series

Vermin is Out Tomorrow

| Ardin Patterson

Tomorrow is my novels debut! I’m thrilled! Ecstatic! Totally pumped! I don’t think there are enough words to express how absolutely, incredibly excited I am to have this book out in the world.

I would definitely love to do signings and things in the future but with the pandemic, it’s difficult so instead I’ll be having a small celebration with my family.

This past week was filled with so many wonderful events, and I’m so grateful that I get to share my release with my family and friends.

Thank you so much to everyone who has added Vermin to their reading list, shared posts about it on social media and expressed support. It means so much to me, and I hope you enjoy the book as much as I enjoyed writing it!

If you haven’t already, check out @nuggiedraws on instagram to see the character art she did for the first book. I absolutely adore her take on my characters!

  • Nicholas Slayden @nuggiedraws
  • Rose Crispin @nuggiedraws
  • Roland Crispin @nuggiedraws
  • Dianna Warren @nuggiedraws
  • Peter Rissing by @nuggiedraws

A handful of songs featured throughout the series will be available to listen to this week, along with a sample reading!

I can’t wait to share the world of Vermin with you!

Tomorrow’s the day!

Books, Books and More Books

| Ardin Patterson

Have you added Vermin to your reading list yet? Add it now!

Add Vermin to tbr

I been on a bit of a book buying binge this week, and still have three more books that I’d like to order but am holding out on them for the time being. I’d like to finish reading three of the books I’ve started this month before I buy anything else.

My manga TBR pile has grown significantly now that books are finally being restocked. Like everyone else, I’m also binge buying series when they’re in stock due to the manga shortage that happened a few months back. Thankfully, I had novels to read in the mean time…but I hate when I’m invested in a series and then the next book is out of stock for months!

Speaking of series, Vermin is going to be out in a few days! I can’t give details on when the sequel will be out at this time, but I can say that I adore working on this series and am very excited to introduce my characters to everyone. Vermin will be available for purchase on Amazon August 1st in paperback and eBook. Signed copies will also be available at a later date, which is still to be determined.

I’ve also got a couple little surprises coming in the near future that are related to this series, which I’m absolutely stoked for. I can’t wait to share them…but for now it’ll remain a secret.

Trailer is Out!

| Ardin Patterson

I just watched the trailer for one of the shows I’m on and it is so cute! I absolutely adore it.

I loved recording with this cast pre-covid (miss you all!) and working with everyone at the studio. I had a blast. I can’t wait for everyone to meet my characters. I hope you’ll love them as much as I do!

The show is for ages 4-8, but I think older kids around 10 will enjoy it as well. It’s warm, colourful and fun!

Plus, MAGICAL GIRL TRANSFORMATIONS!

Yep. It’s so cute.

You can check out the trailer here and listen to the theme song!

Somethings Wrong With Us – Manga Review

| Ardin Patterson

The other day I finished reading the first three volumes of Somethings Wrong With Us by Natsumi Ando. I picked up the first volume after looking it over a few times. I thought the cover was beautiful, and the blurb on the back was intriguing.

From Goodreads: A spine-chilling and steamy romance between a Japanese sweets maker and the man who framed her mother for murder–Something’s Wrong With Us is the dark, psychological, sexy shojo series readers have been waiting for!

This series has gone above and beyond my expectations. That’s not something I usually say when it comes to shojo. Most are predictable and follow the same set of rules, but this one reminds me of thriller series like Monster or Blood on the Tracks. It still encompasses shojo elements and tropes, but there is so much more to this story than two characters who seem drawn together. There is an eeriness…or a loneliness that lingers in the text. It’s almost worse than a cliffhanger. This is one of those series that I couldn’t put down. I had to know what was coming next. I needed to see how this mystery unravels.

Surprisingly…at least to myself, I don’t read a lot of mysteries. I enjoy them immensely, especially when I watch them. I read more of them as a kid but for some reason as I got older I strayed away from the genre. These types of books are always so much fun. I love trying to guess whats going to happen next. I love the how high the stakes are raised in these types of stories! It’s exciting!

This series blends genres so well, and on top of that the artwork is gorgeous. I can also tell that a lot of research went into this series. I’m not a confectioner or anything, but I’ve really enjoyed learning about how much work goes into creating sweets and the amount of attention to detail confectioners have. This really adds something to the characters…and although the two leads have this in common, their approaches to it are vastly different.

The leading lady of this story is Nao. It’s hard not to connect with her off the bat. She’s determined, thoughtful, and passionate. She seems like the type of person who would be a very loyal and compassionate friend.

Tsubaki on the other hand is difficult to read. His character is a puzzle itself, especially to Nao who knew him when they were children. His actions often don’t reflect what he says. The one thing that is clear about his character, aside from his disciplined actions is that he’s lonely.

I like that Nao and Tsubaki both contrast and compliment one another. Their dynamic is interesting. Nao seems to have a push and pull method to their relationship. She’s constantly fighting herself internally, as she doesn’t want to get close to him, while Tsubaki’s intentions are often confusing.

Personally, I think that he feels drawn to her but doesn’t know if he can trust her. He can’t even trust his own family members…which is sad. It’s as though both him and Nao are orphans, despite Tsubaki’s mother still being alive.

I’m very curious to see what’s in store for these two in the next volume!

My rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

For Every Like I’ll Answer: Questions 7 – 10

| Ardin Patterson

Howdy there friends! I’m answering questions from the Writer’s Edition of For Every Like I’ll Answer! Woo!

In this post I’ll be answering questions 7 to 10. If you’re interested in doing this on your own blog, Twitter, YouTube etc…there will be a link below. Also feel free to answer the questions yourself in the comments!

7. What’s your favourite tense to write in?

I usually write in past tense, however I did attempt to go outside of my comfort zone and write in present tense. You can check out that post here! Honestly, it made me feel as though I was going cross eyed. I think I’ll try it again someday. I like to play around with different styles and genres. It definitely didn’t go well but at least I gave it the good old fashioned try!

8. Do you write romance in your projects? What kind?

I hate to admit it but yes. I don’t intend for it to happen but alas, my character’s sometimes end up in relationships. On rare occasions my character’s have a love interest while I’m planning the book but normally it happens during the actual writing process. I personally blame my shojo manga obsession. It’s all romance. It’s the only romance I intentionally read. Sad huh?

The type of romance that I write tends to be on the milder side. It depends on the ages of the character’s their personalities and how important their relationship is in comparison to the plot. For example, if two character’s being together will ultimately save the world from devastation, then they’ll obviously confess their feelings and end up together at some point.

Most of the time my character’s have crushes on people. It’s awkward and I wish them the best as they navigate through their feelings.

9. What inspired your recent project?

It all started when I was in the 12th grade. I needed to write a piece for my creative writing class. One night I went to bed and had a dream about a little girl with a red dress named Rose who lived in a large old house with her uncle. She told me a really sad story of her best friend Nicholas, who had grown up. I woke up and ended up writing the story for class.

The story I wrote for class turned into a novel series.

I have not had a dream about Rose or Nicholas since though. Isn’t that odd?

10. Is it hard for you to kill your darlings?

Yes but no. It depends on the character. Sadly, I get attached to all of them. Even the ones I hate! Have you ever loved to hate a character? That’s what happens to me. I’ve cried after killing off a character. It wasn’t hard to do or anything–which sounds creepy–I used to kill character’s off all the time when I was a kid. It’s just that after I really miss them. It’s almost like having a close friend move away.

As promised, you can find the link to the original post with all of the questions here.

I am once again on break from work because of the pandemic, but I’m trying to make the most of it. It snowed just in time for Christmas and I got to snuggle up in my nice new blanket. I luckily got some books for Christmas so I’ll be reading those during the lock down and working on book 2 until I get word about the next step for my debut novel.

I may create another list of blog prompts during this time too so that I can entertain myself. Perhaps I’ll share my favourite reads of the year?

Chill Vibes Playlist: OC Edition

| Ardin Patterson

Today’s task is to create a chill vibes playlist inspired by the characters in my novel. I’ve decided to pick 1 song per my main cast of characters. I’ll also do little introductory posts for each of them as well. I hope I pick songs that they’d enjoy haha!

Song #1: Dance With Me

This first song is for Dianna. I can picture her dancing and singing to it secretly when no one else is around haha.

Song #2: Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop

This song is really sweet. I have it on a playlist for either Lawrence or Wendy. It reminds me of how they met. Backstory stuff…but it really captures them well.

Song# 3: 4/4

This song makes me think of Roland. It just seems like something he’d start singing to himself while brushing his teeth or something.

Song #4: My Best Friend

This song reminds me of Nicholas. I already have it on one or two of his playlists.

Song#5: I Love My Boyfriend

This song is for Rose haha. If you watched my drawing reel on Instagram, you’ll hear another song by Princess Chelsea from the picture of Rose with her brother’s picking pumpkin.

Song# 6: Try to Change

This song is for Darius. He’s surprisingly got a lot of really chill songs on his playlist. I was shocked. I expected more chill vibes from some of my other character’s.

Song #7: Telling Lies

This songs on Kurtis’ playlist. It’s not exactly chill…but it’s not exactly not chill? I think this is the most chill Kurtis is gonna get haha.

I’ve been struggling to find a good song for Peter. His playlist has no chill. All party songs. If you’re having a party in the future, hit him up.

Song #8: Beautiful People Beautiful Problems

This song is on Eloise’s playlist.

I’m starting to realize that a lot of my character’s have no chill. They need to get whelmed and feel the aster (if you get that reference, you’re now one of my favourite people!).

What song’s do you like to listen to when you’re just hanging out?

Editing Update: Three Chapters Left!

| Ardin Patterson

I have three chapters left to edit…just three. It’s also 3 am while I’m writing this and I’m not sure how my brain is functioning. I’ll probably read this post in the morning like, “What did I write?” but I wanted to express my thoughts now while they’re fresh.

I still have to do a full read through again before I’m officially done this edit, and from what I remember there are a couple of places that I wanted to return to just to double check that everything lines up properly. I think there’s also a scene or two that needs a bit more building…but as for everything else, there are only three left to edit. Just three.

I guess this edit took me the majority of the month. It was fun. Hard work but definitely fun. I really enjoyed reading my editors comments. I really only talk about my writing with my sister these days, so having someone else read my work has been fantastic. Aside from twitter and some online writing chats, I don’t usually have discussions about my characters.

I mean, I haven’t even addressed them by their names on my blog or Twitter. I did this because some names had been changed during the editing process, and it was just easier to do initials on Twitter to save character’s…but still. I’m sure if people wanted to know my one MC’s name, they could just go to my publishers website. It was in one of the newsletters.

Wow…this just…everything is really starting to hit me. My novel is being published. Other people are going to be able to read my work. Gah…this is so weird. Weird in a good way. I can’t believe how much editing I got done. I felt like I didn’t do anything today, but apparently I did way more than that single chapter I was going to work on.

Part of me wants to print everything off once I’ve finished and just read through it in its entirety. I wonder if I could finish it in one sitting? I should set some time aside to do that.

I’m definitely treating myself once I finish this edit. I’ve been working on this book for such a long time…and I’ve grown to love it more and more. Editing it has been almost therapeutic. Especially with all that’s been going on this year.

I’m going to go to sleep now. I’ll try and record my final edits for my vlog. I have one that was supposed to go up today but the video had a strange error when I saved it, and I had to start all over. So it will be up tomorrow instead. I mean…today? It will be up on the 30th. Which is today.

I can’t believe I’m almost done this part of the process!

Character Collage #5

| Ardin Patterson

This character is a really good friend, despite being known as a flirt and not always being the most reliable. Despite being a fan of fun and being the life of the party, he genuinely wants what’s best for the people in his life.

He also feels like he constantly needs to watch out for his younger cousin, which he finds annoying since she and his best friend are constantly at one another’s throats.

He’s had several failed romances, but usually prefers things with no strings attached. He doesn’t think he’s ready to settle down, since he’s put his life on hold to help out his friend.

Old friends perfectly describes his relationship with his best friend, especially when they were younger. Even when he thinks something is a bad idea, he’ll go along with it for the fun of it…that is until things have gone too far.

In the original draft he had a different name, but my editor and I changed it because apparently the letter R was my favourite when I named my main characters. It wasn’t something I had thought of before, but now I’m more conscious about characters whose names sound too similar (especially key characters), as it can be confusing for the reader.

After changing his name, I actually picture him differently, which is strange to me…but I like his new name. I picked it after a favourite superhero of mine, that I’ve had a crush on since I was little.