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.

Book Reviews by Priscilla the Great!

So my grades in English class are not so good right now.  Apparently, taking the words of Emily Bronte and rapping them to the music of a Black Eyed Peas hit does not make a good poetry project. Who knew? Thankfully, Mrs. Talendy is letting me redeem myself. I have to read ten books over Christmas break and write blogs about them. Yeah, I know, TEN WHOLE BOOKS! And I can’t even count comic books!

Anyway, I decided to go ahead and get started. I need to knock these books out if I want any chance of having some fun this break. I got two books done this weekend so I’ll talk about them now.

I started small with a little book called Bloated Goat by Manley Peterson. Here is a description from Amazon:

When Granny Hammy finds Bloated Goat face down in her front yard's drainage ditch, her grandson Cocky Doodle thinks nothing of it. In fact, he says that’s just another normal day for his best friend. But when they discover that Bloated Goat has little black Xs for eyes and is even more bloated than normal, they realize it is much more serious.

Come join the trio on a humorous adventure filled with jewel thieves, a despondent wolf, an alligator gangster, a kingdom of hungry mushrooms, a shocking skunk wedding, and a mysteriously powerful chameleon known as Crazy Ned.

But don’t take my word for it. Read the following fake quotes for more convincing words:

"This is one the funniest books about bloated goats and talking animals I've ever read." - A random, imaginary kid

"If I was stuck on a deserted island with nothing but this book, I'd probably read it at least once." - An important kid, possibly your best friend or son or daughter

The description alone made me want to read this book. I love the made up quotes.  Bloated Goat was a quirky little kid’s story where the animals talk to you. Literally, they talk to you the reader. It was like Ferris Bueller meets Open Season. I read it to the twins for their bedtime story and they laughed so hard milk squirted out of their noses. Which is odd because they’re both lactose intolerant.

Anyway, the next book I read this weekend was Firefly Island by Daniel Arenson. Here is a summary from Amazon:

King Sinther, his flesh made of stone, tyrannizes the enchanted Firefly Island. Swords and arrows break against him. Armies crash before him. All of Firefly Island, a land of magic and mystery, suffers under his cruelty.

But one girl, a simple slave girl, has magic that can stop him. Whatever Aeolia feels, she can make others feel: joy, sadness, hunger... even pain. If she hurt herself and shared the pain, she could hurt the mad stone king.

Can Aeolia escape King Sinther's assassins, defeat him, and save Firefly Island?

Now I’m not normally too into fantasy. I’m more Star Trek than Lord of the Rings if you know what I mean. But I really liked this book. It transported me to Firefly Island and I felt Aeolia’s pain…which was exactly what her powers were. Good job, girl. Anyway, definitely go pick this up from Amazon as soon as you can.