My First Vlog!

HEY! I filmed my very first vlog! It's kind of boring, but I do randomly break out into song...

Writing Marathon Days 4-6

So the writing marathon has kind of turned out to be a fail...

 But I have a good excuse! I was at the beach, fishing and swimming and getting majorly sunburned!!! We stayed with my husband's awesome aunt, and there was never a free moment for me to crack open my computer (or notebook). Seriously, besides that first day when I sat by the pool for like 15 minutes and wrote 300 words, I never had the chance to take my laptop out of it's protective case. On the day we took the boat in the Gulf so I could finally catch one of the giant fish my husband always brags about catching,  I took a notebook and a pen with me with the intent to write while he fished (because fishing only holds my interest for about one hour). But I got sea sick after 10 minutes of being out there, so we came back to the beach and swam instead.

But am I sad about this fail? NOPE. Trying to write a book while being in college/having a job/being a human is hard. If you're a writer, you know that well. Life doesn't slow down for you to write your book-- you have to make time for it in between all the everyday things. And yes, I start back to school on Tuesday and won't have another long break until December, but I wrote my last book while I was in the midst of exams, piles of dirty money (I'm a bank teller), and dirty dishes and I can do it again! I needed that vacation and it was AMAZING to not think about anything except for, "what bathing suit should I wear today?" and "is it time to put on more sunscreen yet?"

I'm back home today, but I slept in, then watched the Glee season finale. And in a little while, I'm going to see The Avengers (FINALLY!) with my husband, and I'm not going to feel guilty about that either. (Though I do plan on taking my laptop to sneak in some words while he shops for boat parts before the movie, because what woman wants to tag along in a boating parts store???) But every time I watch a good movie, it seriously motivates me to go home and write ton (and I've heard from like, virtually EVERYBODY that The Avengers is kick-ass) 

So anyway. I'm not completely giving up on the 5,000 words a day goal for the next few days, but I've hit a wall in the story. The plot is going well, but I need to go back to the beginning and rework some of the world building and character motivations before I go much further. That's my plan for today! 

And yes, I promised y'all a vlog when the marathon is over, so I am trying to decide what in the world to talk about for 3-5 minutes. ANY IDEAS??? Throw 'em at me!  

Writing Marathon Day 3

Well. Today's word count was an epic fail. BUT! I've had a busy busy day!

1.) Had a follow up appointment from last week's kidney stone removal. I'm good, btw!

2.) Drove an hour and a half to the beach

3.) Launched our boat

4.) hung out by the pool and wrote some words!

5.) went on a boat ride

6.) GOT EPICALLY SUNBURNED. Seriously, redheaded-fair-skinned people like me were NOT made for the beach. This happens to me every time I go out in the sun for more than 30 minutes though, so it was expected.



7.) I am so tired that my plan to write in my awesome little bunk bed is dead. I can't even muster the strength to type this on my laptop because that would mean having to find out the wifi password, and THAT would mean going back downstairs. My sunburned limbs can't take it.

So my word count of the day ended with a total of 382. Not even close! But I told y'all I had no faith in myself while I'm at the beach. Sunday and Monday I'll meet the goal for sure, though!!! If the fish aren't biting, I'm going to shoot for hand written words tomorrow. So we'll see how that goes!

I bid you farewell dear readers. Pass me the lidocaine-aloe gel if you don't mind.

Writing Marathon Day 2

There were tears. Blood. Sweat. Callouses. (not really)

BUT I WROTE 5,000 WORDS TODAY. Actually, 5,149 to be exact!

(I deleted 1900 of the words I wrote yesterday because I changed directions a little bit, but I'm learning to let that go)

What did I learn today? That writing 5,000 words in one day when I am in the middle section of the book is HARD. Sure, I could do it easily near the climax, or even in the beginning when the story is begging to fall out of my brain. But the middle? Jeesh. For a couple hours there, it was like plucking my eyelashes out one by one.

True, I won't keep all these words, but like the saying goes: You can't edit a blank page. At least I now have some WORDS, even they'll be deleted and revised for prose later. (And I did get a good couple thousand words that I really like. :-D)

Fun highlights:

- I wrote a kissing scene that I've been dreaming about for months, ever since I heard this song:

WEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

- My favorite line of today was this (from a scene where my character-- who's been shot before-- shoots a gun for the first time):

"Being on the other side of the gun is delicious."

-I have "tweerleaders"on Twitter!

*Rob Kristofferson ( @Kristoffrable ) gave me some wise words on writing suckage: "Suckiness leads to greatness. If you can't get it out there to begin with it doesn't even have a chance to suck."

* Paul Adams ( @adamspaulr )-- who is doing this with me and wrote 5052 words today!-- made me laugh after I complained about trying to "squeeze out my last 600 words" with this:

*Megan Whitmer (@MeganWhitmer ) promised to be awkward on the internet and post her very first vlog if I meet my 5,000 words a day goal. She's even filmed it and everything! But I have to break it to you Megan, I don't think it will happen. :-(
Today took everything I had to type 5,000 words, and I was at home doing nothing but writing. I am going to the beach tomorrow until Saturday, and I think I'll be lucky to get 2,000 a words a day. But I'm still going to try!

I'm going to try handwriting some of my words for the first time-- I've never handwritten a manuscript before, but I'm not going to bring my laptop on a boat out in the Gulf of Mexico. That would not end well. But my critique partner, Amy Christine Parker, does this everyday (handwrite her novel that is, not fish in the Gulf of Mexico) so I'm going to give it a try!

Oh! I promised on twitter yesterday that if I met my word goal today, I would also make my very first vlog. But since it's late now, and I'll be out of town for the next few days, I think I'll wait until my last day, and make it about this whole project. Sound good? Awesome. See you back here tomorrow! (I might not have internet where I'm staying, so I may be posting from my iPhone. I've never done that before, so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully I'll have wifi...)

Happy writing!

WRITING MARATHON DAY 1

Right now in my WIP I am at 24,632 words. I REALLY wanted to finish the rough draft before I start the summer semester of school-- before I get bogged down in papers, quizzes, and exams. I COULD have finished had I not stopped writing for a entire month (thanks to final exams and the fact that I got really, really stuck). But anyway, it is what it is, and I am still only a third of the way finished with this manuscript.

I am writing this blog post because I HAVE A PLAN.

I think it will take me about 70,000 words to tell this story, so that means I have about..... 45,368 words to go. Are you catching on yet? You are so smart!!!

Yes. I am going to attempt to write 45,000 words in NINE DAYS. Now, to do this, I will have to write at least 5,000 words a day.

I am already laughing at myself because I know this will never happen.

I am on vacation this week, so at least I don't have to worry about work stress making me too tired to sit down and write. BUT my husband and I are going to the beach Wednesday-Saturday and I'm pretty sure he'll be mad if I spend our whole vacation on my computer.

But I am going to write as much as I can in the next nine days and blog about my progress. Will I write 45,000 words in those nine days? PROBABLY NOT. I mean it's already 2:00 pm and I haven't written anything but this blog post (but in all fairness, I didn't wake up until noon, so... Yeah.)

But I think that by blogging about my progress, I can keep myself honest and motivated to at least write half of my goal. I borrowed this idea from Frankie Dianne Mallis, who is attempting to write 33,000 words in ten days. We are going to cheerlead each other towards our goals!   *\0/*

Here is a little info about my WIP:

Name: SOUL RAIDERS
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Thriller
Blurb: After transporting her soul into a stolen archetype body to save her own life, Ruby finds out that her best friend has joined a resistance group that's planning to overthrow the United States government to save the world from imminent destruction at the hand of the U.S. president. (Sorry that's very vague, but I just wrote that off the cuff.)


So, does anybody else want to join us? We can all motivate each other! I'll post an update tonight with my final word count of the day.

(And in case you were wondering, YES, I might be a wee bit crazy for doing this.)

*takes a deep breath... opens document... READY, SET, GOOOO!!!!*


***UPDATE: Okay, it's 12:38 am and I am throwing in the towel for the day. Wordcount:

I didn't get 5,000 today, but for some reason I have been stuck on this one chapter for the past three hours. I finally reached a stopping point, though-- I needed to write a press conference in the POV of the U.S. president, but he refused to come out of hiding in the depths of my brain. I could've skipped it and moved on, but honestly, I can't bounce around like that. I have to write chronologically.

So anyway, maybe I'll make up the extra extra slack tomorrow since I got a late start today. I plan on writing half my goal in the morning and half in the afternoon, so I'm not trying to force it all out at once like I did today.

Good Enough

Lately I've had the writing blues. Wicked Illusions has not done well in the querying process and I hit a big bump with my work in progress (until today I haven't seriously worked on it in a month and a half). With all the rejections I've gotten for Wicked Illusions I started to wonder if I was ever going to be good enough to get an agent, let alone get published. It's hard when you see friends and other writers getting requests when you're not, then getting an agent, then getting a book deal, and so on.

And then it's even harder when you see a terrible book like Fifty Shades Of Grey make millions upon millions of dollars, and then your own book-- which you KNOW is better (sorry E.L James)-- is never "good enough."

I've not seriously considered giving up yet, but I was getting close. I really wanted to abandon my WIP because it didn't feel "good enough." I was going to start on something else, but I'm pretty sure I would have abandoned it too for not being good enough.

WHAT IS GOOD ENOUGH, ANYWAY?

Who knows?

But when I get to feeling this way, I start scouring the internet for blogs, vlogs, and stories from other writers who have been in my shoes. I watched these two videos this morning and they jump-started my motivation. How will I ever know if I'll be good enough if I don't sit my butt down and just WRITE THE DANG BOOK ALREADY?

So my first book wasn't "good enough"? That doesn't mean that the next one won't be. I'll get that first book polished enough to publish one day, but I've got to branch out and push myself to do something better first. Anyway, these two videos inspired me to get going, so maybe they'll help you too if you need a little boost like I did today. (I've written 3500 words and counting today. Yay for getting over the hump!)

Thank you Shannon Messenger and Jackson Pearce!

What's In A Name?

The first thing anyone ever learns about a book is almost always the title. That one little phrase/word can be the make it or break it point for your book: it can lead a reader to decide whether or not he or she wants to read the book or to just put it back on the shelf. No pressure, right? Right.

The perfect title should convey three things to a reader: it should introduce the tone, represent the main topic of the story, and intrigue the reader—all while being short and easily pronounceable. It’s one of the hardest parts of writing a book in my opinion. I am sort of terrible at naming things. (Especially characters' last names, but that's a whole 'nother blog post)

So how do you come up with a good title for your awesome novel?

Get ready to groan, because my first example of a good title is Twilight. I know, I know. TWILIGHT? But seriously, I think the title sets the tone for the book perfectly. On the outside, the book is about a human girl who meets a few vampires. But underneath the surface, the story is really about helplessly falling in love with the wrong person—it’s about being afraid and excited at the same time. In nature, twilight falls just after sunset, which is the time of day when all the light has just disappeared from the sky; when you’re still reeling from the magic of the setting sun, but yet wary of all the things you can’t see in the dark. The book is full of angst between the two main characters, and I believe that the word, “twilight,” correctly sets the tone. With the myth that vampires can only come out at night, it also poetically represents the main topic of the story.

 A book that is dead on with presenting the plot to the reader is my favorite middle grade book, The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. Just by reading the title, the reader knows that something is going to be stolen from someone, which of course, makes for an interesting plot. With the use of the word, “always,” it leads the reader to wonder what exactly is it that is going to be stolen? Time? Life? Afterlife? The possibilities are infinite, and it makes the reader want to crack open the cover to see what the synopsis is. 

 Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor immediately caught my attention when I first saw it on shelves at the bookstore. The possibilities of magic, voodoo, and family issues all ran through my head, so I picked the book up—I wanted to learn more about it. A play on words with a popular phrase, using a single word that provokes strong feelings, or choosing a few words that create a compelling thought are all good choices for choosing a good book title.

Another important part of choosing a title is that it must be easily pronounceable. I’ve found that I’m less inclined to pick up a book that I can’t pronounce. If I can’t even say the title, then what is awaiting me inside?

You also want to make sure that if you choose a phrase from inside your book, that it doesn't sound forced. I tried that with Wicked Illusions, and everyone that read the sentence, "I knew it was just a wicked illusion" told me that it sounded forced-- and that's because it WAS. I'm not saying that you can't take a nicely worded phrase from your novel and use it as your title, just make sure that it flows well in the context. Don't make the reader roll their eyes at you.

All in all, the title is the first impression for the reader. If the title is no good, then the reader is most likely going to think the book is no good. It may be a hard feat to execute all the things I talked about in just a few words, but with hard work—and often suggestions and opinions from friends and critique partners— you can do it! 

(I actually got the title for my work in progress from someone's personalized license plate on the car sitting in front of me at a red light. Inspiration is everywhere, you just have to look for it!)

Why Won't It Sell?

Today on Twitter, several writers and I have been debating the topic of what will and won't sell in today's marketplace. Since I've been querying Wicked Illusions over the past seven months, five agents have requested the full manuscript, and two requested a partial-- which both turned into full requests. All of these requests (except for one particularly mean rejection and one agent yet to respond) have ended in a "nice" rejection:

"Your writing is beautiful and the story is great, but I don't think there's room for it in today's overcrowded market."


"Your prose is fantastic! I loved the main character, but unfortunately, I don't think the story is a topic I can sell."


"I really enjoyed this manuscript, but I'm going to have to pass."  <---- This agent didn't even give me a reason why she was "passing," but I assume if she was being honest and "enjoyed" it, then she didn't think she could sell it to a publishing house.

I COMPLETELY understand that an agent's job is not just to praise your work and hope it sells. They are kind of like literary lawyers. They negotiate a deal for something YOU did-- if you don't get paid, they don't get paid. It's all a business transaction.

I also know that when choosing an agent, you need to find someone that IS in love with your work and is confident that he or she can sell it and make all your dreams come true. (They're also like fairy godmothers.) So it's kind of like choosing a spouse. You have to find someone that will love you and the twisted inner workings of your brain forever, no matter what the market is doing at the moment. He or she needs to be so confident in your abilities that no matter the trends, they can guide you and help you and sell ALL of your books. All this is fine and dandy and is something every writer hopes to find (though some agent/author relationships end in "divorce" just like marriages).

But the problem is, what if BEFORE you find your agent-soulmate you keep writing in the "I can't sell this" genres? We already know that books about vampires, werewolves, and dystopian societies are dead, but today, I was surprised to find that books involving ghosts and dead people is the new no-no. I can't think of very many ghost YA novels that are published, so this must be the next "new trend" that's pending for future release.

On twitter, I asked if anyone had any idea as to what there IS room for in the YA market, and the answers were:

• Sci-Fi
• Contemporary
• Anything Funny
• Thrillers

Now, my WIP is Sci-Fi, so WOO HOO!!! I'm in the "in crowd"! BUT it will probably be five to six months before I'm ready to send out queries for it, and I'm terrified that by the time I send it to agents, Sci-Fi will be the next YA no-no. 

I know you can't chain yourself to trends and that you need to write what you love, but how will I ever get an agent if he or she sees the topic and immediately deletes my query because the marketplace is already full of this sort of thing? 

I know what y'all are going to say: "Don't worry, if the writing is good, there's an agent out there somewhere that will love your work and pick it up."

And maybe that's true. But it sure is an aggravating process to get to that point. I guess that's why artists are temperamental, huh? *shakes fists*

The Writer's Voice #181

I'm sure most of you have heard about mutli-blog, mulit-agented "The Writer's Voice" contest, hosted by Cupid's Literary Connection, Brenda Drake, Monica B.W., and Krista Van Dolzer. If you've been living under a rock, a pile of edits, or you know, it you're not a writer, it's basically like the t.v. show, The Voice-- ten entries move to the second round, and then get a coach to help polish their entries before the agents see them. 

Contests like these are a fantabulous way (that's right, I said FANTABULOUS) for agent-seeking writers to rise to top of the slush pile AND meet other writers-- which, in my opinion is the only way to stay sane while querying a project. Meeting other writers who are going through the same thing as you makes the process much less alcohol-involved (usually). 

I wasn't going to enter this contest because I'd decided last month that I was going to retire the manuscript I've been querying. But then I remembered how many friends I made when I entered the Agent Invasion contest (and I got two requests out of it!) so I decided this was my last chance to give this manuscript one more little push into the world (that sounded gross. It was not meant to sound gross.)


So anyway, here is my submission for my YA Fantasy, WICKED ILLUSIONS. I'm number 181.


 Hope you like it. :-)

QUERY:

Sixteen-year-old Lilly Elliott is surrounded by death. In her hometown of Ironbrook, a mysterious fog claims the life of one resident every full moon— a death lottery that no one wants to win. She and the other townspeople would move if they could, but the fog is only one part of the complicated curse that envelops their town; no one can leave. Ever. If they try, the question of their death goes from possible to certain.

As if getting a regular dose of death isn’t enough, Lilly is also having vivid dreams about a missing boy who has a connection to the curse, and she’s starting to fall for him. She’s also recently discovered that she can bring dead things back to life, which could be the saving grace for the town of Ironbrook, except for one small problem; her power comes with a price. For every life she saves, she must replace the energy that she’s given away, and she can only do that by killing someone else. When Blair, an odd classmate, reveals the truth about Lilly’s new abilities, it doesn’t take Lilly long to find out that Blair has everything to do with the things that plague the town. And things in Ironbrook? Just. Get. Weirder.
 

Blair has the same abilities as Lilly, and is addicted to the way it feels to drain a life. She’ll do whatever she can to get Lilly to use her powers as well, including killing Noah, the boy she loves. To save Noah, her family, and the other residents of her town, Lilly has to figure out a way to stop Blair, which may start a war that she doesn’t know how to win.

WICKED ILLUSIONS is a YA fantasy novel, complete at 65,000 words. 

FIRST 250 WORDS:

Someone will die tonight. I wish I know who it’ll be so I can relax. Or not. 

               

I wrap my arms around my legs, settling my chin on top of my knees so I can peer out over the yard. The full moon reflects off of every surface, and the silvery light, almost milky in the dark midnight air, causes my world to glow. Sitting on the wide square of the front porch roof, just outside my bedroom window, is something I do every month when the full moon calls the deadly black fog into Ironbrook.
       

 Cursed. That's what they say is wrong with our town.
        

The fog slithers over the pavement below me, oozing across the yard and around the houses in our neighborhood. The thick, inky mist wraps around the oak trees and flowers, choking them in shadows. No one dares to leave their house on the eve of the full moon, in fear of what the fog might do to them if it touches their skin. I'm safe on the roof though, looming above the silent poison. I shiver as a strong breath of wind blows across the night sky, causing the haze to curl and ebb through the neighborhood at a faster pace.

        

The fog dances through the air and swirls around the posts of the porches that line the edges of the street. With a gust of wind, a thin tail of the black cloud suddenly twists and rises to the edge of the roof where I’m sitting.