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[Blog Tour] Charlie Lavender And The Origin Of Everything by Carson Patrick Bowie – Q&A and Review!

12th Sep 2022 by C.G. @ Paper Fury Leave a Comment

Welcome to my MTMC Tours stop for Charlie Lavender And The Origin Of Everything by Carson Patrick Bowie!

There’s so much to love about this book, including the epic friendships, the ‘90s vibes, the mysterious and enigmatic magic, and — of course — the amazing and lovely Charlie herself. The story is split between following Charlie as she starts high school and realised she has unnameable power vs unravelling the mysteries behind a corrupt priestly order and the hidden and magical witchy society that surrounds Charlie’s life. Reading it felt like watching a TV series, with all the entwining POVs and omnipresent narration. Plus the book has a cool interactive element where you can follow QR codes while reading for extra content!

And shout out to the epic science lab partner trio 😩🙌🏻 Anxiety and gentle Charlie. Football star who is a secret soft nerd Josh. Tech and science genius Ichigo. Unlikely friendships are one of my favourite tropes.

“If Charlie Lavender is awakening, it will not be subtle.”

Basically pick this book up if you like mysteries, witches, secret societies, worlds within worlds, and loveable characters.

I have an epic interview with the author here today too 😍🙌🏻 so read on!

Thanks to MTMC Tours and the author for the copy.

Title: Charlie Lavender and the Origin of Everything (Volume One: Orientation)
Author: Carson Patrick Bowie
Publication Date: September 20, 2022
Genres: YA Fantasy
Purchase a copy: Amazon
Add on Goodreads
A bundle of awkwardness and social anxiety, Charlie Lavender isn’t sure about starting her freshman year in small-town Normal, Illinois. Little does she know her new best friend, a love triangle, and…a magical owl(?) are waiting for her in the Fall of 1993.
She definitely didn’t expect ominous priests, probable witches, and a secret, several-thousand-year-old war would also become part of everyday life.
Welcome to Normal, where nothing ever is.
As she and her newfound friends search for the truth about a world of magic just out of view, the real question is, can Charlie accept the last thing she ever expected to happen? For the first time ever, she’s fitting in.

Hi Carson! Thanks so much for chatting with me today about Charlie Lavender and the Origin Of Everything! Tell us a bit about your publishing journey and how your book went from first idea to finished novel on our shelves!

Hi! Thank you right back! As a writer I am better known for poetry than for fiction. I didn’t initially set out to write books, but after years of sharing poetry online and in a few publications I had accidentally developed a small but loyal base of readers who kept asking for me to publish a collection. During the early parts of the pandemic I decided I would finally do it. I figured I’d sell maybe a hundred copies, but that at least it was something I could give back to my readers while we were collectively going through a really hard time. Sales over three months entirely exceeded what I was prepared for as a response to the collection. I didn’t feel quite ready for another collection of poetry just yet so I turned my writing skills elsewhere. A good friend of mine Erin Van Vuren and I got an opening to pitch a show for Netflix, and while we bounced ideas around, a few short story ideas I’ve been playing with since I was a teenager (priests who realize they’re on the wrong side, white-haired witches who wipe minds, the quaint town of Normal where a young woman encounters things which are everything but) merged into one in a sudden rush into my brain…and Charlie Lavender was born.

She didn’t make it past the first round at Netflix, but by the time I had an outline down, I realized I had four books worth of story, with infinite spin off potential on my hands. I set to work typing every day after work in a google doc on my phone, and a month later I had a first draft of 100,000 words down. Erin proofread it, I let a few beta readers have a look and decided ok, this is something worth polishing and querying.

Querying is a soul sucking experience for me as an author, as it is for many, but I prepped a letter, did some deep research on who the top YA lit agents were and decided I would give myself six months of trying the traditional route. Inside 3 months I had two requests for the full manuscript out of my top 25 choices, but when we started talking about it further my flight or fight response kicked in the second we started discussing what could be changed to make things more marketable. I have full respect to anyone who goes through this process and learns from it and sells thousands of books they may not have otherwise, but by this point, for me, Charlie and her friends were my babies, and when I look at my work as art versus making it “marketable” and I decided I am not the kind of writer who could ever be comfortable giving up a shred of control. I will sell thousands of less books, I will not be paid up front, but every single part of me would rather Charlie find her niche and I build out slowly over time from there, instead of not being able to just feel my way through. I based these characters on people that I know and love, and especially with any of the LGBTQ+ characters, there is not a company I trust in the world to make them more buyable for the marketplace.

TLDR: a stubborn old man had a good shot at going traditional, but was too prideful to let anyone play with his things, and might still have never gotten a deal.

In the space in between querying and deciding to stay independent one of the top YA agents on the planet called the writing “stellar” which felt pretty nice.

I reached out to an amazing cover artist, found someone who grasped my concept for the interior flawlessly, learned how to make a website, then set to work marketing. It has been a very educational year of prep, I don’t entirely know what I am going to do with all my free time after release day. Good thing I have three more volumes outlined.

Absolutely loved hearing about your publishing journey so far!! I just think it’s so fantastic how many ways there are to pursue getting our stories out into the world. 👌🏻 So glad Charlie Lavender exists. Speaking of! Can you tell us a little about Charlie? Who she is, and what inspired you to write her!

A good friend of mine was tutoring some kids on reading skills a few years back and would always tell me all about this little girl named Charlie with brilliant red hair and a little bit of mischief in her eyes. Charlie believed in ghosts and we used to joke about how she’d be the perfect character for a supernatural bedtime story book, Charlie and her best friend who everyone thinks is imaginary but was actually a ghost. When I started on the Netflix pitch I carried her over.

Charlie as a person is a little bit of the high school version of me whose words would stick in the back of his throat whenever someone he didn’t know would speak to him, mixed with one of the most important people in my life who also shares a healthy sense of social anxiety. Lavender is known for soothing anxiety so.. Charlie Lavender popped into my head and I was obsessed with it immediately. The rest of her personality just turned up as I was writing, she is a little piece of a lot of different people that I love.

Charlie’s social anxiety was also fiercely relatable 😂👌🏻 She’s such a dynamic and complex character, impossible not to love! Can we have a teaser about what you’re working on next?

Absolutely. Next up are Charlie Lavender volumes two through four. A second poetry collection. Then the first of two spin offs about characters in Charlie’s world whom she doesn’t meet in the first book. No one has read a word about them yet but when I drop the title for the first spin off I am confident a few of my readers are going to have one of those “screaming, crying, throwing up!” moments. On the side there are perpetually scripts being written, but my predominant focus for the next decade is everything Charlie.

You are busy 👀👀 Absolutely can’t wait to see what’s next for Charlie as the series progresses. Which is your favourite to write: beginnings, middles, or endings?

Endings. In poetry I like to always finish on a strong final line. Gut punch. Turns out I am the same in fiction.

And lastly! What are some of the best author moments you’ve had so far?

During the writing process it’s those moments when the characters just take over. When I have no idea what is going to happen in between point A and point B but the characters just arrive fully formed onto the page. It’s the closest thing I can think of to inspiration. Another thing I love is the way the characters just exist in my mind now, whole…like…they aren’t real…but I know what they’re up to. I think this would only make complete sense to other authors in a way. But my absolute favourite thing…as a poet turned author…every now and then an email or a DM turns up from some young writer who tells me I inspired them to write. I think that is hands down the best compliment feeling I can think of.

Thanks so much for the brilliant chat and look at your creative process and origin stories, Carson!! A pleasure to have you on the blog and all the best with Charlie’s release ✨📚💛

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carson currently resides in the suburbs of Toronto, Canada, along with his two teenage sons, and two rescued cats. He misses the Scholastic book fair and is passionate about great storytelling regardless of the medium. He’s a member of the LGBTQ+ community, a disappointment to his father, and believes with all of his heart that representation for all communities is vital. Carson is reasonably fond of Dungeons & Dragons, unreasonably fond of Dan Levy, and he has, when left unattended, been known to use run-on sentences. He is also incredibly proud of both of his sons. Website | Instagram | Goodreads

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How To Edit Book Covers Into Your #Bookstagram Photos

26th Jul 2020 by C.G. @ Paper Fury 25 Comments

There comes a time in every bookstagrammer’s life when you want to take a photo of a certain book buuuut…

You don’t actually own the book.

This is quite the problem and I’m perpetually annoyed I do not live inside a bookstore!!! But there are so many reasons why we might not own the book. You can’t afford the latest release. You’re doing a cover reveal! You only read an ebook or audiobook, not the physical. The cover you have is ripped 👀or the cover you have is a super ugly edition. You want to talk about exciting upcoming releases that aren’t even in book form yet. You just !!! need a book !!!! and you don’t have it!!!

Now there are two ways to fix this issue, for example:
(1) you become MAGIC and when you snap your fingers, books appear, and quite frankly I recommend this option with my whole soul also can you please do it for me.
(2) you edit the cover in like the clever little cheesepuff you are deep down inside.

Editing covers into your photos is actually super simple…and, yes, free.

Photoshop? We do not know her. We are going to use Pixlr. Although I do want to be upfront in that I am not perfect at this and some covers are easier to work with than others! I have started editing covers in a lot to my #bookstagram photos, because I keep reading eARCs and want to talk about the books and books prices just flew through the roof since covid-19 and I do not have fulltime work 😩 my book wishlist grows and I yet wither. SO!! Here we go!

Also my instagram is SO CLOSE to 70,000 followers so come follow me. 🥺 I am pretty cute.

First here are some general tips to keep in mind!

It’s easiest to edit new covers on the top of old books.
Also try very very (very) hard to match the cover colours up. You want to edit in a red cover? Put a red book in your photo.
My aesthetic uses lots of flowers and I actually find having a bit of flower hanging over the cover is helpful for making it look realistic. (Will demonstrate later!)
Books standing up are easier (in my opinion) than flatlays.
I kind of sucked at this to start but got better!!

Also shout out to @thereaderandthechef, who is not only great but gave me a lot of tips to make my edits more realistic! Truly the best. 🥺💛 Hopefully these tips help you too! (Melissa’s edits are still better though. 😙)

Step One

Go to Pixlr.com/editor. Sometimes on chrome it doesn’t work!? (You have to go find the “old” version.) But I use it on Safari with no fuss.

Open up your image of choice! I’m going to edit in two upcoming releases that I’m excited for! King of Scars is staying the same 😚bless it for being so pretty. I’ve hung my crown off it because I don’t know how to edit around crowns.

✨TIP✨ I’ve made sure you can see the page edges of Beneath the Citadel and We Hunt The Flame. This helps everything look realistic when you layer the new cover on top.

And YES I do have a lot of books but new books are what people mostly want to see and the bulk of my collection is actually old, from back when I had access to $1 library sales and publishers sent SO many books to bloggers. However I am still privileged to have the books I have, and I work hard for them!

Step Two

Download high resolution cover art! I actually DO NOT recommend getting it straight off Goodreads. It comes pretty crushed. I google the title and then look through images and find one that’s high res. Also look on publishers websites! They’ll have a good quality cover file there too.

They look so gorgeous and are coming out soon! 😍🥺 tell them to hurry up so I might hold them.

Step Three

Click Layer > open image as a layer.

Next you want to click Image > free distort.

Also I often zoom in because I have tiny weak grandma eyes and I want to see the corners. Just fiddle with the sizing in the bottom left hand corner.

Now start BENDING this photo like it is the JELLO doing a YOGA PARTY.

So cute, so flexible 🥺💛

Match it up to the cover you’re editing over the top of! Sorry We Hunt the Flame!! But you know what they say about attractive younger siblings showing you up. It’s something we all go through.

✨TIP✨ I often erase the corners (this is why it’s helpful to have the same colour cover underneath!!) so that it looks a little more realistic. Real corners aren’t so sharp.

Step Four

Go to Adjustment > brightness & contrast.

Have a fiddle around with these. Usually you want to make the cover contrast LESS. A real cover will look duller in your photo depending on light etc. Right now We Free The Stars is CRISP perfection which is too….perfect. Out with this. For this one I lowered the contrast AND brightness and thought it looked pretty good. Just mess around with this and see.

You can also work with the other options but I am both lazy and too nappish to bother understanding them.

And you’re DONE. 👀👌🏻

Step Five

We’re doing this all over again for the next cover. With ONE difference. There are some flowers overlapping the corner of the cover!!

So using the eraser, just…very gently very slowly….erase around the flower petals. This takes a lot of doing and then undoing (I use control Z to undo) to make it as accurate as possible.

Also (AGAIN) this works best if you’ve got a matching cover colour underneath. You don’t have to be too precise.

Step Six

Admire yourself!!!

….um, I mean your work!!

If you need to make adjustments, make sure you’re in the right “layer” (look in the right hand bar to click on the layers). If you need to redo it 3989 times then go on ahead and do so. I may be known to take a photo 7 dozen times till I know it’ll edit perfectly.

Now some covers ARE hard to work with. I find covers in block colours are the best, especially if you’ve matched the book behind it. Spine art isn’t easy to find online so avoid spines. Also fiddle around with everything! You’ll discover ways to make it look more realistic the more you practise.

Before I post on instagram, I also add a filter. This definitely helps that last touch of cohesiveness. (I just use the free filters in Koloro or Lightroom.)

Before and After

I hope this has been helpful and if you have any questions, leave them in the comments!

How To Get More Comments On Your Blog

27th Mar 2015 by C.G. @ Paper Fury 206 Comments

Comments are awesome. I love comments. They make me feel that blogging is worthwhile! It’s not much fun having a conversation if I’m the only one talking right?!*

But have you ever sat down and kicked your heels because you CAN’T figure out how to get more comments?

LET ME HELP! I’ve gone from having a blog with 5 comments maximum per post, to over 50 comments per post. It is awesome. (And I appreciate everyone’s comments so so much.) It didn’t “just happen”, though. I worked really hard.

So what’s the secret?!

Oh, oh, I’m so glad you asked, my botanical blogglings!** I have a most wonderful post for you.

* Although my voice and opinions are, of course, beautiful.
** I do not, in any way, think you are plants. I just like alliteration. Unless you are a plant, in that case, congratulations for being the most intelligent plant in the universe. I acknowledge your leafyness.

1. GO COMMENT ON OTHER BLOGS

If I can only give you one tip, THIS IS IT, MY FINE FRIENDS. Go comment on other people’s blogs! Visit! Leave meaningful comments. Follow a ton of blogs. When you join in linkups, go and visit a dozen other blogs. JUST GO TALK TO PEOPLE. It works.

In 2013, I averaged about 5 comments a post. In 2014, I started commenting on a bunch of blogs. I followed. I commented regularly. I was a pesky barnacle with friendly things to say. Now in 2015, I average on 50 comments a post.

But pleasepleaseplease don’t just say “Cool post!” and leave a link to your blog. That’s not what I mean. It’s okay to leave a link to your blog, but make sure your comment is about THEIR blog. (Short comments are okay, too. You don’t need to leave epistles! Just be meaningful.) Also, when you follow a new blog, do tell the blogger! It’s totally fine to introduce yourself and your blog and leave links.

There are tons of blogs who do “Bloggers Commenting Back” which is basically I-comment-on-your-blog-and-you-comment-on-mine. It spreads the love and encourages conversation. IT IS AWESOME.

2. REPLY TO COMMENTS

This is really important because you acknowledge your audience! You’re saying, “Hey you! That’s a smart and intelligent thing you just said and I appreciate your opinion.” Everyone wants to be acknowledged.

It’s also furthering the conversation!

I, for one, have been really ticked off (totally curled into my corner of sadness) when I’ve commented faithfully on blogs and had the blogger ignore me. It’s like talking to a wall. Why would I bother?! I quit that blog and focused on talking to people who actually want to talk to me.

3. ASK QUESTIONS IN YOUR POSTS

You could just say “pie is the best, life is pie, there is only pie” and end your post there. OR, you could say “pie is the best, but chocolate cake is glorious too, ack, decisions…which do you prefer?” The latter invites discussion and comments!

People love having opinions! (HELLO. We are bloggers. Why else do we blog?!) They love to express these opinions. I get specific about my questions in my posts. I write a list of questions at the end of a post for people to reply to! If I can’t think of any “discussion questions” then I know my post is too one-sided.

4. CARE ABOUT YOUR AUDIENCE

This comes out in tone and phrasing of your post…and I think it’s important! I like to read blogs where I don’t feel like my opinions is going to be discarded instantly. And you can usually tell from the tone of the post. If the blogger has gone off on a discussion/rant and are constantly underlining how right they are and how perfect their opinion is, I know they’re not going to care about mine.

When you blog, make sure your audience feels welcome to speak their minds in the comments. Don’t write like you have the only opinion in the universe. (It helps if you present multiple opinions in your post, too, for readers to mull over.) Be genuine about wanting feedback or critisim or other opnions. You don’t have to agree with the commenters, but you do need to be respectful of their opinions. Just because it’s the internet doesn’t mean you can be rude. NOT EVER.

5. HAVE A SIMPLE COMMENTING PLATFORM

This is REALLY important, peoples! There is nothing more frustrating than reading an awesome post and going to comment and realising…oh. I can’t because this commenting platform is weird/confusing/descends-from-martians.

The main thing you want is to have anyone and everyone be able to comment. You want a commenting platform that, ideally, doesn’t need you to sign in.

COMMENTING PLATFORMS TO AVOID:

Google+ – This one is ridiculous because you can ONLY comment if you have a google+. Lots of people don’t! (I don’t.)
Blogger – Oftentimes blogger is set so only blogger uses can comment. You can change this in your “comment settings” and have it so anyone can comment. (I totally recommend doing this if you’re on blogger.)
Free WordPress – this is the same as blogger, usually it only let’s WordPress users comment. If you have a blog that ends with wordpress.com, you’re limiting your commenters to wordpress users only. BAD IDEA! Lots of people are on blogger and still want to comment! [EDIT: Apparently I was mistaken for this and it’s not true! So IGNORE ME. ha. ha.]

BETTER PLATFORM OPTIONS:

IntenseDebate – Installing this one is quite easy and there are great tutorials! It allows anyone to comment without signing in. YAY. Downfalls are, if you switch commenting platforms later on, you lose comments. (I lost all my ID comments when I went from blogger to wordpress self-hosted.)
Disqus – Disqus is pretty darn awesome in appearance and fastness. Speedy! YAY. You can have an option to NOT sign in, too, but you have to switch that setting.
WordPress self hosted – This is what I have and, obviously, it’s awesome. (Although, truthfully, I still have people tell me WP eats their comments or they disappear or whatnot, so it’s not perfect.) I love this one because you don’t have to sign in, and I’ve got it on a setting so that everyone gets emailed my replies. I also use commentluv so I can easily find commenter’s blogs and visit!

So there you have it…you know all my secrets.

It’s not hard! It does take a bucketload of work though. And, hey, it’s okay to fall behind or make mistakes or slack off. Just know: if you work hard, you’ll get the comments.

And there are always posts that are going to do better than others. Sometimes it doesn’t even make sense why some posts get comments and others don’t. JUST GO WITH IT. (Although if you ever find the secret to writing the perfect post, let me know. I want in on that.)

SO. like i said…discussion questions are important! can you add to my list?? on your blog, what do you do to get more comments?? which posts do you find to super-uber well? and which seem to sink? do believe in commenting-back? OH. and are you okay with being referred to as a plant? LET ME KNOW ALL.

Cait @ Paper Fury
…is currently feeling very proud and professional because she only used two gifs in this post instead of, like, 9428 of them, because she realises she probably uses too many. But, pfft. Over-gifing is liable to happen tomorrow so WATCH OUT. Also to everyone playing the game in yesterdays post, Cait plans to announce scores tomorrow! Currently she’s reading Snow Like Ashes.

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