Chapters

Blogging at Seven Night Writers

2011-10-12T13:59:00.000-04:00

Hi,

I'm going to try this blogging thing again, but I'm going to try it a different way this time. Because I often don't have time to post, I've joined a group of bloggers. This gives me one: a set time to blog--twice every month, and two: a set topic--social media. A schedule should help keep me on track. :) I may start blogging here again regularly one day. Eventually. Until then, on the 13th and 28th of every month, you can check out my posts at the Night Writers blog. My first post will be up tomorrow. I'll be talking about online reviews. I hope you'll come visit me!

Guest Blogging Today

2011-07-08T09:17:00.001-04:00

I'm guest blogging at Sapphire Phelan's Passion Corner today. Click here to find out why I write love stories--and read/watch them voraciously as well.

Interiority Complex

2011-07-05T22:23:00.000-04:00

No, that's not a typo. I meant "interiority." Allow me to explain. In one sentence: it's easy to get lost in your POV character's head. Now, allow me to elaborate.

There's a natural tendency--especially when you're writing in the 1st person--to get bogged down in your character's thoughts. Now don't get me wrong. It's important to let your readers know what your characters are thinking. And inner thoughts can be extremely important to developing back story, building emotion in important scenes, etc. However, you have to make sure you're not going overboard.

I'm not saying never ever write them. There are no "nevers," no absolutes, when it comes to writing. And I encourage you to use them in your first drafts. Use any and everything that helps you get the story on paper--or the screen--in your first draft. As the saying goes, you can't edit what you haven't written yet, right? However, be careful when revising. That's all I'm saying. If you have a page and a half of a character trying to decide if she wants chocolate ice cream for dinner, there might be a problem.

I find inner thoughts become a big problem for me when the character has to make a big decision. I leave all of his or her original ruminating on the page when the reader doesn't need--or want--to know every last bit of my characters' thought processes. Just the highlights mainly. Or another writing tic of mine is to have a character express something 3 or 4 different ways through inner thoughts. Pick the best 1 or 2--preferably 1--and let go of the rest. Remember to murder your darlings. You have to make good use of that delete button during revisions.

All that to say, there is a time and a place for inner thoughts, but don't let them take over. Remember all the other aspects of good writing while your characters are ruminating: action, conflict, tension, and--whatever else you do--moving the story forward.

I'm Ba-ack and... Christmas In July!

2011-07-02T08:59:00.001-04:00

And not just because I have a book coming out. But I do, yanno, have a book coming out on Tuesday: Holding Her Breath. Link to the Kindle version. It's also available in paperback. Check it out on Goodreads, too. I'm doing a Goodreads giveaway for it, so enter if you haven't already! It's a good chance to get a free book!

Holding Her Breath opens at Christmastime. So...I'm planning to do a Christmas in July event. So, everybody who comments on the blog in the month of July will be entered in a drawing to win a copy of a Genesis Press book! I'll be giving away some of my favorite Indigo Love Spectrum titles. Of course, those would include some copies of Love Out of Order and The Davis Years. :) Holding Her Breath won't be included, but you have until Aug. 21 to enter the Goodreads giveaway for that one. I'll post more about the specific books as the month goes on. Also, if you blog or tweet or Facebook (or spread the word through any other form of social media) about Christmas in July on my blog, you'll get an extra entry in the contest. Just leave the link to your word spreading in the comments section of any post you make in the month of July.

I'll be guest blogging at Sapphire Phelan's blog on Friday, so make sure you check that out, too. Talking about romance during book release week. :)

Also, for any/all in the area, I'll be doing a book signing Saturday, July 9, in Williamsburg, VA! Next week! At the Barnes and Noble in Colonial Williamsburg, which is on Duke of Gloucester Street. You can't miss it. Starts at 2PM.

Official Release Day for The Davis Years!

2011-02-01T05:28:00.005-05:00

You can buy it at:

Or:
Barnes and Noble
Politics and Prose
Most book retailers should have it!
And as mentioned below, it's available as an ebook!!!

The Davis Years Is Available As an Ebook!

2011-01-31T18:45:00.000-05:00

Just found this out! Very excited! So far, I only know of it being available as a Nook Book and a Kindle Book. If you run across other formats, feel free to let me know.

Yay! Hopefully my other two books will eventually be available as ebooks, too. But for the moment, I'll bask in the wonderfulness of having one ebook. Whee!!!

Nathan Bransford's 4th First Paragraph Challenge

2011-01-25T19:52:00.000-05:00

Enter here. I love Nathan's contests--especially this one. First of all, it's fun to enter contests (it's kind of like Christmas anticipation-wise. I guess once the results are announced, for those of us who don't win, it's kind of like getting socks--the boring plain kind, not fun ones, which I love--for Christmas. Okay, moving ...)

Second, Nathan's contests usually give you a good sense of what the slush pile looks like. They usually draw a big crowd--this one's up to almost 900 entries now. That means you get a good sampling of what an agent sees when it's query-reading time. I think it's fun to read through and see which ones catch my interest. I especially like the one sentence game. How many of them make me read past one sentence? It's a really great learning experience. Especially since no matter how much of a writing sample an agent lets you send with the query (I've seen from 0 up to 50 pages), there's no guarantee the agent will actually read past the first paragraph.

It makes a lot of sense, actually. If the agent is not connecting with the voice/the overall writing, why waste your time or his/her's by reading on? I wouldn't want someone who's not passionate about my work representing it. In that scenario, nobody wins.

Interview With Karen Lenfestey, Author

2011-01-24T06:49:00.012-05:00

Karen Lenfestey’s novel, A Sister's Promise, is the top selling book in the siblings category on amazon.com. Karen, who has a B.A. in advertising from Purdue University and an M.S. in counseling from Indiana University, received the Midwest Writers Fellowship for this novel about two sisters whose lives become intimately intertwined over the question of motherhood.

A Sister's Promise is available for purchase from amazon.com ($2.99) at http://www.amazon.com/A-Sisters-Promise-ebook/dp/B004C44P38. In addition to Kindle, her book can also be read on an iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, PC or Mac.

1. How long have you been writing?

I have been writing off and on all of my life. When I was a kid, sometimes my parents would send me to my room as a punishment (probably for something my brother did :)). While I was in there, I would often write stories to entertain myself.

2. You tackle an intriguing subject that many won't--the idea that not
all women want to be mothers. Can you tell us a little more about that
and about the overall plot of A Sister's Promise?

The truth is, women in our generation are often torn between their careers and motherhood. It is fairly accepted that one might delay motherhood, but rarely is skipping motherhood openly discussed.

I wanted to write about an event that would cause a woman to reconsider her choice not to have children. In “A Sister’s Promise”, Joely, who has always longed to be a mother, needs a lupus treatment that will probably leave her infertile. She refuses treatment unless her sister, Kate, promises to have a baby. In a rash moment, Kate agrees, even though she committed herself to a childless marriage. A sister’s promise and a wife’s promise: Kate must break one.

3. I love the relationship between Kate and Joely in this book. How
did you come up with these two characters?

I tried to create characters that I could relate to, then made them more interesting. Like Kate, I was a high school counselor who cared for her students like they were her own children. Joely embodies personality traits I would like to have more of—optimism and spontaneity.

4. Who are some of your favorite writers/your influences/etc.?
Basically, just tell us a little about what you like to read.

I enjoy reading Emily Giffin, Elizabeth Berg and Kristin Hannah. I aspire to write like Anna Quinlen or Marisa de los Santos. Shirley Jump is a New York Times bestselling author who lives nearby and has been very generous in sharing her writing secrets with me.

5. What comes first for you, plot or characters?

I toy with both plot and characters in my mind for a long time. I ultimately need to figure out what story I want to tell, then create characters that would learn something from that situation. Characters are critical, though, because people only read an entire novel if they care about the characters.

6. Tell us about projects you currently have in the works.

I’m working on another piece of women’s fiction called “What Happy Looks Like”. This one is about Lisa, a woman in her thirties who realizes she doesn’t have real friends like she did when she was younger. When a childhood friend passes away, Lisa feels compelled to track down another old friend with whom she had a terrible falling out.

7. What excites you most about the future of publishing? (E-books,
iPad, whatever comes to mind.)

What excites me about publishing today is how much easier it is for good writers to get their work to the public. Who would’ve thought a blog could turn into a book and movie deal like “Julie & Julia”? It’s amazing.

8. What is your favorite/least favorite thing about the writing process?

My favorite thing about writing is how I can get so wrapped up in my story that I forget to eat. (Ask my husband how rare that is). I love food and get hungry every 3 to 4 hours. In fact, I think I could use a snack right now. :)

I suppose my least favorite thing about writing is that I want to talk to people about the characters in my head, but no one knows who they are. It was incredibly satisfying after my friends read “A Sister’s Promise” and we could discuss what surprised them about Kate’s husband’s reaction and how they felt about the ending.

9. What's one thing that you know about writing now that you wish
you'd known a year ago?

I wish I would’ve known many years ago that I needed a critique group in order to write well. For years I kept my writing to myself, but only when I dared to ask for feedback did I achieve my best work.

10. How do you choose names for your characters?

I love choosing character names. Kate and Mitch were baby names that I had considered when I was pregnant (I liked Kate and my husband liked Mitch). Joely came from the credits of a tv show.

11. Anything else you wish to add?

I welcome feedback about this interview or about “A Sister’s Promise”. E-mail me at karenlenfestey@gmail.com.

Interview on Monday

2011-01-22T18:49:00.000-05:00

I will be posting an interview here on Monday with Karen Lenfestey, author of A Sister's Promise. We used to be in a critique group together, and I truly enjoyed reading her work. I'm excited to have her as a guest here. Be sure to stop by and read the interview on Monday!

Working Hard and Paper Towns

2011-01-19T22:23:00.000-05:00

I have so much beta reading and critiquing to do that I can't blog for you tonight, my friends. I am terribly sorry.

I don't often do reviews here, but since I'm trying to read 100 books this year, I may throw in a few as a multi-tasking timesaver.

Here are a few words on John Green's Paper Towns. This book is amazing. I can't stop thinking about it. It's the best thing I've read in a LONG time. I can't put into words how much I enjoyed this book. Okay, I'll give it a try. Here's my paragraph review of Paper Towns:

I finished Paper Towns on MLK Day. I couldn't tear myself away from it even though there were other things I wanted to do since I had the day off. It's by far my favorite of Green's three books. Could be in part because I'm a Whitman fan and Leaves of Grass plays a pretty big role in the book. I think it's just that the book is full of awesome though. It was laugh out loud funny in several places, which is always a bonus. I felt like every word had a purpose--every phrase really was there for a reason. Not an easy thing to pull off. Well, maybe not every *single* one, but you know what I mean. Every scene moved the plot forward. The characters were all three-dimensional and really well-drawn. And I'm always learning something new with Green's work. Do you know what a paper town is? I didn't. I just loved everything about this novel.

Weak Areas

2011-01-18T19:46:00.001-05:00

It's important to know what they are, but it can be hard to assess them. I don't like thinking, man I should really work on X. It's much better to think, I'm really strong in Y and Z. Or the always grandiose and ever-popular, I'm good at everything. I don't know what these agents are talking about, it's not for them.

True, this business is very subjective. But also true, there's always room for improvement. It's a cliche because it's just--well--true. I once read a post by Laurie Halse Anderson in which she gave revision advice that's stuck with me ever since. To paraphrase: When revising a project, don't ask yourself, what's wrong with this? Because your answer will tend to (somewhat defensively) be: Nothing. It's perfect. Instead, ask yourself, how can I make this better? There's always a way you can do that.

One of those ways is to work on your weak areas. It's always fun to work on the things that you're good at for obvious reasons. However, it's important to cross-train, so to speak.

That's why I'm going to do a lot of reading, a little bit of soul-searching, and a ton of thinking about theme, symbolism, setting/description/world-building, and secondary characters. Secondary characters are starting to really come together for me, but I'm still not where I want to be with them yet. It's so easy to fall into the trap of stereotypes...

At least I'm starting to own up to those weak areas! Let's see how this goes.

Happy MLK Day

2011-01-17T12:11:00.002-05:00

Because I think this is one of the best, most important speeches ever made on race and empathy. On compassion and living in harmony with others. I hope that one day, Dr. King's dream will come true. Not only having lip service paid to it, but truly realized. That people of all colors will accept one another. I'm not talking about on the surface--I'm talking about fully and completely. No more self-segregation on all sides. I'm not singling out any one group here. No more of this immigration nonsense. One day, maybe all people really will judge others by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.

And now, Dr. King's speech. It's important, relevant, and says everything that needs to be said.

Post of the Week

2011-01-13T19:07:00.000-05:00

Author L.K. Madigan has some difficult news to share today.

She's the YA author of Flash Burnout and The Mermaid's Mirror. She also seems like a genuinely honest and great person. She also definitely believes in paying it forward when it comes to writing.

Visit her blog and share your thoughts with her if you feel so inclined.

Treat others well. Try to keep things in perspective. Life is precious.

Pitchapalooza and Kids' Books

2011-01-11T21:49:00.001-05:00

So, the Book Doctors are holding this thing called Pitchapalooza all around the country. It's been described as American Idol for books. They were just down the road from me this past fall! I should've gone. I'm sad I didn't, but these things happen.

In any case, they did an interview on the HuffPo with Jennifer Laughran of the Andrea Brown Agency. She's a fantastic kid lit agent I met last year at the Big Sur Workshop. This interview is great for covering the basics of getting a children's book published. And any time you can read an interview w/ Jen, you should. They're always entertaining and informative. As is her blog.

The Science of Kissing

2011-01-10T05:15:00.003-05:00

So, as I'm sure many pre-published authors often do, (and I consider myself pre-published when it comes to YA. I have to come by it honestly just like any other writer who hasn't published a YA yet) I often ask myself why would anyone want to read a book like Kiss Virgin? The thing that worries me most is that my premise might seem far-fetched to some. I think it makes sense, but then again, I wrote the book. So I'm a little biased.

In any case, I was extremely excited to come across this book, The Science of Kissing. I haven't read it yet, but it sounds fascinating. It's non-fiction written by a biologist. To sum it up very loosely, it asks the question, Just what makes kissing so special? That's interesting because that very question was one of the things that sparked my interest in writing Kiss Virgin. So, today, I'm a little less neurotic about my WIP. Which helps. Because, while I won't say much about it on the blog for many reasons, I will will say this: I am currently in query purgatory.

Now, off to read and write and maybe even do a little cleaning. And at some point, I have to see if I can find The Science of Kissing at the library. It almost seems like fate that I came across this book. In all, this is a very good day. I feel a little less like my book idea is totally insane.

The Last Post of 2010: YA Reading Challenge

2010-12-30T23:33:00.000-05:00

So I kinda failed a little bit at the reading challenge. I read more than 25 books this year, but not all of them were YA. My favorite non-YA of the year was probably Robert Goolrick's A Reliable Wife. I haven't read the hype-of-the-moment favorites yet like The Help (which I bought my mom for Christmas and plan on eventually stealing--erm, borrowing) or the Larsson books. Or any of the others.

There are so many books I'm looking forward to in 2011, both already published and to be published. I need to pick up the speed here!

I hope you had many great reads in 2010, and I wish you many more in 2011.

Happy New Year!

Write What You Know

2010-12-28T21:43:00.000-05:00

Sherry Gloag had a great guest post on this today with author friend Pepper. Check it out here.

It's always fun and interesting to take a look at writing what you know. And the adventures Pepper's had! Makes for good writing.

Now, off to critique queries and work on mine.

And...We're Back

2010-12-27T20:29:00.000-05:00

Christmas was wonderful! And I hope yours was as well, should you be a Christmas-celebrating type. I can't believe we actually had a white Christmas. First time ever (that I can remember) that we've had something like that. Kind of spectacular. Even if it did make getting home a bit of a challenge. Not too bad, though. And it was kind of exciting to get a chance to use the four-wheel drive. The snow was a lot worse at my parents' though. I got back here and asked, where's all the snow? We got a little last night, and by tonight, it's most-to-all melted-ed. :( Ah well. Such is life. It was good while it lasted.

And now, back to work. I'm resolving to read and write more and play on the internet less. This is my "practice week" so I'll be all ready to do just that when the New Year comes in.

Going to spend NYE with my friend I haven't seen in ages! It feels so good to get out, live life. Seriously. Thinking about other things (like, ahem, querying) makes me feel like I'm suffocating a little bit. So instead, I think about happier things. Like friends. Family. AWP conference! *So excited* it's in D.C. this year. I just registered, so let me know if you're gonna be there.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays, Everybody!

2010-12-23T07:08:00.001-05:00

I'll be back to blogging on Monday. 'Til then, have a great Christmas weekend!

Happy Holidays!

Virginia Festival Book

2010-12-22T21:30:00.000-05:00

I got an invite to attend today! I'm SO excited. My day is Saturday, March 19.

This festival is amazing. The best thing about it? It's in Charlottesville. My favorite place in the world. And there are always such great authors and events. This year, the Grishams are hosting an evening with Kathryn Stockett on the first night of the festival. Last year, the agent panel was fantastic and featured Jenny Bent, Laura Rennert, and several other fantastic agents. I can't wait for this year's festival!

I can't believe I've actually been invited to present. At one of my favorite book events. It's like an early Christmas present!

More info about the festival here.

Tuesday

2010-12-21T19:24:00.000-05:00

Only Tuesday, and I'm ready for Thursday! At least this is a short week...

Yesterday was fun yet chaotic. Hence, no post. Sorry about that.

Today is...I have a headache and I'm feeling whiny day. So...not much of a post. :)

I'm so behind, man. And I haven't even done any Christmas shopping yet. I know, I know.

So my cop-out post/shameless promotion. I won't make a habit out of this...promise... And to make up for this, I'll have something insightful to say (or at least something to say) about writing tomorrow.

I've created a Goodreads Giveaway for my book, The Davis Years! Check it out here if you would like to do so.

Post of the Week

2010-12-16T22:09:00.002-05:00

This is a new feature I'm starting in a quite impromptu manner. Coming up with four topics a week is getting difficult. In an effort to prevent another blog hiatus/visit more blogs, I'm going to do a post of the week feature on Thursdays. Every week, I'll pick a post from my handy dandy Google Reader, talk about it here, and link to it. Mostly writing-related, I would imagine. However, I also follow music blogs and a few other randoms, so you never know. And the Huff Post is a blog, so it's also fair game. We'll see.

This week's post is...because I often rant (includes mumbling to myself) about putting the STORY first, D&G on that very thing: Dystel & Goderich Yes, language is important, but, to me, it's equally important that the language is going somewhere. Now, I do like subtle novels. And "quiet" novels although different people mean different things by "quiet" when referring to novels. But the novels I like along those lines have STORIES pushing them forward. A character-driven novel still has a story: (usually) the character's story. You don't have to have a high concept/super huge plot to have a story. Not necessarily.

I often get wary of literary fiction because I feel that literary fiction runs the danger more than any other type of leaving the story far behind for the sake of language. Not all literary fiction falls into this trap, but if it's gonna happen, it's more than likely gonna happen here. Truly great writers--"literary" and otherwise--handle both well. And they know when to shut up/how to not let their love of their own words overrun the story.

Theme is a !@#$@!

2010-12-15T21:41:00.000-05:00

It's the part I hate most to tackle, but it's important. It's what unifies the story--brings everything full-circle. It tells your readers what to expect from the beginning without "telling" them per se. And it's so friggin' nebulous and hard to get handle on. Because you don't want to be heavy-handed and obvious. You certainly don't want to preach. You always want to avoid "tell" when you can. But it has to be there.

The way I've heard it, and I think it's true, is that the beginnings are already there. You've written them in earlier drafts thanks to your subconscious. You just have to bring them out, make connections. Only it's easier said than done in my opinion. Probably because I avoid theme more often than not. Because it's one of those dreaded problem areas for me.

An article I read for a class once called it "aboutness" to avoid the dreaded T-word. What is your novel about? I can tell you that. But if I just write "this is a novel about x" in the story, people will go ??? and maybe !!! (in an angry, not excited way) And they'd be 100% right of course. So now I have to make my characters stop dodging me. They have to tell me what's really on their minds--especially when they don't say what they mean and mean what they say.

Or something.

Gotta Get My Life Together

2010-12-14T19:35:00.001-05:00

I have so many things to beta read! I want to comment more on blogs and forums than I currently do. Then there are constant little errand type things that don't get done until the last possible minute because I "don't have time." I say I don't have time for anything. Although I am a legitimately busy person, I waste a lot of time, too. Sometimes, I play on the internet for indeterminate (no, I'm not going to admit to a number) amounts of time, lurking on forums and the like, when I could be: a) editing my own stuff; b) critiquing for others; c) reading something on my huge-and-growing TBR pile; d) doing something else productive!

The funny thing is...I thought I saved so much time by cutting TV out for the most part. Now, it seems like I just transferred most of that time to playing on the internet. I need to come up with a plan. The thing is--I don't like schedules. Never have, never will.

Maybe that'll be my New Year's resolution: to get organized.

How do you get/stay organized?

I Won Books!

2010-12-13T22:35:00.000-05:00

I was the grand prize winner in the YA Muses anniversary blog contest! Check out their blog if you haven't yet--highly recommend it. And take a LOOK at all my swag!

Shiver, Maggie Stiefvater
Paranormalcy, Kiersten White
Shade, Jeri Smith-Ready
Gone, Lisa McMann
The Demon's Lexicon, Sarah Rees Brennan
The Demon's Covenant, Sarah Rees Brennan

Amanda's Interview

2010-12-08T21:31:00.002-05:00

It was so great, I'm directing you back to it (in case you haven't read it yet) instead of posting something new tonight: Read this.

Amassing A Craft Library

2010-12-07T08:33:00.001-05:00

I've been thinking about this for a while. So I'm going to do a post on the craft books I've read and the ones I want to read.

There's so much good info out there on craft. And with so many excellent industry blogs out there, you really don't even have to buy a book--especially if money is tight. However, I think craft books are a worthy complement to the blogs.

Why do you need someone to tell you how to write? You don't. I think the best way to use craft information is by thinking of it as information to help you when you're stuck. When a critique partner doesn't like something and neither of you can quite figure out why, when you know something doesn't work and you don't know how to fix it, and in similar situations, rely on craft info. Use it to make your writing better. After all, people who paint by numbers don't create masterpieces, but the great painters all had to learn their craft before they created their masterpieces. In other words, it's not about following instructions. It's about applying what you've learned in creative ways.

As Noah Lukeman says in The First Five Pages, there's really no way to teach teach good writing, but writers can be taught how to avoid bad writing. And there's nothing like having a piece of writing advice really resonate with you. If you read a whole book on writing, and you only take away one thing that helps you improve your writing, in my opinion, reading that book was time well spent.

You take from these books what you can use. And a lot of what these authors had to say about craft made sense to me.

On Writing - A great practical guide/memoir by an awesome writer.

How to Write a Great Book for Young Adults - Excellent insider view from an agent.

Writing and Selling the YA Novel - Excellent insider view from someone who's been on both sides of the process. And she's written some hands-down amazing books. If you haven't read Fat Kid Rules the World, go do it. Now. Trust me.

The First Five Pages - Veteran agent breaks down the basics.

Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies - Great how-to guide.

Bird by Bird - haven't read it yet, but I've heard it's amazing.

Save The Cat - same as above.

Interview With Amanda Borenstadt, Author of Syzygy

2010-12-06T07:25:00.004-05:00

Amanda Borenstadt is the author of Syzygy, available at Smashwords and Amazon. She also blogs at A Fortnight of Mustard. And she's got a lot of fascinating writing projects happening right now! Read about them below.

1. How long have you been writing?

That depends on when you start counting. My parents recently unearthed some books I wrote as a kid. One was about fish named Tish I wrote in fifth grade. In many ways I understood plot better then than I do now, but my dialogue was flat. I failed to capture the fishiness of the character.

I quit writing fiction at some point in high school and didn't pick it up again until a few years ago when I started writing stories about my teenage daughter going on adventures with Doctor Who and Sirius Black. I wrote a few more fan fiction stories. Then my husband said, "Why don't you write something you can actually publish?"
"Fine," I said. "Maybe I will."

So, I basically began writing Syzygy out of spite. Well, it wasn't called Syzygy back then. It's gone through several title changes.

2. What does "Syzygy" mean?

Syzygy, in general, refers to an alignment of celestial bodies. Specifically, in my novel, it refers to which moon phase one of the Fir Na Gealaí (a fictitious race of people) go into their super powerful "madness phase." Some go crazy in the new moon, others in the full moon. This is an important factor when choosing a spouse. You want to have opposite syzygies. That way, you can tie each other down during your madness times and nobody ends up eating the kids or tearing up the house. A notable Fir Na Gealaí pick up line mentioned in the novel is "Hey baby, what's your syzygy?" I've had people tell me that whole line would have made a good title for the book.

3. Out of all the characters you've created, who is your favorite?

That's tough. It's like choosing one of my kids as my favorite. I think I'll go with Tom. He has the most depth. He began as a wallpaper character, but took off on his own and became extremely important to the story. I don't want to give away the plot, but I'll just say that he has more to him than what meets the eye and he has the most growth out of all of the characters in Syzygy.

I also love Poppy, a character who will come up in another novel I'm working on- the sequel to the zombie novel I'm writing. She's wild and confident when she's running around in nature with her coyote, but unsure of herself around people, especially the handsome self-assured guy she likes. She's forced to find strength within herself to overcome danger from an unexpected source.

4. You did NaNoWrimo 2010. How was that? Tell us about the NaNo experience in general.

I loved NaNo. Last year, I failed miserably. This year I finished on time. Yippee! I still have more to write, but I have a nice start to a zombie apocalypse story set in California called The Last Guy On Earth Who Isn't A Zombie.

It was amazing to push through and write crazily. I couldn't allow myself to agonize over difficult scenes. I had to push through.

5. Why did you choose San Francisco as the main setting for Syzygy?

I live near San Francisco and it's handy to write about a setting one knows well. San Francisco is a fascinating setting. You've got bridges, treasure island, an amazing skyline. There are interesting buildings and people. The characters eventually travel across the country and it took some research to learn about the topography and weather at different times of year.

6. Tell us about projects you currently have in the works.

Now that I have the skeleton of my zombie novel worked out, I'll be working on that. I've also started its sequel, called Twelve Keys, which is set roughly thirty years after. There are no more zombies, but California has been transformed. Most of the modern era has sunken into the earth to be replaced by an 1850's gold rush California. So, you have a mixture of old and new culture plus the occasional magical creature wandering about. I wrote a short story called "An Odd Friendship," published at LitSnack, that will give you a taste of that world and the two main characters. See the sidebar of my blog for a link to that and my other short stories.

7. What excites you most about the future of publishing? (E-books, iPad, whatever comes to mind.)

I'm excited about all sorts of digital publishing. People can carry around a whole library on one little device. I'll always love books made of paper, though.

I'd love to write a super tricked out e-book where the reader can click on songs to listen to what the characters listen to, hidden pictures, videos (A Finn-cam where we follow him as he leaps onto buildings or rides his motorcycle would have been cool.)

8. What is your favorite/least favorite thing about the writing process?

I struggle with action scenes. I love writing dialogue, but action scenes give me nightmares, particularly when they involve multiple characters. The battle in the abandoned pickle factory in Syzygy gave me no end of trouble.

But mostly, I'm daunted by the publishing aspect. Composing a query letter is more agonizing than writing a fight scene with forty-two characters, but even if your novel is amazing, no agent will even look at the first page unless they like your query letter. Publishing short stories is simpler. Most publishers simply want to see the story.

9. Tell us something unique about Bea and Finn. Favorite color, place, word, etc. Anything.

Finn loves gadgets, electronics, and computers. He's an avid reader of Scientific American and other science and tech magazines and he's wild about shopping at ThinkGeek.com. Part of this is a reaction against his father whom Finn views as superstitious and old fashioned. Finn has a particular interest in high-tech flashlights, which is odd because, having super-human night vision, he has no need of such a thing. He likes black walnut ice cream. If you asked his favorite color, he'd say he didn't care or say "blue" just because it's the first color he'd think of. His favorite word is "Beatrice," and his favorite place is anywhere she is, but he wouldn't tell you that lest you think him a sap.

Bea loves mint chocolate chip ice cream, but only the green kind. She's a bit insane about that. Her favorite place is the creek behind her house, which is in a little suburb of San Francisco. She and her best friend, Sam went there to play since they were small.

If you ask Bea what her favorite word is when she's in a silly mood she'll say, "diphthong," or "banana," but if you catch her in a more poetic mood, she'll say, "chatoyant" and feel very proud that she knows what it means. She'll also hope that you don't know its meaning so that she can tell you.

10. How do you choose names for your characters?

This is one of the most fun aspects to writing. There's usually an excellent reason for their names, even if I cannot recall what it was months after naming them. I look at meanings of names and think about historical figures or characters from old tales. For instance, Finn's named after a character in an ancient Irish legend.

I try to be sure the names won't be confused within a story. So, I usually don't want two characters with names that begin with the same sound unless I want the reader to somehow connect them. Just because I said this, someone will discover some story where I had two characters with similar names for no good reason at all. LOL

If I'm stuck between two or more names, I'll ask whoever is close at hand which name to choose. My husband picked Bea's name out of several I had been considering. Sam's name I took from the name my first daughter would have had if she'd been a boy- "Samuel." Some of the first lines I ever gave him were funny little things my daughter had said. I named a shopkeeper in my new novel after our cat.

You just want to be careful that if your character just happens to have the same name as someone you know, they don't think you're patterning the character after them. They might not be flattered. And of course, if you kill off the character, they could be rather upset.

Thanks for visiting us, Amanda! Hope you can do it again soon!

ABNA

2010-12-02T22:23:00.000-05:00

So the 2011 ABNA contest has been announced.

This is the thing that got me taking writing seriously--past hobby level--so I'm truly a fan of this contest. Then, the following year, it taught me how to write a query. Yes, I started out woefully--beyond woefully--ignorant about the publishing process. I'm not ashamed to admit it (now that I know better). I didn't enter last year because I finally learned my lesson about entering manuscripts that weren't ready. Why waste my time? But, this year, I actually have something ready. Sort of. My plan is to see how querying is going by the end of January. I'll decide whether or not to enter accordingly.

I was fairly devastated when I realized last year that not ONLY were they adding a YA category but SARAH DESSEN was the YA author judge, and I didn't have anything ready to enter! But I feel better now that there's another awesome YA author judge this year: Gayle Forman. So that's PFA.

The great thing about this contest is that a whole community has built up around it--forums and everything. Also, if you're lucky enough to make the first cut, you get some great feedback at all the subsequent levels. So, even if you don't make the final cut, you still take a valuable experience away with you.

Whether or not I decide to enter, I'll follow the contest. I always do. Exciting. Kind of like 2d Christmas.

Don't forget: Author Interview with Amanda Borenstadt, author of Syzygy, on Monday!

Interview On the Blog

2010-12-01T21:52:00.000-05:00

Hi Blog Readers!

Guess what? I have a surprise! Okay, the title of this post kind of gave it away, but...I'm interviewing one of my author friends for the blog Monday!

Monday, I'll post an interview with Amanda Borendstadt, a fantastic person and author of Syzygy. This is an amazing book that I had the privilege of watching take shape. The kind of book that sticks with you. I still think about it months after reading it.

I met Amanda through a critique group, and that group was where Syzygy was born. I enjoyed it MUCHLY, and I'm sure you will too. I highly recommend that you check Syzygy out.

I hope you'll stop by Monday and learn more about Amanda and Syzygy.

Cheers!

Content

2010-11-30T23:00:00.002-05:00

I love my job.

I (think I've) figured what I'm trying to accomplish as a writer.

I love D.C.

All is well.

Isn't it great to have things just the way you want them? This has never happened before. I just keep waiting for something bad to happen to balance it all out. Then again, perhaps my giant, looming student loan debt is the great balancer and all will be fine.

Plus, I'm sure I'll feel plenty of "balance" once those rejections start rolling in at the end of Dec./beginning of Jan. ...

Winner!!!!!!!!

2010-11-29T20:07:00.000-05:00

I won I won I won!

Final word count: 55,849 (The novel is a hot mess, and I won't dare look at it for many many long whiles!)

All I have to say is... WHEE!!!

If you're still NaNo'ing: PUSH THROUGH your last two days! I know you can do it!

If you've won already: CONGRATS!

The only thing I have left to say is:

New Projects

2010-11-24T18:53:00.000-05:00

So I have this idea I love for a novel. I think I'm going to put my NaNo revisions off for several months and work on this novel full steam ahead instead. The NaNo was kind of an experiment for me, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It may be headed for the drawer, but for now, it's in limbo. Poor NaNo--it's not even finished yet!

But back to my idea I like a lot: I'm going to try writing long hand. I haven't written a novel in long-hand in ages. It's kind of an experiment. To see how things go if I don't skip ahead, but instead write the novel one chapter at a time. Typically, I write out of order. Just write scenes as they come to me. That's one of the main reasons I like writing on the computer.

But I'm all for trying new things lately when it comes to writing. There are advantages to this. It'll force me to unplug--no temptation (or less because I have to turn on the computer to do it) to check email when I get stuck in the middle of a scene. Or play on the internet/check Amazon sales rank. And so on. Plus, if I have ideas for future scenes, I can always make notes and revisit those ideas once I reach those future points in the novel.

I'm also interested in how the process will go. I'll have more time to think through my words if I'm writing them out longhand. I dunno. I definitely don't think I'll go this way for every novel. But I want to try it. Just like back in high school. And college. I think it'll be kinda fun. I'm going to go out and buy a fresh new notebook and some new pens just for the occasion. And I'll start writing this novel which I'll probably hate once it's no longer a theory/dream/fantasy in my head while I'm in query purgatory this January. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

NaNo word count: 45, 020

The Writing

2010-11-23T19:04:00.001-05:00

First and foremost, the writing should be a labor of love. Because you don't know if you'll ever get paid for it or not. And if you're doing it just to get paid--and there is no passion--chances are you'll never get there anyway. Yes, publishing is a business. But, this is also a long, long journey. If you're not in it for the love of writing before all else, you probably won't make it from idea to ARC. Yes, there are exceptions to every rule. I dunno about you, but I don't like to hang all my hopes on statistic anomalies.

Secondly, it takes time. I know, you've heard it before, but patience is key. It's KILLING me not to query. But you know what? I have been successfully fighting the urge for months. And I do mean MONTHS. But despite all the anxious feelings and dreaming of full requests, I've managed to hold off because I know the book's not ready. And I know that even if I'm lucky enough to get requests for more material, I'll still have to wait for agents to read the manuscript, for an offer of rep if I make it that far, and so on. So, I try to step back, not freak out, and still live life. I never tell people I can't go out after work or hang out on the weekends because I have a novel to write. I definitely make time for my writing, though. Balance is key. Key to not going crazy. Key to not building up resentment of the process. Key to a lot of things.

Thirdly, writerly friends are lifesavers. Seriously. I don't know what I'd do without my critique partners, beta readers, etc. Blog and otherwise online friends. They help me keep things in perspective.

Fourthly, don't over-think it. Yes, work hard. Yes, be aware of what's going on in the industry at least somewhat. Yes, do your research. BUT. Don't drive yourself crazy. Don't write to the market. Don't over-revise (I'm about to run into that danger not quite yet but soon, I think). Go with your gut. If you're wrong, it won't be the end of the world. However, most of the time, it seems that what feels right usually is right. Most of my rejections (so far) have been on material that didn't "feel" right. It's hard to explain, but hopefully you get what I'm trying to say.

Fifthly, read. Read things that interest you. I try to read at least one "literary"(I have so many qualms with that term, I don't know where to start) book a year that I have no particular interest in because it's one of those "books you should read." Outside of that, I only read things that interest me. This is a breakthrough for me. I used to read things that I thought I should read because they were by "real" writers. "Real" writing is writing the reader connects with--something the reader wants to read. Therefore, things I'm interested in must be "real" writing. Besides, if you're not reading like this, you're probably not writing things that truly interest you. Meaning, you're probably not writing what you're truly passionate about. Which is a mistake. See #1. Most simply put: write the book you've always wanted to read.

Sixthly, call yourself a writer. I know, it's weird. Feels a little funny. You don't feel legit. But unless you can say it, you won't believe it. It's much harder to look at writing as a career instead of a hobby unless you believe it. I know, you may be rolling your eyes at this one. But do you think of yourself as a writer? Or just as someone who sometimes writes down some words when the mood strikes? If you already think of yourself as a writer, fantastic. You're where you need to be. It took me a long time to buy into this one.

Seventhly, don't be afraid to write crap. Seriously. It's not the end of the world, and it's not written in stone. Probably not anyway. Unless you have a thing for slate tablets.

Eighthly, because it bears repeating, HAVE FUN.

NaNo word count: 43,806

So...

2010-11-22T18:33:00.000-05:00

...I've almost made it! I'm so close, I can *just see* that finish line! Whee!!! I had a very productive NaNo-filled weekend.

For me, this is the best part of NaNo. You're still writing (though NaNo is a beast, I'm always sad to see it go), but the end is near! The win actually feels attainable! Best of both worlds.

I'm not really sure what to cover today, so...hm...

Let's talk about what I'm reading and what I'm about to read. Future comp titles! I'm currently reading C.K. Kelly Martin's The Lighter Side of Life and Death. LOVE the concept. Next on the list is another book whose concept I love: Jennifer Hubbard's The Secret Year. Then, after that, I think I'm going to tackle some non-fiction. Then on to Paper Towns by the awesome John Green and other books on my reading challenge list. I've gotten my 25, but I want to see if I can also finish all the books that were on my original list. I've added quite a few over the year.

NaNo word count: 40,569 (and I haven't written yet today!)

What's In A Title?

2010-11-18T23:08:00.003-05:00

It took me *forever* to come up with a title I liked for KV. I've changed the title several times. The last change was slight, but made all the difference for me.

Sometimes, a title alone makes me want to read a book. Case in point: Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart by J.C. Oates. After I read the blurb, I wanted to read it even more. I haven't yet, because I'm on a YA kick, but I seriously can't get that title out of my mind. Eventually, the book will be read. By me. How's that for the most awesomely flagrant misuse of passive voice? Ha ha...

But back to titles. What is it about titles that draws us in? Do we perceive them as a microcosm of the book to come? Do they get our minds going in all kinds of creative and crazy directions, making us eager to find out if what we've dreamed up is anything even remotely close to the actual content of the book?

I'm kind of obsessed with titles a little bit. I like thinking them up--even though it can drive me crazy at times. I love analyzing the titles of other books. I love kitschy, overly dramatic, overblown ones. Serious ones. Literary ones. Emo/angsty ones. You get the idea. Hm. That gets me to thinking. Titles kind of set the tone for a book in a way, I guess. They cause you to expect a certain experience.

Anyway...back to NaNo'ing.

NaNo word count: 28,807 (I know, I know. But I'm not done writing for the night yet!)

Every Book Began With a Single Word

2010-11-17T21:43:00.000-05:00

Even Ulysses.

It's important to remember these things.

NaNo pep talks=great invention.

NaNo word count: 28,410

Shut Up, Little Voice. Shut Up

2010-11-16T21:43:00.002-05:00

The one that says: you can't write. All of this is crap. Why don't you give up--leave it to the people who actually have *good* ideas and who write something people want to *read*?

And: cliche. cliche. melodrama. GOD AWFUL cliche. Just bad writing--I don't know what else to say about it.

Oh, and: THAT'S original I've read that scene in some form in about twenty other novels--including some of yours. Can't you come up with one tiny thing that hasn't been done before--and better--by thousands of other people?

Yeah, this, too: I hate this crappy novel give up on it now please while we still have some dignity.

And: corny. This whole novel is a corny pile of @#Q$@#dajfido;afjADFNAFHJO!!!!!

That voice has been with me on full volume ALL day. Just one of those "down" days, I guess that all writers face. So writer friends, if you're having a down day, just remember: you're not alone.

NaNo word count: 27 thousand something another I dunno who cares the whole thing sucks anyway

Bad, Bad NaNo'er

2010-11-15T21:50:00.000-05:00

I pretty much took the weekend off b/c a friend came to visit me. We went to the zoo. All I have to say is...BABY LIONS! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can ANYTHING be so cute?

But on the other hand, I've gotten distracted with revisions I'm not supposed to be working on for another project after taking the weekend off. I'll do anything to procrastinate because this NaNo has hit a sad and stale point. Maybe if I can just get to 30k, all will be well...

And I was doing so well for a while there. Ah well. I know I'll have 50k by Nov. 30. It's just not going down any other way.

Here's to 30k by the end of the week. Hopefully.

NaNo word count: 26,024

To New Beginnings

2010-11-11T18:07:00.001-05:00

To me, experience means learning when you were wrong and owning up to it. And changing for the better as a result of all that.

I have a YA voice. And thank GOODNESS because I love YA. Reading it, writing it, etc.

I'm not afraid to admit that I was wrong. Sometimes, you have to try some things out that don't fit in order to find the thing that does. YA fits me. It's where I belong.

My NaNo is YA. I'm currently revising a YA project that's among the best things I've ever written. (Note: I'm not saying it's among the best things ever written ever in the world, but I consider it a personal best.) I have an amazing critique partner who I'm *so lucky* to have found who's just as crazy about contemporary YA as I am. It's scary (in a good way) how similar our reading tastes are. And her book is *amazing*. I enjoy critiquing it b/c it's so well-written. I feel like I'm becoming a better writer just by reading and analyzing it sometimes.

All that to say, things are good. Life is good. This is freeing, admitting to myself that I was hurtling down the wrong path so that I could stop doing that and find the right one.

So the plan is (now, revised) to find a YA agent who is passionate about my work. Until then? I shall be working on my craft, reading some great YA novels, critiquing, and ENJOYING EVERY MOMENT OF IT! That is all.

In a word? Liberating.

If you're NaNo'ing, I hope your NaNo is going well!

NaNo WC: 24,158

Many Awesome Things Happened Today!

2010-11-10T22:19:00.000-05:00

One of which might or might not have left me slightly inebriated.

One of which is...I entered the November Secret Agent Contest!

So, instead of a real post tonight, I'm going to use my remaining brain cells to do my Secret Agent return critiques.

And if you're interested, you can check out my post here: http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/2010/11/november-secret-agent-36.html

Have a great night! And I'm officially taking the night OFF from NaNo! But don't worry--I don't WORK tomorrow. So I'll be able to make up my night of laziness. :)

There's A Reason for the "NaNoWriMo Ate My Soul" Topic on the Forums

2010-11-09T22:19:00.000-05:00

Yeah, that's pretty much true. I feel like I have nothing left to give! In the spirit of all the melodramatic crap I wrote today, that's all I have for ya. If tomorrow goes like this, it's gonna be a Write or Die day. TG for Write or Die! And word wars! I had my first Twitter word war today. It went well. Felt good to have success on even a crappy writing day.

In other news, I saw a good yet devastating movie today: Never Let Me Go. Did not read the book. However, it must be awesome. Because the movie definitely was.

NaNo word count: 20,555 (Love the triple fives)

Dear MC, I Apologize In Advance

2010-11-08T19:13:00.000-05:00

It's always hard for me to be mean to my characters even though I know the novel is better when I am. I'm supposed to create characters I like and then torture them? What is UP with this writing thing??? I tend to have this problem right around the time of the inciting incident...

So, I think that's where I'm getting stuck on my NaNo right now. I'm at the point where some really bad stuff has to start happening to my MC--and soon--or the book will sputter and die. But I like her so much. I keep going--no! Don't do that. Or stay away from that place--there's trouble over there. I keep wanting to protect her, and I keep sending her away from the conflict where she's safe. Bad, bad, bad, I know. She needs to get into trouble. She needs to be hated. Unintentionally, and through trying to make things better she makes them worse so she's not trying to be a bad person, but she has to become a pariah. Things must go from bad to worse soon. That's kind of the whole point of the book.

I need to get some distance from her and just send her to the bad place(s) where things are scary. Stop being her interfering guardian.

How do you torture characters you have grown attached to???

NaNo Word Count: 16,601 (Not official yet since the site is down at the moment...)

So...I Lied. A Little Bit.

2010-11-04T22:07:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry--I was supposed to come off hiatus on Monday. This has been a hectic week. But it has been a good one.

I was sworn into the Virginia State Bar yesterday. That took up a fair amount of the middle of my week, as it required traveling. Then, NaNo started this week. Considering all the disruption this week, I'm doing pretty well with NaNo--I'm at 7300 words!

I'm a little distracted with this year's NaNo. I keep wanting to just write the big scenes. I'm going to try to slow myself down a little, though. It would be nice to "know" the characters/see how they interact at least somewhat before I start writing scenes that hugely impact their lives. But overall, NaNo is off to a great start. As always, it's exciting to know that thousands of novels are in progress as I'm writing mine. It's the sense of community that makes NaNo so great. I'm going to try to make it to a write-in this weekend. Even better than knowing about those other novels is SEEING them in progress! :)

I hope all is well with you and that you had a good October!

NaNo Word Count: 7300

Blog Hiatus Until November

2010-09-21T11:28:00.001-04:00

Hi,

Sorry I've been MIA recently. Life events way beyond my control have been cropping up, and I've finally had to capitulate. So I'll be back in November to blog about NaNo! My favorite writing event of the year! And I should have plenty of exciting things to tell you about when I get back. Until then, I highly recommend all of the blogs on my blog roll. I'm also going to try to use this time to make more comments on the blogs I'm following.

Have a good beginning to the fall! I'll be back before it ends!

Reflections: 3-Day Novel

2010-09-09T22:22:00.000-04:00

So. I survived. My "novel" is approx. 25,000 crazy words. I realized *after I printed it out* that the first two pages are in first person, and the rest of the novel is not! But that's okay--no editing was allowed anyway. The good news is I think it's kind of salvageable. I'm going to take it from zero draft to first draft at some point before NaNo, I think.

Things I learned/liked: 1) the challenge. I still think I could've made my crazy goal of 15,000 words a day if I hadn't had major interruptions in my writing time on Saturday and Sunday. 2) forcing myself not to think about the words. You know I like the quick and dirty drafts. 3) my first usage(s) of write or die. It's PFA, I've wanted to try it for a while, but I never did. It's really useful in those trying-to-produce-ridiculous-word-counts tight spots we can write ourselves into. (<--Yes. That's a preposition. I'm well aware. Notice how grammarriffic this post is.)

Things I didn't like: 1) Feeling like I didn't know what was going on--in my novel, in life in general, panic that results from taking on herculean tasks. 2) Related to #1, feeling like my novel was spiraling wildly out of control, and there was nothing I could do about it. I had to constantly remind myself that my first drafts are always crap anyway, and that I like it that way. And I'm the person who likes messy first drafts!

But would I do it again? Yes, I think I would. And one day, maybe I'll get those 45,000 words...

3Day, Day 1

2010-09-05T00:27:00.003-04:00

Exhausted. All I can say is...I'm exhausted. It's been a long day, and I only got to spend part of it writing. So...yeah. I'm already 8,500 words behind where I wanted to be right now. So that means a little sleep/re-charging and then I'll try this thing again tomorrow. Can I catch up and get where I want to be? Eh. I'm gonna try. That's all I'm committing to right now...

In The Zone

2010-09-03T20:34:00.000-04:00

So, it's Friday evening. 3day starts in less than four hours (in my time zone). I'm trying to be in it to win it. So that means...I'm going to try to unplug completely this weekend with one exception. My internet time--until Tuesday morning--will be spent only on this blog. And that's only because I want to blog the experience "in the moment" so to speak.

Here's my plan: Write eight hours a day. I plan to take breaks because my back will appreciate it--not to mention my poor brain. But eight hours a day. In those eight hours, I'm going to attempt to amass 15K. For a total of a 45K novel. Wow! I wonder if I'll actually have 45K by 11:59PM Monday...part of the excitement, right?

I'm not hoping to win--I don't even want to win. All I want is a first draft of this novel that's been floating around in my head forever (I mean, as in, for almost two years) so that I can tuck it away until I'm ready to deal with it later. I don't like first drafts, in case you didn't know that about me. I prefer the quick and dirty first draft. I'm big on the revising. And...what's quicker and dirtier than a 3day novel?

In any case, I plan to give this novel a LONG breather. Heck, I may not even come back to it. One of the reasons I want to do this contest is to see if there's anything *to* this idea of mine. I never really know until I commit the idea to paper (or computer--whatev). And this idea is very iffy, so it's 3day-perfect. And if I think this novel is worth revising, I'll come back to it at some point in 2011 or 2012. I'm in no rush. It's a YA (sort of) and I've put the YA writing on a semi-hold while I'm on an all-out mission with the adult romance writing.

I've outlined it. Rare for me, I know. But I figured I needed to do something in order to have some kind of shot of getting this novel written. Plus, when an idea is two years old...you kinda have some time to make notes about it. Yanno? Well, as much as I'm capable of outlining. :) I have my characters pretty well thought out and I know some of the stuff they're going to do. I'm pretty sure I know the climax, the protagonist's Big Choice, and the ending. And that's good enough for now.

So yeah. I would tell you about the novel tonight, but...what would I blog about tomorrow when I'm half brain-dead? :) I have a feeling I need an easy blog topic for tomorrow since it'll be my first day of a 3day experience ever. Plus, I'll probably have more to say about it once I start writing it.

Facebook Is A Time Suck

2010-09-02T21:29:00.001-04:00

Seriously. And one of the places where it's okay to stalk/spy on people. Oh, the internets. What did we do before FB? Oh. That's right. Actually interact with people. I guess it's not all bad. But still. And I haven't been on there in a really long time. And now I need to go back to not going on there. Because...it's seriously a black hole, swallowing productive hours as quick as anything. You never even see it coming!

And...that is my opinion of FB the time suck. I'm probably just jealous. If only I'd come up with it...I'd be writing full-time by now...

Update: I bit the bullet. Stopped wimping out. I signed up officially for 3day!!! What will happen???

Update Update: I have a temporary place to live in the DC area. I'm feeling a little less out of sorts.

Blogging

2010-09-01T23:13:00.000-04:00

So, I've been thinking about it. What's this blog *about*? I sometimes talk about writing, sometimes talk about life, sometimes talk about nothing. So. I'm wondering. Should I get a theme or something?

I'm tired and today was a bum rush. So no real post today.

Finding a place to live is work. It's like I have three jobs right now.

I want to write, but I feel so guilty because I'm super behind on crits and such.

I need to come up with some sort of plan for all the things I need to accomplish by the end of the year. Maybe one of those things will be giving the blog some type of structure/theme.

I dunno. Okay. Out of random thoughts. Starting tomorrow: 3day posts. Tomorrow and Friday will be pre-3day posts. Sat. Sun. Mon.=in-the-thick-of-it posts.

Adieu.

Disappearing Acts

2010-08-31T21:29:00.002-04:00

That reminds me of Terry McMillan who *finally* has a new novel coming out! Exciting! Getting to Happy

But, yeah, I disappeared on you a little bit, huh? Sorry, but I really had a good reason this time. I was working on the final edits for The Davis Years! I'll be sending it back to the publisher tomorrow. Whew. Edits are exhausting. But it's rewarding to see your story taking a better and more definite shape. I heart my critique partners. Without them...the road would be much bumpier.

I'll be working on edits for other things for a while. Life will get in the way as I must find a place to live (that I'll actually have to pay for--no more free living with the parents. *Grumble, grumble, grumble*). And I have stuff to do to get ready for the new job, too. I'll be working on edits and critiques, but I won't be doing any completely new writing for a while. With the exception of this weekend.

I'm doing 3day Novel!!! I've decided not to register as money is tight right now and I need every penny for my upcoming move to the DC area (finally). Besides, for me, it's more about seeing if I can do it. I don't care about winning the contest. I'm treating it like an abbreviated NaNo--actually doing the darn thing is "winning" for me. So I'll be blogging through the experience, which means I'll be blogging over the weekend for the first time in a long time.

I Have A Job!!!

2010-08-25T23:28:00.001-04:00

Yes! The rumors are true. I have procured full-time employment! So now I must orchestrate a move, work on some editing type things, and do other stuff. That leaves me a little too tired for any real blogging tonight. But let me just say...

WHEE!!! JOB SEARCH IS OVER!!!

That is all.

Soap Operas

2010-08-24T19:36:00.002-04:00

I've always loved soap operas, but I know not everyone shares my "undying love." And I have an idea about why this is. Melodrama. Sometimes it makes the soaps exciting, but there are a fair number of times it leads to "wtf" moments. In fact, I've had to stop watching some soaps because of an unforgivable excess of "wtf" moments.

I think melodrama comes from not gradually building scenes from low to high emotion-wise. And from not giving a reason for the action. Someone from my critique group once said you can do anything you want in a story, but you'd better have a good reason for it. I think that's true. And I think that's why people (even me occasionally) get fed up with the soaps.

So, in my opinion, melodrama kills a story. It makes readers angry. More often than not, it probably makes your characters irrational in ways you didn't intend. And going back through some things I wrote earlier and revising them, I've noticed a fair amount of melodrama. I think it comes from not defining character arcs well enough--from not knowing characters well enough. When you know the characters well, the conflict comes from them, and you don't have to try to force it from external events that might or might not make sense. Just a thought.

Yes, you always have to move your story forward, but you have to do it in a rational way. Give your characters reasons to do stuff. Give your characters motivations. Give your characters problems. Fill 'em up with stuff. It'll make your life easier when you get to revisions. I think.

No Real Post Today, But...

2010-08-23T21:05:00.000-04:00

You can listen to an interview I did earlier tonight with Conversations Live here.

Happy Monday! Tomorrow: it's a surprise... :)

Why I Don't Outline

2010-08-19T20:57:00.001-04:00

Or something. This speech I found on the Hunger Mountain website got me thinking about it. I'm starting to become more of an outliner--a very vague outliner--but I don't think I'll ever be a serious outliner. And here's why: I don't want to stifle the surprises.

I feel like a story comes to me--it finds me. I don't find it. I'm not saying I wait for the muse to show up or that I only write when I feel "inspired" or any other derivative of that. I write a lot and a lot of it is crap. A lot of it is crap kind of by necessity because I've realized...you can't force a story.

So this is usually how it goes. I come up with some characters and a starting point, a premise, an idea. Whatever you want to call it. I see where it goes from there. I kind of almost completely make it up as I go along. Occasionally I'll throw in some sketchy outlining if I get an idea for a part of the story I'm not ready to write out yet. It's all kind of haphazard and messy. And fun. The possible downside is I write a LOT of drafts. I'm probably up to draft number seven or so at least for The Davis Years. Kind of lost count a while ago. :) I say "possible" downside because I've come to like revising even though I complain about it sometimes. Okay, kind of a lot. Anyway, I like making my writing better and that's what revising is all about. So to sum up, I'd rather revise a lot than outline.

But the point I'm trying to make (or was trying to before I went on my tangent) is that somewhere along the way, I find the story. I might write for many pages before I realize why I'm writing what I'm writing. It all depends on how strong my starting point was. But by the end of the first draft, I see my story taking shape. And with each draft, it becomes clearer and clearer--theme(s), voice, etc. come out more with each draft.

Therefore, for me, outlining would be a waste of time in a way because knowing me and my sort of scattered brain, I'd end up scrapping my outline and starting it over every 20-40 pages or so.

And so, I don't outline. I do write a pitch very early on in the process--like maybe before I get to page 10. And I work on a synopsis when I need to think about the big picture--but that's usually toward the middle to end of the first draft or after the first draft is complete. But no outline unless you count those.

Why Do I Love Sad Love Stories? (Found this in my drafts. Thought I'd Post it.)

2010-08-18T21:26:00.001-04:00

And write ones with happy endings? I think my true happiness lies somewhere in between. I like sad and/or tumultuous love stories that end happily or at least hopefully. But too sad and even if I like a love story, I can't take watching/reading it again. No matter how much I love it. For instance, Nicholas Sparks devastates me. I want to say, no! Why do you always have to kill one of them off??? To further explore this, let's take a look at some of my favorite love stories (in no particular order).

I guess I'm kind of a fiction sadist in that I like to see the characters' love for each other tested to the extremes. And I'm a flaw girl. The more flaws? The better:

Romeo and Juliet (The exception that proves the rule: It kills me, but I can't watch enough versions of it and it's the only Shakespeare play I've willingly re-read.)

Circle of Friends - God, I really love this one. Benny Hogan tugged at my heart strings. This is possibly my favorite tortured love story.

The Bodyguard (!!!) - I can't hear "I Will Always Love You" without thinking about how much I loved the ending to this movie.

Wicker Park (!!!) - I love how sad they are and how they pine for each other for practically the entire movie, so unaware of how close everything they want really is. Their hearts are broken by outside forces, but they never completely give up on each other. In the end, nothing can keep Matthew and Lisa apart--not even the obsessive and conniving Alex. And I love how I was made to sympathize with Alex even though she did so many despicable things.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (!!!) - This is probably the most definitive example of what I mean. I think I could watch this movie every day and never get sick of it. Joel and Clementine? Man, to say they suffer for their love doesn't even begin to cover it all. She has him erased from her mind for goodness sakes.

Wuthering Heights - Heathcliff. Oh, poor Heathcliff. I fell in love with his tortured love for Cathy. That's all I have to say. I think that's all I need to say. Hey, I never said I was normal.

New Moon (My fave of the series hands-down) - Jacob and Bella. That is all.

Circle of Friends Award

2010-08-18T21:05:00.001-04:00

Amanda gave me this award so I'm going to pass it on to five lovely bloggers out here in the blogging world and then go tell them they have a shiny new award from me. I love it--another for my collection:

Sharde
Angie
Sherry
Lisa
Ebony

Tomorrow: some thoughts on some books I like. Or something.

Puerto Rico and an Interview with Me

2010-08-17T20:35:00.000-04:00

I had an amazing week in San Juan. I've never been so sad to come home from vacation. Really. The food was life changing. In seven days, I only had one bad food experience. Just one! The top three: 1) black rice with seafood; 2) Italian (I know, I know, but I've never had better in my LIFE) at Carli's in Old San Juan. The pasta primavera and creme brulee nearly killed me with their deliciousness. And I usually don't care for creme brulee all that much. Thank goodness they were out of brownies that night or I never would have known; and 3) yam fritters and stuffed crab pastry appetizers at Yerba Buena. I. Nearly. Died. And best Mojitos ever. Plus, a super fantastic trip to the Bacardi Factory which combined several wonderful things: learning cool architectural and cultural history stuff, rum, and finding out why the bat is on the Bacardi labels.

I spent many hours on the beach and by the pool. LOVED it. I read so many fantastic books. I'll probably talk more about them later, but here's what I read: Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You, Fat Kid Rules The World, Looking for Alaska, Someone Like You, Liar, and I started Blame It On Paradise. All wonderfully engrossing books. If you haven't read them yet...why not? :)

Just a lovely break from reality overall. I'm definitely going back someday. Puerto Rico is definitely a repeat vacation destination. And I have to go to El Yunque--the rain forest. I didn't make it there on this trip (was too lazy. Wanted to read and sleep in the sun), but I've always wanted to go to a rain forest and I'm a fan of Puerto Rico so...yeah. One day.

And also: Conversations Live is interviewing me! I shall be discussing Love Out of Order and probably other writer type things. Pop on over to blogtalk radio and check it out if you're so inclined: August 23, 2010 at 8:30 PM.

OMG Guess who Guess who Guess who???

2010-08-16T19:59:00.000-04:00

I'm back! On schedule as I said I would be for once! As promised, I'm planning on getting back to my regularly scheduled blogging--Monday thru Thursday starting today. While...looking for full time employment, interning, critiquing, reading, editing, writing, and generally ruling the universe.

I have so much to tell you!!! I read so many books over my *lovely* vacay in Puerto Rico. And I ate good (melty well-seasoned excellence...) food, and enjoyed the, erm, scenery. More on all that tomorrow. First, I have this SUPER EXCITING announcement for you!!!

My friend, wonderful author person and amazing person person, Amanda Borenstadt has published her first novel, Syzygy! It's incredible, such a great read, you should go get it right now. It's a fun fantasy/paranormal romance type book with no werewolves, no vampires, no fairies--well, what then? Go check it out and see. There's also plenty of adventure and you'll fall in love with the characters from moment one--especially Finn and Bea! And Sam! And don't you love that title? :) So go get it. Now. You can also visit the fan page on Facebook.

K-so...that's about it for today. Oh, and don't forget about the contest. (See the post under this one)

I'll be back tomorrow! Two posts in a row. When was the last time that happened?...

Love Out of Order Half-Birthday Celebration

2010-08-03T20:55:00.000-04:00

Hi!

I'm off to Puerto Rico in the morning, so I thought I'd make a quick post about my Love Out of Order Birthday Celebration Month/Contest. I'll be giving away five free copies of Love Out of Order at the end of this month! Here's all you have to do to enter:

Just leave me a comment! And do one of the following:

1. Post about this contest somewhere: blog, twitter, forum, anywhere. Post a comment here with a link so I can see where you spread the word.
2. Follow me on twitter or follow this blog if you don't already. Post a comment letting me know.
3. Bring me new followers! :)

At the end of the month, I'll use a random number generator to pick the five winners. See you next week!

I Survived the Bar Exam!

2010-07-29T21:55:00.000-04:00

The big, bad test is over!!! Shortest blog post in the history of this blog just to tell you that. :)

I hope to get back to regular posting when I return from PUERTO RICO! Expect regular Monday-Thursday postings starting Aug. 16. Until then, it's a grab bag!

Happy Almost Half-Birthday, Love Out of Order!

2010-07-21T12:05:00.000-04:00

This time next week, I'll be taking the bar exam. (!!!) But there's happy news in the world, too.

August 2d is Love Out of Order's half birthday! In honor of that, I'll be giving away five copies. Stay tuned for details: Love Out of Order Half Birthday Contest! Starting August 2d. Hope your summers/vacations/etc. are going well! And more exclamation points since I'm not allowed to use them in my manuscripts and I can do what I want on the blog: !!!!!!!!!

Writing Contest Coming Soon over at Writers And Authors

2010-07-06T18:10:00.000-04:00

Hi,

I wish I had more time for blogging, I really do, but we're entering the last three week push pre-bar right now. And for an extra little treat, the simulated multistate exam schooled me today. It just owned me. That's all there is to tell...

In happier news...a writing contest! Coming up over at the Writers And Authors blog. Visit the blog for more info: http://writersandauthors.blogspot.com/2010/06/w-writing-contest-coming-soon.html Also, the blog has lots of helpful info for writers. It's definitely worth checking out, friends.

Okay. Off to the gym. Then, an evening of (almost) not studying because after a six hour practice test? Yeah...kind of need it.

You Take Your Friends As You Find Them

2010-06-18T23:23:00.002-04:00

There's this doctrine in tort law. I won't bore you with the details, but it boils down to this: you take your plaintiff as you find her. I think it works much the same way with friends. Shoot, family, too. And additionally: you can't make people into who you want them to be. I think these things go a long way toward understanding the true meaning of the word unconditional.

I think that's partially what I was trying to show in Love Out of Order. I think that's one of my themes in my writing overall.

Maybe if everyone were completely perfect, we wouldn't have fights. Or break-ups. Or conflict. But I guess that would be a pretty boring life. I dunno. Trade-offs, trade-offs.

But back to this point I'm trying to make. People do stuff that pisses you off. But, is that worth throwing them away? Communication is key--essential--yet it's a thing we often neglect. Because we don't want to piss off the person in question. Or we think if we let the feelings fester enough, they'll go away. Or clearly, the other person was so flagrantly wrong, they must know what they did to piss us off. The pronouns are kind of not perfect here, but you get the idea.

I do my best to try to have empathy, but it's hard sometimes, isn't it?

Like the people who haven't come to fix my floor yet. Trying to understand that sometimes people are busy or lazy or whatever and such things aren't a personal affront is challenging.

I'm trying to have more patience. I'm trying to be slower and slower to anger in life. But it's a somewhat slow, day-by-day process. Writing helps. A lot.

To my great chagrin, I think I'm going to have to go to approving comments soon. I hope this doesn't discourage you from leaving them if I do! I'm just so aggravated by spam comments. Out of all the blogs out there, how'd they find mine? I guess that's what all people say about everything. Okay, Nicole. Slow to anger, slow to anger...

Pre-Query-Itis

2010-06-05T13:11:00.001-04:00

As you can tell by now (I'm wearing my sheepish face as I write this), updates will be kind of sporadic this summer. I apologize for this, but the bar exam and everything related to it is a different kind of beast. I thought I knew what I was coming, but I had no idea. BarBri said, "You don't even know me!" And now I must say, "You're right." Thank goodness for BarBri, though. I don't think I'd have any hope of passing the test without it.

Okay, enough (?) whining and onto the post (am I really done whining?).

Kissing Virgins is nowhere near ready. In fact, I'm thinking it will be this fall at the earliest before that book is ready to query. (Which makes me want to scream. Really and quite truly.) Maybe even this winter. (!!!)

I have the plot structure where I want it more or less, but there are a couple of characters I need to fix, the beginning is still dragging, and there are still some things my beta readers said that I haven't incorporated yet. However, my trigger finger is itching. The impatient side of me wants to send it out "just to see" if there's any agent interest in my story idea. Or because "I can be done fixing it before the agents request more material." No, no, no. Bad, bad, bad. You *never* query on a book that's not ready. I know this. So why can't I stop looking over my query letter and thinking that it doesn't look so bad and maybe it would be okay to just query a few agents.

Okay. I said something. I feel a little better about it now.

Brighter sides: I'm reading and greatly enjoying Looking For Alaska. (I want to be John Green when I grow up. I'm halfway there--ha ha. Get it? Coincidentally, he has almost the same name as my grandfather. I know it's a common name, but I still think that's interesting.)
And...I finally came up with a story idea for a high-concept YA! I'm pretty excited about it. Maybe planning and thinking about it will take my mind away from this query obsession a little bit.

How do you deal with pre-query-itis?

BSC, SVH, and More

2010-05-19T12:59:00.000-04:00

I found a post I never finished that was just about ready, so I guess I'll have a post for Wednesday, too! Enjoy! I hope I'm on a beach as you read this!

I got to thinking over the weekend about the books I loved as a teen. Well, the books intended for folks my age. I started reading a lot of adult authors during that time. But the formative series(es? How do you make that plural? Is it implied?) I could never forget:

Baby-Sitters Club - Oh my G!!! Kristy's Great Idea? Are you kidding me? I was obsessed from the first book.

Sweet Valley High - Enid Rollins was my favorite--not either of the twins. Loved to hate Bruce. (Almost as much as I did Steff from Pretty In Pink, but I don't think anyone can top Steff. I have to have him. I can't stand him.) I couldn't resist these books.

Fear Street - Those Cheerleader Evil books scared the crap out of me. The super chillers were the best. Not that I could even begin to choose a favorite. Vampires. Evil step-family members of various sorts. The books about the amulet or whatever it was inspired a really bad novel of mine many years ago.

And others I loved:

Christopher Pike - Remember Me made me a Pike fan for life, but he has lots of great ones. One of the first ya books that really stuck with me. I loved the characters, story, etc.
Caroline B. Cooney
Judy Blume
Katherine Paterson (Jacob Have I Loved. A teacher let me borrow it. Gotta *love* English teachers!)
Lynne Reid Banks (Another find through a teacher.)

Teaser Tuesday

2010-05-18T12:31:00.001-04:00

I won't be around to comment on others' teasers by the time this posts, probably. But I had a special request for Teaser Tuesday (which was definitely a pleasant surprise!) so I'll post today. Next week, I'll be back on Teaser Tuesday full force. By the time you read this, I should be on a plane to Florida!!!!

This week's teaser comes from the beginning of the first chapter in Danny's POV. He's about to meet his best friends, Erin and Chrys, for dinner: (Still needs a little editing, but this is it for now)

I stood in the hardware store, bouncing Vanessa, my niece, on my hip while I waited for Gran to finish up with the customer she was helping. Beth was nowhere to be found--not a surprise even if very irritating--and I was going to be late to meet Erin and Chrys for dinner. I still had to drive all the way to Fredericksburg because we wanted to eat at Funky Chicken and the nearest one was there.

Finally, Gran came over to me, her red smock streaked with dust. Her salt and pepper hair was curled tightly against her head as always, thanks to her invisible hairspray helmet.

"Lemme guess, Dan. Your sister ain't home yet," Gran said with a sigh, putting a hand on her hip.

"Correct," I said.

"Well, I would take 'Nessa, but I have a mess on my hands here. We had somebody call in sick and I'm swamped," Gran said. She was assistant manager of the town's one hardware store. It was the only one left anyway. The other two had been run out of business by under-priced mega stores.

"I guess I'll just take her with me," I said. I looked down at Vanessa who was sucking her fist and staring wide-eyed at me and Gran. "You wanna go eat with me, Erin, and Chrys?"

Vanessa nodded vigorously and started chanting Erin and Chrys's names. The girls loved her and I was sure they wouldn't mind me bringing her along. I smiled. She was adorable and she really did deserve a better mom. Gran and I took much better care of Vanessa than Beth or Beth's worthless boyfriend did.

The Defensive, Or, How To Catch More Flies With Honey

2010-05-17T10:51:00.000-04:00

Hi! I'm back! Sort of. Did ya miss me???

Angry people don't want to hear what you have to say. If you're poking an angry bear with a sharpened stick, he won't care that you're saying, "Don't eat me." Where am I going with this you ask?

Simple, really. Critiquing. Where have I been whilst hiding from you? Besides taking my last law school exams (ugh) and graduating and fully enjoying that, I've been reading, writing, and critiquing. A lot. Which got me to thinking about the subject of this post.

Disclaimer: I love my critique partners to death and wouldn't trade them for the world. They put the "constructive" in constructive criticism. However, things I've seen and heard and thinking about my own critiquing technique gave me the idea for this post.

If you give a completely negative critique, you're wasting your time in most cases. The recipient will likely just get peeved, say something like I don't give a crap what this person thinks, and delete your email without considering anything valid you might have had to say, throw away your paper, or otherwise disregard your critique. Now, a fluff critique makes us all happy, but essentially does nothing to help the writer either. What is needed is middle ground. I prefer what I've heard referred to as the sandwich technique. This is what you did well, this is what could be improved (not: you suck and you can't write!), and here's something else nice about your writing. Thus: stuff I want to hear, stuff I need to hear even if I don't want to, and stuff I want to hear <-- critique sandwich.

In sum, if you put people on the defensive, they will never hear you.

Also, try to base your critiques off of craft-related elements. If you can't or don't want to do that at least give a "why". Don't just say "I don't like this" or "this is weak" or "you have nothing good here" (that last one is probably angry bear poking, by the way). Tell the writer WHY. Put yourself in your critique partner's shoes. Wouldn't you want to know why? I'm just saying.

Well, kids, that's all for today. Bear with me as I'll be in Florida most of this week (whoo!) and I'm not sure what my internet access will be like. But as of next week, I'll be back on my regular Monday - Thursday schedule. And tomorrow: Teaser Tuesday fo' sho.

Virginia Romance Writers Fool For Love Contest

2010-04-23T00:58:00.000-04:00

Cut and pasted from a loop email (so not really a blog post) but I wanted the unpubbed romance writers amongst you, blog readers, to know about this:

Virginia Romance Writers Fool for Love Contest

CONTEST TIMELINE:
March 4, 2010 - Contest opens for entries
April 30, 2010 - Electronic entries must be received by midnight EST
June 20, 2010 - First-Round Finalists Notification
July 31, 2010 - Final-Round Winners Announced

Awards:
1st Place in each category - $50
International winners have the option to receive their monetary prize through
Paypal.
2nd and 3rd place winners will receive certificates and will be awarded one free
manuscript entry into VRW's 2011 Fool For Love Contest, providing they haven't
contracted by that time. If contracted before April 1, 2011, then their first
eligible published book can be entered into a future HOLT contest at no cost.
ALL entrants must enter electronically.

First chapter (up to 20 pages maximum) and optional synopsis (5 pages maximum).
A prologue may be included with the first chapter as long as the entry does not
exceed 20 pages.
Each manuscript may be entered in only one category. However, you may enter as
many different manuscripts as you wish. Each new entry must have a separate
contest entry form and payment. All categories that fail to receive at least 10
entries will be cancelled and the entries and entry fees returned.

ENTRIES SHOULD BE E-MAILED TO THE APPROPRIATE CATEGORY COORDINATOR:

Long Contemporary / Romantic Suspense
General Questions
Alleyne Dickens, Contest Coordinator
foolforlove2010@...

Historical
Beth Trissel
bctrissel@...

Inspirational
Judith Kohnen
jgkwriter@...

Paranormal
Pam Roller
paranormalpam2010@...

Short Contemporary
Judy Butler
jb24lion@...

ENTRY FEE:

Payment for electronic entries may be received either through PayPal or by check
made payable to Virginia Romance Writers. Again, all payments must be received
by April 30, 2010.

$20 for all current VRW members; $25 for non-members. (Entrants do not have to
be members of Romance Writers of America.)

CATEGORIES AND FINAL ROUND JUDGES:

Short Contemporary - TBA
All publishers of contemporary series romance: Harlequin.
Approximate word count: 40,000-85,000

Long Contemporary - Katelynn Lacopo, Literary Assistant, BookEnds, LLC

All publishers of longer contemporary/non-series romance.
Approximate word count: 90,000-120,000

Historical - Lucy Gilmour, Harlequin Editor

Romantic novels with non-contemporary time periods, including Regency and gothic
romances.
All publishers of historical single titles, including Harlequin Historical and
Mills & Boon Historical.
Approximate word count: 40,000 - 110,000

Paranormal/Futuristic/Fantasy/Time Travel - Amanda Barnett, Senior Editor, The
Wild Rose Press

Romantic novels of any time period (historical or futuristic) that contain
elements such as time-travel, paranormal or fantasy themes. The emphasis must be
on the romance.
All publishers of individual titles of romance, including Harlequin Luna,
Nocturne, Berkley, and Dorchester Love Spell.
Approximate word count: 40,000-120,000

Inspirational - Elizabeth Mazer, Assistant Editor, Steeple Hill

Romantic novels with an inspirational message or theme, include romantic
suspense, historical, etc.
All publishers of inspirational single title, including Silhouette Love Inspired
and Steeple Hill.
Approximate word count: 40,000-100,000

Romantic Suspense - TBA
Romantic novels that include an element of mystery or suspense.
All publishers of individual tiles of romance, including Harlequin Intrigue and
Silhouette Romantic Suspense.
Approximate word count: 40,000-100,000

For more information, visit www.virginiaromancewriters.com

Blog Hiatus

2010-04-20T18:35:00.004-04:00

Yeah, I hate to do it again, but I just can't focus enough to blog right now. Sorry, guys. Between finals and a lot of other stuff going on, I think I'm going to have to give up on the blogging until at least May 7. Maybe even until after graduation, which is May 16. I wish it weren't so, but otherwise I'd be posting mush not worth reading. Kinda like this post... I'm just too scattered right now.

I need to concentrate on reading: school reading, beta reading, published novel (esp. YA and romance) reading. And whatever meager amounts of writing time I have need to go to my creative writing class and my romance WIP at the moment.

Branding: I think I need to set the YA stuff aside for now sadly enough. I need to get a firmer grasp on the romance contracts/building a name for myself there first, I think. I'm still going to be working on YA for sure--just more from a research/reading perspective. Which reminds me, go read WILL GRAYSON WILL GRAYSON! If I could only read one YA novel this summer, I would make it that one. John Green is made of win. Clearly, I mean just look at his last name...heh.

Anyway, I'll be back some time next month, so keep an eye out for me on your dashboards! Or wherever my feed happens to pop up for you.

Update: I feel a little better now. I invested twenty bucks in my sanity and bought a copy of Kurt Cobain's journals. It helps to do these things...

Teaser Tuesday

2010-04-13T12:57:00.002-04:00

Okay, it's that time again! Here ya go, another snippet from K.V. This is one of my favorite passages. I hope it doesn't end up a darling that needs to be killed, but you know what they say about the things you love the most...:

The thing most good girls by default won't tell you about our kind is that not all good girls mean to be good. Some are just good by virtue of a lack of choice. There aren't any boys who want to be bad with them. Some will tell you they choose to be good. But in my experience, the good girls who choose to be good are usually the pretty, popular ones because they're the only ones who actually have a choice.

And so when the choice finally comes along, if it does, we good girls by default choose the option that's not the default position just because we can. Because we feel we're entitled to it. We feel that we're owed. So you see, ironically enough, it seems that there's still no choice for us.
It's all an illusion. Maya Angelou gets this. That's why she's one of my favorites and why my copy of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is dog-eared and has several colored tabs in it, marking passages that I've almost memorized.

So people applauded me being such a good student and not letting boys distract me. They didn't know the truth. That sometimes, all I wanted--more than anything else in the world--was for a boy to distract me. And if that boy couldn't be Danny, Gavin would more than do. Project Gavin whom I was sort of in like with.

Are You Not Entertained?

2010-04-12T13:48:00.004-04:00

Good question. One every writer writing to be published should ask herself. You can write absolutely anything you want to in any way you want to, but you should also remember that publishing is a business.

I attended a Bob Mayer workshop this weekend for free thanks to my invaluable VRW membership. And he said something that rang true for me: a lot of first novels are a form of catharsis. Good therapy for the writer, but not good for much else. My first YA novel which will NEVER see the light of day certainly fit this bill.

So I think it's a valid question to ask oneself: are you writing this novel type thing for yourself or for readers to enjoy? The former is fine and often completely necessary. However, the latter tends to be more rejection-proof (I would think) when it comes time to think about writing to be published.

There's writing for self (which I still do and probably will always do on some level) and there's writing to be published. I'm not talking about writing to a market or anything--you still have to love what you write and you have to write the kind of novels you would want to read. The line is thin, yes, but it's there.

There's nothing wrong with writing for self at all. You just have to be prepared for the fact that your writing for self may not be very marketable.

World Building: Not Just For Fantasy Writers

2010-04-08T11:30:00.001-04:00

I got this idea from Amanda Plavich's thread via Nathan's forums. World building is important for any writer of fiction. Probably some non-fiction writers as well, but since I write fiction (school and work being the exceptions) I'm focusing on that.

I used to think of world building solely in terms of fantasy, sci-fi, etc. Genres where you invent things that don't exist in the "real world". But it's important to more "realistic" fiction as well. Sometimes, setting can even be a character. But regardless of whether setting is a character in your story or not, regardless of what type of story you're writing, it's important to build your world.

Some people draw maps. I envy those people's abilities. Some write out everything about their world. That's me. And I'm sure there are other good methods, too. Regardless of the method you use, it's important for you to know everything about the world you're creating. And just as everything you know about your characters won't make it into the story, neither will everything you know about your world. However, it's still important--essential--that you know every detail about your world. I'm talking street names, the names of the cat lady's cats, the color of the cranky neighbor's house. You get the idea.

Think of any story you've read set in a city--New York or Chicago or something. Now try to imagine that story set in Small Town, USA. How different would it be? Would it even work? What would have to change in order to make the story work? Or even: try to picture a story set in New York taking place in Miami or L.A. Or mix and match until satisfied. Now think about your story. How prevalent is setting/place in your story? Could your story take place anywhere? If it could, maybe that's okay. But you should at least consider what makes your story unique and showing your reading why your story could only take place in the setting you chose.

So...I've Kind of Run Out of Things To Say...

2010-04-07T23:00:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow, a post on world-building.

Tonight? I wish I had something for ya. I really do.

Here's my crazy plan and I don't know how it's going to work out, but I'm the type who likes experimenting: I have an excess of novel ideas right now. I'm going to attempt to (first) draft five romance novels by the end of the year. The fifth will be my NaNo. Yeah, I know I know. But it'll be kind of interesting to see if I make it/how far I make it, right? Tension in blog posting...

You know how I like the fast drafts, so who knows what'll happen?

Teaser Tuesday

2010-04-06T19:37:00.002-04:00

I'm officially done with the first round of revisions for KV! Whoo! Hopefully, most structural things are fixed.

Hm. So...I've been thinking about what to tease with today and I think I'll go with this:

I took out my phone, prepared to bug Danny with text messages to have something to do, when I was distracted by movement from the corner of my eye. Gavin Hernandez walked into the living room from the kitchen. That wasn't the strange part. I'd expect Gavin to run with this crowd. The strange part was that he seemed to be coming over to me.

"Hi," he said.

I just stared at him, still unsure he was talking to me even though I was the only person in the room.

Gavin sat next to me. His black hair was cut close and he wore his trademark jeans and white T-shirt. I sometimes pictured him having a whole closet full of them like on the cartoons when a character opens up his closet and you just see the same outfit over and over again.

His mother was a Carib Indian and from Dominica, a small Caribbean island with a dwindling native population--the Carib tribe. His father was Filipino. He loved to tell people that because the girls thought it made him seem exotic and more interesting. Like he needed anything except his face to draw the girls in any time any place.

I still didn't know what to say, so I stared at our arms. His was a few shades darker than mine in the shadowy light coming from the kitchen. Gavin Hernandez had only talked to me twice in my life. Once to ask me to switch lab partners with him in biology because I'd gotten paired with a cheerleader he had his eye on and once to ask me what the homework was in our sociology class.

"So. The quiet. Does it mean...I'm not welcome here?" I glanced up and from the look he gave me with his dark, slightly slanted eyes, I knew he was too in love with himself to believe those words.

"No, um, I just--hi." I wanted to sink through the couch.

He chuckled and I tried to get my paralyzed brain to work enough to figure out why he was sitting there with me. I knew he was friends with the guys who lived in the house, but I couldn't figure out why he was sitting there. With me. If anything, he should have been in the back or the basement like the others.

Starting A New Story Today

2010-04-05T20:11:00.003-04:00

Had to make a major shift in the writing goals. Ha ha. That's what I get for blogging about how well they were going.

Mini-crisis on the work side of things.

Just realized there are only 3 weeks until my first final. (#!?#@#!!!?)

So...doesn't leave much time for the blogging today, folks.

Instead, lemme point you in the directions of some very read-worthy posts:

Writers, get your names out there.

Breeding Authenticity.

Writing world links and plugs.

Young love.

E-books and ethics. (Side story: Google Alerts gave me a shock and a scare today. For a moment, it looked like there was a Love Out of Order e-book available which just should not be as per what I know about availability of LOOO. Luckily, I found there was no e-book after all.)

3 Month Progress Report: This Year's Writing Goals

2010-04-01T10:47:00.002-04:00

My New Years Resolution consisted of two parts: 1) No more television (which I'd almost stopped watching completely anyway) and 2) Set writing goals.

My writing goals for the year are actually going pretty well. I sent my second novel to my publisher and was offered a contract. :) My secret projects are in progress. :) I *really* hope to be able to tell you more about those soon, but I don't want to jinx them! Promos for Love Out of Order are going smoothly. And I am hard at work on revisions for what I hope will be the YA novel that snags me an agent. I have so much love for this novel, I think I just might dissolve some days.

Other goals:

1) Complete a fantasy YA novel (for fun) during AugNoWriMo. It's the companion to my Fried Fiction serial. I like to think of the serial as kind of a prequel.

2) Write a YA novel for 3 Day Novel (!!!). I've already started planning it. Title: Grieving Tucker

3) Either write a romance or expand on my 3 Day Novel (depends on how much I like the end product of the 3 Day Novel) this fall.

4) Attend either the SCBWI conference for my region or the James River Writers conference this fall.

5) NaNoWriMo!!! I CANNOT WAIT for NaNo! It's kind of like Christmas for me. I know. I'm weird. I tell you this all the time. Starting to believe me yet? :)

6) Throughout the year, work on a few novellas because not writing at all between novel-length projects drives me crazy.

Oh, and I can't believe I forgot to link to this! Check out this guest blog post I did over at Reading, Writing, & Stuff That Makes Me Crazy.

AND one more thing! Go here for a free short story over at LASR written by me! Title: Joie De Vivre

Happy April Fool's Day!

Point of View: Who Should Tell The Story?

2010-03-31T06:08:00.002-04:00

Always an interesting question. I've been playing around with this a lot lately.

Stephenie Meyer (hate all you want. I won't deny my Twilight love) has a new novella coming out this summer. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. She stated that the idea for the novella came about because she needed to write in this character's point of view (POV) to get where she wanted to go with Eclipse. So the novella grew out of that. Although, I would argue that anything 192 pages is not a novella. Then again, considering the length of her novels, I guess I could lose that argument.

I've heard lots of writers say this--that they need to write in another POV to get a full sense of where they need to go with their stories. I've done a little of it myself. Actually, it was a combo of this and Big Sur Workshop magic worked by Jennifer Laughran that led to the way I'm going to do POV in Kissing Virgins.

But I wonder. How do you know you're telling the story from the right character's POV if you decide to tell it from one POV? Or even two? How do you know there aren't characters better suited to carry the story? I mean, I guess there are your obvious indicators like your POV character should be the one who owns the action in the scene. But how do you know you've chosen the right person to narrate regardless? Meaning, when your story isn't working, and POV is probably the culprit, do you get rid of offending scenes, choose a different narrator, or start over? Yikes, that last one is drastic and I can barely think about it.

Me, when I had POV problems with an earlier novel, I took out an entire subplot because I was determined to tell my story from a certain narrator's POV. And I think it worked out for the best. With Kissing Virgins, it's Kate's story at heart, but I recently realized that two other characters have really important sides of the story to tell as well. So, I'm adding more POVs and not changing the plot too much.

Back in high school, I used to do a lot of third person omniscient. Now 3PO annoys me more often than not as a reader and a writer. Unless it's done EXTREMELY well. And in my opinion, it's a hard one to do EXTREMELY well. Although, I did read a short story recently in which it was handled quite well. One of Star Wars, One of Doom by Lee Abbott.

I'm writing a novel for 3day (I know. I ain't normal) from the POVs of six different characters. It's something of an experimentation. I'll let you know how it goes assuming I survive my Labor Day weekend marathon writing session. I have no husband, no kids, (right now) no job, so it shouldn't be quite impossible. But it should still be interesting...

Okay. I'm wandering off-topic, so that probably means it's time to end this post. But one thing before I go: how do you deal with POV? Do you go with what "feels" right? How do you know what "feels" right? Have you ever tried anything experimental?

Voice v. Technical Perfection: When Grammar Attacks

2010-03-30T08:09:00.002-04:00

Sorry. No Teaser Tuesday this week. But I iz hard at work on revisions and I hope to have something stellar for you next week to make up for my lapse.

So. This is something with which I struggle. (Notice the extra effort I took to end that sentence sans preposition.) I decided that maybe I should blog about it because there's a good chance others struggle with it, too, and if nothing else we can commiserate with each other.

How do you balance grammar with voice? And style and all of that? Sometimes, the confines of grammar won't allow for the perfect word choice. Yes, poetic license and all that. But then, on the flip side, how much is too much? At some point, you can get really ridiculous in the name of "voice". I'm not naming any names (Robert Burns), but sometimes things can be difficult to read because of voice and/or dialect. Hm. So just how in the world do you know? And The Sound And The Fury made me want to die a little bit at times even though I like Faulkner in general. I kind of have a thing for Southern writers.

I'm talking about outside of dialogue--which presents its own problems. Just the narration. You want to be unique, but you also have to pay your dues to Strunk and White, Chicago, and the rest of the crew.

How do you find that balance between unique voice and "teh rulz"? Me, I just write it the way it sounds in my head. And then when I go back through, I balance what sounds right to me against reference books (when I'm really unsure) and the words of my critique buds.

Thoughts?

Romance And The Law

2010-03-29T07:52:00.001-04:00

I am one of a few lawyers (well I'll hopefully soon be a lawyer) who belong to the VRW chapter of RWA. And I recently found out there's a fellow legal mind in my critique group.

Since I often get puzzled looks and/or questions about this, I decided to go ahead and list all the published romance authors I can find who are/have been lawyers. And a few others. It makes sense to me. In order to be a lawyer, you better like to read and write or else you have a pretty miserable life ahead of you. And a lot of reading writing lawyers seem to like reading and writing romance. So here we go. People who are/were lawyers and who have also published romance novels:

J.R. Ward
Carly Phillips
Karyn Langhorne
HelenKay Dimon
Christine Wells

Other (non-romance):

John Grisham (Interestingly enough, he has some children's books coming out soon.)
Carrie Ryan (YA - The Forest of Hands and Teeth)
Debra Schubert (Women's Fiction and YA)
Irene Williams (Both a writer and PUBLISHER of LooseId books!)

...Is it really that hard to believe?...

If you know of more, please, feel free to leave names in the comments section. :)

ETA: Scott Turow Thanks, Medeia!

Warning: Political Post

2010-03-28T00:19:00.002-04:00

It's time for a rant.

I don't often post political things to the blog. I figure any political type things I have to say can come out in other ways--I often find my "politics are showing" in my writing. I've started adding "politics are showing" to my self-editing checklist in fact. But isn't that a part of writing? I mean, what is theme without politics of some sort?

Anyway, on to the post. I get sick of hearing terms like "post-racial America" and that racial intolerance is a thing of the past. Has anybody told the Tea Party that? If you want to live in the Happy Land of Delusions, fine, but don't expect me to do it.

Any world in which a Congressional representative and civil rights activist gets spit on and the president is openly disrespected by LAWmakers in ways no other president ever has been? Not post-racial. And we won't even get started on the death threats.

And the more we attempt to sweep things under the rug, the sadder the situation becomes. Problem's still there. Now all you got is a lumpy rug. No changed world. No progress.

Sure, I may be preaching to the choir, but I just had to get that off my chest. Monday: back to all writing, all the time. Well, mostly. I'm sorry to you, choir, but what are others thinking? How can you be that oblivious? Willful blindness drives me nuts.

Tension And Storytelling

2010-03-27T20:14:00.008-04:00

The slacker writer is finally delivering the post she's been promising for ages! You can barely believe it can you? Can you? I know. It's okay to say it.

Now, you're waiting for me to get to the point right? You can't wait to see what I have to say about tension and storytelling. Will it make sense? Will you roll your eyes? You dunno, but you're reading on to find out because I captured your attention and put a question in your mind, right? Well, that's kind of my point.

Tension is important. It's the reason why we read novels/narrative non-fiction/whatever it is you're writing. A lot of the time, when I put a book down for months or whatever, it's because the author didn't raise enough questions in my mind and make me care about the characters enough to feel compelled to read on. I think tension is one of the biggest things that separates a page-turner from a--well--a non-page-turner?

Characters - Perfect characters are boring. And characters who are too flawed are turn-offs. So find that happy medium that will lead to the reader being invested in what happens to your characters even if the reader does not love your characters 100%. Not every character has to be lovable, but they should all be worth the reader investing time in learning more about them. But, if you write romance and you aren't very careful to make your hero and heroine well--heroic? People will get angry with you. More than likely. Just sayin'. Basically, likability's even more important in romance than it is in most other genres.

Questions - big ones, small ones, all kinds of sizes and answer them at different points throughout the manuscript. You want the reader to always be wondering what happens next. This is one of my measures--if the "what happens next" surprises me (in a good way) while I'm writing, the reader will probably like it, too.

Goals - A lot of your questions and conflicts will grow out of the characters' goals. Your main character should have an overarching goal for the entire book, but she should have smaller goals throughout the book as well. And she doesn't have to achieve them all--in fact the stakes may become higher and we may care more about her if she doesn't--but she does need to have them. Otherwise, you're meandering. I've meandered. A lot. Hugely, muchly so. And lemme tell ya. Not so much...fun. One of the measures I give myself now to make sure my character has goals--has reasons for existing--is to write a very rough draft of the query letter (which I call a pitch to separate it in my mind from the actual query letter) before I even begin writing the first draft. I always give credit to Elana J. for this idea. I do this while the first draft is still in the planning stages. I don't outline the entire novel, but I do write that pitch.

Laurin Wittig does an excellent workshop on scene goals.

Conflict - Conflict goes hand-in-hand with tension building. And goals breed conflict. 'Nough said.

And...

Always have fun with it. If you don't love your characters and you're not enjoying writing your story, it will show. You won't be able to fool your readers. This is the biggest reason why you should write the type of books you like to read and that you WRITE A BOOK YOU WOULD WANT TO BUY AND READ. This is why writing to the market/trends--or trying to b/c you never know what the "trend" will be when your book is finally published--is a no-no. This is why you shouldn't say, military action thrillers are so hot right now (made that up by the way) and everybody buys them. I'm going to write one even though I hate every piece of military fiction I've ever read and therefore haven't even read all that many of them.

Oh and you have critique partners, right? Of course you do! Buck up, get brave (and because you have CONSTRURCTIVE crit partners who LOVE you and your writing you shouldn't have to get too apprehensive even though yes it IS always hard to hear our writing's not perfect even though we know anything could always be improved), ask them where it gets boring if they don't come right out and tell you. Ask them where they were hooked and where their eyes glazed/crossed/etc.

Okay, so here are the things I think you must do in order to create a strong feeling of tension in your writing:

1. Make the readers care about your characters/make some sort of investment in them
2. Raise questions in the reader's minds
3. Set goals for your characters
4. Conflict
5. Have fun with it!
6. Critique Partners

And especially important in romance, but fun to think about even if you don't write romance is SEXUAL tension. I've learned that nothing kills a romance novel faster (well very few things) than a lack of sexual tension. I think this is what a lot of people mean when they say things like, there was no chemistry between the characters in a book. Hm. I think I'll do a post one day (I won't promise a date this time, ha ha...) on sexual tension. Because it is very, very important. No joke.

Some good articles on this topic:

The Mole Skin Blog

I really like this quote from the Memory Writers Network: "An author’s job is to tie us in knots, forcing us to search for relief on the next page." The article also contains some interesting thoughts on how opposites create tension by their very nature.

Jennifer Crusie wrote an article that touches on the opposites thing.

This Men With Pens article concerning 3 Key Questions to ask yourself about your manuscript hits on a lot of the points I discussed above.

* One last caveat: Don't reinvent the wheel too much. Nathan Bransford (yeah, I don't seem to be able to get far without giving you a Nathan link) recently did a post on this very thing. Sure, there's nothing completely new under the sun more than likely now. And it's probably better to try and work within established archetypes than go all experimental--especially when you're just starting out. BUT the thing IS we don't need another Twilight, HP, etc. because we already have all of those wonderful books. For example, how far do you think a fledgling screenwriter would get if she pitched a screenplay about people going to another planet to steal a natural resource from an indigenous population and called it Blavatar, just like Avatar, only the indigenous population is green instead of blue? Or same scenario with the screenwriter pitching Kill Will, just like Kill Bill, only the actress playing Kiddo learns a different fighting technique and she learns it in Korea? Would you go to see either of those movies? I think I'd take the originals instead. Exaggerated, yes, but you get the point.

Miss Snark's First Victim's 25-Word Hook Fest

2010-03-25T23:31:00.000-04:00

I haz been hard at work on a sekrit project that I may or may not be able to tell you about in the future. Therefore, I missed posting Wednesday. My usual posting days are Mon.-Thurs., but there will be a Friday post this week, to make up for a missed Wednesday. I am *finally* going to do that post on tension I promised earlier.

In the meantime, I haz hookage over at Miss Snark's First Victim. Check it out.

Teaser Tuesday

2010-03-23T23:02:00.004-04:00

So, you're going to get some experimentation again tonight. I'm toying with another POV idea. So here's a snippet from a scene in Erin's POV. Originally, the whole novel was in Kate's POV. I've toyed with Erin 3d person. Tonight, I'm doing a snippet of Erin 1st person. Oh, and Kate's name will eventually be changed. I like "Kate", but there are several reasons the change must happen. I have a few ideas, but nothing's struck me as perfect yet. Ah well. I have at least several months of revisions ahead of me, so there's plenty of time to come up with something.

In the meantime, here's a snippet from a scene at the local bowling alley in Erin's POV, 1st person:

"What's your obsession with pink all of a sudden?" Danny asked her, making a half-hearted attempt to put her in a headlock.

"I don't have one," Kate said. She rolled her eyes and hung an arm around Danny's neck. Her eyes were so full of emotions I wasn't even sure I'd ever felt before. Even with Scott. I wondered how Danny could be so oblivious. How he couldn't see it. I knew Kate was gone over him, but I'd been sworn to secrecy. But how he didn't seem to have a clue in the world? Mystifying.

Second Book Sold!

2010-03-22T22:01:00.002-04:00

Genesis Press has bought my second book. It comes out February 2011!!! More details to come...

!!!

That is all. Tomorrow, Teaser Tuesday! Wednesday, I shall attempt to make a "real" post. I'm thinking the topic will be...tension in storytelling.

I am hard at work on revisions for newer projects. And I already have an idea for NaNo '10. So far, I'm on a roll. So many things need revising! I don't think I'll be starting a completely new project until 3-Day Novel. I'm really going to do it this year. I'm not going to chicken out. Don't let me chicken out. Okay? ... ???

Creative Writer Award

2010-03-17T22:48:00.004-04:00

Medeia Sharif gave me the Creative Writer Award. Thanks, Medeia!

So, let's see. 6 lies and a truth...

1. I have a trust fund.
2. I'm in med school.
3. I'm a morning person.
4. I have a pet unicorn.
5. I wrote my first "novel" when I was eight.
6. I have never been to Mexico.
7. I don't read a lot.

Which one do you think is true?

I'm going to give this to hm... three people, I think.

1. Ebony Haywood at Sizzling Publications
2. Angie at Notes From the Writing Chair
3. Lisa at A Rain Dog's Daily Bread

Big Sur Workshop Experience

2010-03-17T12:30:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I haven't been the most organized person lately. And...I didn't take notes on my experiences this weekend in Monterey. But in my (sort of) defense, that workshop was a really intense 2.5 days! I barely had time to do anything that wasn't working on or thinking about my manuscript. Which was actually a good thing. Another good thing? I got every little thing I wanted to out of my experience with the Big Sur Workshop.

I brought a first draft that I hadn't touched in weeks. I wanted to see what people's fresh eyes, first experience would be. Normally, I don't let anyone see my first drafts. But this is kind of a special case also. I "planned" this draft, so to speak, for almost a year before I started writing anything. I wrote the first 10,000 words last year, hated them. Wrote a short story based on the idea for the novel, liked it better. Then, I decided to expand the short story and scrap those 10,000 words from last year. And so my "first" draft wasn't a true first draft. Clear as mud?... Anyway, on to the workshop.

We started right away on Friday afternoon with a welcome and a faculty intro. Then, we went right into workshops. Our groups each had about five writers and a faculty member. We did two critique groups and then we had a chance to show re-writes to each group. So it went like this: Friday afternoon --> critique group 1. Saturday morning --> critique group 2. Saturday afternoon --> reconvening of critique group 1. Sunday morning --> reconvening of critique group 2. My first critique group was led by Jennifer Laughran and my second by Andrea Brown herself. I had a fantastic, wonderful time and my head is still bursting with writerly tips and advice. The faculty were amazing and the other writers in my groups provided excellent feedback as well. I got the jump start I was looking to get, going into these revisions.

I don't do as much looking at POV as I should and this weekend, I learned that it really is valuable to play around with POV before you get too far into your re-writes and too committed to a certain POV. That may end up being a bad thing if there's a POV that would work better for the novel. Also, even if you don't end up shifting POV from what you originally had, trying out different POVs can help you learn more about your characters. All that fun stuff.

The food was great. And did you know Embassy Suites does a complimentary cocktail thing? I did not and was happy to gain this knowledge. We had sing-alongs. We got to pick best selling author Barry Eisler's brain. And we had an agent Q & A. And I may see one of the agents, Laura Rennert, again this weekend at the Virginia Festival of the Book!

So I'm all recharged and excited about my YA writing once again. I can't wait to whip this novel into shape so I can query the phenomenal ladies of AB with it.

Off to slog through the school work so I can get back to my true calling...

Oh, one last thing: If you're thinking about attending (which I definitely recommend) a Big Sur Workshop (there are several a year) and you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section and I'll answer them. Or if you have any questions regardless of whether or not you're thinking of attending, leave them in the comments. I'm so overwhelmed with the amazing-ness of the experience, I probably left out all kinds of stuff you might wanna know.

Teaser Tuesday

2010-03-16T14:20:00.003-04:00

O...okay. We're not going to talk about how slacker I've been in my blogging duties because it is just sad. But I figure that a teaser of my new YA WIP, Kissing Virgins, would be a good comeback. We're going to do an outtake. This is from a scene I love, but I think I'm going to have to cut it from the ms. This way, at least I can still "hang on to it" in some way.

Kissing Virgins involves a love triangle, unrequited love, all those fun things. Best friends Kate, Danny, and Erin comprise the love triangle. Kate's in love with Danny, but he doesn't have a clue. He's falling for Erin--or at least that's how it seems. Erin has just been dumped by Scott and this was pretty devastating. Erin is usually the dumper and she had really strong feelings for Scott, so when he dumped her on prom day, she was really hurt. Kate talked her into still coming to prom, though, in an attempt to not let Scott ruin senior prom for Erin. So Erin, Kate, and Danny go to prom together. And that's where we are now:

"C'mon, Danny. Just one da--" Erin's voice broke off and as she stared across the gym, her eyes just kind of died. I turned to follow her gaze and who should I see but Erin's very recent ex who said he hadn't had any interest in the stupid dance. Scott. Walking in with Erin's least favorite girl in the world, Nanda. Nanda had just transferred into River Run High that fall and all along, we'd suspected she had her eye on Scott. Suspicion confirmed.

I put my hand on Erin's arm. "Erin. Let's just go."

Erin pulled away from me. "I knew. I knew it was her."

"Erin."

"He said he didn't want to come to prom. He said it was just a stupid waste of time."

"You know what? This was a bad idea. We should just get out of here. You said something about bowling earlier. Should we just go bowling? We should."

"No, I'm fine, Kate. I'm just going to go say hello."

"You're gonna?... Erin, I think that's a bad idea. A really, really bad one." My light grip on her arm turned into a clutching for my life.

Blog Hiatus

2010-02-23T01:39:00.002-05:00

I tried to keep this from happening, but the week is shaping up to be too hectic. I am really sorry, guys, but I don't think I'm going to be able to blog this week. I promise to be back full force next week with posts about writing life Monday through Friday. Including a Teaser Tuesday!

I'm taking the foreign service officer test a week from today, so...wish me luck. I'm really, really gonna need it...

Thanks so much for reading. And I hope you'll all come back Monday!

~ Nicole

Blog Valentines Day Contest Results

2010-02-21T22:41:00.003-05:00

Okay, thanks for bearing with me. This week wasn't a good one. So I couldn't find a guest judge. I'm really sorry about that. But thanks to everyone for bringing such wonderful, creative, entertaining entries to my contest. I wish I could offer something to all of you!

First Place: Karabu

Second Place: Squiresj

Third Place: Ebony

Thanks so much to EVERYONE for entering! And for reading the blog! :)

I'll be in touch about your prizes tomorrow (Monday).

New Obsession: Swap-A-CD

2010-02-17T08:30:00.000-05:00

This is my favorite new obsession. I mean, way better than selling used CDs back to the music store. Ten thousand times better. You post CDs that you want to trade and then create a wish list of CDs you want. And then Swap-A-CD lets you know every time one of your CDs has been requested and then you mail it out to the requester. They also let you know when one of the CDs on your wish list is available and then they let you know when the member with that CD has mailed it to you.

I'm a huge fan of swapping in general. I'm excited that people have requested Love Out of Order on Paperback Swap. I figure anything that gets people greater exposure to potential listeners or readers has got to be a good thing.

So I have over fifty CDs posted and I've already traded several and three are on their way/soon to be on their way to me. And I've only been a member for a little over a week. I highly suggest you become a member. Especially if you have some of the CDs on my wish list, lol...

Seriously, though. Outside of lastfm and Pandora (which has now shanked me, but we're still cool. Sorta.), Swap-A-CD is my favorite online music discovery.

Book Signing

2010-02-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

First of all, thanks to everyone who entered my Valentines Day blog contest! The entries were all fantastic! I'll be announcing results later this week.

I had my first book signing this weekend. It was at the William and Mary Barnes and Noble here in Williamsburg, VA. Alas, I don't have any pictures. Can you believe I haven't replaced my digital camera and haven't really had one in three years? *Le sigh*

I had a lot of fun meeting some new people and hopefully potential new constant readers. And the event was pretty successful as these things go. I only had eight books left by the end of it! I signed the leftover stock and it'll go to the bookstore's shelves!

I hope I get to do more of these in the future. The most exciting part was just chatting with people and getting to know them. I even met some lawyers/law students/legal field-related folk. And some writers. Fun times. I also had friends show up, and it was great to have their support.

Overall, a good time.

Interview on The Heart of Romance today!

2010-02-15T10:10:00.000-05:00

Check it out here!

Tomorrow, I'll be blogging about my experiences at my first in-store book event.

Big Sur Workshop, Here I Come!!!

2010-02-11T08:48:00.008-05:00

I'm so excited! My registration for the workshop was accepted today! I can't wait to hang out with editors, authors, and Andrea Brown agents for a whole weekend. And I really can't wait to improve my craft some more. A month from tomorrow, the workshop starts!!! Whee!!! Now, off to finish up that manuscript...

You can find out more bout the workshop here. It'll actually be in Monterey this year.

Now, in the spirit of attending that workshop, I'm going to get back to work on that ms since I've miraculously cleared a whole evening to work on it. Thus, I'm keeping this post short.

I love YA. I'm going to California for the first time. I'm going to get to see a friend I haven't seen in years. My spring break is shaping up to be fantastic!

Before I go, I'm going to share with you the opening paragraph of the ms I plan on having workshopped (Yeah, I kinda sorta made up a word):

I wore pink Converse to the senior prom. That was probably the most normal thing about that night.

Character Is Story

2010-02-10T08:42:00.001-05:00

An article I read for my creative writing class made a good point. The author of the article said that a lot of writers have a good idea for a character and think they have a fully fleshed out character when in reality all they have is a good starting point. Looking through a lot of character questionnaires, I'm finding this is true. I know a decent amount about my characters, but I don't think I know enough. And how can I tell their stories if I don't know everything about them?

My characters have quirks, flaws, fears, hopes, aspirations, etc. But very rarely do I think of, say, birthdays. Or favorite colors. Or the thing my character *must* do before she dies. Kind of like Hemingway's iceberg principle. You're going to have more material than you include in the story. It's just going to happen. But if you leave something out because you don't know it, as opposed to leaving it out because it doesn't fit in the story, it'll show.

I think this is why I end up throwing random things into the plot sometimes. And let the plot happen to the characters instead of the other way around. I mean there are other reasons that happens, but this is a large part of it.

I still think a lot of this will come on subsequent drafts/non-first drafts for me, but it's definitely a valuable exercise. It'll come in handy during revisions, I'm sure.

Also, VRW led me to this great article on episodic fiction and what not to do when crafting a story. The plot has to come from the character and the character has to have a plan. Makes sense. And the better you know your character, the more likely it is you'll come up with a good problem for the character to face, a good plan for the character to use to tackle the problem, and some good obstacles to throw into the characters' path. (Sorry for all the "goods", but what ya gonna do?...) And all of this will better allow you to tell the truth in your fiction. Which is what it all eventually comes back to in the end. As many writers have said, if you're not telling the truth in your fiction, you're putting yourself at a disadvantage when it comes to telling a good story. And in the end, that's what we're all striving to be, isn't it writerly friends? Good storytellers?

My Interview Is Up On Sizzling Publications!

2010-02-09T08:35:00.001-05:00

No post today, folks. Instead, visit Ebony Haywood's blog, Sizzling Publications, for an interview with yours truly. :) See ya tomorrow!

Today's Short And Sweet Post

2010-02-08T23:10:00.004-05:00

Today has been hectic. To say the least. And I'm still rushing around, trying to get things done!

So, very quick post t'day.

Thanks to everyone who's entered my Valentines Day contest! To those who haven't, there's still (just about) a week to enter!

The book's doing rather well on Amazon! Whee!!! I don't have a clue how it's doing overall as I can't afford Bookscan, lol. Probably best that I don't know, though...

I have a couple of blog interviews coming out soon. One on Sizzling publications tomorrow and one on The Heart of Romance coming out next week.

Trying to think of new things to blog about. Hectic pace of life + blog writer's block=posts like this. I'm sorry! I promise to do better Wednesday! If you have any suggestions, feel free to pass 'em along.

Okay, this to add. Since Nathan Bransford's This Week In Publishing was especially chock full of scintillating (don't you love that word? I obviously do) publishing news, I've linked you to someone who actually made a real and helpful post lately! Enjoy!

My Interpretation of the MacMillan-Amazon Debacle

2010-02-05T08:12:00.000-05:00

MacMillan: You can't play with our toys unless you play how we want to play.

Amazon: Well, fine. We don't want to play with your stinky old toys anyway.

MacMillan: *Sticks tongue out* (via new ad that takes a dig at Amazon)

Amazon: ???

Is it time for Amazon to capitulate yet? Or will they stick their tongues out AND razz MacMillan?

The Bar Application. Ugh.

2010-02-04T13:11:00.003-05:00

Today, I'm buried under the great and terrible weight of bar app stuff. So I'll make this post short and sweet.

I recently saw City of God, a Brazilian movie about a boy who uses photography to escape the slums. I thought this was a great movie and my favorite thing about it was that you didn't have the normal scenario--escaping the slums via sports or music or something. It was based on a true story. I thought that was interesting. Plus, Brazilians are dead sexy. :) And even though I barely understand a word of it, I love the sound of Portuguese.

Overall, it was a good movie and I enjoyed it. It's kind of long, a little over two hours, but I definitely recommend it.

Seen any good movies recently? On DVD, in the theater, anywhere?

K-So...Got 'Em Hooked. Now What?

2010-02-03T12:38:00.005-05:00

After my query post over the weekend focusing on hooks, I decided I wanted to talk just a little more about the query letter form. Granted, others are better at this sort of thing and I gave you some query resources in that earlier post. With that caveat, here are some more of my musings on the query.

After you find your hook, use the rest of the query letter to tell us how the protag goes about accomplishing said goal, but don't try to include every single step in the journey. Obviously, if you try to do that, there's no way to condense 80K+ into a one-page letter. (Of course, word count varies based on genre, but you get the idea.)

They don't need the whole plot and there's no way you can fit it in anyway. You just need enough to make them want to read the rest. I've heard various things: focus on what happens in the first 50 pages or so of the book. Focus on the choice your character must make and the consequences that relate to that choice. In my opinion, this means you must focus on what's at stake for the protagonist.

One thing most people agree on and the thing I think is most valuable to focus on is this: you have to make your book sound like a must-read. Imagine your book in a bookstore. Imagine your query pitch is the jacket flap/back cover copy (which it will most likely end up being in large part. Just look through some industry blogs if you don't believe me.). Would your pitch entice someone to take your book home? Would it make your New Biggest Fan want to start reading your book in the checkout line at the bookstore? Think of the agent as Book Browser #1 and of your query letter as jacket flap copy.