I write because my passion is to tell people stories.
Stories of love and hate, of fear and hope. Stories where good people do bad things and bad people do good things. Stories of lives that are unexpected, horrible and beautiful.
I write these things because I believe they are true in real life, therefore should be in fiction too. But not matter what I write, I always seem to be asking 'why'?
Just wanted to post quickly about the book launch this past Saturday… It was AMAZING!!!
Not only did we have a packed room, a documentary guy filming us, great food, and the support of the illustrator, publisher and local speculative fiction magazine “OnSpec”….. We sold out in an hour and half (from 1:45 to 3:15 – even though the event was supposed to start at 2).
That means we sold approximately 130 books. Wow!
Also, as of today, the book “Seven Deadly Sins” is the number 10 best seller on the Publishers website (how cool is that?) and has three really great reviews on the site.
I’ve ordered a bunch more books and they will arrive in Edmonton in about 3 weeks, so for anyone who couldn’t get a copy let me know and we’ll make arrangements.
Thanks so much to the people who came out to support me.
It’s been a month since I last posted. I’m very sorry, but things have been busy. Let’s pretend for a moment that I have posted this past month and below is a summary of those posts:
April 6: I was interviewed by CityTV about the flash fiction collection “Seven Deadly Sins”. I was a nervous wreak and the tapping lasted almost three hours (for a 3 minute clip). I had to shove a pastry in my mouth on camera for the sin “Gluttony”… oh the things we do for our craft.
April 14: The interview aired on CityTV Edmonton at 6pm and 11pm. It looks really good. It’s surprising how they can cut all that information down to a 3 minute clip. Perhaps there is something writers could learn from these video editing people. I’ve saved the video and uploaded onto my site. You can see it here.
April 15: I attended Story Slam, an Edmonton Literary event that’s held monthly where writers compete against eachother (read their stories in front of an audience for points) for a pot of money. All four of the girls in the anthology read a story that didn’t make the cut for the Flash Fiction Challenge. Roxanne, one of the “Seven Deadly Sins” writers won $300. I think I’ll be attending again next month.
April 16 (Today):
As you can see it was a busy month. Perhaps not hugely but in my eyes it was. There were also a couple of side projects that have taken my time away from posting to this blog.
1) I’ve changed hosts and blogging platforms. I’m now on Wordpress and loving it. so naturally while I was transfering over I couldn’t post. And, knowing me, I couldn’t just be happy with a generic run of the mill template. I learnt the basics of css and php code over the last month so that I could customize my site. I don’t guarantee that this will be the last blog/website look and feel, but I’m happy with it for now.
2) I’ve nearly finished my novel “Ice Debt”. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. I’m a chapter and a half away from the end. I was hoping to have it finished before the book launch but I’ve been so distracted lately there is no way that was/is going to happen. Regardless, I’m very proud of my progress.
Well there you have it.
One final note before I sign off. The book launch for the flash fiction anthology I’m in is this Saturday (TWO DAYS) at the Strathcona Library from 2 – 4:30. If you happen to be in the Edmonton area, please come out and say hi.
In late December 2008 the publisher of Absolute XPress Publishing issued a challenge – to write seven flash fiction stories (or extremely short stories) about the seven deadly sins. The due date was January 15 2009, and even though she just squeezed in under the wire her entries were accepted into the challenge. A week later the winners were announced and Tina won for not one sin, but two.
Tina Hunter will have her first and second short stories published in the upcoming short story collection “Seven Deadly Sins” being released by Absolute XPress. This cutting edge Alberta publisher produces their books as both e-books and direct-to-reader books.
The e-book of “Seven Deadly Sins” is already available for purchase from the publishers’ website, however if you prefer a real book-in-hand come check out the book launch party on Saturday April 18 at the Strathcona Library, Program Room, Top Floor, from 2:00 – 4:30pm. There will be drinks, food and fabulous door prizes to have. We look forward to seeing you at the event.
From the back of the book:
When the gauntlet was thrown we had to compete against each other and write seven sinister stories – each based on one of the seven deadly sins: Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Pride, Sloth, and Wrath.
Each story also had to be written in Flash Fiction: Fiction of Extreme Brevity. With a rush of adrenaline, a flurry of words were forced onto our computer screens – some in a less than gentle fashion. Soon our creativity was polishing the sentences and we hoped the paragraphs told each story in a manner unique to its author. Some stories reveal the entrapment in a single scene, others expose the characters fall from grace over a longer period of time.
Over all, these short stories accomplish their mission and show off the seven deadly sins in a style that is easy to read and hard not to enjoy.
PS: You can see who’s already coming by checking out the Facebook Event. Click HERE.
The Seven Deadly Sins book (collection of Flash Fiction of which two of my short stories belong) is being launched here in Edmonton on April 18. Not sure yet what all the details will be but I will let you know.
The book launch will just be for the hard copy book. Absolute-XPress also publishes in e-book format so the book will be available in that form earlier than the book launch date. Again, once I have more details I will let you know.
I’ll post again soon. I plan on accepting Nixy’s challenge so I’ll post my exercise here.
January 15 was the deadline for the Sinful Flash Fiction Challenge. 7 flash fiction (or short story) pieces for each of the deadly sins.
I didn’t do it gracefully, but I finished within the deadline (Just!). I wrote two stories a day for the last two days. I’m not sure if this does or doesn’t show my ability to work under a deadline. I did it, just not well.
To be fair, I’ve had a death in the family to deal with over the last couple of weeks. A suicide. Not that any deaths are easy, but suicides are especially hard. Everyone has this feeling of “I should have known or seen it coming” which really means “I wish I could have prevented it”. Normally, there isn’t anything anyone can do to prevent it. It’s sad but think about it realistically, what would you have done if you’d seen it coming? Besides tying them up so they can’t hurt themselves or committing them, not much else is going to help.
Anyway, on a happier note, I’ve installed a word count chart on the side of my blog. I’ve ended up using an online tracking tool to keep track of my word counts since the start of the year. Mostly because I’ve been too lazy to go get a new daily planner, but also because my word count updates are now automated. I don’t have to post a blog entry about them now, although I still might if I have something spectacular to report.
Side note: Daily Diary – the service I’m using to track my word count – allows for people to compare results with others based on certain questions. So if you are trying to write daily, or often, you should sign up and add to your profile “How many words did you write today?” It’s great for adding a little bit of outside competition to your writing goals.
Press Release: