aprille’s Comments (group member since Feb 25, 2014)

aprille’s comments from the Ask Aprille Legacy Absolutely Anything!! group.

A chance to win a paperback copy of Soul Fire over at the Avid Book Collector:
http://avidbookcollector.blogspot.com...

Cora wrote: "I have not yet, though it's already purchased and downloaded on my kindle. I have a couple books I need to read first but then I plan on reading that right after. I can't wait, the last book ended ..."

Oooh yay! I'm really curious to see what you think :D

Cora wrote: "Ah thats hard! I'm sure in my head whilst reading I had a specific person imagined but now I can't quit remember! I like what you said about unknowns, new faces are refreshing. But if I were to cas..."

I thought Kaya looked familiar, she's Effy from Skins! I haven't seen Douglas Booth in anything but he seems to fit the bill pretty well ;)
Have you read the second book? There's a couple of new characters who would be fun to cast.

Cora wrote: "So I had a sort of random question that just popped into my head - if Soul Fire was made into a movie and you could choose anyone to cast it, who would play the characters? I'm just sort of interes..."

Ooh this is an interesting question...
I'd be very tempted to only hire unknown actors. But if I had to cast..
Anna Kendrick as Sky
Billy Burke as Jett

aaaand that's where I draw a blank! Lol, who would you think to cast? I'm curious now

I'm giving away two paperback copies of Soul Fire, over on my blog!
http://aprillelegacy.blogspot.com.au/...

A.S. wrote: "Sounds intriguing! Can't wait to read the real deal one day."

Thanks! It has a goodreads record which will be updated with a release date soon :)

Always puts me in a good mood, that guy.

And thanks! I'm starting to get very nervous now!

Cora wrote: "Wow this sounds fantastic!"

Aw, thanks!! :D

Sonya wrote: "I'm still wanting to know how this ends! All I know is that you were crying about it and you refused to tell us why... Tease :-P When do you think you're going to start working on it again? After S..."

A rough guesstimate puts it around sometime this year, I reckon, but I'm not going to put it down officially until I know :)

Cora wrote: "First of all, congratulations on your books! I have the first on my Kindle and I can't wait to read it. I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about your publishing process and what all ..."

Aw thanks! I hope you like it :)
Well, I'm self-published through Createspace.com and they make the process very easy (sometimes... on a good day). Being self-published means I have to do everything myself, editing, PR, cover shoots and all that fun stuff. It's exhausting a lot of the time, but reading reviews and hearing back from Goodreaders makes it all worth it :)

Robert wrote: "Thanks, would like to read more. I personally don't mind "historical inaccuracies" in fiction, I read for the story. Most peoples ideas about history, even current events are filled with "historica..."

The book is about 70% complete, so I hope to have it out in the next year or so. I personally love historical re-imaginings, and I can only hope people will like my rendition of the 1800's :)

Alexis Elizabeth wrote: "What are your tips on getting rid of writers block?"

Well, just like any other writer, I've been plagued by writer's block consistently. The things that I've discovered that help are:

- taking a break. A few days of not even opening the manuscript really help you recover from that frustration. Don't feel guilty about not writing in this time; you've earned it and you need it!

- outside inspiration. Going to the cinemas is one of my favourite things to do. I find that just by being in that environment, the inspiration and motivation to write increases ten-fold. The movies, reading a book in the same genre, or finding new writing music are some of my favourite ways to refresh.

- Last but not least : Powering through! I know this sounds horrible and you cringe at the thought of looking at the manuscript, but one of the biggest causes of writer's block is not knowing where to take the scene next.
Teaming up with a fellow writer and setting a word limit you both have to beat can be the best way to get through that one scene. It'll be painful, and you'll more than likely churn out absolutely awful writing, but that's what editing is for. The main thing is that you got through that scene and now have material to work with.

ALSO: Listen to this guy and look how happy he is playing the violin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qayJY...

Hope that all helps :P

For anyone interested, here is the opening to my steampunk, Ruthless:

The gavel fell with unmistakable malice.
“Request for parole, denied.”
“But I haven’t done anything wrong.” The girl in chains whispered.
However, the sigh fell on deaf ears as she was led away.

~

Copper sunlight bathed her unsightly form in its tepid glow. She clutched her legs and hunched in tighter, trying to capture the warmth. Without warning, a cloud shuffled in front of the sun, and her cell lapsed into grey.

It had been too many years since she had been outside. Her skin was white and papery, her eyes as colourless as the lead sky. Strands of pale blonde hair fell across her thin shoulders, and she gave the impression that she was merely a ghost, a visitor of this time.

One of the guards who led her to and from her cell had once remarked: “I’m ‘fraid to touch her; girl feels like she’s made o’glass.”

One guard did not feel the way that the others did. This guard had realised over time that their charge was different from the rest of the rabble, and – she suspected - one who did not deserve to be in this place. The other prisoners boasted of the feats that landed them in the prison, and the guards preferred choice of gossip was usually along the same lines. Not once had she ever heard of why this prisoner was here.

Over the years, the guard had watched the prisoner become frail and weak. She had watched the prisoner fade into a ghostly image of her former self.

“It isn’t right,” she murmured darkly to the other guards one evening as they all prepared to leave the prison, though they decided not to hear her muttered sentence.

“Don’t, Ainsley,” one of the others said quietly after a few minutes of awkward silence. “You know we don’t ask the questions here.”

Ainsley clenched her teeth, knowing they could not see her expression beneath her cold steel mask.
So instead, we keep our faces hidden and our consciences buried. We imprison the innocent along with the guilty, she thought angrily.

The guard looked up as the other guards filed out of the room, a young man with sandy hair and eyes that had seen too much. He met her gaze for an instant before leaving her alone in the room.
Ainsley watched him go before heaving a sigh. She went about her duties for the rest of the day, though she had to look away whenever she passed that cell. The cell of the ghost.

She would’ve been pretty once, Ainsley thought one day as she hung up her mask on its designated hook, thinking of the girl’s delicate skin and facial features that seemed so unnatural in the prison. She would’ve been beautiful.

Walking home through the dirty streets cleared her mind. The sun was slowly beginning to sink below the horizon, illuminating the clouds that were gathering over the city. Lamplighters were dutifully lighting the gas lamps that lined the street, the early flicker of the flames making it easier to navigate the greasy puddles that gathered in cracks on the pavement.

Ainsley tucked her cap lower over her ears as a brittle wind whistled past. Beside her, horses pulled phaetons that contained those privileged enough to afford them, their hooves clattering against the uneven cobblestones. Ainsley eyed the nobles with distaste, pulling her scarf across her face to protect her nose and mouth from the weather.

A light rain was just starting to dampen her cap when she reached her home. She lived in a small cluttered room in the south of London, all she could afford on her docked pay. Despite the minimal living space, it suited her solitary life as a prison guard. She did not want to go out and see the horrors on the streets that she saw in the prisons.
Ainsley wound her way into the kitchenette, filling the copper kettle with water. She set it on the stove and dropped onto her couch. Part of her was glad that she lived some distance from the prison, despite the time it took her to get there. Being far away meant that people didn’t know what she did for a living, and she left her standard-issue metal mask at the prison where it belonged.

Later that night, as she watched the moon through the lace curtains and sipped tea, Ainsley thought of the girl, who by now would be curled up on the cot in her cell, oblivious to the beauty of outside. She thought of the sad, lonely ghost and her silence.
Who are you? She wondered, as she realised there had not been a day when the girl had spoken; and most of the prisoners were rather loud about their imprisonment. How did you come to be as you are?

Jim wrote: "An obvious question perhaps, but what was the first book/short story that you read that made you think "I could do this?" And who was the author?"

I don't really remember to be honest... But my main inspiration for pursuing writing like this would be Sonya Lano. She's an amazing author and writes some of the most incredible fantasy I've ever read.

Robert wrote: "Are you going to put out excerpts from Ruthless? Are you creating your own steampunk environment, fitting into existing worlds people have created or more along actual historical settings?"

Here's the Goodreads record for it:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

It's my own steampunk environment. I've had a bit of trouble getting that across to people in the past and have been on the recieving end of rants about all of my historical inaccuracies when really they were all by design.

I'll pop up the first little bit in a separate thread here for you and anyone else who's interested to read :)

Mark wrote: "I know you were enrolled in university. Have you finished now? What were you studying?

When you're not writing, what do you like to do? Inquiring minds want to know!"

I was enrolled until I figured out I didn't need to pay thousands of dollars to learn to write... I just needed to sit down and actually write!! I was studying Writing and Creative Communication, and did very little writing unfortunately.

In my spare time, I'm rebuilding my car, a 1979 Isuzu Gemini. She's almost ready to go back on the road after blowing a head gasket and I honestly can't wait to drive her! And when I'm not elbow-deep in my engine bay, I'm either watching, playing or reading Star Wars, my one true love.

SPRajagopal wrote: "I haven't read the book yet. I intend do. I don't read fantasy, young adult novels but I'm interested in knowing the style of a debut novel of someone I have interacted with online.

That being sa..."

I would absolutely love to do something aimed at an adult audience! At the moment, I feel like my writing skills need to develop a lot more though. I have another book in the works called Ruthless which is a Victorian steampunk set in 1880, so not really what you're talking about but I'm definitely keen to branch out into that genre at some point!!

. wrote: "Why did u edit it? ='( I loved the old version..."

I edited and rewrote the entire storyline of the Soul Trilogy. I felt that the original one was far too dramatic without cause and didn't make sense in a lot of places. By rewriting it, I've been able to explore and development my world, as well as greatly improving the writing :)

With Soul Blaze due to come out in little over a month, I'd like to hear if there's anything anyone would like to ask about the series, future books or just me in general! I'd only be too honoured to answer any questions you have.