Friday, July 26, 2013

Guest Post: Laura Briggs + A Time of Once


I'm pleased today to welcome author Laura Briggs to the blog to tell us a little bit about her very unique approach to writing her new fantasy series. I'll leave it to Laura to explain, but suffice to say I'm really excited to see how this series will turn out, and given I'm a huge fan of all things fairytale related, I need it to be 2014 already so I can have the completed book in my hands!

SHAPING A BOOK SERIES WITH FAN FEEDBACK

This month has seen the debut of something a little different in my writing career. My co-author S.E. Steinbrenner and I are kickstarting a new fantasy series. And we want fans to help us write the first book before its 2014 debut. 

Titled A Time of Once, the series will mix the modern world with classic fairytales we all know and love. My co-author and I have released two special edition prequels via Smashwords and Amazon, with interactive ways for readers to offer feedback and help shape the series world.

Once: The Series Beginnings and A Time of Once: The Series Prequel each contain different scenes from the work-in-progress. These short volumes offer readers a glimpse of the series’ key characters and plotlines, while providing ways for them to share ideas and questions.

What the Time of Once Series is Like:

Previously, I’ve co-authored historical fantasy re-tellings, such as First Bite: The Wicked Queen’s Tale and its companion books in THE DARK WOODS series.

But A Time of Once will take place in a contemporary setting, where fairytale elements began to manifest as part of a curse. It’s basically a different twist on the gimmicks explored in hit TV shows like Grimm and Once Upon a Time.

Small town USA will be caught up in the path of dark forces that are changing everything–and everyone–into something from the fairytale world. Heroes and villains will take their natural roles, and the good guys will face otherworldly obstacles in their quest to restore normalcy.

A quote from the series’ character known as the Storyteller pretty much sums it up:  “What's evil becomes evil. What's good becomes good. And what's in between, it gets caught up either way.”


How Readers Can Get Involved:

•     Visit the series webpage at: http://atimeofonceseries.blogspot.com/p/home-page.html

Here, readers can view a photo gallery, character bios, and leave their suggestions, questions, and comments concerning the series so far.  More interactive features, such as a discussion forum, will be available soon.

•      Currently A Time of Once: The Series Prequel is available for 99 cents on Amazon. You can also add it to your Goodreads list here.

•      Once: The Series Beginnings–which features completely different scenes–is currently free on Smashwords

The Smashwords volume will be available at other major retailers (B&N, Kobo, etc) within approximately three weeks.

20 comments:

  1. What a really cool and fun idea! I am a huge fan of fairy tales as well. I can't wait to see how this one turns out!

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    1. Me either. I think it's awesome they're taking fan feedback into consideration!

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  2. This is really cool! I haven't seen any author doing this and I can't wait to see how it'll turn out. Great post Jenny :)

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    1. I haven't either Tanja! It should be really interesting to watch as it develops!

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  3. I love this idea of having readers involved with the story, it would be great to see one of your ideas or suggestions making it to the end book. Thanks for sharing this great post with us! :)

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  4. That is such an interesting idea to get the readers involved into the book as well! I will check out the website for sure.
    Thanks for sharing, Jenny! :)

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    1. Isn't it? I thought it was very cool when she contacted me:)

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  5. It's so cool how literature is evolving to include the readers and fans these days. I think it's a pretty neat idea to allow your readers to comment and suggest alterations, etc. Seriously, what a fun concept! Thanks for sharing, Jenny! :)

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    1. You're welcome :) It's fascinating to see how much the internet and social media are changing the publishing world!

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  6. Now, I've read about how authors try to avoid reader influence in their books (usually a series) but to actually use reader input to develop stories -- that's a cool idea! Of course, it wouldn't work for everyone but I definitely like involving fans/readers.

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  7. Sounds like a fun series. I'll have to check out the webpage. I like feeling like you're involved with a series.

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  8. Now this is a fun idea! I love the idea of getting readers involved in the shaping of a book - though it sounds like it will be hard work! Thanks for sharing this, Jenny!

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  9. Is this one of those books can you can pick different scenes? Like choose your own adventure? I think this is great.

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  10. What a cool idea! I love fairy tales and I think making it interactive is a terrific idea! I downloaded the Smashwords copy and I will be checking it out! Thanks for the heads up on this, Jenny. Happy Friday!

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  11. What an interesting way of doing things. Oh and I think I will enjoy it. I love retellings. :)

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  12. Internet is so bad. I had a thought but that was 2 hours ago. There that thought went

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  13. Wow it's so cool that they're going to incorporate fan feedback! I've never heard of anything like this before, so I'm very curious to see how it turns out. I love fantasy and especially fairy tales, so this is something I'll definitely want to check out when the time comes. Thanks for sharing!

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  14. This sounds cool, and I love the mix of a contemporary setting and fairy tales. I am reading an adult series called the Transplanted Tales by Kate SeRine and it has them living among us due to a spell going wrong. Off to look these up!

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  15. This is such a fabulous idea and I love that literature just keeps evolving. Admittedly, I'm not too fond f fairy tales, I never was, but I still think this is great.
    Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

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