Secret Serendipity Seven with Taran Matharu

Today I’m pleased to welcome debut author, Taran Matharu, author of The Novice, onto the blog.

Secret 1 - The Novice is a blending of everything I love about fantasy; taking all my favourite elements and adding my own twist and spin to each.

Secret 2 - The first 50,000 words of The Novice were written in the space of one month, when I took part in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The second half was written in the back of juddering buses as I explored the Australian Outback.

Secret 3 - An early, unfinished draft version of The Novice was read over 1 Million times on Wattpad within four months, 3 Million in six months and 5 Million a year later. I guess you could say it went viral!

Secret 4 - When I came up with the idea behind the Summoner series,I was actually in a bookstore. I was hunting through the fantasy shelves with a specific kind of book in mind, but couldn’t find anything remotely similar. I went home and wrote the first chapter as soon as I got in.

Secret 5 - Racism and class division are major themes in my books. The inspiration for that comes from my own experiences as a child, as one of the only minorities in the private school I attended.

Secret 6 - As of today, The Novice is being translated into 11 languages! That’s pretty cool. I’m also half Brazilian so I get to chat with my Portuguese translator sometimes.

Secret 7 - I just became a full-time author, which is a dream come true! This one isn’t really a secret, I’ll tell anyone. It’s the best job in the world.

 Published May 5th by Hodder Children’s Books

Book Summary

Fletcher was nothing more than a humble blacksmith's apprentice, when a chance encounter leads to the discovery that he has the ability to summon demons from another world. Chased from his village for a crime he did not commit, he must travel with his demon to the Vocans Academy, where the gifted are trained in the art of summoning.
The academy will put Fletcher through a gauntlet of gruelling lessons, training him as a battlemage to fight in the Hominum Empire's war against the savage orcs. Rubbing shoulders with the children of the most powerful nobles in the land, Fletcher must tread carefully. The power hungry Forsyth twins lurk in the shadows, plotting to further their family's interests. Then there is Sylva, an elf who will do anything she can to forge an alliance between her people and Hominum, even if it means betraying her friends. Othello is the first ever dwarf at the academy, and his people have long been oppressed by Hominum's rulers, which provokes tension amongst those he studies alongside.
Fletcher will find himself caught in the middle of powerful forces, with nothing but his demon Ignatius to help him. As the pieces on the board manoeuvre for supremacy, Fletcher must decide where his loyalties lie. The fate of an empire is in his hands ...

To find out more about Taran Matharu:

Twitter / Facebook

As NaNoWriMo approaches!

It is that time of year again, when many authors published and unpublished enter a writing frenzy as they try to write a first draft of a book in 30 days! Madness, I hear you say, yet I can promise you it can be done. I managed it last November along with a few writing buddies and I plan to do the same again this year.

Now having a year of NaNoWriMo already under my belt, I wanted to offer a few snippets of advice as well as provide you with some inspirational blogs and websites that I really think will help you along the way.

So my advice first. You don't have to take it, but it might help.

1. Link up with as many other bloggers and writers that you know who are alos taking part. Writing is an extremely lonely business, and it helped so much to be writing alongside other bloggers. I am positive we all spurred each other to the end. 
2. Plan your story a little bit before hand. If you are doing this for a laugh, then fly by the seat of your pants. If you are desperate to have a finished, plausible first draft at the end of it, then take some time to plan it  before hand. 
3. Try and work out beforehand when you will write. Where can you fit that hour in so you can keep up with your daily word limit.
4. Increase your daily word limit a little to allow you days off throughout the month. Sometimes you know that there are going to be days you just won't have time, so why not try writing a little extra on the days before it to help you stay on target.

I hope that helps. I also want to provide you with some inspirational blogs written by four authors who keep me writing.

The Zoe-Trope Zoe is one of my favourite authors and a good friend on Twitter. When I struggle to write, I turn to her and her words of wisdom. She writes fantastic posts on her blog about different aspects of writing, which I recommend you read.

Sarah Alderson  This woman is seriously a writing machine. Before she wrote her first book, Hunting Lila, she had never written before. Two years later, she has six books under her belt. If you are looking for someone to spur you on and show you that anyone can do it, Sarah's blog is the one for you.

Jody Hedlund  I am not sure how I came across her blog, but I am so glad I did. Jody is amazing at writing inspirational post about how she writes. 

Nicola Morgan -  is an award winning author with over 90 books under her belt who gives us her advice on our 'Write To Be Published@. Not only is this a blog, but you can also buy the book too.

Also , here are a few  of  the recommended NaNoWriMo blogs which are worth looking at now.

Storyfix.com - this is a great website that is providing daily tips to help you prepare beforehand for NaNoWriMo.

The Office of Letters and Light is the official blog that runs alongside NaNoWriMo.

Writing Fiction Right is written by the author Gail Gaymer Martin, who gives us lots of writing tips.

Procrastinating Writers  This site has some really helpful tips for NaNoWriMo, so definitely check it out.

Wrimos FTW Written by Lyn Midnight, this is a blog that builds up excitement about NaNoWriMo and helps you to prepare. 

If you are looking for a book that might help you through the month, then please invest in No Plot? No Problem by Chris Baty,, He is the founder of NaNoWriMo, so he knows what he is talking about. I found it very interesting to read this book before I started. 

I hope this post has been helpful and that you are all now raring to go with you writing. When you have signed up for a month of merriment, please come and find me, my user name is viviennejane.  If you have any other useful tips or blogs to help us all, then please leave a link in the comments. 

Yay me!

You will all be pleased to know that I successfully completed my October Trial Run of NaNoWriMo and presently have a 50,000 draft saved on my computer. I have produced a first draft of a Young Adult supernatural story that has a beginning, middle and an end. Yay me!

I have also successfully begun the official NaNoWriMo challenge with a whole new Young Adult story which at present does not have an ending. Am I worried, NOOO! I have to admit that it is lovely to be writing with over 150,000 people all over the world at the same time. Although I will have to stop reading everyone's word counts as they are beginning to make me rather nervous, especially when I spoke to one young lady on Facebook on Monday evening who had just written 11,000 words. My aim is to write 2,000 words a day rather than the 1,670 that is the ideal word quota. If I am at home a lot during the day, I aim to write more. So keep your fingers crossed for me. 

If you are participating in NaNoWriMo and you want to link up as a writing buddy then you will find me listed as viviennejane. I have only just managed to put my picture up, so you will see me tucking into a lovely doughnut.

I may not be around as much as I would like this month, but I will try and post as much as I can. I hope to visit all your blogs later today too.

Thanks for all being so supportive this month. I have put my word count up at the top of my screen for all of you to keep an eye on my progress.

Onwards and upwards.
TTFN

On The Eve Of My Trial Run at NaNoWriMo

As promised to myself, tomorrow I will begin my NaNoWriMo trial.  I have what I believe, to be a fabulous storyline connected to a place I know and love. I don't think I have ever read anything like it, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is an original.  All I can tell you is that it is a children's book. 

I have written quick chapter notes to give myself an idea where the story is going and I am absolutely certain of how I want it to end.

I am going to spend today working on character outlines and fleshing out the chapters a bit more, as well as drawing a map of  the location. If I can get that all done in preparation for tomorrow, then I will feel a lot more confident about actually achieving my goal.

Once I am prepared for this month's trial run, I hope to spend some time preparing for the real NaNoWriMo,which I do have a story idea for, but I need to flesh it out more.

So wish me luck in my adventure this month. I wonder if I might be taking a fall before I start, as I have arranged to have my carpets cleaned tomorrow and then I have scrap day all Saturday. Mmmm, may have to get up early to get a head start.

I shall let you know each week how I get on and fingers crossed I may be able to celebrate with you at the end of the month, with a first draft completed.
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