My friend does this thing on her blog where she lists links to posts from the year before. I think it would be fun to look back and reflect on some of the stuff happening in my writer's life from a year ago, so here goes!
*I started Short Story Saturday and published "Angel" here on the blog. (You can now read it for Kindle here.)
Short Story Saturday: "Angel" by ME!
*I was brave enough to post some of my very early writing ...
A Blast from the Past
* I reviewed (aka wrote an ode to) one my my (still) favorite books.
"Friends & Foes" by Sarah M. Eden: This is Not So Much A Review ...
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Sometimes I Sew: Sewing Saturday
I once got some advice about not making your writer's blog ALL about writing, so here's something else creative I dabble in. It sure helps to step away from a manuscript.
The urge to sew -- or rather "upcycle" -- has been coming on strong for a while. I thought today would be a good day. My first project, of course, came from Pinterest. I seriously love that site. When it comes to clothes and outfits, I'm not super creative and there's so many fun ideas on there.
The urge to sew -- or rather "upcycle" -- has been coming on strong for a while. I thought today would be a good day. My first project, of course, came from Pinterest. I seriously love that site. When it comes to clothes and outfits, I'm not super creative and there's so many fun ideas on there.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
2013 Writing Goals
I was thinking about the goal I made last year, which was to do everything I could to be on the road to getting published. I sort of kept that goal. Some things got in the way.
* I focused most of my querying attention on my YA Superhero novel. I did do a lot of stuff with it. Queries, Contests, etc. I only got two requests. And from every *How I Got My Agent* story that I've ever read, the writer was getting requests and still getting rejected. I was just getting rejected. So I decided to put it aside and think about it. I have decided to completely rewrite it. I'm confident it will be better for it.
*I had a baby. Which is the end all, be all excuse. :)
BUT I did get published. I published myself, anyway. You might have heard of it around here? My Regency era novella, A CONTEMPTIBLE AFFECTION.
So this year I don't have so much in the way of goals as I do in plans.
*Get Baby Boy to sleep in his crib so I can write more. ;)
*I'm attending Storymakers in May and plan to have my LDS contemporary romance at least pitch ready.
*I'm working on another historical romance novella that I'm really excited to release.
*Rewrite my Superhero book and shove it back into the world of queries.
* I focused most of my querying attention on my YA Superhero novel. I did do a lot of stuff with it. Queries, Contests, etc. I only got two requests. And from every *How I Got My Agent* story that I've ever read, the writer was getting requests and still getting rejected. I was just getting rejected. So I decided to put it aside and think about it. I have decided to completely rewrite it. I'm confident it will be better for it.
*I had a baby. Which is the end all, be all excuse. :)
BUT I did get published. I published myself, anyway. You might have heard of it around here? My Regency era novella, A CONTEMPTIBLE AFFECTION.
So this year I don't have so much in the way of goals as I do in plans.
*Get Baby Boy to sleep in his crib so I can write more. ;)
*I'm attending Storymakers in May and plan to have my LDS contemporary romance at least pitch ready.
*I'm working on another historical romance novella that I'm really excited to release.
*Rewrite my Superhero book and shove it back into the world of queries.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Caring about Characters
You may have picked up in a few posts that I bought "Save the Cat" to help me with plotting and to tell you the truth, I've learned a ton. I'm just now starting to actually write my first project that I planned using "Save the Cat," so I'll let you know what it lends to my process and if it was a success.
One thing it's shown me is why there needs to be set-up and moments where we truly see the characters. I want to use an example from TV. With a new baby, I have a lot of time spent in my rocker. Sometimes I read and sometimes I watch TV. The latest series I'm blasting through is "West Wing." I'd seen episodes of it here and there when it first aired on TV and really liked it.
Then I noticed something the other day. There's an episode where the President and his entourage are shot at. The President and one of his staffers are hit. I thought to myself, interesting how that didn't happen until the end of the first season. Wouldn't it have been powerful in the first one or two episodes? Maybe something to keep viewers coming back?
Maybe.
One thing it's shown me is why there needs to be set-up and moments where we truly see the characters. I want to use an example from TV. With a new baby, I have a lot of time spent in my rocker. Sometimes I read and sometimes I watch TV. The latest series I'm blasting through is "West Wing." I'd seen episodes of it here and there when it first aired on TV and really liked it.
Then I noticed something the other day. There's an episode where the President and his entourage are shot at. The President and one of his staffers are hit. I thought to myself, interesting how that didn't happen until the end of the first season. Wouldn't it have been powerful in the first one or two episodes? Maybe something to keep viewers coming back?
Maybe.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Review: DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth
From Veronica Roth's Blog: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.
Friday, January 11, 2013
New Cover Reveal for ANGEL
The cover for my short story ANGEL was really bad. So I gave it a new one, of course.
When Abbey's uncle calls in a "guardian angel" to help her recover from a troubling past, she'll do anything to get rid of him. Until she discovers who he is and why he's there.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Review: THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM by Heather B. Moore
So when an author I know I like says, "Would anyone be interested in reviewing ...", I'm the one who jumps out of her chair, waves her hand, and yells "Me! Me! Pick me!" (In fact, those may have been my exact words in the twitter reply I sent to Heather ...)
Back Cover: Liz, Gemma, Arie, Jess, and Drew have been best friends since creating “the Five” at Aliso Creek High School. But that was over ten years ago, and each is still trying to find that perfect someone . . . if perfect is even possible.
In fact, Liz Carlson will settle for a normal man. A normal man with a job, that is. Married twice, then divorced twice, Liz had her rose-colored glasses fall off and shatter on the ground a long time ago. Her main focus now is raising her six-year-old daughter and surviving long days at work on her feet as a hairdresser. When Sloane Branden answers her call for help, quite literally, Liz doesn’t even give him a second glance. She has sworn off dating for as many years as it takes, and it seems that Sloane has done the same after his own tumultuous marriage. But when Liz realizes that Sloane defies every stereotypical deadbeat she has dated, she might just find room in her heart and discover the third time’s the charm.
Back Cover: Liz, Gemma, Arie, Jess, and Drew have been best friends since creating “the Five” at Aliso Creek High School. But that was over ten years ago, and each is still trying to find that perfect someone . . . if perfect is even possible.
In fact, Liz Carlson will settle for a normal man. A normal man with a job, that is. Married twice, then divorced twice, Liz had her rose-colored glasses fall off and shatter on the ground a long time ago. Her main focus now is raising her six-year-old daughter and surviving long days at work on her feet as a hairdresser. When Sloane Branden answers her call for help, quite literally, Liz doesn’t even give him a second glance. She has sworn off dating for as many years as it takes, and it seems that Sloane has done the same after his own tumultuous marriage. But when Liz realizes that Sloane defies every stereotypical deadbeat she has dated, she might just find room in her heart and discover the third time’s the charm.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Preview the first two chapters of A CONTEMPTIBLE AFFECTION
Chapter
One
London
June 1816
It
does not signify, Lady Iris Colburn insisted, but her jaw
remained clamped shut as she watched Dominick lead a tall girl with shining
brunette locks out onto the floor for a country dance.
Lady
Lettice Morgan, Iris’ best friend, stiffened beside her. Lettie had enough
sense not to comment, but Iris knew the thoughts running through Lettie’s mind.
The same ones plagued Iris’. Dominick had danced with this unknown girl twice
now. Why was he singling her out when everyone knew he would propose to Iris?
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Review: CINDER by Marissa Meyer
When I plopped this book down for my librarian to check out, he mentioned that he had meant to read it for a long time. Hey, me too! Then he said something about reading Pride & Prejudice and Zombies and not really liking it. I wasn't too impressed with that book either. I think I made it about ten pages in. But it took me a while to figure out why he mentioned that book while I checked out CINDER. Then it hit me -- retelling with paranormal elements. Plug in. :D
From MarissaMeyer.com: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless Lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
From MarissaMeyer.com: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless Lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
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