Over all I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It was also a fun test for me to see whether I could take the digital black and white artworks I paint and traditionally colour them.

Here’s a short excerpt and my illustration of the scene-

Rough hands grabbed her from behind. One forceful tug pulled her back into the scratching leaves of the hedge.

She tried to wriggle free, but strong arms pinned her against a body of firm muscles and furs. Dragged through the dense foliage, she closed her eyes to the twigs that rushed by. In a burst of leaves, she and her abductor emerged from the hedge. She looked up into blue eyes. Blue like the sea, they even made her feel sea-sick looking into them. Eyes she remembered from the forest.

Now I want to see yours!

If you’ve been inspired to create something based on Memory’s Wake, please send it in for inclusion in my collection here. I love to see what creative works readers come up with! While my original fan art competition has now ended, because I love to reward people for their work I will continue to offer a free ebook copy of Emotionally Charged to readers who send in fan art (Free copy of Emotionally Charged will be in the form of a free download coupon for Smashwords, different ebook formats available including Kindle, Nook, ePub and PDF.)

Results of the January 2012 Fan Art Competition

**Competition Ended**

It was hard (I even called in some assistant judges!), but I’ve selected the two winners of the January 2012 Fan Art Competition! Congratulations to Nicole Cadet and Lauren Phillips who won with the two artworks shown below. I will be illustrating an all new artwork of a scene from Memory’s Wake of Nicole’s choice, and creating a coloured version of an existing artwork of Lauren’s choice as their prizes.

Winners

First Prize

Memory Wakes by Nicole Cadet

Runner Up

Worlds Collide by Lauren Phillips

Original Contest Details-

You can draw, paint, collage, design, act out, video or do photomanipulations- any medium is accepted. You can show a scene from the story, do a portrait of a character/characters, do a scene that you might wish was in the story, make cute or funny image macros, create a scene with actors you think fit the parts – as long as it’s got something to do with Memory’s Wake, it’s accepted!

Visit The Art section here to see some of the artwork I’ve done, and of course if you haven’t done it yet, reading the book will help!

Get creative, and send your entries in to me at selina@selinafenech.com. Include your name and a brief description of the work if necessary.

I will update this entry with art as it comes in to create a gallery. On January 31st I will pick my favourite of all the entries and that person will win the grand prize. What is that you may ask?

The Grand Prize!

I will paint an all new artwork for Memory’s Wake myself, illustrating a scene of the winner’s choice!

Runner Up Prize

Because I’ve done a few art prizes in the past and know it’s always SO HARD to pick just one winner, I’m going to include a second prize as well. The runner up will be able to select one of any of the existing Memory’s Wake illustrations and I will create a colour version of that artwork!

BONUS: EVERY ENTRY will receive a free ebook copy of my novella “Emotionally Charged”, ’cause I value your work and effort <3

Fine Print:

By sending me your fan art you agree to have it shown here on my website. Free copy of Emotionally Charged will be in the form of a free download coupon for Smashwords, different ebook formats available including Kindle, Nook, ePub and PDF. One free ebook per entrant. You may enter as many times as you like!

Fan Art Gallery

So what happens next? Here is a little teaser of what books two and three will be about. I will continue to call them book two and three for a while. I know what the titles will be, but won’t be releasing that information until close to their release. At the moment, I’m hoping book two will be released mid 2012, and book three at the end of 2012.

Warning: Spoilers for Book One ahead!

Book One was all about finding yourself. Memory quite literally had no idea who she was and desperately wanted to find out, find her past and family, and had to learn that to really discover who she is meant more than recovering her memories.

In Book Two, the characters are still learning about themselves, but about being true to themselves instead of trying to be something they aren’t in order to fit in.
It was easy making strong friendships while stuck together running for their lives, but will Memory be able to stay friends with Eloryn, Roen and Will when trying to get by fitting into courtly life? Her link to Thayl brings her more answers about her past which are heartbreaking as she questions whether the man is still a threat to her or something else. The Wizard’s Council are helping restore order to Avall and Memory isn’t sure of their methods and motives, especially when arranged marriages become an issue. She tries to be true to herself, both new and old, but she struggles as she is haunted by her old self, quite literally. When Memory hits her lowest point ever, will her friends be able to bring her back from the edge?

Book three is all about breaking the rules, breaking traditions, breaking old grudges and forging through to something new and better.
It’s become clear that someone, or something, has been manipulating Memory since birth. Memory and her friends try to find out what, and why, while Memory tries to hold the kingdom together. The fae have become more and more unsettled and violent, and those closest to Memory are under the most threat. A wicked plot, dating back to the very beginning of Avall and the Pact is coming to it’s end, and Memory is a vital part. In order to save her friends, Memory will break all the rules and risk the world. With the world broken by her actions, she will have to step up and make the greatest sacrifice to repair Avall and the world to something better than before.

In a couple of weeks, I’m turning the big three-oh (yep, 30!). I’m also expecting, unless the baby is more than a few days late, to have a newborn son or daughter by then!

I’ve also just released another “baby” into the world, with my second title now available in ebook and paperback format. “Emotionally Charged” is a novella- a bite sized book about one third the length of a normal novel. It’s not part of the Memory’s Wake story, but a modern paranormal romance about heroes who get their powers from emotions.

Emotionally Charged is available for just 99c in ebook format and will remain at this price!
More Information – Kindle Ebook – Paperback – Smashwords Ebook

To celebrate my birthday, baby, and second book, I’ve also dropped the price of the Kindle ebook of Memory’s Wake to 99c for a limited time only!

If you’ve ever had doubts about ebooks over paper books, or even the quality of my book based on me being a visual artist having a go as an author or the fact that I went the self publishing route, now is the best time to jump in and give Memory’s Wake a try. You don’t need a Kindle device to buy this 99c ebook from Amazon. You can use Kindle ebooks on most smart phones, tablet devices, or any computer.

Click Here to Get Your 99c Memory’s Wake Ebook from Amazon Now

Memory’s Wake has been receiving great reviews since it’s release. Stop in and see what readers and book reviewers have been saying here- http://memoryswake.com/reviews/

Just how long will Memory’s Wake Kindle Edition remain 99c? Undisclosed. I like to keep ya’ll on your toes.

I’m thrilled to have been voted an Indie Author Rockstar for October 2011! Memory’s Wake won in a tie from a selection of self published books. Voting is done by other authors, and everyone commented on the tough competition in this round so I’m really humbled to have Memory’s Wake make it to tying first place!  Check out my co-rockstar’s book below.

CHOP SUEY by Ty Hutchinson

Add one lovable dope.
A cook with a secret past.
Throw in a couple of gang members.
Mix in a pair of Chinatown detectives.
Combine it all with Ling Chi, death by 1,000 cuts.
And you have the perfect recipe for Chop Suey.

When disgraced sales associate Darby Stansfield discovers he has six months to save his job, he does what any normal person would do. He freaks.

Desperate to resurrect his career at Teleco Wireless, he conjures up an international scheme filled with the promise of endless high-spending clients. It’s brilliant, it’s successful, and it involves doing business with organized crime.

But soon those closest to him find themselves caught up in his dangerous plan, and one of these unknowingly has the power to destroy him. Darby must now make a tough decision––give up on the one good idea he ever had or risk it all.

If you’re a self published author, stop by http://indieauthorrockstar.com to join in this fantastic community competition.

What I want to know, is what would you do? If you woke up in a fantasy setting without any memories (a bit like a fresh start), how would you react? What would you plan? Where would you go?

Post a comment here with your answer (as few or many words as you wish, winner won’t be judged on length) and go into the running to win a signed hardcover copy of Memory’s Wake!

Make me laugh, move me, make me think!

A winner will be selected on the 9th October. Winner will be selected based on the quality/content of their answer at my discretion. Commenters participating in the competition must include a valid email address which will be used to notify the winner and request their mailing address for the prize (emails do not show publicly).

The Prize

A signed hardcover copy of Memory’s Wake.

- 6x9inch casewrapped (one piece cover, no dust jacket) hardcover.

- 44 total interior illustrations in black and white (9 full page artworks and 33 smaller images).

- Otherwise only available unsigned direct from printers lulu.com at a value of $32.95.

The Winner!

Congratulations to LHBoyd. I loved that you had a clear goal, aiming for the top! Princes, palaces, the whole works. Gotta love someone with a plan

This here post is strictly for those who’ve finished reading Memory’s Wake. We’re going to have some fun talking about the story, the twists, and also some fun references and easter eggs I’ve placed throughout the novel!
If you haven’t read Memory’s Wake yet, you probably should read no further.

It’s time for those who’ve read the book to ask any and all questions you want to about the story. Ask me whatever you want, and I’ll do my best to reveal. I’m happy to clear up any questions related directly to Memory’s Wake. Anything that will be a spoiler for the coming books, I’m going to remain close-lipped about

So what questions do you have about the story?

Did you work out who Memory was before it was revealed?

Maybe you want to know more about Will’s relationship to Mina.

And who is the hooded figure at the ritual?

Do you have any theories about what’s going to happen next?

Which characters do you want to see some more romantic action between?

Did you work out Roen’s “curse”?

Whatever you want to ask- Go for it!

Now for my fun- Did you notice…?

Throughout the book I wrote in a few, sometimes very vague or obscure, references to things that amuse me. I like to amuse myself like this (and I might be the only one they actually amuse… heh). I wanted to list some of them here and see if anyone picked them up as they were reading!

• At one point, Memory quotes “David after Dentist” http://www.davidafterdentist.com/
  Memory squinted to see if it really was her savage guardian, and shook off a wave of nausea. “Ugh, is this real life?”
• A reference to a rather inappropriate character name from “Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire” is used. I won’t reveal the full joke, it’s just for those who love some Krod.
  “You won’t have to walk far. Just down the hill from here is the Draper’s farm. Good folk, lots of daughters. I know them well enough that they might lend us some horses.”
• Did you notice this mistake? In Chapter 18, the illustration of the wagon shows the wagon driver to be a bearded man. The wagon driver was changed to a woman in the last draft, after the illustrations were finished.
• Can you recognise any of the symbols included in the Maellan crest, shown in Chapter 4?
• Fairy tales, fairy tales, fairy tales. I included as many subtle fairy tale references as I could in Memory’s Wake. There’s sleeping beauty, the frog prince, snow white and others hinted at. Did you spot them all?
  She frowned, seeing the fading black and pink color of her hair clearly for the first time. Of course it was dyed! And then there were the bruises. Despite having a pretty dress on, she still felt far from fairest of them all.
• And here’s the big one…
  Did you work out Memory’s “real” name from her life in our world? Will actually calls her by it once!
  I won’t say when, or what. Will talks rarely enough that you should be able to find it. Either way, you’ll find out in the next book.

The official release has been pretty intense from my point of view. Terrifying, exciting, surprising, satisfying, and generally great. I’m actually looking forward to leaving it alone for a while now and recovering my nerves. Releasing a book is like putting a handmade baby up on display and waiting to see what people think- Ok, handmade baby is a weird frankenstein concept, but a book is an author’s baby, but one where every part has been hand crafted with their skills and choices and ideas. All praise and fault lies with them, unlike the basic baby metaphor of birthing something you only have a little control over.

I’ve been blown away by reviews so far from those who’ve received and read their copies already. You can see some of them at http://memoryswake.com/reviews/

I’m more grateful than I can say. There’s a lot of insecurity that goes along with the handmade frankenstein book baby (I probably need to lose that metaphor…). My husband tells me it’s a great story. So does my mum. We all know they are bias. The authors critique group I joined generally said positive things which feels like a better judging point. And now readers are enjoying it. And still… there’s always a little voice inside that tells me it’s no good, that people are just being nice.

This is why the BEST reviews, the ones that make me happy and bouncy all day, are the ones that GET the story. When I read a review where someone understands how hard I worked to create the interesting and believable twists in the story, or sees the characters for being both flawed and strong in the ways I tried to show them to be, that is what makes everything worth it. Knowing that I wrote the story well enough that readers understand it. It sounds silly, but in my mind, that’s the best way for me to judge the quality of what I’ve written, that readers are getting out of the story what I tried to put in.

I know not everyone will, but that’s ok too. Not everyone will like everything.

In a few weeks time when more people have received their copies and have had a chance to read, I’m going to have some fun, super-spoiler Q&A time for anyone who has questions from the story (which will no doubt also talk a bit about what’s going to happen to the characters next!). I will also post about a bunch of “easter eggs” and funny references I placed through the book. They might only be funny to me, but they are there!

For now, the launch event is over, sales prices have ended, and the Massive Book Launch Prize Draw has been drawn and winners announced. Also, I sold a great big stack of books, which is really pretty cool. I’m going on holiday in a few weeks time, to lie beside a pool and get stuck into writing the sequel!

“Lost Soul” Memory-

I finished my first draft of Memory’s Wake not long before Christmas 2010. I wanted to print a few copies for friends and family, but didn’t have any artwork ready for it yet. So I went through my collection of existing images to try and find something suitable for a cover. The closest I found was my artwork “Lost Soul”, in which the gown reminded me a little of the gown Memory wears to the masquerade ball in the book. I did a bit of photoshop work to turn what was a long haired ghostly figure into my character Memory, and it became the temporary cover for my Christmas copies.

Various Sketches-

1. I drew this dragon for the illustration for Chapter 21, but it never looked right for me. I ended up drawing a new dragon design for the opening of this chapter.
2. A sketch that was meant for Chapter 25, I decided that I wanted something much bigger and nicer for this scene and ended up doing a full page illustration version of this image which is now in the book instead.
3. This is a very old image, from back when I had plans to have Memory’s Wake be a comic book. The original story started quite differently, but the character in silhouette here has always been much the same.
4. A rough sketch of Roen I started, but abandoned because it never felt like Roen to me, it just didn’t capture and character his look properly.
5. A very old character sketch from my original version of Memory’s Wake. The wild forest man has remained pretty much the same, except, ah, he wears pants now (loin cloths are SO outdated!).
6. Another very old character sketch of Eloryn. This is from back when the story was a much more generic sword and sorcery tale, as were the settings and costumes.