Yet another snippet from Notte! Unedited, messy, etc. Enjoy!
Horse’s instructions seemed simple: I was to find the city of Mercy; to locate the inn called Pearl’s Bottom; to rent a bed, yet not use it, and instead wait in the public room below for a week and a day.
» Read more about: Pearl’s Bottom »
This is my third Christmas without my mom (in case the title wasn’t clear enough), and it’s still pretty weird.
» Read more about: Christmases Without Mom: #3. »
So this is a special Christmas. If there’s one thing this long, difficult year has taught me, treasure the time you have with your loved ones. Every moment really is special.
Bit of personal business here today, but it matters: This is the 14th anniversary of the accident that nearly killed my husband Duane.
Happy birthday, Sixelona! I refuse to apologize for this fourth-wall break, no matter how silly it is.
There came a funny moment today when I realized that Notte’s voice is very much like Tolkien’s. I don’t mean the world Tolkien created. I mean the actual man.
Good news! I’ve joined a writing club, and that means you get free stories.
The key difference between YA and MG is the scope of focus for the antagonist and protagonist.
“Do those you drink from die?”
“Yes,” I said. “But sometimes, they live.”
It’s a lot simpler than you think.
This is your last chance to see your questions answered in the 2nd edition!
Island of 20,000 saints; home to Merlin’s Apples; supposed resting place of Merlin himself: this island has a hell of a history.
It strikes me that today is a day for encouragement. May this post speed you on your way.
And it is time once again to FLIP MY LID.
Buy for Kindle Buy a Paperback
» Read more about: Strings is LIVE! »
I couldn’t help it: there were so many entries that I chose more than three winners. 🙂
Hello, friends and neighbors! I have come to you with a humble request: help me choose a cover!
I know what comes next. I just don’t have the brain-space to write it.
I’ve been tagged to answer questions on my writing process. A cat-gif is included to keep your attention.
So here’s this thing that I’ve know about forever, but have had no opportunity to talk about yet. It’s called the First War, and was probably one of the most culturally significant things to ever happen among the Mythos.
Do I need to elaborate? I don’t think I do. (Dedicated to fellow-writer, Quenby Olson.)
» Read more about: Lisa Gets It »
Please understand that I LOVE this laptop. It has always done everything I asked of it, and that’s why this particular problem is so disturbing.
You may have noticed my absence. Never fear! It is due to Writing Focus, which tends to produce good things. By the way, I will be offering The Christmas Dragon free via the newsletter, and it will also be briefly free on Kindle.
I just received a fabulous email from SnoValley Writes, my old writing group before I moved to Seattle.
» Read more about: Writing Prompt for the Holidays »
Customer service people: you are WONDERFUL.
So here’s what’s been happening over the past few months.
» Read more about: Asthma SUCKS, the Forum is FIXED, and Nanowrimo is DOOMED »
Somehow, I am actually up to date on my wordcount. Today’s suggested goal is 13,333, and I am up to 12,650, which means by the end of the day, I will be right.
» Read more about: Nano 2013, Here We Go! »
Will my laptop be repaired in time for Nanowrimo?
No idea! I intend to write anyway, so this stands to be an interesting month.
» Read more about: So that happened. »
With everything that’s gone on in the past couple of months, it comes as no surprise that I wasn’t able to write.
Nobody (except for crazy people) ever said editing was easy (unless they meant, “easily drives you crazy”).
Entire scenes have to be rewritten, whole chapters gutted and sewed into new shape, and characters you thought you knew suddenly up and move to a different zip code of emotions without telling you why.
I got a wild idea. A crazy idea. Ask me your questions, and I’ll put them in the next edition of The Sundered to celebrate the release of Notte.
And we have winners!
Can you believe it? The Sundered has ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS on Amazon.com and ONE HUNDRED RATINGS on Goodreads! I’m incredibly grateful and incredibly blessed – and since this wasn’t something I did, but something that was given to me, the least I can do is give some love back to you all!
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Ever discovered something AWESOME… and nobody around you understood?
More from Notte! It’s unedited, etc. I’m still behind on words, but that is okay. I’m making great progress.
See that stuffing? We made it ourselves, and you can, too. This is DELICIOUS, super-easy, and incredibly satisfying for everyone.
Who’s trying to get The Sundered everywhere in time for Christmas? Aw, yeah. *points to self*
Fair warning: this is almost completely unedited, beyond a quick skim for typos (which I probably missed anyway).That’s okay. First drafts are what they are.
The Sundered is FREE ON AMAZON until Thursday! Go and download now, faithful readers, and be sure to tell your friends!
Fantabulous author Beth Revis is offering the most amazing contest ever for FIFTY autographed amazing YA books!
Times of doubt can be rough, but there’s a secret: you can beat your inner critic with just three words.
I blame movies. All my scenes tend to have music. I don’t always listen to it when I’m writing or editing, but I almost always do it better when I have mad tunes playing.
(Warning: YouTube links abound. What, you didn’t think I’d mention music without giving you a chance to HEAR it, did you?)
The awesome and wonderful Pavarti K Tyler tagged me in a blog series called The Next Big Thing, and she’s sent me ten nifty questions regarding my next book. Thus, I bring you… answers! 🙂
I’m totally going to steal someone else’s definition: “It’s people living life together and helping one another throughout our cities to serve our cities.”
That isn’t just trite to me. That’s very real, and I’ll tell you why.
I love Sue Grafton’s work. I respect her as a person. However, some of the statements she made in a recent interview… Wow. Ouch.
I don’t always post book reviews. I’ll make remarks on Goodreads occasionally, but rarely has a book moved me so much that it deserves a major spotlight.
Teaser time! Enjoy.
Low-water freakout still has me by the balls, so I stay on deck in the dark.
» Read more about: Sundered Teaser: Low-Water Freakout »
What are you desperate to avoid?
Enjoy a snippet from my book, The Sundered, coming out June 29th from 4th Floor Publication.
» Read more about: Sundered Snippet »
I’ll tell you something I’ve learned: unless there is tension between your characters (not made-up bitchiness, not paltry unpleasantness, but actual, personality/goal-driven tension), your plot will stall.
It’s amazing what humans can adapt to handle.
So what inspires you? For me, it’s heroism and sacrifice. True love that beats death, beauty and nobility going hand in hand. In other words, what’s done matters.
Don’t forget to strike using your website on January 18th. This link will tell you how: http://sopastrike.com/#how-to-strike
Seriously, sign up and do this.
» Read more about: SOPA Strike »
The only person who can kill your dream is YOU.
This meal went SO WELL. Oh, oh, oh yummmmmm. Dear husband has an onion allergy, so we were determined to make this feast onion-free and full of flavor.
» Read more about: And a Happy Thanksgiving, It Was »
It’s a scary thing to jump into something as a full-time job when it doesn’t bring in any money.
Don’t you love the throw-away sunglasses? My eyes are dilated. They won’t UN-dilate.
I think I need to lie down.
» Read more about: Eye Exam FTW »
Meme!
Comment to this entry and I’ll give you a letter. List ten things, people, places, beings, thoughts, feelings, that you love that begin with that letter and then post that list on your journal.
» Read more about: Letter Meme »
It’s that day again.
The day when America learned it wasn’t invincible after all.
The day when so many lives were lost – and at the same time, many were saved because of a few brave souls on flight 93.
» Read more about: September 11th »
Not a lot of time to post today! I’m working on my trunk novel, tweaking websites for various awesome authors, and preparing for the Big Family Meeting at the end of September.
» Read more about: Writing Links Roundup »
Hello, LiveJournal. I’ve missed you.
Things have been a little crazy. I’ve moved three thousand miles.
» Read more about: On the Road Again »
So you’ve developed your characters, answered all the important questions, and your readers love them. You’ve developed your world, made it rich and full and extremely real. What’s next?
Conflict.
It affects YA authors, who tend to be considerably older than the people they’re writing about. It affects fantasy/sci-fi authors, who are responsible for creating something that feels new and different but still relatable. It affects everything. But it isn’t impossible to do.
I think… this just might be it.
Aakesh, king of the alien Sundered Ones, has struggled for centuries to free his people from human enslavement.
» Read more about: Sundered Query: New Directions »
Unlike the character concepts in part one, you may think wordl-building doesn’t apply to you. But even a modern, magicless YA has world-building, and if you do it wrong, your readers can tell.
There are two key things to a damn good story: 1. You can’t put it down. 2. When you finish, it won’t leave your head.
One of my best friends died this week.
Marsh affected my life more ways than I could possibly tell.
» Read more about: Changing Times »
Harry Iskinder has no future, but it doesn’t matter. Nobody else on Earth has one, either.
Black water that kills on contact covers the entire planet.
» Read more about: The Sundered: Query (new) »
Update: click here.
Tried a completely different direction. Here we go!Harry Iskinder is searching for the Hope of Humanity, and if he doesn’t find it, everyone on earth will die.
» Read more about: Sundered Query: Revision! »
Update: click here.
Thoughts, questions, suggestions are all welcome!Harry Iskinder has no future, but it doesn’t matter.
» Read more about: The Sundered Query »
I’d say 2010 was long and tiring, but far from all bad.
Had two – TWO!» Read more about: 2011, Here We Come »
This is the first time in my married life that I’ve been able to decorate for Christmas. ^_^ (You know the drill: click to enlarge.)
This is a year of Freedom.
» Read more about: Christmas Decorations! »
World of Warcraft. It’s something I work very hard at NOT allowing to eat my life.
Tonight, however, I’m preparing for Cataclysm – and that means levelling to 80.
» Read more about: WOW! No, really, I mean that. »
Nearly there!
10,000 words to go!
MUST… DO… THIS…
Life, you are not getting in my way tonight.
» Read more about: Almost There »
It’s writing-links time! First off, an amazing post about what it takes to stay in publishing for the long haul, by agent Rachelle Gardner.
» Read more about: Writing Resources »
So there’s a lot going on right now.
1. Grandma is very ill – senile dementia plus a bad fall has left her less than well.
» Read more about: Catching Up »
Thank you so much for your feedback, everyone! I’ve tried to incorporate your comments into this next draft. Please let me know how it strikes you!
» Read more about: The Sundered Query (next draft) »
All comments and questions are welcome!
The world is flooded, technology is all but gone, and Harry Iskinder is crazy enough to think there’s hope.
» Read more about: The Sundered Query »
There are only a limited number of stories in the world. The key to writing something fresh is not, in fact, inventing something completely new. It’s kind of like scrambled eggs.The spices are what makes them stand out.
Just a few quick but important links for you today:
1. The Odds, by Matthew Hill.
» Read more about: The Odds, Originality, and Short Stories »
I’ve just sent out a manuscript in response to a request for a full. This isn’t the first time that’s happened, and it’s probably not the last.
» Read more about: Why I Did Not Submit to Penguin »
This has been a helluva month, folks. How do I deal with helluva-month stress?
By redesigning my site, of course.
» Read more about: Relaunch! »
Yeah. That picture there? Of the computer blowing up? Yeah.
Maybe I should stick to clay tablets.
» Read more about: Oh, Bloody Hell »
1. Final huge crazy edit of Mab is Dead before sending manuscript to agent who requested full.
2.
» Read more about: Survival of the Nuttiest »
Until twelve year old Alex grew wings, he had no idea magic existed.
But it does – worlds of it, separated from ours by the thinnest of walls, which Alex tears through accidentally when he uses his new wings to escape the isolated brothel in which he was born.
» Read more about: Query, Take Two! »
Until twelve year old Alex grew wings, he had no idea magic existed.
But it does – worlds of it, separated from ours by the thinnest of walls, which Alex tears through accidentally when he uses his new wings to escape the isolated brothel in which he was born.
» Read more about: Query: Mab is Dead (Take Two) »
Twelve-year-old-Alex has never been outside the exclusive brothel that owns his mother. Escape is impossible with security designed for royal clientele, no matter how much he wants it, but he finally gets his chance the day he grows wings.
» Read more about: Query: Mab is Dead (Take One) »
I am one happy lady. Guardian Alex Kingmaker Mab is Dead is done, rewritten, and shipped out to beta readers.
» Read more about: Mab is Dead (and other updates) »
OH MY NERVES.
Ahem. Here is the query under consideration:
Harry Iskinder knows the three things everyone needs to survive.
» Read more about: The Sundered Query »
