Let's Roll

This never, ever, never, ever, ever, ever happens to me.  Ever.

I wrote 4,400 words today.
No joke.

I am usually a 2k max kinda gal.  But holy smokes of holy smokes, I was on a freaking roll today!

I sat down with a very dear friend of mine yesterday, and got to blabbing about my new book.  And not only did she point out some very important B story necessities I was lacking, but she also got me thinking quite strongly about the story as a whole.

I came home after that visit, and using a combination of the 3x5 cards and a bullet-point system I had plotted earlier in that same day, and the story points she and I had talked about with my gal pal, I re-wrote the outline, scene by scene. From beginning to end.

Then, as I sat down today, to write it, it was flowing.
And flowing.
And flowing.

Then I took the dogs for a walk.

And flowed some more.

Then I ate lunch.

And flowed some more.
And more.
And more.

THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN!

I usually burn out by 2k, but this book is so EASY to write, now that I have the whole thing broken down.

It's not like a Tolkein-esque fantasy where every word is carefully picked after minutes of deep contemplation.  It's not like a Suzanne Collins'-esque thriller where I have to create elaborate crime heists, and design building schematics for air vents, and constantly keep into consideration the emotional wreck my main character is in...

This, by comparison, is a flipping breeze!
And not only that!!!
But I laughed out loud once, and made myself cry once as well.
Now, it might be the adrenaline talking, but I think this might actually be good too.

Dear Roll,
Please stick around for another few months.  Please!!! I love you roll.  I need you.  I could crank out this book in a few WEEKS if I kept on this roll.  Please, for the love of all things holy, STAY!! ROLL!! STAY!!

That is all.
:)

Later:
It kept coming.
Got up to a whopping total of 6,646 words in one day.
Incredible for me.
Unheard of, and totally awesome!

The Boa Constrictor

Mysteries are a pain in the ass.

I love them.  But they are tricky to write.
I have fallen into the trap of needing 3x5 index cards with all the clues on them, so I can break down the plot points one by one. I don't want them to bunch up together, and laying it out in 3x5 cards helps out so that I can build up to the big reveal and the climax steadily.
This is not my idea of fun.
I just want to write it.
But, this was a necessary time-sucker so that everything will flow smoothly, and that makes it all worth while.

However, the process of thinking of my book like a surgeon is squeezing the creative juices from me like a boa constrictor.

I'm resenting that I had to make the cards and that's making me resent writing.

No worries.
It'll pass and I'll be back to writing tomorrow.

But for now, I'm just going to scowl at these 3x5 index cards with self disgust.

Work in Progress: A Supernatural Mystery

I'm a story addict.  I seek them out and hoard them like an old lady does cats. I write for my High School newspaper, and the city newspaper as well.  I'm on my way.  So when an old woman named Exie writes me and tells me she wants to "share her story of failure" with me, I can't resist.

That is my first mistake.

Now, Exie weaves a tale about her days as a cocktail waitress at her drunken father's bar in The Great Depression, in a building with a secret all it's own, with a dream of escape and a love never realized.
She warns me that if I hear her story of defeat, I might become trapped by it myself.
But I don't believe her.

That is my last mistake.

Obsessing Over Pages One Through Twenty

I'm obsessing over the first twenty pages of my new book.  Though, I realize on an intellectual level that by obsessing I am slowing down the process of actually finishing this book, I also plan on signing up for an SCBWI Summer Conference (in August), and in order to get my manuscript into the critique pool, I want it ready, and in tip-top shape before the registration, which is in mid-April.  And, since I'll be on Spring Break, and preparing for Spring Break, etc. for the first two weeks of April, I had better get my twenty pages ready now.

Hence, my obsession.

I've been over these first twenty pages for hours today.  Though, I believe I will have to stop for a day or two in order to clear my head.  I also would like to write the next scene, but can't today because I've managed to fry my brain with too much thinking.  It's a sad but true fact of my brain.  I can only hyper-focus for a few hours before I burn out.

Maybe I just need more caffeine...

The Hunger Games Score Card

My thoughts on Hunger Games:

If you liked (or loved) the first book, you will enjoy the movie.

All changes they made to the story made perfect sense. Kudos to the screenwriters (note: Suzanne Collins, the author of the books was given 1/3 of the credit).

I cried twice (at the reaping and Rue).

I was startled almost out of my seat once (at the "finale").

The action sequences and fights were so hacked to pieces it was liked watching a subliminal fight. The clips had to be less than a second long, my eye couldn't even focus fast enough! Twice I got dizzy from the splicing and dicing (which was probably necessary to secure a PG-13 rating) and had to look away from the screen to keep from getting nauseous.

Not-so-steady cam.  Hold still, I can't see a thing!

So, though I loved the acting (kudos to Jennifer Lawrence, I thought she did a wonderful job, and hats off to Woody Harrelson who I was prepared to hate and ended up liking in the role of Haymitch) and I liked the story changes (well done!), the music was spot on (good enough to create emotion, but not so distracting that you notice there is even music in the movie), and the special effects were stellar (fantastic fire effects!), I was not a fan of the editing.

Chop, chop, hack, hack = dizzy me

I've been home a half hour and I still have a headache.
But other than that - I'm a fan!

All Hail the (Stephen) King

I've started reading The Shining as a case study on how to scare readers.

I'm about 75 pages in so far, and here's what I've learned...

By page 35, Mr. King has introduced a lot of reasons to worry for the characters.

- there's rat poison throughout the attic & cellar, so little 5 y/o Danny could be in danger there (how much you wanna bet there's a scene later when he goes to just that place!)

- the boiler, if left unattended, could explode

- the hotel has a history of people going crazy there, and killing other people

- lots of people have died over the years via murder, suicide, and natural causes

- some of the hotel staff has claimed seeing ghosts

- the main character, Jack the frustrated playwright, is a drunk (currently on the wagon) and has a nasty, nasty temper

So, already, by page 35, I'm worried for the innocent little Danny and wife Winifred. The writing is on the wall!

Then by page 40, little Danny's "understandings" (ie. mind-reading and imaginary friend who "shows him things") is explained, and he has a vision (a flash forward, if you will) where he sees his father attack him with a rubber mallet and he sees his mother dead.  Then, low and behold, Jack comes home from the hotel interview and Danny has a flash again about the mallet, but talks himself out of talking to his father about it, because he knows how his parents worry about him.

So, my "lesson" for today is this:

The anticipation is killing the reader.

It builds immediate tension because the reader knows more than the characters do.  The reader knows what is going to happen (almost exactly) but the reader just doesn't know HOW it happens, or how it will come out AFTER the said major scary event happens. So, because the reader knows more than the characters, the reader is worried and in fear for them, and this is why you are so scared while reading it.  You want to jump through the page and say, "DON'T GO TO THE HOTEL!" But, of course, they do, and this is what keeps the reader riveted. How will the scary impending event unfold? How will Jack go coo-coo-for-Cocoa-Puffs? How will little Danny and Winnifred escape? 

Brilliant!!!

So, in order to implement that sense of dread in my work, I'm going to try and emulate this same strategy into my new book.  I don't want to go into too much detail, but I hope after only a few pages into my new WIP the reader will be screaming at the book, DON'T GO TO THE ABANDONED BUILDING!!!

Muwahahahaha!

All Hail Stephen King.

I love my job! 

The Honeymoon Phase

I have 4,000 words done of the new Work-in-Progress (tentatively entitled, 'A Void' - until I can think of something better and spookier) and I am still having fun.

Normally, when I hit upon snags in the story I get frustrated and it slows me down, but today, I managed to think things through and keep at it without wasting a minute.  This book is more me than anything else I've ever done.  I'm playing with tone and it's a blast in a bag. I'm also playing with multiple first version narrators. My protagonists of the past were either, a) too noble and self-sacrificing, or b) too emotionally handicapped to serve as a part of myself...They were not a part of me, but a part of some other character I had created.  Whereas, in this book, it's all me, (a snarky young reporter, full of an obsessive need to prove every fact is a lie, and a spooky old woman who trusts no one and has something to hide), and it is flowing naturally.  With the others, there was a lot of inventing involved, which slows down the writing process.

There is still inventing in this new WIP, but it has mostly to do with structure, and very little to do with voice.  Voice in this book is a breeze (so far).

I'm playing with it, like a cat with a pincher bug.  I'm swapping narrators, and time periods, and both voices are so clearly a part of myself and their very own distictive selves, I feel as if this book will get finished without too much emotional turmoil. I love flow!!  And since plot is part of what I do best - building, teasing, hinting...With a hint of spooky and creepy...coupled with two narrators I adore and hear in my head as if they were right beside me...

Loving it!

Now, mind you, this is only the first draft.  So I reserve the right to re-write the whole thing from page 1 when I'm finished with it and decide it's crap.  But, as always, whenever I start a new book, I am in the honeymoon phase.  It usually takes until page fifty to knock me off my party-mobile and remind me how much I hate middles.  I really do.

I think that's why I enjoy writing novellas so much, (ala. THE BEAST CALL, and the soon-to-be-I-hope-released-novella SHUT UP) - in a novella, the middle is a blip.  A quick trip to the pinnacle of the mountain before hastily starting the concluding descent.

Not so much here.  This one will be a full length.  But I'll worry about page fifty in thirty more pages.

For now, I'll just enjoy the honeymoon.
Heaven knows, there is plenty of fun to be had on a honeymoon, and if done right, that same fun can be carried well over into years of the marriage.

Trust me on this.

I'm Not Nuts, I'm Talking to Myself on Purpose

Something can be said for talking to yourself.

After getting "stuck" yesterday on how very typical my writing was coming out, I sat down with a pad of paper, pen, and talked out the issues I was having with the exposition in my new work-in-progress (WIP), and talked myself through to a perfect solution.

It was the same thing I did in another one of my books - flip chapter 2 with chapter 1. Just swap. Literally, cut and paste that sucker, then go back and smooth out the holes.  All the set up and world-building does not work in the first chapter of YA.  Bo-Ring! Agents and editors, and of course, more importantly, readers, want to get grabbed by the cajones immediately, so go straight to the voice, the action, the what-have-you, and leave all the exposition for chapter 2.  No joke.  Try it.  It actually works.

Now instead of the reader getting buried in information, they are mentally piecing the scraps of the puzzle together - mentally invested, curious, and wanting to turn the page.  Piece by piece, a teeny tiny bit at a time, all in the course of action, you spoon feed the exposition, so you're not bombarding them with background information (that they need to know eventually - just not right now!) in one colossal dump.

I like it.
Mind you, I managed to re-work chapter one yesterday, but chapter two is still a sliced and diced disaster, so I will need to re-work that a bit.  But, all said and done, it's better off this way.

So here you go: Free Writing Advice
1) Have an out loud conversation with yourself so you can "discuss" the ins and outs of your story
2) Flip flop chapter 1 and 2 so you get to the meat of the story in the first paragraph

Do with it what you will!

Wanted: Inventive Thinking

Ah, the wonderful moment when you are writing, and you begin to think to yourself, "I've seen this in other books.  This is nothing different."

And then you spend the next few days trying to figure out how to accomplish the same feat (in this case, exposition in a mystery) in a new way.

I haven't got it yet.
In the meantime, I've cleaned my oven, started the laundry, and will run errands shortly.

If all else fails, I'll go stand in the shower or drive in circles around my neighborhood.  I do my best thinking that way.

Have no fear - it'll come to me.
I'm willing to wait for the right idea.

For the Love of Creepy

1,400 words written of the new book, and a fine tuning of what I wrote yesterday and the day before that.

Today's words are mostly dialogue.  I can hear this book, if that makes any sense at all.  I see it too, but that's easier to fill in later. Most likely, I'll fill it in tomorrow.  As of right now, I am writing down what the characters are saying - to each other - to themselves.  The new scene breakdown is easy to work off, and I'm loving the security it provides.

I don't have to worry about writing myself into a hole and having to dig myself out.  I can just concentrate on the scene - on what's happening on the surface, and what's happening underneath, and how each character's voice differs.  It's quite liberating.

Ack - I so love, love, love this part of the process!  The part when I'm on fire and I'm in love.
It usually dies about the time I realize I've made a plot mistake in the outline, but for now - I'm going to enjoy the honeymoon phase and press on.

I am very encouraged.

Not only that, I'm enjoying the fact that this book is so very creepy.

I do so love creeping myself out.
There has to be something wrong with me...

Twitching Treatment

500 words written, and an outline broken down into scenes. When writing a mystery-type story one must plan ahead very carefully so one can strategically place where all the clues get discovered, and better yet, how they are discovered.  This took me a few hours, and my right eye is twitching again, but it was very worth it. This outline is so specific, it's unlike any I've written before.  No broad stroke story points, but exact - this scene happens, then this scene, then this scene, then this, and then you're here and this happens... It's like a script treatment.

Wow.

I'm feeling momentarily overwhelmed at how complicated I've just made my life by falling in love with this story, but I must soldier on.  Or, as my mother would say, 'Put on your big girl panties, and deal with it.'

Yes, Mom.

I'm dealing.

But for the moment I'm going to shut my brain off and continue my quest of using plants to kill invading zombies - though I doubt this will help my twitching much.

Must See Hunger Games Spoof

If you haven't seen this Hunger Games Spoof - you need to!

http://screen.yahoo.com/sketchy-hungry-games-28507606.html

Enjoy!

The Benefits of Bad Hair

I closed my laptop and went immediately to the shower.

I stood in the scalding hot water and thought to myself, what kind of books do I love?

Not just the kind of books I like, but the ones I worship, keep on my bedside table, and aspire to "someday" write...

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Settlefield
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Distant Hours and The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

What do they have in common?

A historical story.
A heroine investigating the past (except The Book Thief).
A writer trying to find their voice and themselves.
A mystery never solved aching to be uncovered.
An ending I wish would never come.

I got out of the shower.
Got dressed.
Ignored my mop of unruly hair (no straightening today!).
Put on the minimum amount of make up so I would not appear as the walking dead.
Ran downstairs.
Wrote an outline in fifteen minutes.

Drove to my girl friend's house (my biggest fan) and celebrated with a cup of incredible German coffee and three cigarettes - and cried on the way home.

Picked up my kids from school.
Helped them with their homework.
Let them run wild so I could write the first scene.
Sat at my laptop reading, and cried again because I'm in love with it.

Never thought once about my wild hair until now.

Ah, writer heaven.

My Own Worst Enemy

I'm frozen with indecision.

I've read.  I've contemplated.  I've debated.  I've watched related shows.  I've even got the email address of someone to interview.  I've got everything I need in order to research this subculture, so I go back and read what I've tried to write so far, and I hate it.

Every word.

I can hear the 'trying' - if that makes any sense.  It sounds fake.

I don't trust that I'm smart enough to pull this off.

I'm afraid I will do it 'wrong.'

I'm petrified I'll write it and it will suck, and I will have wasted all that time on something I can't use.

I've become focused on what might sell, and not on what I WANT to write.

So I'm screeching to a halt, and taking stock of what I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to write...Not what I think will sell...Because obviously, I'm just not wired that way.

Must.  Rethink.

Must.  Regroup.

I'll let you know when I get it figured out.

Twitchy

I'm in research mode again, only this time for the next book, a yet to be titled YA contemporary.  Since I'm awaiting word on one project, I've decided to distract myself with the next one.  As I've said before, I'm like a shark.  If I'm not moving forward, I die.

Onward!

So the next book I'm toying with might be biting off more than I can chew.  But I'm nibbling anyway just to see if I can do it.

A dear friend of mine has asked me why I always make things harder on myself, and she's got a valid point.  The hard part?  I've decided to make the main character of a different subculture than my own, and of course, this poses problems.  How do you make it authentic?

Well, first you have to read, read, read, read, and read some more about this subculture.  I've done so much of that so far I've got an eye twitch that won't stop.

So annoying!

Then after I'm done gathering information, I must try and factor in the subculture into the plot, and see if it works.
If it works, then I will try and write a few scenes, to see if I can do it.
IF I like what I've written, I'll write the first chapter and see if it jives.
That's a lot of IFs.

NEWS FLASH: I'm pretty good at first chapters.

It's the endings that I hate.

HATE!

With a capital H.

I have to admit I have no patience for conclusions.  Most of the books I read I skim the last chapter because it's full of touchy, feely, non-plotted endings all tied up in a neat little bow, and I must confess, I hate that.

I suppose I'm "European" in my tastes.  Life does not end cleanly, and neither should a book.  Personally, I always prefer the ending that sneaks up on you and ends before you want.  Like The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Settlefield. GREAT ENDING! PERFECT ENDING! One of the few times I've finished a book and thought, "It's over? Oh man!"

Whereas, some books end and I hate the sneak attack ending so much it ends up ruining the whole book for me, ala The Constant Gardener by John le Carre.


I nearly chucked that book across the room, I was so pissed.

But I digress.
I'll worry about the ending later.  Much later!

For now, it's research.
Research, the perfect excuse not to write.
As many of you know, I can last about 2.5 weeks without writing before I start to get ultra-cranky, and HAVE to write something.

So I have about a week and a half to go.

Wish me luck.

Model Rana McAnear the face of Samara and Morinth is on Facebook!

Hello Mass Effect Fans!

My dear friend Rana McAnear, the model for Samara/Morinth on Mass Effect 2 and 3, has her own Facebook page!

Check it out at: http://www.facebook.com/SamaraME2

That is Rana herself in a Samara cosplay in the picture above.
Incredible -  Right?

How to Query Book Bloggers for Reviews

I took the day and instead of writing, worked on accumulating more YA book blogs for querying when the time comes for SHUT UP to go live.

For those of you who are YA authors, there's an incredible list at http://yabookblogdirectory.blogspot.com/p/ya-book-blogger-list.html - but some of the blogs are down, some won't take submissions, and some will only read a certain type of genre - so an author who is looking to give away complimentary copies of a book hoping for a review must visit each site individually and figure out what's what.

1) Are they accepting submissions?
If yes, proceed to question #2

2) What genre will they read?
If it's the genre you hope for them to review, proceed to question #3

3) What format?
Paperback? E-book?
Make note of it and proceed to question #4

4) What's the contact information?
Some have an email. Some have a contact form on their website. Some forget to list it.
Make note and proceed to question #5

5) What's their name?
Some list their real name, other list a "pen name," some don't have any listed.

After all this information is accumulated, and your book is available as an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC), write a lovely query letter to the blog and hope for a response.  Like querying agents, if you don't hear back, it's a 'not interested.'

In the query include:
1) How you came across their blog, and something specific you liked about it
2) Your name
3) Your book's name, genre, release date & publisher (if applicable)
4) A brief (brief!) paragraph about you
5) The paragraph from the back of the book
6) (optional) A .jpeg of the cover
7) Links to all your social media sites (ie. Twitter, blog, website, Goodreads.com, Facebook, etc.)
8) Offer a Guest Post for their blog, an author interview, or offer up autographed copies of swag (bookmarks, tee-shirts, handbags, etc.) or copies of the book for giveaways

If your book is not available as an ARC, then you will have to wait until after the book is launched.

Coordinating free e-book copies with your publisher can be tricky, unless they provide you with the various electronic versions.
Kindle = .mobi, or .prc (they both work)
Nook & iPad/iPhone = .epub
Also, be sure to have a .pdf because some Bloggers will ask for that.

Smashwords.com offers free coupon codes, but can only be ordered from the Publisher, and the blogger can then download any version they need from there. But some publishers will not supply a coupon code.
If you are an Indie Author, it can be a little easier obtaining one of these coupon codes.

Coordinating free paperback versions is easier, but more expensive.
Despite what the world thinks, authors do not have unlimited copies of their own books to give away. Yes, we receive a few complimentary copies (usually about 10), but the rest we pay for ourselves.

If the Blogger asks for a paperback, and you don't have any, order one off Amazon.com and ship it to them as a gift.  You'll pay full retail - but figure you'll get at least part of that back in royalties (eventually) and even more so if the blogger posts a positive review which results in sales.

Side Note:
DO NOT ASK AN AUTHOR FRIEND FOR A FREE COPY OF THEIR BOOK!
It costs us money.
There's nothing free about it.
Besides, this is how authors make a living.
Support your friend, and buy a copy.
It's just courteous.

Ok, I'm off my soap box now...

If you receive an email response from the Blogger, be sure to send them the format of book that is specified on their blog.
Even then, this does not guarantee they will read it.

Some Bloggers won't post about books they didn't like.
Some Bloggers you won't hear from again.
Some will review and send you the link.
Some will review and not send you the link and you won't find out until it hits Google Alerts.

In my latest run, I personally sent out over 400 Blogger queries, and got a 10% response. This does not include the review requests I received via my PR firm.

I wish you all luck!
Any way you look at it, a good review from a respected Blogger can go a long way to getting attention on your work.
And ultimately, that's all any author wants.

SNEAK PEAK of THE BEAST REIGN by Anne Tibbets

Mr. Rena bent low to examine the soil.  It was dry.  Drier, in fact, than the very brook that had once fed the Rena family farm a clean water supply, but now, it resembled nothing more than a strip of dirt and sand.  Now, the soil of the entire plantation was drier than the brown and cracked husks of what could have been a profitable crop, but not now.

            Dray had seen to that, Mr. Rena fumed.

            Mr. Rena kicked the dust with his boot and stomped directly through the cloud of dust towards the house.

            This was all her fault.

            If she had married Randaz Brantrude like he had arranged, instead of running off and getting Lurin killed, the Rena farm would not be in such a state of disintegration.  For when she left, taking the sole Rena heir with her, Mr. Rena had had no choice but to marry his next eldest daughter, Ephney, to the pimply teenaged son of his closest rival in order to prevent a feud, and now, Ephney had gone and used her knowledge of the spring, and it’s origins, and created a dam, taking the fresh mountain water for the Brantrude’s farm, and leaving her own kin to shrivel away. Dray would never have done such a thing, she wasn’t that smart.

            Worse yet, since the girl had not protected her only brother and let him die, the very family that had borne her, raised her, and given her a very respectable vocation as an animal handler, had to produce another heir, which meant Mr. Rena’s first wife, Dray’s mother, had to die so he could marry a younger, child-bearing woman.  And given the fact that Mr. Rena was well into his fifties, finding a girl willing to take him had been expensive.  He even had to sell his youngest daughter to help pay for the dowry.

            No matter.  It had been worth every cent.  For the new Mrs. Rena, a dumb and homely girl from a farm on the western border of the Genuan valley, was a good egg.  She had been living on the farm only nine months and was already showing a protrusion under his former wife’s dresses.  His only hope was that it was a boy.

            Matteus help her if it was not.

            Mr. Rena stomped up the porch steps and flung back the door.  He would have to sell more livestock to get more water.  Without it, he could not then harvest what was left of his crop and would, most likely, even then, not be able to sell it as more than cow feed.

            As he entered the kitchen for his morning meal, the new Mrs. Rena jumped from her station at the washing bin and nervously went about setting his place at the table.

            Mr. Rena watched her waddling around the room and grumbled under his breath.  Come to think of it, if it weren’t for the black eye he had to give her last week, she wasn’t all ugly.

            As he sat roughly into the wooden chair at the kitchen table the distant barking of the sheep dog caught his attention, but not nearly as much as when it abruptly stopped.

            He strained his ears to listen and heard the cries of the sheep.

            Getting up from the table, Mr. Rena snatched his bow and arrow from over the front door and turned to his young, pregnant and ugly wife.

            “Barricade the door, Opheena,” he said.  “Sounds like the Brantrude’s are into the herd.”

            She nodded, her eyes wide.

            He tested the bow string for tautness as he marched through the crop fields and towards the herd.  He could hear the sheep crying, for whatever reason.  If it wasn’t the Brantrudes, he thought, perhaps it was a wolf.

            He slung the quiver across his back and pulled an arrow from it, readying it in his bow.

            Reaching the edge of the crop field he slowed his pace and scanned the area.

            When he caught sight of what was disturbing the flock he nearly dropped to his knees.  It was not the Brantrudes.  It was not even a wolf.

            For before him marched a great golden army of short-haired men, wearing gold armor and carrying golden swords and shields.  The vast numbers of men cascaded across his entire field of scurrying sheep and went back as far into the horizon as his eyes could see.   Having no battle experience aside from fighting feuds, the enormity of the army briefly paralyzed Mr. Rena.  With them, he knew, they brought death.  But his thoughts lingered not on his own insignificant life, for he knew his life mattered little.

            The one and only thought that carried him dashing back to the house through his crispy crop was the bulging belly of his young and ugly, new wife.