Philippa Ballantine's Page

Well it is a few weeks until Digital Magic hits the bookstores- yes 08.08.08 and both Tee and I are pimping like crazy critters, but I have this problem.... I am already casting Digital Magic in my head, even though I promised I wouldn't start recording it for at least a year. I keep reminding myself I have other things to do, but doing Chasing the Bard has given me a taste for the Fey. Oh that, and my first review of Digital Magic- yes it was very nice. Suddenly all I can think of is "I want h… Continue

Today Chasing the Bard is on podiobooks and I am doing a little happy dance. It's good to be in the fold again and I'm going to be onto this ning thing a bit more. CTB has been doing so much better than I thought, and despite the hard work I am enjoying the production side of it. So much so, that I have almost convinced myself once CTB is done to do my New Zealand fantasy novels as podiobooks too- you know the ones the NYC publishing houses say no America audience would be interested in. With my… Continue

Today is it.. the beginning of Chasing the Bard podiobook- at least the planning stages. I have a sequel coming out (hopefully) called Digital Magic in time for DragonCon in August, so this is the time for me to get the podiobook ready to run to act as a lead in. A lot has changed since I did my first podiobook, Weaver's Web. For a start my writing has gotten better, I have a better grasp of what I am doing - that's all good. However after listening to all the great offerings I realise that ther… Continue

15 minutes to 2008 and yes, the book is done. Well first draft anyway- all that editing and slicing and dicing lies ahead. This is the sixth novel I have completed but has been quite different. Only three months since my feet touched back down in New Zealand and here is my 100,00 word novel. Kinda surprised never written anything so quickly. So I ask myself what's been different this year? And I think I have to thank the Americans. Being part of a community, even 8730 miles away, has changed my… Continue

Finishing off a book is like seeing the end of a marathon and having to find the energy to get to the finish line. You've got to dig deep. Well, at least that is how it is for me. This novel I started in October this year found its feet pretty easily and now I am at the point of having to bring all those threads together. I'm determined to have this finished before the end of 2007. It's these goals that keep me going as a writer. The most valuable thing I have learned is this- it doesn't have to… Continue