Songbird is a YA Strongest Start Finalist!

I learned today that Songbird is a finalist in the YA category of The Strongest Start Contest 2011 on TNBW! Last year it was a finalist in the Romance category and lost to my other book Evolution of Janie (now titled Raven's Mark). This year is another stiff competition and I can't wait to find out who the winners of all the categories are!

If you'd like to read the first three chapters of Songbird you can join The Next Big Writer or you can buy the book from Amazon, B&N, or CreateSpace!

 

Songbird is Now Available!

Songbird is now available in print as well as in all e-book formats! It' was so exciting to know that I have a book out there now, and people can actually order it themselves!

You can get the paperback from Amazon.com, and the Songbird e-store. Both of these locations with ship internationally.

E-book formats are available in the  Kindle store, The B&N Nook Store, and Smashwords.

Songbird Book Blog Tour June 27 - July 22

The Songbird Blog Tour starts on Monday! YEA! Here is the schedule of where I'll be:

Monday, June 27: Yani at The Secret Life of an Avid Reader
(In Her Own Words)
Tuesday, June 28: Ashley B at Basically Amazing Books
(Review)
Wednesday, June 29: Amber at Down The Rabbit Hole
(Author Interview: Tweets)
Thursday, June 30: Britta at I Like These Books
(Tens List)
Friday, July 1: Cyndi at Dog-Eared & Bookmarked
(Review)

Monday, July 4: Bailey at IB Book Blogging
(Review)
Tuesday, July 5: Kai at Amaterasu Reads
(This or That?)
Wednesday, July 6: Reagan at Shadow Star Blog
(Teenage Garage Sale)
Thursday, July 7: Patricia at Patricia’s Particularity
(Author Book Picks)
Friday, July 8: Heather at Proud Book Nerd
(Review)

Monday, July 11: Bailey at IB Book Blogging
(Character Tweets)
Tuesday, July 12: Crystal at My Reading Room
(Guest Post)
Wednesday, July 13: Amber at Down the Rabbit Hole
(Review)
Thursday, July 14: Corrine at Lost For Words
(Into the Past)
Friday, July 15: Patricia at Patricia’s Particularity
(Review)

Monday, July 18: Jen D at What’s on the Bookshelf?
(Review)
Tuesday, July 19: Hannah at Paperback Treasures
(Author Interview: Book Lines)
Wednesday, July 20: Heidi at YA Bibliophile
(Character Interview: Dani)
Thursday, July 21: Britta at I Like These Books
(Review)
Friday, July 22: Lilibeth at Chica Reader
(Book Picks: Dani)

Songbird Available in E-Book Format!

That feels just amazing to say! I've been so focused on getting everything ready with the print version that this had just kind of been a step in that accomplishment, but today I was sitting here working on posts for the blog tour and I realized - I'm on Amazon! I'm on B&N.com!

I have already had 3 reviews left on Amazon and one on Good reads, and I'm very happy with them. I'm a bit of a number person, but even the 3 star review had me smiling, because the content of the review was really good.

So, if you have an e-reader and are looking for check out Songbird!

Moving Onwards!

Editing of Songbird is done! It feels great to say that!

After 2 proof copies and countless word processor edits, I finally submitted the final version and ordered my ARC copies. Now I just hope they get here quickly, because I need to mail them off for my blog tour. Which is the next phase of getting Songbird published.

The marketing aspect is the scariest part of this whole process. Marketing is such an all-encompassing idea, and there seems to be an endless list of things I need to do to get my book out there, before it's even out there!

My book trailer was my first move and I love the way it turned out. I had a blast putting it together, and the feedback I had on my original version really help me look at what a reader is looking for from book advertisements.

Next came my websites. I now have two websites. The first is my author site and gives a look at me and my work beyond Songbird. The second site is dedicated to Songbird. Creating both of them was interesting, but took a long time. I will be making sites for my other books, but I'm starting early so I don't get overwhelmed again.

My blog tour is set up and I will be posting the schedule soon, as well as publicizing it on Facebook and Twitter. I'm working on my blogs now, so that they are done in time. A few of the posts are a little challenging, but if writing were easy then it probably wouldn't hold much interest for me.

Goodreads has been interesting and I'm going to be putting up a giveaway on there this Monday that will go until the release date. I've also heard some good things about Librarything.com and am going to check out their  site, which I think will let me give away ebook versions of Songbird. I'm also involved in a Nook giveaway with a number of other authors, so look for more info to come about that in the next few days.

Ebooks is the last major thing I need to tackle. I know I said I was done editing, but now the reformatting needs to be done, so I can get into the ebook market. If I can get that sorted out, then I may actually have the ebook out before the print.

Okay, so after reading everything I still have to do, I'm not feeling so great. Maybe I need a list so I can check things off!  :)

Stepping Closer

Publishing is hard! I'd never realized just how many things I'd have to do to make sure I'm ready for this! Every time I turn around I'm getting ideas on marketing before publication, marketing after publication, marketing, marketing, marketing! One really great thing is that I'll be publishing through Little Prince Publishing and had some awesome advice on things to do to market my book!! (okay, I realize I used an exclamation point in every one of those sentences, but I feel they were necessary :) )

I knew that marketing would be key in turning this into a success, but I didn't realize how time consuming it is, and will continue to be. I'm still working on edits and I'm trying to sell my book already. I have my Facebook fan page, my book website, my Goodreads' Author page, book trailer, I'm working on an Author website (with a real domain name) and every one of those things is sucking my time away. At least I know it's not going down into some endless abyss. It will pay off, but I need to do even more work on it.

So, as bad as I am at setting goals and following through, I'm giving myself until this weekend to have my edits done. Then I'll be able to get my next proof copy for the beginning of May. I need to get ready for a giveaway on Goodreads and I really need some ARCs for book reviews by the end of May. That gives me a month. To do another round of edits and finalize everything, so I can spend June promoting the launch.

On a very positive note, I finished my book trailer!! Thanks to the amazing generosity of Grindmouth over at DeviantArt.com who let me use a number of her beautiful photographs for the trailer.



Off to edit!

Choices, Choices...

So, I've sent off for my proof copy of Songbird, which was a scary feeling. Each day I get closer to publishing and I realize how little I know about the publishing world. Over he past few days I've been reading blogs and trying to learn everything I can.

Well, yesterday I spent an hour reading a forum about the importance of book covers. I knew they were important, but I don't think I'd really considered how important and what exactly it is that captures the reader's attention. Until yesterday, I was pretty happy with the cover I created using Create Cover. The stock photo was pretty and soothing, just the effect I was going for. But did it really represent my book. The field has a nice mix of colors, but my book takes place in the city.

After long hours last night trying to  figure out my photo program I came up with a new possible cover. All that's left is getting a few opinions. 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Self-Publishing

I've resisted this. I've used every excuse I could think of to avoid doing this. Self-publishing was definitely not something I wanted to do. Everything I read from agents and even other authors (published and not) told me not to even try.

But I'm going to do it. For a long time, I've gone the traditional route, and I haven't completely given up on it. I'm just at the point where I need to feel like I'm moving ahead. So, I'm going to take Songbird and self-publish.

I'll do another round of edits and change some minor things, but as a whole I'm pretty happy with the way it's written. I don't really see this as something an agent will pick up. The number of times I've read things like "don't use flashbacks" is countless, yet that's what this book is about. A girl who lets her memories control her choices.

Today, I went on Create space and started working on the cover. Last year I had used my free proof copy from the Nano competition to creat one, but that was too dark and I felt that it didn't really work with the romance genre of the book. This is what I have so far:



The photo was a generic one that Createspace offers but I'm pretty happy with it and I'm going to play around with it to see if I'll be able to use it for my Smashwords (ebook) cover as well.

The blurb on the back is:

There are defining moments in life when everything changes.  For Dani Mays, it was the day she witnessed her father kill her brother.  Now seventeen years-old, she still hasn't put it behind her.

After Jace's death, she bounced between her alcoholic mother and foster homes, until she found a permanent place.  And a reason to stay:  Reece McCabe.  He's her best friend, yet Dani wants more from Reece.  When he turns her down, he shatters her illusions again.

Faced with losing Reece, Dani struggles to define his place in her life and escape the memories of her brother's death and the influence it has over her choices.  Even as she weaves the pieces of her heart back together, the past becomes more than a memory when a former foster brother reappears and Dani begins receiving threatening phone calls.

There are still a couple of points in there that I'm considering changing, so feel free to make suggestions!

I'm actually really excited about this! I still have a ways to go since it'll take me a week or so to edit then another to format. then the wait for my proof copy, but I'm hoping that I can have the Smashwords version up sooner. Then I'll have to work on the marketing aspect!

Writing What You Read? Maybe Not.

Write what you know. What you read. I've heard it so many times, that this is what good writers do. If you want to write science fiction, then read it. If you want to write romance, then read it. On and on. So many times that I feel guilty for not actually doing it.

I write YA. But I don't read it. Oh, I've read a few pieces, but for the most part I'm just not interested in the stories that are out there, and those that I am are just not written well. I read romance. I have since I was 14 years old and found an old Harlequin in a garage sale box my mum had in the basement. I've probably read well over two thousand romance novels and for my favorite authors, I've read their's multiple times.

But I can't write it.

Not because I don't know it or like it. But because I do. I love reading about characters falling in love and facing problems, only to over come them to have  a happy ending. (Although, I have to admit that I am the last, absolute last, to suggest seeing a romance movie) 

YA romance though, is entirely different. The characters are in an entirely different place than those in regular romance novels. And for me that appeals to my imagination. I've read so many romance novels that I'd feel as if anything I wrote would just be a convergence of those themes, and stories, and characters. By writing YA, a genre that I have read very little of, I'm able to keep it my own. I love reading the YA work on tNBW, but that's because I'm reading it not just for pleasure, but with a critical eye. I can critique and suggest and know that where their story is going is vastly different from mine.

So for me, I'm going to put this idea of 'write what you read' to the side for now, and keep my work separate from my pleasure.

Character Appeal

So, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about characters. Okay, I've really been spending a lot of time watching Criminal Minds - all 5 1/2 seasons in about 4 weeks (how did it take me so long to figure out this is one of the best shows ever??)!  What does a TV show have to do with my writing? Well, if you've seen Criminal Minds you know that the cast of characters is just that perfect mix. There's the typical FBI agent types and then the eccentric ones that make the show. I love crime shows, and for the most part they consist of those normal characters, nothing really outside the box, but for some reason these characters just stick with me. Penelope Garcia and Dr. Spencer Reid are so not what I would think of in a show like this, yet they are my favorites and their interactions with the other characters make me like those characters as well.

So, again, what does this have to do with my writing? Basically it got me thinking about how in YA and, really in any kind of romance novel I've ever read (and I've read a lot), these types of characters are secondary ones. Garcia's character is too wacky, too big, too loudmouthed. Reid's character is too nerdy, too socially awkward, too skinny. Yet they are the ones I love, because they seem more... well, more me. It had me looking at my writing and the work I've produced. My characters are those typical ones you expect to find. 

I realize why I haven't written a Garcia or Reid. Garcia is not that ideal lead girl, she just too much. And Reid, well, a character like him would require a lot of research :) But maybe that's the problem I'm having with my characters. They're starting to feel the same, because I haven't been willing to step outside my comfort zone, to spend the time to really develop a three-dimensional character that a reader will love for their oddities. I've been stuck taking the safest route in ensuring character appeal, without really thinking about the characters.

A while back I wrote about observing people, and I really think I need to do that more.  

On my iPod:

Nautical Disaster by The Tragically Hip

Gaining Focus

I've been struggling since the new year (and before) with keeping myself focused on, well, on anything. I've done bits and pieces of The Raven's Mark (AKA The Evolution of Janie), The Gifted: Liar, and another piece that I'm working on that shall remain nameless. I'm not lacking interest or ideas. I know where I want to go with each of the pieces, and I want to do them I just can't keep myself working. Even my blog postings have been super slow.

I really do need to gain some focus. I was looking at the status updates for an agent I have a partial with and saw that she's getting near mine. Well, unless I want to send the old version of Evolution, instead of the new I have to have it done within the next two months. So far I'm on chapter 10. And I've been on chapter 10 for about two weeks :(

Today, I'm really trying. I went back and did some editing on Chapter 1 and caught the nits, and did a bit of rewording. I'm going to take a 30 minute break then move on to the next chapter. Maybe this will be what I need to move forward.

On a side note, I finally got the copy of Hunger Games from the library. Had it for two weeks and never mustered the interest to read it. I took it back yesterday. Maybe this summer I'll try again, but for now I need to concentrate on all of the projects I have going on already.

Nano Burn Out

Didn't think this would happen. Twelve days in and I'm ready to burn my Nano novel. I hate to not complete the contest, but I just can't do it. At least, not with this piece. I was really excited to start. The character of Maddie had been in my head for a while, and I had this great idea for what was going to happen to her, but the more I write, the less I like how it's developing.

It's just not flowing the way I wanted. It's a complex idea and I guess I've learned my lesson after the massive rewrites I had to do to  The Evolution of Janie. I need to do a lot more planning before I'm ready to work on this. 

At this point I'm not ready to give up on Nano. I'm simply done trying to force this novel out. Instead, I'm going to work on The Reconstruction of Janie. Not a bad plan as far as I can see. Career wise it probably makes a lot more sense. If I find an agent for Evolution then I'm going to need to get my ass in gear with the sequel.

Now I just need to find a way to get back into motion!

On my iPod:

mmm Papi by Britney Spears

Nano Express 2011

NaNoWriMo is 6 days in! Last year I hesitated to enter, waiting until the last minute to sign up. I just wasn't sure I could give it the right amount of commitment it needed. I was rewriting The Evolution of Janie and had no idea what I would work on. Then on the first, Songbird started. This year entering was an easy choice. It was the question of what I would work on. I have the sequel to  Evolution started and I'm more than 30% done Liar.

But the purpose of NaNo is to start a new piece. I know that not everyone does this and I don't have a problem with others using a WIP but for me I just felt that it would get me moving on a new idea I had.

The piece I'm working on is The Pass (a very tentative title). It's centered on Maddie, a young girl who even after two years is struggling to understand all of the changes since a car accident which should have killed her. When she woke from her coma, nothing and no one was the same. People she thought were her friends didn't even acknowledge her, but urged by her father, she pretends things are normal and two years later those false memories have faded. Then getting struck by lightning, she wakes up to find everything different again. The only person who can explain it is Lucas and he's not exactly full of answers himself. Finding herself in an alternate universe is scary enough but having to trust Lucas is terrifying, especially after she learns he was the last person to see the alternate Maddie alive.

My NaNo pace has been right on target and I'm pretty much writing a chapter a day. I'm feeling good about where the story is going. I have a basic idea of where it's going and how it will end, but the in between stuff reminds me of last year when each day I sat down with absolutely no clue what I was going to write. Although, I'm hoping this year I don't lose steam after November 30th.

On my iPod:

Breaking My Own Heart by Duffy

Dear Lucky Agent Contest!

Guide to Literary Agents is have another "Dear Lucky Agent Contest" through their blog. And this month it's YA!!!

I'm definitely going to enter this time. Each time they have a contest I consider entering, but so far I keep missing the ones for YA and the others haven't really screamed at me to enter. Mainly because they've been for categories where I didn't think any of my work fits neatly. So, wish me luck and it you're interested in checking out the details for yourself either click on the link in my blogroll or just click here.

Reading YA

I write YA. I love reviewing YA on tNBW. I work with YAs. But for some reason I don't read YA, well at least the ones that are selling.

3 years ago, writing YA was probably the furthest thing from my mind. I hadn't picked up a YA book since Sweet Valley High was the big seller. Then the movie Twilight came out and I'm a sucker of cheesy teen romance movies. I dragged my husband and infant daughter to see it. And I loved it. The fact that it came from a book was even better, because to me reading was and still is one of my favorite things to do.

The next day, I picked up Twilight and was done before the end of the day. By the end of the week I had read all four books. And yes, I admit it. I loved the books. Not because they were amazingly well written, and not because Edward and Jacob were so beautiful and perfect. I loved them because they were an easy read, yet managed to give that feeling of being a teenager again.

About two weeks after I finished the series, I started writing. Stephenie Meyer made it look so easy.

It wasn't. I wrote and then scrapped the first 30,000 words I wrote, starting over again. When I joined tNBW, I thought I had some great piece of writing - Uh, NOT! Since then I've grown so much in my writing from all the feedback I've had. Just as significantly, I've seen better YA then Twilight. I'm not going to rag on the issues I now see with Twilight, because it doesn't matter - teens/people read it, she's a millionaire. The point is that on tNBW I've managed to read a number of YA books - fantasy, paranormal, romance, realistic - that I never would have read before. Yet, I know I need to read more. I can usually tear through a book in a couple of days, why not use it t broaden my knowledge of what I'm writing.

So, if you have a favorite YA book/series or you've written one, pimp it out here and I'll add it to my list to read.

In the Beginning...

I'm not sure what actually triggered my thoughts today but I was suddenly overwhelmed by the memory of how I felt when I first started writing The Evolution of Janie. It was a heady feeling, my chest tightened and a surge of excitement filled me. I can clearly remember sitting in the Barnes and noble bookstore in The Woodlands, flipping through pages of a Montana tour guide, hoping to find the perfect location for my story.

It was a feeling that I want to recapture. That rush of starting something completely new, that was going to change my life in a way that I never anticipated. Before starting Evolution I'd never seriously considered writing a novel. But once I started I found that the thrill of creating something of my own, where I could direct the characters to be what I wanted and to do what I wanted them to do, was better than reading what another had put down on paper.

I suppose now my goal is to find that feeling again and keep it going. So many times I sit at the computer and try to figure out what I'm doing. I've been too focused on trying to get an agent and get published that I've lost my love of creating. Since putting my querying on the back burner I've been feeling freer, but I know that to really get back to where I started I'm going to have to find a way to write for me first and my audience second.

There's always going to be a part of me that desires to get published, and when I had a full request on Evolution earlier this week, I did get a tingle in my stomach. But that needs to be second to the actual writing.

On my iPod:

Adam's Song by Blink 182

When to Quit

When it quit is a question I've been pondering for a while. Not that I'm thinking of quitting writing but revisions. When I first finished my draft of Evolution I thought it was nearly perfect. HA! Well, after a few rejections I ended up taking a serious look at my 'completed' draft and realized it still needed serious work.

The results of six months of revisions was an almost completely different novel. I changed setting, defined and removed characters, and altered the core conflict of the plot. I'm so happy I made those revisions. I definitely feel that the result was a stronger piece. Since I finished that new 'completed' draft, I've continued to make smaller revisions, adjusting minor issues and clarifying plot and characters. Each time I feel better about what I've written. About three months ago I decided to start querying again. I've had a bit of interest, with two partials and a full. Considering I've only sent out about 20 queries this round I think the two versions of my query are working alright. 

Last week, I had a beta reader who graciously read through the entire manuscript in one sitting. Overall, she had a lot of great things to say - the stuff I wanted to hear. In addition to the positives she pointed out the problems she noticed as reading - the stuff I needed to hear. Redundancies aren't a big issue. I can give it a read through again and remove some of them. But the main problem she pointed to was my pacing. And she's right. I know she is. Pacing was what I was trying to fix, and I did. Well, I did a bit, just not enough.

There was a moment a few weeks back that I thought I was done with major work. Now I know I still need to do more. Maybe I don't know when to quit. I just don't see the purpose of having a completed novel still on the shelf (or in my hard drive)that no one wants to publish because I'm too tired or lazy or stubborn to make the necessary revisions to make to sellable.

I have multiple projects on the go; Reconstruction of Janie, Liar, Witness, The Pass, and Today I die. I have other things I could focus on, but part of me won't let go of Evolution. It was the first book I finished. The first novel I ever put any of my effort and heart into. It'll sell one day. It may not be my first to make it into print, but it'll make it.

When to quit? Not now. Not until it's published.

On my iPod:

New Orleans is Sinking by The Tragically Hip

Prepping for NaNo!!

Okay, I know it's 46 days away, but...it's only 46 days away! I've been thinking about how to approach NANO this year. For those of you unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo - it stands for National Novel Writing Month and the goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.

Last year I wasn't sure what I was even going to do it until I sat down at the computer and started typing. 30 days later I had almost the complete draft of Songbird. But it happened just like that. Every day I sat down unsure of where the story was going to take me, what I was going to write. The only goal I had for the story was to get my daily word count. And even though I loved writing Songbird I hated not knowing where to go each day, and the pull of words that sometimes took me hours to get to since I was waiting for inspiration.

I've been contemplating what to do for my novel this year. I have an idea that I'm playing with (this is Maddie's story) but I'm just not sure if I want to devote that much time to it yet. I'm about a third of the way through Liar and really want to get moving on Witness and Heal Me. But more important than picking which novel I want to do is decided how I'll write it. I really think that if I can work out an outline I'd enjoy NaNo so much more. It would keep me on track and reduce my freaking out about making my word count. Now, if only I could commit!!

On my iPod:

Teenage Dream by Katy Perry

Temporary Hold

I woke up this morning feeling crappy. Yes, it is a holiday Monday, but still, I felt horrible. Then I sat down at my computer to find a response to a query letter. Rejection. My crappy day just got crappier and it wasn't even 10am, yet. So, I read through the rejection, knowing it came from an agent who often personalizes query rejections and my stomach sank. She liked my concept, and title - gee, didn't she say that to some other people on QueryTracker? But after what I assume is her form ego-boost she says she reads the first few paragraphs (Should I take it to mean that she didn't bother with the rest of the chapter?) And found it wordy in the wrong places and too descriptive.

So, should I take it to mean that it's crap? It would certainly match my mood. I don't think I've ever had a reviewer say that before. It's not that I want to discount her words, because I know that there are always ways to grow as a writer, and maybe she's seeing something I'm not. That my reviewers aren't. But at the same time, do I place one agent's three sentence rejection above the twenty or so reviewers who've read that opening? Do I take the chance of changing the opening because one person says so?

The answer is I just don't know.

The longer I query the harder each rejection is because it's one less agent I can query in the future. It's one less door to open. I don't want to do it anymore, and that's scary because I haven't felt that way before. Even when I stopped querying on Songbird I did so because I knew I needed to do more work on it and on the query.

After stewing over it for an hour, I decided that I wasn't going to send out anymore queries until October. I'll use this month to give Janie a complete read over and maybe try to find a beta reader to help me see anything I'm missing. Hopefully, I won't be reworking that entire novel again. We'll see.

On my iPod:

You're Beautiful by James Blunt

Warming my Engine

I'm continuing my reading of The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes by Jack Bickham and have found it surprisingly easy to read. When I first purchased the book I did so on the advice of a fellow writer from tNBW (Thanks Crazeesharon!), but I was hesitant to open it. My reluctance came more from my own insecurities than any aversion to reading. I just didn't want to know that I was doing everything (or in this case 38 things) wrong.

I posted about Chapter 1 earlier and I've taken steps to end that mistake - I now have a brand-spanking-new whiteboard above my desk, ready for me to record and plot my word count goals.

Today's post is about openings. Bickham calls it "Warming your Engines" and he suggests not doing it. Being an idler is definitely something I can lay claim to. When I think back to my original version of Janie, I idled as long as possible. I spent so much of my first few chapters giving background and setting the stage that I completely neglected to provide any action. It's only due to some honest and amazing reviewers that I scrapped my crap and now have a solid opening for Janie.

But as I started Reconstruction, I noticed that I was doing it again. Everything I read about sequels suggested that I needed to do some kind of recap for the read, just in case they didn't read the first book. So in my mind, it was better just to dump it into the opening chapter. Well, Thank God I had those honest reviewers again because they  called me on it. I've rewritten the opening chapter and will use the previous versions later in the book.

As I'm rewriting this opening with a focus on more action, I'm really finding it much more enjoyable. I can visualize the scenes and it's not feeling forced. I've managed to give bits and pieces of information without dumping and I think that it's enough for a new reader to come in and not feel completely lost. I've finished the first chapter and have started on the second, which is going to have some drama, and lead into where I need the characters to go, but still it's not forced. It's a conversation that a number of reviewers have asked about and I didn't put it into Evolution because it was going to open up the premise for the sequel, and really until I can sell the first book there's no point in writing it to need a sequel.

 So, I have decided to take Bickham's Chapter 5 advice: Don't warm your engines. Start the story with the first sentence!

On my iPod:

I wish I could tell you, but my battery is dead and my computer has crashed!! New hard drive is being installed and I'll be getting it back in about 3 weeks. Until then I'm destined to listen to the radio in the car, and I can never remember songs and artists :)