Lynne Stringer's Blog, page 2

The ebook versions of all three books in the Verindon trilogy have been updated and given new covers and are now available for sale!

It was a lot of fun and sometimes a bit difficult to go through all three books, especially since The Heir (Verindon #1) was published ten years ago. I have learnt a lot as an author in the past ten years and I was fortunate to get the opportunity to spruce it up a bit. I also needed to change a couple of scenes, like the one where Sarah uses a payphone. That simply wouldn’t happen for someone her age now, so I had to do a little rewrite. :-)

There were a few other minor scene changes but all three books are essentially the same. I’m hoping these brand new versions will gain even more fans.

Also, all three are now available on iBooks and Kobo. Visit this page to find the links to where you can buy all three!

It’s ten years today since my debut novel, The Heir (Verindon #1) was released. It’s been a hell of a ride, with more ups and downs than a roller coaster. I feel quite proud that I’ve managed to last this long as there are a lot of lows as well as some incredible highs in this life.

I’d like to celebrate by offering free paperback copies of my trilogy. I have three full sets of the Verindon trilogy to give away, as well as seven additional copies of The Heir (Verindon #1). I am happy to send them anywhere in the world, so even if you’re far from Australia, I’ll try and get them to you.

If you’d like to win one, please post the answers to these two questions. One: in which year was The Heir released? Two: pick a quote from one of the reviews for The Heir. You can find the reviews either on Amazon, here or Goodreads, here. I don’t mind which review or which quote you use.

You can either put your answers in the comments on this post, leave them on my social media (Twitter, Facebook or Instagram) or email them to me at [email protected]. But it might be best to get in quickly. Once the copies are gone, they’re gone! Also, if you’ve read my trilogy but you’d like to give a copy to a friend, you can reply on their behalf and I’ll send it to them for you. :-)

Thanks so much to those of you who have stuck with me over the years. I appreciate your support so much. And keep watching this space for more news about upcoming releases. :-)

There are a lot of exciting things coming up for me this year and I’ve already had a few so far.

After Gold Coast Supanova, I attended another event at Koorong Toowoomba, where I also sold quite a few copies. It was the first time I’d been to one of their events and I was impressed with the organisation and the engagement with customers. I’ll definitely be going back.

The next event I will be attending will be the Logan Writers Festival, coming up on 9 and 10 June. You can find out more about it here. I’ve been for the past few years and really enjoy it.

Then, of course, in June, I have my 10-year anniversary as a published author! I am planning a few giveaways for that, so watch this space for more. Then in July, the Verindon omnibus will be released. I know my copies are already on their way to me and I can’t wait to see it!

So there’s a lot of excitement at the moment and I’m looking forward to more great things later in the year. :-)

I had an amazing time at Gold Coast Supanova this past weekend, at the Rendered Realms stand with Adele Jones and Jeanette O’Hagan.

It was busy pretty much from the get-go. It opened at 10.00 am, and I think someone said the convention carpark (which is HUGE) was full by 10.30 am. There were people everywhere.

Just because a convention is busy doesn’t always mean we sell a lot of books. Fortunately, this time, it did. I had my most successful event ever, and Adele and Jeanette had some decent sales as well. It was fun, energising and entertaining. I even had one of those wonderful moments when someone raced up to me, told me how much they’d enjoyed my first book, then proceeded to buy the rest in the series. When that happens, it makes me feel like I might be doing the right thing and it encourages me to keep going with my writing.

I’m still getting ready for some special deals and sales in June this year, as I celebrate a decade since The Heir (Verindon #1) was released. I’ll post more about that in the next month or so.

In the meantime, I have some more events coming up so if you’re in the greater Brisbane area, make sure you check my events page so you know where I’ll be.

It’s exactly ten years this year since The Heir (Verindon #1) and The Crown (Verindon #2) were released. The Reign (Verindon #3) was released in May 2014, completing the trilogy almost a year after book one.

I’m excited to announce that all three will be re-released this year as an omnibus edition. Happy ten-year anniversary to me!

I have taken the opportunity to spruce up the books a little, updating them where necessary. I had mention of a payphone in The Heir; that definitely had to change! Little things like that needed to be adjusted, so I have spent a lot of time over the past six months making various changes to mostly the first book, but correcting some pesky spelling mistakes and the like in all three, although I imagine some have still slipped through. *sigh*

The Verindon omnibus should be available in July 2023. I don’t have a more definite date at this stage. You can find more information on my publisher’s website, here.

I’m looking forward to re-releasing it and hoping it can catch the same magic I felt when all three books were first released. :-)

At the moment, everyone is talking about the decision to change certain words in some of Roald Dahl’s books. This decision had apparently been made by his publisher in conjunction with Dahl’s family.

Having heard some of the terms they were changing, it didn’t seem a big deal to me at first. However, when I heard they were changing things like ‘black cloak’ to make it just a cloak, that seemed a little over the top. I assume their objection was to the use of the word ‘black’ possibly being seen as racist, especially since they were also removing ‘white as a sheet’. That does seem to be going a little too far.

That also gave me pause for thought when it came to my own books because my recently-approved final typeset version of the new book I’ve got coming out this year has ‘turned white with rage’ at least once. Um, am I going to get in trouble for that? Hopefully not! Admittedly, I write for an older age group, so things shouldn’t be as strict as they are for books read by young children.

However, as an author, I need to take this trend seriously. I wondered how I would feel if someone wanted these kinds of changes made to my books. Honestly, my response was, ‘Great, if it means someone’s reading them!’ I don’t think I will ever be on Roald Dahl’s level (I wish!), so it’s unlikely any changes to my books will upset a huge section of the YA audience.

It is difficult when times change and changes are deemed necessary to works that are so beloved by so many. I think, in this case, many of the proposed changes are probably unnecessary, and some change the text so little that I wonder if they make any difference at all. I think I would be glad if the publisher decided against this action, especially given the outcry of so many.

I guess we’ll see what happens.

I’ve started booking events and getting ready to move forward as an author in 2023. June this year also sees the 10th anniversary of the release of my debut novel. I’ll have some special competitions and giveaways as that date comes closer, so watch this space.

So far this year, I have finalised my next project with my publisher (it’s always scary to give it that final tick of approval) and have also booked Gold Coast Supanova, which I will be attending with Jeanette O’Hagan and Adele Jones in April. I will also be running two workshops at the Boonah Arts Festival in September. The details for both are on my events page, which you can see here.

It’s a pretty good start and I’m hoping to build on that. I also need to go back and do a rewrite on a novel I completed last year. I’m a little scared to, though, in case I can’t make it work, but I have some ideas so really must get going with it soon. I’ll also be involved in another anthology with my publisher, Wombat/Rhiza. It’s for dystopian and steam punk stories. If you’d like to submit a story, you can find out more information here.

Hopefully, this year will be a great one! :-)

Happy new year to all and sundry! Are you looking forward to 2023? What do you think it will bring you? Are you a writer? Do you have any writing goals for 2023? Are you a reader? Do you have a goal for your reading for this year?

My first order of business for this year is to write a short story for an anthology that I’m editing with Emily Larkin. It’s for my publisher, Wombat/Rhiza, and it will feature Dystopian and Steam Punk stories. You can read more about the anthology here. If you’re a writer, you may want to enter. See if you can aim for no more than 5000 words and get writing. :-)

I find short stories a little difficult to write, but I have a story idea and I’m hoping I can turn it into something that works. I’m writing this blog to avoid starting on it though, and that’s not a good sign. Hopefully, once I realise I can’t put it off any longer, I’ll get cracking. :-)

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Yes, Christmas is here again and it’s time to reflect on 2022.

There were some challenges this year, many to do with my journey as an author. There were delays and problems surrounding the release of my latest book, The Verindon Conspiracy, but that’s all over and done with now. Copies are out and I have moved on to the next project.

Next year marks 10 years since The Heir (Verindon #1) was released. It’s amazing to think that I’ve been a published author that long and I’m so happy I’ve managed to last the distance. Hopefully, I’ll last another 10. I’m planning to have a big Verindon celebration next year, so watch this space and also my Twitter/Facebook/Instagram pages to keep up to date with what’s going on. I’d love it if you could celebrate with me.

In the meantime, I wish you a merry Christmas and happy holidays. All the best in the new year.

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Next year, it will be 10 years since I became a published author.

Yes, it’s hard to believe that The Heir (Verindon #1) was published nearly 10 years ago. Wow, how time does fly! And it’s still selling. I made some good sales at Brisbane Supanova a couple of weeks ago. It’s good to see that The Verindon Trilogy still generates interest.

I had a lot of fun at Brisbane Supanova with Adele Jones and Jeanette O’Hagan. It’s always heaps of fun to see what everyone’s wearing. I was also able to wear my new costume, which I had taken out for its first spin at Brisbane OzComicCon in September 2022. There were some great comments about it and even a request for a photo!

While the author life can be hard sometimes, it can also be rewarding. It’s a great community too, and a supportive one. After all, every author I know is a reader too, so we are often each other’s best customers. I love going to events, not just to see great costumes, but also to find some great new reads.

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