With less than 10 days to go until Haze is released in Australia and New Zealand, this seems as good a time as any for a serious teaser.
So…here’s the opening chapter. 
Copyright Paula Weston 2013
Haze teaser – first chapter
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The Text Publishing trailer for Haze is now up!
Thanks to all you wonderful people who shared thoughts on Rafa for this awesome Haze trailer.
Made me grin and laugh out loud (in a good way!).
Character profiles, mythology…the extras!
I’ve created a new page on the website as a place to keep all the ‘extras’ relating to the series.
Current content includes a quick refresher on Fallen/Rephaim mythology, plus fun profiles of key characters from Shadows and Haze – in their own words.
You’ll find the new page in the menu above, or you can click here. Enjoy.
Need a Rephaim fix while you wait for Haze?
We’re officially in the countdown to Haze’s release on 22 May, and I’ve got lots of bits and pieces to share over the coming weeks.
First up, though, is a reminder you can get a quick Rephaim fix by reading Gaby’s short story – the one that brought Rafa and the Rephaim to Pan Beach and turned her life upside down.
If you’ve read Shadows, you know there’s more to the story than first meets the eye, and there are moments in it that foreshadow parts of Haze…
So, if you haven’t checked it out yet, here it is again: Gaby’s short story
Still thinking about being in the Haze trailer? Here’s what you need to know
Okay, so we’re getting some great clips coming in for the Haze trailer but we want LOTS of them…so the closing date has been extended to 9am on 29 April.
And to clarify, this is for anyone of any age. If you think Rafa’s sexy, we want to hear from you!
Here’s what you need to know:
There are just three steps you need to take:
1. Think: what are the first words that come to mind when you think of Rafa, the bad boy half-angel Gaby falls for in Shadows?
2. Click: get out your smart phone or turn on the camera on your computer, and record a clip of yourself — head and shoulders only, and in landscape format — saying those words to the camera.
3. Email: send your clip to shalini.kunahlan@textpublishing.com.au by 9am, Monday 29 April
That’s all!
The marketing gurus at Text will then splice your Rafa-words together with lots of others into one gorgeous clip of fans, and launch our trailer for the series when Haze comes out at the end of May.
(If you’re under 18, please check with your parents that they’re ok with you sending in a clip. And if you or your parents have any questions, please email shalini.kunahlan@textpublishing.com.au)
There’s still time be part of the Haze trailer
If you’re looking forward to Haze and you want to be part of Text Publishing’s upcoming trailer, there’s still time!
You can find details on how to be involved here: http://textpublishing.com.au/number-3-chiller/post/want-to-be-in-a-text-book-trailer/
Registrations close 24 April. Should be a lot of fun. (And there’s more cool stuff to come between now and Haze’s release on 22 May. Stay tuned.)
How women see themselves versus how others see them
Dove’s new online ad campaign has gone viral – and for good reason. This is an amazing video. After seeing how strongly it’s resonated with my female friends, I wanted to post it here. I found watching the women react to the reality of how others perceive them – and realising how differently they perceive themselves – incredibly moving.
And here’s the Haze cover with Text Publishing touches
…and some kind words from the awesome Cath Crowley.
New cover for Australian/NZ edition of Haze
With the Australian and New Zealand release of Haze less than two months away, there’s lots of tweaking and polishing going on before the book goes to press next week.
As regular readers of this blog know, there are currently two sets of cover art for the Rephaim series: one for Australia/NZ and another for the UK (which is also being used for Canada and the US).
As much as we all love the Australian artwork, we (the lovely team at Text, and I) have agreed it would be better to have the same style of artwork across all editions of all books in the Rephaim series.
That means the sexy UK cover will now become our Australian/NZ cover, and that Shadows will also revert to the UK cover when it (hopefully) goes into reprint.
I know lots of you love the white and gold covers. We do too! But it will make it less confusing to have the same look and feel across the series in all markets. And the UK covers are very atmospheric.
And, hey, you never know: the original Australian edition of Shadows may become a collectors’ items (even if it’s just me doing the collecting in a decade’s time….).
Stay tuned. Hope to post a teaser for Haze soon…
My Somerset adventure…
I’ve been attending writers festivals as a reader (and unpublished writer) for years, but last week was the first time I stepped through the gates as an author on the program. Whole other ball-game…
I was suitably terrified and excited (the two adjectives I seem to use lot these days). And I had an absolute blast. I met switched-on students, met and heard awesome writers, had rewarding sessions, and came home with a swag of books (signed, of course!).
The festival in question was the Somerset Celebration of Literature on the Gold Coast, now 20 years strong, and openly touted as the biggest and best youth literary festival in Australia. Certainly, writers who have been doing the festival circuit a lot longer than me agreed it was among their favourites.
The stage is ready for performances at the Prologue Party
Wizards duel it out at the Prologue Party.
The first thing that struck me was how warm and friendly Australian YA writers are. They’re a friendly bunch, and there was a lovely vibe at the welcoming dinner and then in the green room at the festival itself.
I was somewhat spoilt in that my first session was a panel discussion with the wonderful Nick Earls, and Queensland Writers Centre Programs and Services Manager Aimee Lindorff, about online author platforms. It was an open session (the audience included adults as well as students), and the pressure was mostly off me because everyone came to hear Nick. Rightly so – nobody tells a story like Nick. We had good discussion about blogging, tweeting and interacting with readers online, and I possibly even offered one or two intelligent comments.
Next up was my first author session. That’s me and a mike and 45 minutes to fill. And a sea of Year 9 students. My new writer buddies Simmone Howell and Pip Harry also came along in support. No pressure. So, I launch into my story about my journey to publication and my experiences as a published writer. At some point during my talk, my brain decides that I began 15 minutes earlier than I actually did. So I shorten some of my material and wrap up in time for questions – and then go to wrap up the session. My protocol student (the lovely Hepburn) politely comes over and quietly explains I still have 15 minutes left. Fortunately all swearing was confined to my head. The audience must have seen the fear in my eyes because as I’m fumbling about for a topic I could dive back into, the questions start coming thick and fast. And they were good questions. I’ve never been so grateful. I particularly have to thank the Somerset girl who asked a string of questions (you know who you are).
Lesson learned? Write the finishing time on the back of my hand so there can be no confusion. My next solo session (in a giant marquee with a crowd to match) went much more smoothly, as did my final session – a smaller group, who seemed to forgive me for not putting my shoes on (I took them off while getting settled. Force of habit.)
Belinda Murrell, Simmone Howell and Leah Giarratano
With Kaz Delaney.
The events were the most fun: The Prologue Party in the quad had a European-style festival atmosphere and we got to witness the amazing Asphyxia bring her heart-breaking goth puppet to life, and Lucas Proudfoot and his didgeridoo had the kids dancing. The Literary Long Table dinner on the terrace on the final night was pure magic.
I’m a sucker for flowers, candles, food and wine…
Part of the Literary Long Table on the terrace overlooking the quad.
One of the best things about the festival was meeting other writers. I loved chatting to fellow YA authors Simmone Howell, Pip Harry, Christine Howe, Leah Giarratano and Kaz Delaney. There weren’t enough hours in the day to see everyone I wanted to see, but I hear Lisa Forrest, Kari Gislason and Tiffany Hall were big hits and I also would’ve loved to have seen children’s writers Belinda Murrell, Gus Gordon, Katrina Nannestad and the hugely popular (read: rock star) Andy Griffiths. (Okay, I wanted to see everyone and I can’t list them all here.)
I also have to give a shout-out to my two protocol students, Hepburn and Akhila, who made sure I got where I needed to be, and all the staff and volunteers at Somerset who made it so easy for us newbies.
I had so many special moments during the week but I think the most surreal came on the final night when I was walking under strings of fairy lights in the quad on our way up to the terrace for dinner. It struck me that I was a published author at a festival in a gorgeous setting, surrounded by writers I admire. Yet again I felt enormously grateful. Honestly, the long, hard journey to get there (and I don’t mean the drive down the M1) was so worth it.
My book haul from the festival
