Booky Ramblings discussion

Welcome to our first ever special event. We are pleased to announce the wonderful Ripley Patton will be joining us to talk about her PSS Chronicles. If you haven't had a chance to read them yet then you are in for a treat because Ghost Hand is currently FREE on AMAZON and KOBO

On the night (25th January @ 7pm GMT or 2pm EST) we will have have the opportunity to ask Ripley questions about the books, about her plans for the series etc. There will be giveaways.. the chance to win swag packs and ebook copies of Ghost Hold.

I'm looking forward to this!

Sounds fab!

Did you both grab your free copy ladies?

Yes I did!

I have a mad 20 minutes while I'm getting the children ready for bed... So before I run off and do that let me just say a HUGE thank you to Ripley for taking time out of her busy schedule to join us today.

Hello Ripley before we get started can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Thanks for inviting me, Shona.

Little about myself. Well, I live in Portland, Oregon and I love it here. This is my soul city. I have a wonderful husband of 23 years, two teens, and a cat. I love chocolate and reality television (especially Survivor) and I LOVE to read and write YA.

Hi Everyone! Thank you for inciting me!! So Ripley, enquiring minds want to know....what does the future hold for our favorite series?? Marcus and Olivia specifically? ?

I'm sure you've been asked this before and your probably sick of hearing it but.. how did you come up with PSS?

Born and raised in SE Portland! Miss it there. :)

Glad to be here with you Ripley! You know I loved both Ghost Hand and Ghost Hold.

Jennifer, Well I just announced the title of book three of the series in my newsletter this morning- Ghost Heart- and I'm loving writing it. I've also realized that there is probably going to be a fourth book. Yay! As for Olivia and Marcus, I don't want to spoil anything, but they are about to go through a difficult period of separation in book three with Marcus dead and all, but it is called Ghost Heart, so there will be some killer romance at the end. I promise.

ooh yay a 4th book!

Shona,

I never tire of answering that question because PSS is the coolest thing ever :)

The main idea for PSS or Psyche Sans Soma, the birth defect that Olivia Black and other characters in the series suffer from, came from the real medical phenomenon of phantom limbs.

I have a friend who is an amputee. Even though his right leg is gone, he can still feel it. He can feel the grass between his toes when he walks in the back yard. He can get a cramp in the middle of the night in the leg he no longer has. And this is true even of people who aren't amputees but were born without certain limbs. It seems our brain has a map of our body that isn't limited to its fleshly manifestation. So, for the PSS series, I took that idea and ran with it. I asked myself, "What if those phantom limbs actually existed? What would they look like, and act like, and feel like? How would society react to them? And what power would they hold?"

Lindsey, I have lived in many places, including New Zealand, but Portland is my favorite.

That is both creepy and fascinating lol. I've heard of the phantom limbs, and was aware that amputees could still feel them. I didn't realise the same was true of people born with birth defects.

Do you work with an outline or do you just sit down and write stuff? I love hearing how different people work.

You're one of my bestest fans, girl. I love you.


Jennifer wrote: "Glad to be here with you Ripley! You know I loved both Ghost Hand and Ghost Hold."

You know I love you & your books :)

Who is your favorite character and why?

I havent checked my email today so I missed the unveiling of the name, but im super excited now!! I can not wait. and ive heard of the phantom limb and feelings before, but never would've thought about turning it into a book. Thats why your Amazing! lol

im loving these questions:)

Shona, I'm what's known in the writing world as a pantser. I write by the seat of my pants. That means I have no written outline. Going into a book I have a vague idea of where it will start, where it might end, and some events in the middle. And that pretty much always changes as I write it. So, basically, I write to find out what happens. And I wouldn't do it any other way because that is what keeps the book exciting and real for me.

I'm new to your series. I just wanted to say that I'm excited about it. The concept is a new one, for me.

Tanya, Oh, no fair. That's like asking which of my kids I love more. But okay, since I write from Olivia's point of view in the first two books, she is probably the character I know the best. And I really LOVE her. But I also like Marcus and Passion and Samantha and yes, even Jason. I love them all.

Ripley have you ever written something you've hated?

April, welcome to the party and thanks for coming. I love to introduce new people to the books. If you haven't picked it up yet, book one of the series, Ghost Hand, is perma-free for Kindle and Kobo.

I have it and I'm loving it so far. Picking up the second book today. :)

Shona, not really. I mean there are things I wrote when I was younger and less experienced, but I can't fault my younger self for trying and learning. And there are things I haven't finished because I haven't found the right ending yet. But writing for me is really about processing feelings and ideas, not so much the end product.

I know that is a hard question for an author but I had to ask ;)

I have to agree I think Olivia is my favorite but they are all gray :)

Yay! Be sure to leave reviews when you're done. Nothing warms my little ghost heart more.

April wrote: "I have it and I'm loving it so far. Picking up the second book today. :)"

Lol. That should've said great not gray. Darn phone lol

Hi Ripley. Is there any advice you would give anyone wanting to start writing?

I've heard other say they scrapped a book idea because once they got started they hated it, but i suppose once you sit down and pour your heart and soul into something its really hard to hate it. What has been the hardest part of writing the PSS Chronicles?

Claire, great question.

First, do it. Always pursue your passion and your dreams. It is never too late to do that. Second, you will not be perfect at it. EVER. but especially at the beginning. No one writes a perfect first book. Just write the best book your current self can and then write another one. Write the stories you want to read, and other will love them too.

Shona, the hardest part of writing has probably been believing I could do it. When I was writing Ghost Hand, I just wasn't sure I could actually finish a novel and pull it off well. Then when I was writing Ghost Hold, I was like "Yeah, but can I write a good second book." That insecurity is finally going away with this third book but yeah, I've had to build my confidence a lot along the way.

Well i thought both books were great and i know a lot of people agree with me ;-)
In my never ending quest to find new books that i'll love when i find an author whose work i have enjoyed i like to know, is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

By 'pantser" it sounds very much like once you've had the initial concept the characters tell you their stories as and when they're ready. It's actually easier than trying to force things to fit a predetermined outline.

Have you had a character so vile you hesitated to let him or her tell their story?

Are any of your characters patterned after people you know in real life?

I have always been an avid reader. I devour books. And all of them have probably influenced me in some way. As a child I read a lot of adult genre books - mostly fantasy and sci-fi. Female greats like Anne McCaffrey, Ursula LeGuin, Madeleine L'Engle, Octavia Butler and Jane Yolen.

It is kind of funny that I didn't read much YA when I was YA. And now that I'm an adult that's almost all I read. Maybe, I'm trying to recapture my youth.

But there are two books that really made me want to write YA and heavily influenced The PSS series. One was Unwind by Neal Shusterman. The other was the Wake, Fade, Gone series by Lisa McMann. After I read those authors and books I knew I wanted to write something like that, gritty, and dark, and unusual. Oh, and so gripping you just couldn't put it down until you'd finished the whole damn thing.

Hi! I loved Ghost Hand and I can't wait to start reading Ghost Hold!! I really enjoy YA FICTION even though at 49, I'm hardly a young adult! LOL, I'm young at heart though..

R.F.G. that is exactly it. Writing is super organic for me.

As for vile characters, not so much in this series. I mean, there are some really bad guys, but I know why they are the way they are and it makes perfect sense to them.

But I once wrote a short story titled "Mary Had a Unicorn" about a drug-addicted teen girl with a rehab unicorn that she despises. Mary is pretty vile and she was hard to write.

April, as far as character creation, I'm a bit like Dr. Frankenstein. All my characters are bits and pieces patched together of people I've known, or read about, or eaves-dropped on or people-watched at the mall. Olivia in particular is a version of a braver teen me, my inner Goth, and my daughter, one of the most kick-ass girls I know.

Ripley wrote: "I have always been an avid reader. I devour books. And all of them have probably influenced me in some way. As a child I read a lot of adult genre books - mostly fantasy and sci-fi. Female greats l..."

ooh sounds like a lot of great stuff to add to my reading shelf :-)

How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?

Judy, welcome to the chat. I'm so glad you found the series and are enjoying it. And I'm 45 and love YA. I'm also thankful for my two teen kids though, who help me keep the characters current.

Judy wrote: "Hi! I loved Ghost Hand and I can't wait to start reading Ghost Hold!! I really enjoy YA FICTION even though at 49, I'm hardly a young adult! LOL, I'm young at heart though.."

The Unwind series is on my Amazon Wishlist, it sounds amazing. It's a bit pricey though, maybe it will be available from the Kindle Owner's Lending Library in the future. One can hope..

Shona, marketing can be challenging. As an indie author, I don't have a lot of upfront funds for it. However, I have discovered that the community of book bloggers and reviewers is full of some of the most amazing people ever. Getting my book into the hands of people who love reading and will talk about it is probably the best marketing I've ever done. And it is mostly free.

This year, since sales of the books is really picking up and I have a little extra in the funds area, I'm doing some paid promotion. I just did a Bookbub add in early January, and I've had the best sales month that I've EVER had, so it really paid off.

I really appreciate being invited to this chat! Thank You!

Unwind is fabulous. Well worth the buy, but they probably also have it at your local library.

Judy wrote: "The Unwind series is on my Amazon Wishlist, it sounds amazing. It's a bit pricey though, maybe it will be available from the Kindle Owner's Lending Library in the future. One can hope.."

Judy wrote: "Hi! I loved Ghost Hand and I can't wait to start reading Ghost Hold!! I really enjoy YA FICTION even though at 49, I'm hardly a young adult! LOL, I'm young at heart though.."

Hi Judy, i didnt really like reading YA until i was an adult... As an adult i do like a touch of teenage angst in my reading, perhaps because I'm free of it (or at least until my 4 girls become teenagers lol).

I've heard of bookbub but have absolutely no idea what that is. Is it just for authors or for readers to use also?