SERIES: The Paranormal DownUnder - Louise Cusack

In Australia, 2012 is the National Year of Reading. What better way to celebrate this than by finding a new-to-you author or revisiting a favorite one?

This series of blog posts, entitled The Paranormal DownUnder, aims to do just that!

Any of my regular readers know I'm passionate about introducing 'local' talent (aka authors from Australia & New Zealand). This time around I'm keen to feature those who write in this genre.

So, be prepared for a swag of authors & some blatant promotion of their books as they share their thoughts on the paranormal genre and why they find it so compelling.

Please welcome my first guest...

Louise Cusack is an international award winning fantasy author whose best-selling Shadow Through Time trilogy was selected by the Doubleday book club as their ‘Editors Choice’.  This series is now available as eBooks, published by Pan Macmillan’s digital imprint Momentum Books.

In 2006 Louise presented the Queensland government’s Queensland Writing Showcase in New York, and in 2009 she was invited to attended the prestigious Crossover multi-media think tank sponsored by the South Australian Film Commission.

Louise also runs her own business Writers: Working with Louise Cusack and has completed over 150 manuscript assessments and tutored more than 80 writing workshops.

You can find Louise on her website and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

Louise, what compels you to write in the paranormal genre?
Since I first read ALICE IN WONDERLAND as a child I’ve been hooked on stranger in a strange land stories: novels like Frank Herbert’s DUNE, Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom series (recently made into the movie John Carter), Robert Heinlein’s STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, Ursula le Guin’s LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS and Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series – all stories about a person who travels from one world into another.

That also seems to be the theme of my own work, and I’ve written fantasy worlds, contemporary fairytale, erotica and lost world adventures, but always it involves someone from our world going into a new world, or visa versa. 

Is there something you'd like to write but have yet to attempt?
I’d love to write sci fi, but to me that’s the ‘best of the best’ and I’d like to give myself another decade of writing (I’ve already been writing for 2 decades) before I feel good enough to do it justice.

I grew up reading all the classics, Asimov, Heinlein, Arthur C Clarke,  Bradbury, EE ‘Doc’ Smith, Simak, Wyndham and Pohl among others – borrowing them from my older brother’s bookcase and reading them under the mozzie net at night with a torch. Those books were beyond good, and they set the bar pretty high for me. I want to do them justice if I try to step into that arena myself.

Who are auto-buys for you in this genre? What makes their books so appealing to you?
Cassandra Clare.  I am totally smitten with the character of Will Herondale.  He’s so broken and so beautiful.  It’s really masterful writing.  And the Victorian setting is so evocative.  As a result, I’m keen for book three of The Infernal Devices series to arrive.

Suzanne Collins is the other standout for me in recent years.  I love the characters in The Hunger Games, Katniss’s strength and compassion, and the way she makes Peeta and Gale appealing in different ways, so the reader finds it hard to stick in one camp.

Guess I’m a sucker for a good love triangle!

Louise's Shadow Through Time series:

Book One: DESTINY OF THE LIGHT
Ennae is a parallel world joined to our own world by the Sacred Pool, a portal that can only be opened by one with the Guardian blood running through their veins. It is through this watery gateway that Khatrene leaves her modern-day life behind forever, drawn into a quest that will take her into the depths of the unknown.

Khatrene must fulfil her destiny as The Light, the woman whose child will unite the four elemental worlds. At each turn are real and imagined enemies who will do everything in their power to prevent her from fulfilling the prophecy, including the ethereal and erotic shadow woman, the enigmatic tattooed man, even her beloved brother Mihale.

Talis, her appointed Guardian, must help her through the dangerous terrain of Ennae, sacrificing everything to ensure her safety in a land where magic prevails and nothing is as it seems.

Book 2

Book 3

TOPIC: New Year’s Resolution: from unpublished to published!

Today, I'd like to welcome first time visitor LOUISE CUSACK to my blog.

Louise is an Australian award winning fantasy author whose Shadow Through Time trilogy is about to be released by Pan Macmillan’s eBook arm, Momentum Books.  She is also a highly successful manuscript developer, writing mentor and tutor.

Take it away, Louise!

Thanks, Kylie. :-)

Most writers will happily acknowledge that there’s never been a better time to be an author.  Opportunities to become published are rife, with new ePublishers opening almost daily. We’re spoilt for choice, and if we’re still not satisfied with what publishers are offering, we can self-publish, which is a viable option for niche-market books or even mainstream fiction if you’ve got the time and know-how to self promote.

But for those of us who prefer the distribution might of a big publishing house behind us (not to mention the editorial and art departments) plus the lure of an advance on sales, traditional publishing is still a good choice, and despite the finger-pointing from successful self-published authors, the big publishing houses are catching up with the fact that we want decent eBook royalties and eBook pricing, along with our editing and great covers.

There are still a few anomalies: I recently heard of a big Australian publishing house that was charging $20 for an eBook by a new author and that’s just not sustainable, not in the current market.

So as an author you have to be savvy and do your research before you choose a publisher to submit to, checking the quality of their editing and covers, and the pricing of their books (both in print and digital formats), as well as scouting around to get feedback on what their advances and royalties might be.

Brenda Hiatt’s Show Me The Money website is a good place to start. But realistically, you also have to have a good quality book to submit, because big publishers are highly discerning.

So how can you achieve that? Well, belonging to a professional writers organisation like Romance Writers of Australia is a great start. If your books have even a sniff of a love story in them you’ll be welcomed into the fold and RWA’s competitions and conferences have helped many Aussie authors across the line to contracts with Avon, Berkley, Harlequin, Random House, Pan Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Penguin and more.

Having a critique partner (or CP) is also a great start, but as I found early in my writing career, the critique group you’re in is only as helpful as the skill levels of its participants. When I started working with a published author who was also a writing teacher, I went from having short stories published to having novels published.

Now as a writing teacher, mentor and manuscript assessor myself, I offer that service to other writers, so if you think your work could benefit from a professional assessment, do have a look at my Manuscript Development webpage for an overview of how manuscript assessment works.

I’ve helped three clients become published, and many more to wins and shortlists in competitions.  Other tutors as well as myself also conduct teaching retreats with writing groups which can incorporate manuscript assessment and individual mentoring or writing workshops as required.

A quick look in the Australian Writers Marketplace (book and online versions) will offer you a variety of other qualified tutors/manuscript developers as well. So don’t wait for the magic to drop into your lap, go out and find it.

If you’ve been writing for years and not getting published, this might be time to consider that old saying “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you always got.”

Resolve to make the changes necessary to ensure 2012 is the year your writing dreams turn into your writing career!

More information about Louise can be found on her website or Goodreads link, or you can like or follow her blog, Twitter account or Facebook page.

Louise's Shadow Through Time trilogy: