News and Events

Here I keep you up to date about the latest happenings – the big publishing and writing events as well as contests, surveys and giveaways.

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Scavenger Hunt

The Necklace Thief

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Over several days items of value – and some not so valuable – have been disappearing from the palace. Have they been stolen and if so by whom? The clues are hidden in the following stories

To participate in the Scavenger Hunt you need to:

1)      Name all four items that go missing from the palace.

2)      Identify what these items have in common.

3)      Identify the thief.

4)      State in 25 words or less who you would like to feature in the next short story and why.

The best answer to the above questions submitted either as a comment to this blog post or as comments on my Facebook Fan Page will win a $US 50 Amazon Voucher.  (The winner will need to notify me of his/her email to receive the prize within 10 days of notification of the winning. The decision on the winner is final with no correspondence will be entered into concerning the winning entry.)

Entry to the contest is free.

The contest will be open from 9 am Monday 10 November to 5 pm Wednesday 19 November 2014 (Brisbane time). The winner will be announced on Wednesday 26 November 2014 along with publication of Part Two of the Missing Necklace.

Please read Terms and conditions

If you enjoyed reading about the adventures of Anna, Rokkan and Naetok, their adventures continue in The Herbalist’s Daughter to be published in Tied in Pink anthology (due to released 14 December 2014) and in the Akrad Legacy series (as yet unpublished). Profits of Tied in Pink go towards Breast Cancer research.

 

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October Happenings

BirdandSunx400A quick catch-up with recent events:

  • I’ve written a few short stories set in the world of Nardva, one of which I’m hoping will appear in the Tied in Pink Anthology. The profits of this romance anthology will go to Breast Cancer research. I’ll keep you posted on details. If you want to help towards this project you can purchase some beautiful T-Shirts and other merchandise here.
  • Flight (a short story I wrote) placed second in the Intermediate category of FaithWriters. You can read it here.
  • I have a fabulous time attending a Writers Conference in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria (Australia) last weekend, attending workshops and catching up with old and new friends.
  • I’m signing up for NaNoWriMo again this November – to work on Jared’s Choice.
  • I’ve now started a related Instagram site
  • And finally, I’m publishing on Jeanette O’Hagan Writes (and a new Tumblr site By the Light of Two Moons) some Tamrin Tales – stories that fill in some background of the characters of my books in the Akrad’s Legacy series. The installment of the first story Fever is due tonight.
  • Clues for a Scavenger Hunt will be scattered through out the stories. Details, including prizes, will be announced by Monday 10th November.

Jeanette O’Hagan

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With Adele Jones (author of YA thriller Integrate) and Jo Wanmer (author of Though the Bud Be Bruised), Bachus Marsh 2014

With Nola (from the Write Flourish editing services) and Pamela, with Adele in background

With Nola Passmore (from the Write Flourish editing services) and Pamela (with Adele in background) Bacchus Marsh, 2014

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Following where Imagination Leads

It’s been about a month and a half since I posted. This isn’t because I haven’t been busy.

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In the month of July I signed up for the NaNoWriMo July Camp – with the goal of writing 30,000 words in the month on Mannok’s Betrayal (the third book in the Akrad’s Legacy Trilogy) – it was touch and go but I made it 🙂

All together, I was as able to piece together a connected narrative for the first 40,000 words of MB. I have other major scenes written but have a couple of points which I need to write the transitions. Slowly it is coming together.

20,000 words for Master of Arts (Writing)

I also submitted the first 20,000 words of MB for my current Master of Arts (Writing) unit.

Following the Imagination Trail

At the beginning of Augustn YA Sci-Fi author Lynne Stringer asked me how I started writing my first book (Adelphi). Lynne is author of the Verindon Trilogy (The Heir, The Crown, The Reign).

Here is my reply:

Thanks Lynne, for having me on your blog. I’ve enjoyed reading the other blogs in this series. It is fascinating learning about the different journeys of other writers.

My passion is writing faith-inspired fantasy, poetry and memoir/biography. I am a few thousand words away from completing the first draft of my fourth full manuscript in the fantasy series Akrad’s Children. I also love to blog on life and faith, books and films, and the writing journey.

You asked me how I came to write my first book.

It started with a dream I had in my early twenties and when I say dream, I mean that literally. I dreamt about a young girl standing by a fountain and holding up a lamp in the night. She was calling for a wild creature to come to her and was surprised by what happened next. It was such a vivid dream that I kept the story going even after I had woken up and over the next several months I followed the trail of imagination. The story became part of the world I had begun creating at the age of ten. I began to write the story down – in notepads, on spare pieces of paper, in gaps of time until one day I had a first draft. I even devised a sequel.

Some years later, I revised it and a friend typed it out for me.  …

Read more

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Fictional worlds, Series and more

The last couple of months I’ve been flat out with 2 units of study in the Masters of Arts (Writing). This has left little time for writing. However, I will be using Mannok’s Betrayal for my major project in my current unit The Creative Artefact.

In the meantime, I’ve written a couple of guest posts.

Multiplying the Magic

(on writing and reading series)

A good series is a delight to the reader, author and publisher. How many of us remember those series we loved and avidly followed as children – Anne of Green Gables, Biggles, Enid Blyton’s Famous Five or the Faraway Tree, Narnia, Sherlock Holmes – the list goes on. And as we got older maybe we moved on to Agatha Christie, Georgette Heyer, Isaac Asimov, Janette Oke, Karen Kingsley or perhaps Stephen Lawhead. Well, you fill in the blanks with your favourite series author.
Series come in different guises depending on authorial choice, genre and reader expectations.
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Creating Worlds

(on building fictional worlds)

One Hundred Acre Woods, Never Land, Avonlea, Narnia, Hogwarts, Middlearth … these are all places that have delighted countless children – and let’s admit it – adults, filling them with wonder and whimsy.
For me one of the joys of reading is being transported to another place and time.  It might be across the universe in a FTL spaceship or a Blue Police box. It might be back in time to encounter ancient or not so ancient societies and cultures (Victorian, Medieval, Roman, Chinese or Incan) or perhaps to a strange technological or dystopic future. Or it might be the streets of New York or Sydney, the vast Australian Outback or the green hills of England. Books have whisked me away to all these places – and more, many more.
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Read more

Jeanette O’Hagan

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Blogging about Fantasy

At the end of April I was thrilled to  guest blog on Dyane Forde’s Writing Blog Dropped Pebbles.  I wrote a two part series on Fantasy:

Fantasy and Faith: Part One

“Some day yfantasy1ou will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” C. S. Lewis

Not everyone loves fantasy, not everyone gets it. ‘I prefer reality,’ they say as they look at you slightly askance. The implication, whether stated aloud or not, is that fantasy is escapist entertainment for the childish and less enlightened among us. Even so, I don’t mind admitting that I have not lost my love for fantasy since the day I was introduced to C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series at age 7. In fact, I spend a large part of my days reading fantasy or writing it. So what can we say to the naysayers? Despite the critics, Spec-Fic including fantasy continues to dominate the bestsellers and movie blockbusters. In fact, many people read or watch  fantasy without realising it – Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol or Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, for instance, or Disney’s Fantasia. Moreover, fantasy comes in a wide variety of guises – so chances are there is something for everyone.  Read More.

 

 

 

Fantasy and Faith: Part Two

BirdMany skeptics relegated fantasy to the dusty attics of their childhood. In their minds, it is at best escapist entertainment empty of real meaning or at worst mind numbing wish fulfillment that leaves one out of touch with reality. And to be honest, fantasy does explore and extend our most fantastical dreams and plumbs our worst nightmares. But is it escapist? And is that a bad thing? Read More .

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Happy New Year 2014

The year in review – I completed two first drafts and started edits on Akrad’s Children & Rasel’s Song, completed 3 units of my writing studies, blogged & wrote poetry.

As part of NaNoWriMo I wrote 50,555 words in the month of November on the third book in the trilogy, Mannok’s Betrayal. It’s been a bit slower in December – now at 63,657, working to make the plot flow.

Launched a website 🙂 and –

Watched some great movies like Hunger Games Catching Fire and Day of the Doctor – and read some great books.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year for 2014

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NaNoWriMo 2013

Today is the first of November. Apart from being All Saints Day and significant in countless other ways  (e.g. nuclear fusion happened for the first time on earth in 1952) it is the first day of NaNoWriMo.

The National Novel Writing Month (read International) – where writers, initially in the USA but now around the world,  accept the challenge of writing 50,000 words in one month – the month of November. No mean feat.

I found out about NaNo last year, joined up and completed the challenge. The result? More than the first half of Akrad’s Children written.

This year, I’ve signed in again though I might be starting from behind with a camp this weekend and the major assessment for the Online Writing unit of my Masters due on Monday – but I’m hopeful I can catch up.

My project this year? The third book in the Akrad Legacy‘s trilogy – Mannok’s Betrayal.

I will keep you posted on how I’m doing.

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Venturing into the Twitterverse

In the words of the Borg – “resistance is futile” (at least some of the time). It’s taken some years but I’ve finally ventured into the Twitterverse  find me @jeanetteohagan or https://twitter.com/JeanetteOHagan.

For other social media contacts, you can check out my contact page but to save you that extra click I’ve included them here too 😉

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeanetteOHaganAuthorAndSpeaker

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeanetteOHagan

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/jeanetteoh/

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanetteohaganwrites

Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/11029945-jeanette

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Lynne’s Book Launch – The Crown

Book launches are exciting – especially when the author is someone we know.  This afternoon I’m heading off to the launch of my friend, Lynne Stringer’s The Crown.

The Crown is the second book in the YA Sci-Fi Verindon Trilogy (published by Wombat Books). I enjoyed reading the first book The Heir  as High School student Sarah discovers that all is not as it seems. The sci-fi elements of the book filter in slowly and the book ends with a bang. I’m looking forward to reading The Crown which is set on another planet and follows Sarah as she adjusts to a new identity, a new world, new responsibilities and dangers.

And the launch will be a blast.

Lynne’s third book The Reign is due out next year.

Jeanette O’Hagan