a whole slew of new problems. Previously, we’d only ever had Alex on the cover before, never D.C., Jordan or Bear. So the designers had their work cut out for them, creating not just a new cover, but three new characters.

Until VARDAESIA (which I’ll get to in a moment), the cover for W3H was definitely the hardest. A lot of the problems, however, ended up not being the characters, but with the academy itself. It was surprisingly difficult to envision the school and how it would look. I mean, I’d always known it would be nestled in the middle of a forest and beside a lake, with a snow-capped mountain off in the distance, but the buildings themselves? “Medieval mixed with modern and advanced” is essentially the description the books give, but how, exactly, does that translate into design?

It was a mission, that’s for sure, and the following covers show the drafting progression:

Above is the first concept that I saw. I loved the colours and the overall layout (even if my one small gripe is that the mountain (which is a bit strange-looking in this first draft) is actually meant to be on the other side of the lake — as in, off-screen behind where the characters are, but sometimes creative liberties must be taken!), but there was still room for improvement.

When it came to the characters, Bear needed the most work (basically an entire overhaul), but D.C.’s hair and clothes also needed some help, and Jordan’s hair was too “high school jock” for my liking. These were all relatively easy fixes (aside from Bear, who took a number of drafts to get right), but the academy itself was the most challenging part. As you can see above, it looked very much like some kind of massive, gothic mini-city, and we had some trouble transforming it over the next few drafts…

This version above is a little better — Jordan’s hair is a more normal, and D.C. looks more D.C.-like. I still had some problems with Bear (he now looked like a country bumpkin), but only small changes were needed for the other two at this stage.

As for the academy itself, you can see it’s much better, but still too big. The mountain, at least, looked a lot more like a mountain, and the lake reflecting the sunset added a really nice effect, too. 

By this stage above, the designer was playing around with a few different ideas for the Arena and the Tower in the school. Again, he had a lot of trouble because I was struggling with what my vision of the academy was and how to communicate that, which left us with the colosseum-like structure above. On the plus side, Bear was beginning to look a lot more Bear-like, so I knew we were very close to getting where we all wanted to be.

A few more back-and-forths, and eventually we landed on the absolutely perfect end result that we now have, and I couldn’t be happier with how it came together! Everything from the characters to the academy — it’s spectacular!

Last but definitely not least, VARDAESIA, the final book in The Medoran Chronicles. Yikes, this book was HARD to get the perfect cover for — and that was because we wanted it to be “perfect”. Every cover previously had kept getting better and better, so we knew the final book had to have the best one out of them all, and the more we tried for that to happen, the more impossible it became.

Here are some of the early concepts so you can see what I mean:

As you can see from the three drafts above, we started out trying to use the desert and the city of Vardaesia as the feature. But while all these are great, none of them “felt” like VARDAESIA to me. None of them felt right, none of them fit in with the series. And so, the designer then tried a different angle with what he came back with next:

At this point, I was grateful that we were trying something new, but I liked it less than the originals. I knew we could change the colours (since purple was too similar to GRAEVALE) but I just didn’t connect with it at all, and certainly not for this book. It also felt too sci-fi for me — too “out there” and space-like. While gorgeous, it still didn’t fit in with The Medoran Chronicles. And the same is true for what came next:

Honestly, I’m pretty sure everyone was ready to pull their hair out by this stage, especially since I was still really unable to connect with it. But what I knew of the book didn’t relate to the above cover at all (or any of those previous), and so, with very little time left before my publishers needed to be feeding a finished cover out for sales and marketing, the designers went back to the drawing board and came up with this:

My relief was endless, since this clicked with me instantly. Like the previous books, I knew it needed some work to make it more magical, but we were definitely (finally) on the right track since I could see the potential for this and how stunning it could end up being.

… And I was right, because after a few more back-and-forths, we had the most perfect cover for the final book in the series:

There’s a lot that I’ve left out in this post — a lot of the process that only my editor would know, a lot about the communication with the designers and how small changes happened that I’m not even aware of. Then there’s the rest of the cover — the spine and the back — but that’s a whole different kettle of fish, as they say. (Tangent: what does that saying even mean?)

The long and short of it is, I’m so beyond grateful to the wonderful designers at XOU Creative for coming up with the most perfect covers ever. I can’t recommend them highly enough to anyone looking for designers across a whole variety of fields, so click here to find out more about them if that’s something you’re after!

And just to end, here’s all the gorgeous final versions lined up side-by-side!

 

VARDAESIA TOUR DONE!

The VARDAESIA tour is officially over, and wowee, what an adventure! 17 events across 6 states over 12 days – oh, boy, that was insane! (In the BEST possible way!)

From the bottom of my heart (and every other part of it, for that matter), I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came to see me. I’m honestly blown away by the amount of support and excitement that you guys have for my books (and me) – I truly have no words for how grateful I am!

On top of that, because of you, VARDAESIA landed not just at #1 for YA fiction (WOOHOO!), but at #7 for all books (OMIGOSH YAY!!), which really should have been impossible! (Seriously – it hit the Top 10 Bestsellers charts just one rank behind the brilliant Michelle Obama’s memoir! (37 copies behind, to be exact!) If that’s not enough to make me break down in happy (and messy) sobs, I don’t know what is!)

I think I’m still in a state of shock over everything that’s happened in the last fortnight since VARDAESIA’s release, so I’m going to leave this here and try to process all the amazingness (and, of course, sleep for about three billion years). BUT before I do that, allow me a moment to gush just a little further…

Firstly, thanks so much to all the bookstores and booksellers who hosted any of my events, and also to those who didn’t but have still been promoting and hand-selling my books. You’re all brilliant and I’m so grateful for all that you do. Same gratitude for all the bloggers and reviewers who have been spreading the word as well! #UnsungHeroes

Secondly, thanks to the fabulous emcees from my Q&As for being so thorough with your questions and interviews – Catriona Feeney at Kinokuniya, Annie McCann at Dymocks Sydney, Krystal Gagen-Spriggs at Mt Alvernia, Amy at Dymocks Hobart, the whole team at Collins Sunbury, the QBD Woodgrove team at Melton Library, Mhairi from the YA Circle at Dymocks Adelaide, Aisling from Dymocks Joondalup, and Siobhan from Dymocks (at the Morley Library).

Lastly (but definitely not least), I want to say a massive thank you to everyone at Pantera Press for being total rock stars and going over and above to make this tour (and life in general) as easy as possible for me. Special mention and big hugs go to Ali Green for joining me on the Brisbane leg of the journey (and being adamant that manicures and movies were “relaxation necessities”), and to my unicorn publicist, Anabel, who took over the babysitting from there and held my hand around the rest of the states (and claimed that a “sanity day” out to Rottnest Island was “essential”). I’d be lost without you both (probably literally, since I’m so bad with maps!), and saying that I’m “thankful” doesn’t even begin to cover it – but at least it’s a start.

Right! That’s it for the gushing – for now! I’ll finish here with some pics of the events (and gorgeous Rottnest Island), but if you follow me on social media, you probably would have seen these already!

Thanks again to all of you for being BEYOND incredible, and also for loving THE MEDORAN CHRONICLES (and WHISPER)! I’m so so so so sooooo grateful!!

(For for those still waiting to hear news about the Sunshine Coast event, details will be coming this week! It’s gonna be THE BEST!!!! *Sneaky author grin*)

… Oh, and if you came to any of my events, you would have heard me share the title and release date for the sequel to WHISPER, which I’ll be revealing over my socials soon for the rest of you!

BRISBANE:

SYDNEY:

MELBOURNE:

HOBART:

ADELAIDE:

PERTH:

RECOVERY DAY AT ROTTNEST ISLAND:

TOP 10 BESTSELLERS:

HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY!!!

Eeeee, VARDAESIA is officially out in the world!

I started writing THE MEDORAN CHRONICLES 8 years ago so it is incredibly surreal to have the sixth — and final — book now released! 

You can find VARDAESIA in all good bookstores across Australia (and New Zealand) from today, and online as an e-book through all the usual places, plus coming as an audiobook really soon!

Happy reading!

2018 Highlights

Wow, to say 2018 was massive is an understatement! It’s been so incredible to share this journey with you all, and to meet many of you along the way! Some of the highlights from the last 12 months include:

– Releasing GRAEVALE in February:

– Releasing WHISPER (internationally) in May:

– Releasing WE THREE HEROES in September:

– Being invited to all three Supanova tours and having the chance to chat with such wonderful readers. Also spending time with inspirational authors and even emceeing for wonders such as Terry Brooks and Victoria Aveyard:

– Receiving amazing international early reviews for WHISPER:

– AKARNAE voted in at #3 on the Dymocks Top 50 Kids list for 2018 (behind Jess Townsend’s NEVERMOOR and J.K. Rowling’s HARRY POTTER)

– Wrote the sequel to WHISPER (title reveal and release date coming soon!)

– Wrote #SuperSecretProject (official announcement coming next month!)

– Received unbelievable endorsement quotes from some of my fave authors – Sarah J. Maas, James Dashner, Maria V. Snyder, Terry Brooks, Trudi Canavan, Juliet Marillier and others (SO SURREAL)

– Had all five of my books take out the top five spots of the top ten bestsellers list (😱):

– Seeing astounding fan art from seriously talented artists! 😍

– Sold audio rights to Audible, with both Akarnae and Raelia already released, and the others currently in production (with SUPER exciting casting news coming soon)

– Having the best agent (Victoria Wells Arms), the best Aus publisher (Ali Green) and the best Aus publicist (Anabel Pandiella), all of whom have gone over and above for me this year. I would be rocking in the corner without you guys!

– Last but DEFINITELY not least, being ranked as the #1 Bestselling Aus YA author for 2018 (mind blown!!)

2019 is already shaping up to be even more massive, with the release of
VARDAESIA in Feb, as well as the sequel to Whisper and #SuperSecretProject (the latter two of which I can’t wait to share more news soon!!). There’s also a few other seriously incredible things happening and I’m SO EXCITED for the day when I can share!! As always, thank you SO much to all of you for making this year so memorable. Here’s to a brilliant 2019 – for us all!!

Vardaesia Cover Reveal!

I’m SO excited to share the cover for VARDAESIA — the sixth and final book in The Medoran Chronicles, coming February 18th! 

(Click on the image to zoom in!)

And the full cover: 

(Click on the image to zoom in!)

Pre-orders (with international shipping options) are now available from: https://www.panterapress.com.au/product/vardaesia/

WE THREE HEROES – Chapter Sampler

The next book in my bestselling YA fantasy series, THE MEDORAN CHRONICLES, is releasing on August 29th, and I’m so thrilled to be able to share a teaser for what readers can look forward to!

Here’s the cover and the blurb for a little more information (click on the image to zoom):

As for the chapter sampler, click on the link below to read a few pages from each of the three novellas contained within the book.

PLEASE NOTE: This sampler is full of spoilers for anyone who hasn’t read the rest of the series!

GRAEVALE LAUNCH DETAILS

Below are the details for the GRAEVALE launch locations. More information and RSVP links can be found on my events page. Can’t wait to celebrate the release of the fourth book in THE MEDORAN CHRONICLES with you!

Interview Fun!!

While I was at Sydney Writers’ Festival just over a week ago, the lovely Kaysia (@bookskay) interviewed me, asking all kinds of questions about The Medoran Chronicles, Whisper, future projects, and random author-y stuff. There’s also a bloopers section at the end, which is hilaaaarious. Honestly, this interview was so much fun — enjoy! xx

Draekora Launch(es) Debrief!

Phew! What an insane week!

To start with, the Sunshine Coast book launch for DRAEKORA (the third book in The Medoran Chronicles) was last Tuesday night. It was held at Collins Booksellers in Caloundra and turned out to be such a magical night! I posted photos on my Facebook page, but here’s just a few of the highlights: 

^^^ So many people that they were spilling out the doors!

^^^ Chatting up a storm. 

^^^ Signing, signing, signing.

^^^ Multitasking (signing and chatting) is a skill I’ve come to appreciate!

Overall, it was such a wonderful night! Here’s a quick rundown of how I felt straight afterwards:

Following on from my Sunshine Coast book launch, I was supposed to have a Brisbane launch on last Thursday, but thanks to Cyclone Debbie deciding to shut down the whole of Queensland (*sigh*), schools and workplaces and everything else were closed and/or cancelled for the day. So due to the miserable (and dangerous) weather, we had to postpone the event. Such a shame, since soooo many people put soooo much planning into making this event fantabulous (not to mention, soooo many disappointed readers who were planning on coming along), but it was better to be safe than sorry, and we’ll hopefully be able to choose another date soon and have a belated launch party (because there’s still cake to be had!!!). More news on the rescheduled time coming soon!

Friday morning had me freaking out and checking in with the airlines every thirty seconds (not really) because my early morning flight to Sydney was cancelled (thanks, Debbie *sigh again*), but the amazing Maddy from Pantera Press managed to get me on a later flight and, after chilling at the airport for an hour delay where I may have broken out in hives at the fear that it would be cancelled, too (not really — to the hives, but I was a tad concerned), I was finally in the air on my way to Sydney!

After a brief drop-in at St. Andrew’s Cathedral School, I had the chance to have a quick catch up with one of my amazing critique readers, Jenna, who flew in from Adelaide that day for the launch events (awwww), and here’s a perfect example of how hilarious (*cough* crazy *cough*) the two of us are (and also note that this is only the second time I’ve actually met her in person, and I may not actually remember the first time *awkward guilty shuffle*):

As you can imagine, we had a fabulous time catching up, and then after parting ways, I met up with another amazing friend of mine, Ineke, who also happens to be the literary manager of Supanova Pop Culture Expo. (She got more than she bargained for when she first invited me as a stranger to come along as a guest in 2015 — I’m now like a fungus she can’t get rid of, haha.) The two of us had a delicious dinner in China Town and then we went to see the new live-action Beauty and the Beast movie — and IT WAS AMMMAAAZZZINNNNG!!!! 

I think I got back to my hotel just before midnight, and then suddenly it was Saturday and all the real crazy-crazy began. Three events were planned for the day: an exclusive ‘meet and greet’ for competition winners to come along and spend an hour with me (and drink Dillyberry Juice!!), followed by a Q&A at Galaxy Bookshop, and then lastly a YA Bookmeet at Dymocks Books. 

Honestly, I had no idea how the day was going to play out, I was just excited to be a part of it. But nothing — nothing — could have prepared me for how insanely massive the events ended up being!! The meet and greet was a really nice, cool, casual start to the day — a warm up, really, for what was to come. Since numbers were capped to keep it exclusive, it was close and cosy. But then, by the time we got to the Q&A… well, my mind was blown by how many people were there. And wow! The questions!! Some of them were so awesome and creative!! (For example: if my main characters each had one Disney song to depict their lives, what would those songs be? THAT was fun!)

The signing after the Q&A was hectic — as in, hectic — but I loved every second, and then I was whisked away to have a quick moment to breathe before the Dymocks event. Our plan was to arrive at Dymocks and disappear upstairs to the cafe for that quiet moment, and we had to do that sneakily since when we arrived in the store (about 45 mins before the event was due to start), we were told it was already packed out! (Cue my massive freak out!)

Time whizzed by and suddenly I was headed downstairs to the area where the Bookmeet was taking place (running into Ali Green, the amazing CEO of Pantera Press, along the way — YAY!), and then it was allllllll happening. The wonderful Emily from Dymocks (founder of the “YA Bookmeet”) had to part the crowd for us to get through the aisles (!!), and then she and I were seated up the front of the masses where she began her interview (*cough* interrogation *cough*).

Honestly, we had the absolute BEST time. Five days later and my cheeks are still hurting from laughing so much. Emily has a memory like an elephant and recalls me saying things from the last two years that I have zero recollection of, which made everything even more hilarious. The whole thing was such a blast! And it was made even better by some surprises, like my author friend, Maria Lewis, being there to support me (AND SHE GAVE ME DISNEY SHOES AND TIGHTS!!); a stack of bookstagramers and book bloggers who I’ve become friends with over the last two years being there (including the lovely Kaysia from @Bookskay, the wonderful Catriona from @LittleBookOwl, and a whole host of others all of whom I adore); an unexpected visit from an old friend who I hadn’t seen in over ten years (I legit did a double-take when I saw him up that back and I’m pretty sure I stuttered whatever question I was answering, so shocked as I was, haha); and Supanova Live TV coming to “crash the book launch” (which you can watch here). There were soooo many other amazing things that happened, too (including being allowed to announce that Pantera Press has bought the AUS/NZ rights to WHISPER so that it will release over here at the same time as the US/CAN release next year — YAAAAAAY!!), as well as some crazy things (like, I heard afterwards that girl fainted at one stage — whoever you are, I hope you’re okay!!!).

All in all, it was such a FANTASTIC DAY!!! And truly, words cannot describe just how surreal it all was! I had to rush off to my plane straight from Dymocks, and it was only when I was in the air and halfway home that the “overwhelmed feels” really hit me. I just… I still can’t quite believe how big the day was. Nor can I believe how many people are loving this series. So, from the bottom of my heart, and every other part of it, to everyone who made the day so incredibly special and completely unforgettable: thank you. 

To end, here are some pics of the Saturday’s events. And for anyone interested in giving this series a go, the first book, AKARNAE, has a huge e-book sale on from now until the end of the week. This is especially convenient for any new international readers, since it’s a total bargain no matter what country you’re in (AUD$0.99, USD$0.76, GPB£0.99, etc., etc., etc.), so grab it while it’s hot!

PICS FROM THE EXCLUSIVE MEET AND GREET:

^^^ Possibly the best draekon I’ve yet drawn! He only half looks like a cow! YAY!

^^^ Dillyberry Juice! 

^^^ Meeting and greeting.^^^ The lovely Kaysia!

PICS FROM THE GALAXY BOOKSHOP Q&A:

^^^ The fantastic display I arrived to find.

^^^ The lovely Allison who moderated the Q&A.

^^^ Lots of people and lots of questions!^^^ Signing!

^^^ Group photo! (Mostly — we lost a few people before we remembered to take the shot!)

ON THE WAY TO THE NEXT EVENT, I HAD A SPECIAL “FRIEND” TAG ALONG (SIR CAMDEN): 

PICS FROM THE DYMOCKS YA BOOKMEET:

SOOOOOO….

… MANY… 

… PEOPLE!!!

(And SO MUCH FUN!!! Can’t WAIT for the next time!!)

Aaaaand, just to end, here’s me with the super amazing Disney shoes I already mentioned from my super amazing author friend Maria Lewis. And yes, I do look like I’m about to cry — IT WAS SERIOUSLY THE NICEST GIFT EVER!!! I *didn’t* cry, though, just FYI. And I also received some other ridiculously lovely pressies too! (Including a massive Haigh’s assorted chocolates box from my publishers which will last me until the end of time and beyond!)

So… Much… Happiness…