Book Review

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The Art of Enchantment Wins Chatelaine Grand Prize

The Art of Enchantment wins Chatelaine Grand Prize

To celebrate the exciting news that The Art of Enchantment won not only the top category prize for contemporary Romance and Women’s Fiction, but also the Chatelaine Grand Prize, I’ve created a Goodreads Giveaway for three first edition copies of the print book. Click on the box to enter between April 17th and 25th!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Art of Enchantment by M.A. Clarke Scott

The Art of Enchantment

by M.A. Clarke Scott

Giveaway ends April 25, 2017.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

So, this is why I’m a writer…

And yes, it feels great to be singled out from among a huge group of extremely talented and dedicated authors to be given this prize. Obviously it makes me happy and proud, and it’s a great way to launch my newest baby into the world.

 

But that’s not what I’m talking about…

M A Clarke Scott with Chatelaine Prize category win blue ribbon, with Margie Lawson, writing coach

Here’s me geeking out over the category win with Margie Lawson. And no… that’s not spinach in her teeth. She got it out with a stiletto heel just in time for the photo op. ;-D

In fact at the Chanticleer Author’s Conference Awards Banquet April 1st in Bellingham, WA, I was pretty thrilled when the book was called out as the category winner. Awkward in public settings as always, I was nevertheless okay with walking up to receive my blue ribbon, pretty chill receiving the congratulations of my fellow writers in the room, and content to drink wine and laugh at stupid jokes with my new friend and table-mate, writing guru Margie Lawson.

Within a few short minutes, the room went silent as each of the Grand Prize winners was announced. When they got to the Chatelaine, the speaker read out my series title first, before mentioning the book title, and I, since I’d just changed it twenty times before publishing it, didn’t recognize it! I just sat there smiling, happy for whomever was winning the prize.

And the Socially Awkward Introvert Grand Prize goes to…

Chatelaine Prize winners M A Clarke Scott, Diana Forbes & Gail Avery Halverson

The Chatelaine Award Winning Authors: M.A. Clarke Scott [C], Diana Forbes [R], & Gail Avery Halverson [L]

Then, stunned to realize they were talking about me, I went up to receive my second ribbon in so many minutes, and the only thing in my head was…”That’s a pathetic series title! Is that really the best you could come up with?” So when I got to the podium and saw, gak! the microphone, all I was capable of saying out loud was a muttered, “Thank you, thank you very much. Uh…” I then proceeded to drink too much wine for the rest of the evening.

A Revisionist Worldview

It wasn’t until about, oh, four days later, lying awake in the middle of the night, that I thought of what I should have said. Something along the lines of…

“Thank you [ladies and gentlemen…except writers are seldom so formal]. I especially want to thank Kiffer and Andy and their staff for all their hard work year round, running a stellar writing contest, making professional book reviews available, and organizing this brilliant author’s conference.

Thanks also to the many judges who read thousands of manuscripts and had to choose from among so many excellent, worthy stories, to single out just a few to recognize tonight. I’m humbled and honored to receive this award. Congratulations to all the winners, short-listers, and to all the writers to completed their manuscripts and entered the contests. Bravo. And don’t ever quit.

It’s opportunities like this that help to bring us writer-trolls out of our dark and solitary hovels, to mingle with other writers, learn, be stimulated, practice our social skills, and to shine a light on some of the new works and emerging voices in this increasingly crowded publishing marketplace.”

Or some such. By the time I fell asleep I’d revised it five times and decided I was too verbose anyway and it was just as well I became catatonic in the spotlight or I’d be one of those people the long hooks were invented for, and have to be dragged from the stage.

That’s why I’m a writer,

…and not a press secretary or a lawyer or a politician or tv host.

So here’s a formal thank you and shout out to Chanticleer Book Reviews and Contests and all the hard-working people who made this possible. Please check out the official announcement of all the winners on the Chanticleer website, and follow them so you receive the book reviews that this organization makes possible. And then buy the books you like, and take a moment afterwards to post a favorable review on Amazon or Goodreads or Librarything.

Because we writer-trolls need all the love and attention we can get.

 

 

 

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Short Listed for the Chatelaine Book Award

Chatelaine Book Awards for Romantic Fiction 2016 Finalist

CAC 17 logo Chanticleer Authors Conference Bellingham WA

I’m excited to announce that two (2!) of my manuscripts are finalist for the 2016 Chatelaine Book Award for Romantic Fiction. Check the full list of finalists here. Congratulations to all the finalists, for both the Chatelaine, and the other writing prizes sponsored by Chanticleer Book Reviews.

This is the same prize that my unpublished manuscript, A Dissimulation of Doves won First in Category in 2014. That book, and its Chanticleer review, have not yet been released, as I’m mulling over some important revisions before I let it go out into the world. 🙂

I skipped a year, and then sent in two books last fall. The first is my published novel, Reconcilable Differences, which I later entered in a separate contest, the Somerset Award for Literary/Contemporary, since that’s where the subcategory for Women’ Fiction now lives. Since the book rides the line between Romance and WF, we’ll see how that goes.

New Book Release Scheduled for Spring

In the Chatelaine Book Award contest, Reconcilable Differences competes against thirty-four other manuscripts or books, including my own unpublished manuscript, The Art of Enchantment. The Art of Enchantment is scheduled for release in March of this year, just in time for the Chanticleer Authors Conference and Award Banquet. Hopefully I’ll have reason to celebrate, but given my experience in 2015, it’s an amazing, rich conference and I’ll be enjoying myself mingling with hundreds of other fascinating authors.

 

Friends toasting with champagne glasses

 

Books on the Bay Book Festival and Author Signing

If you’re attending the conference or live in the Bellingham, WA area, you’ll be one of the first able to pick up a print copy of the book at the Books by the Bay book festival.

It’s also my plan to release Book 2 in the Having it All series, Coming About, released in time for the Chanticleer conference. Very soon I’ll have cover reveals for both new books so stay tuned, or sign up for my email list so you’ll be the first to be notified of this and other news and events, including the contest results.

Conference Workshop

Also at the conference at the end of March, I’ll be presenting a workshop or two. The one I know about for sure is called The Belly of the Whale: Understanding the Heroine’s Journey.

Here’s how the conference is described: “Come and enjoy 3 days of instruction on how to improve your marketing skills and sell more books, located at the beautiful Hotel Bellwether, at Squalicum Harbor on beautiful Bellingham Bay, in Bellingham, Washington conveniently located between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.”

To register for the conference, click here.  I look forward to seeing you there!

Leave a comment below to tell me if you’ll be attending the conference so we can connect in Bellingham.

 

 

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RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES AVAILABLE NOW

Reconcilable Differences book cover

Published!

I can’t believe it but it’s finally true. You can finally buy my first novel, Reconcilable Differences as an ebook on Amazon HERE. The beautiful trade paperback edition will be released within the next couple of weeks as the interior layout details are finalized.

Despite all my frantic worry about how it would happen, it just happened in its own sweet chaotic way and of course all out of order and in defiance of any plans I might have made.

The Business of Selling Books

So. Phew. You’d think the pressure would be off. But you’d be wrong. Now I’ve got most of the technical publishing stuff out of the way, I’ve got my author-preneur hat shoved tightly onto my head, and that’s a whole other arena of activity and worries. I’m finally in the position to make sense of, choose and implement a raft of book marketing strategies that I’ve been studying for quite some time.

There are too many to mention, not all of them appropriate for me. And no one could do them all. Giveaway and contests, special promotions, discounts and bonus incentives, book reviews and bloggers. All to build an email list, create brand recognition, improve rankings and of course, I hope, sell books.

Sometimes I wonder if the big business opportunity of the day is educating, coaching and selling products and services TO the gazillion new independent authors in the world. And of course any fiction author will tell you that this business stuff isn’t the reason we all buried our heads in the figurative sands of our imagination. Well it is, but in an inverse sort of way. How ironic that the publishing industry asks this of us more than ever before.

 By the way you can find Reconcilable Differences online HERE.

via GIPHY

The Philosophy of Vulnerability

Aside from the stresses of publishing and marketing, I’ve been losing sleep and contending with rats in my brain this last few days for an entirely different reason. The moment I hit “publish” I’ve been riddled with anxiety, torn between the urge to run for the hills, delete the book, unplug from all social media, and spend the rest of my days contentedly growing organic heirloom tomatoes. And alternatively, giddily tell everyone I know about my first very kind five star review on Amazon and ask them to tell their friends to buy my book and give me more hugs. Or stars. Or Olympic medals, whatever. I’m easy to please.

My fear, of course, is that someone will find fault. That someone will loath my book and point out it’s flaws for all the world to see. Or tell me that it’s well-enough written but it’s a stupid or boring book in the first place. Isn’t this what I’ve been avoiding all these years? But this is a foolish fear. Of course this is guaranteed to happen. Someone will hate it. Suddenly I’m deeply sympathetic with everyone who throughout history has published their words, shared their art or music, or for that matter, represented their country in a big race for an Olympic gold medal. But hopefully someone will love it too. Many someones.

It Takes A Thick Skin to Share Your Gifts 

via GIPHY

That’s part of the territory. It’s time to thicken up my skin and step forward. Feel the fear and do it anyway. If you’re a creative person, the day will come where you have to share what you’ve done with the world. This is where I have to remind myself of the benefits of following my dream, pushing outside of my comfort zone, taking risks and living in the moment. All of which I’ve been trying to do these days. I don’t want, on my deathbed, to regret that I’d been given gifts and failed to use or share them.

Next Steps

Now, I think, is a good time to revert to my best practices. Taking care of myself, spending time with mindfulness, which for me means hiking in the rainforest, and getting centered. Tapping into the part of me that connects with the source of story ideas and the urge to write and share them in the first place. A reminder of why I do this, and hopefully the motivation and drive to carry on. Maybe one of my characters will speak to me, and help me decide whether to work on Book Two of the Having It All series or continue with revisions on Book One of the Growing Into My Skin series.

Please Comment!

If you can relate to this, either to doing, the risking or the fearing, now is the time to share. I know I’ll feel a lot better knowing I’m not alone in these feelings. And I’ll bet you will too. So leave a comment below, telling me what you’ve done, or still dream of doing, that makes you feel vulnerable. Or share what you do to cope with this. Everyone who comments will be entered into a draw for a free copy of my ebook, Reconcilable Differences.

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COVER REVEAL: RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES

Reconcilable Differences cover

The final new book cover

 

RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: BEARING SCARS

Finally Reconcilable Differences is ready for publication. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, this is a book that was originally written over ten years ago. For all the revisions, it will always carry the scars of having been my first, and because of that, the vehicle for my learning curve as a writer.

 

In some ways, this seems appropriate for a book that’s about exactly that.  A woman, Kate O’Day, who carries the emotional and psychic scars of a long-ago sexual assault, and the emotional trauma of dealing with and healing from that over many years. Kate, like her story, has been in a long iterative process of revision, learning and rebirth.

 

I’m so happy to be able to share Kate’s story with you at last. It’s an important story, and as one reviewer said, “we get to ride along on this harrowing journey without getting too beat up along the way.” Reconcilable Differences explores how sexual assault can lead to repressed memories, PTSD, and compromised self-esteem that has deep and lasting impact on a woman and her ability to form lasting and intimate relationships.

 

I felt it was important to explore these subtler psychological dimensions, since they are rarely discussed, in the context of growing awareness of rape culture, and how it supports, prolongs and institutionalizes the oppression of women for the duration of their lives.

 

 

A HOPEFUL STORY OF HEALING & SELF LOVE

 

But this is not meant to be a dark or a radical book. My goal had always been to tell a love story. A sensitive and intimate exploration of one woman’s journey toward self-knowledge, self-acceptance and love. Although Reconcilable Differences isn’t a classic romance, it is a love story, as Kate navigates the reawakening of a love she lost long ago, along with her own sense of self.

 

It’s ultimately an optimistic story that hopefully resonates with readers, allowing insight into the inner life of a woman searching for identity, fulfillment, balance and love. In that regard, it speaks to us all.

 

HAVING IT ALL

 

Regardless of your personal experience, everywoman’s life shares certain common threads. Despite changes over generations, and from place to place, women have always had to struggle to find their place in society. No matter what choices you are given, or what decisions you make, there are always options, always consequences, always disappointments. I don’t think this feeling is particular to my generation, but I do feel that my own life is a reflection of this truth, and so I write with insight and authority on subjects that have touched me personally.

 

The Having It All series of novels is my way of exploring modern women’s lives as they try to integrate the particular circumstances of their families of origin and personal experiences with perpetually conflicting goals. How do we balance freedom with security, self-expression, identity and autonomy with love, family and belonging? As we variously lean in and try to participate fully in the world, we also need to keep a finger on the pulse of our inner lives to ensure that we don’t sell ourselves short. True empowerment means living fully in our own essence, and having the freedom to make and live with our choices without regret.

 

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK?

 

This is a good moment to reflect on why I wrote this story, and why I believe you should read it. Women’s Fiction encompasses the woman’s journey no matter where or when or how she lives, and by donning the mantle, and walking in the shoes, of characters that are like, but different from ourselves, we learn. We become sensitized to the particular challenges women face, and we can apply those lessons to our own lives, hopefully for the better. We learn about the world, we learn about ourselves, and we learn about each other.
We are all on a journey, and honest compelling storytelling has always been an important way for us to broaden, deepen and strengthen ourselves for the road. I hope you join me on this journey and both read and enjoy Reconcilable Differences. There are more stories where this one came from!

 

FOLLOW ME, SUBSCRIBE, SIGN UP, SHARE, BUY THE BOOK & WRITE A REVIEW

These are all the ways you can help me with the business side of being an author. The more help I get with this stuff, the more time I can spend writing new stories to share with you.

Yann Martel’s Beatrice & Virgil: Book Review
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Yann Martel’s Beatrice & Virgil: Book Review

Yann Martel’s Beatrice & Virgil

Yann Martel's Beatrice & Virgil cover artI recently finished reading Yann Martel’s Beatrice & Virgil, and afterwards I was kind of speechlesslessly moved… and disturbed.  But after the prickles in my skin smoothed and my fur unruffled, a couple of sleeps later… these thoughts came to me.

 

One could say that it is ‘like’ Life of Pi in that it’s deep and philosophical… and… it has animals in it… but there the resemblance ends. Beatrice and Virgil is a darker book, and upon reflection, the key difference is that instead of being about me, it’s about you. And by that I mean that it’s ultimately about empathy. It’s a subtle and a quiet book.

 

One could say that it is ‘like’ Life of Pi in that it’s deep and philosophical… and… it has animals in it… but there the resemblance ends

 

Martel begins by introducing us to his narrator Henry, a writer not unlike Martel, we are led to believe, and through this sleight of hand, helps us to believe and empathize and get inside of Henry’s head and heart. Then takes us on a journey with Henry, getting to know first the characters in a play, Beatrice and Virgil, absorbing their remembrances and thoughts and feelings, until they too are like our own, eventually and literally ‘getting under our skin.’ Martel succeeds in a fresh, innovative and sneaky way, through a fiction inside a fiction, in helping every reader to empathize with Holocaust survivors in a way they likely haven’t done before, in a lasting way, and then he even manages to ‘help’ us empathize with the perpetrator of the Horrors, the old taxidermist, a Nazi war criminal, through his obsession, his consuming guilt and self-loathing, even through his cold detachment… and thank you, that’s not creepy.

 

Martel succeeds in a fresh, innovative and sneaky way, in helping every reader to empathize with Holocaust survivors in a way they likely haven’t done before, in a lasting way

 

You’ll say I’ve missed the point, that Martel meant this book and its subject matter to represent an allegory for the blind ignorant, cruel destruction and extermination by humankind of animalkind, and yes it manages to do that too, like an oroboros eating its own tail, it goes round and round, one meaning the other. It’s about the heartless destruction by man of all life, his own kind, other kinds… the planet… individual lives… relationships… families… pasts and futures… dreams and hopes… entire habitats and cultures… ultimately himself. Martel helps us feel these things, from the armature that underpins us to the markings on the surface of our fur, in such a way that we can never forget.

 

Martel helps us feel these things, from the armature that underpins us to the markings on the surface of our fur, in such a way that we can never forget

 

If that is not enough for a slim volume to accomplish, Martel’s book does one more thing. The author slyly and wittily announces his intentions at the outset through his puppet Henry by laying out his thesis- that while history can tell us what is real, only fiction can teach us what is true. And just like his panel of judges, we are not completely convinced. He then proceeds to prove it.

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The Turning Point by Freya North – Review

The Turning Point by Freya North book coverThe Turning Point by Freya North – Review

Freya North is one of my favorite authors and I haven’t read a new one in a while. I was thrilled to receive The Turning Point as a Christmas gift and gobbled it up in three days. I was particularly thrilled to discover that the book was set partially in my own back yard, after years of immersing myself in charming English villages, suddenly I was reading Freya’s lilting prose describe the majestic scenery of BC’s coastal mountains. Fascinating. I’ve always had a slightly unsettled reaction to Freya’s unique quirky omniscient narrative voice. It has mellowed over the years, and I felt it suited this story more than any before, making for a compelling, immersive read. It’s hard to say whether the richly developed and complex characters, or the lovingly described and contrasting settings were the more interesting parts of this read, not to mention the ongoing tension and plot twist. I guess I’d have to weigh on the side of characters – Frankie and Scott are beautifully rendered, real and believable, as are their family and friends. Frankie seems to me to have a little of everywoman in her, very empathetic. Scott, on the other hand, is one of the loveliest characters I’ve ever read – somehow managing to be both sexy and spiritual – himself more than any other embodying the rich themes that Freya explores in this compelling tale of love, family and belonging. A very moving book. A cut above.