Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Win A Copy of Faith's Friendship

Faith's Friendship by Nazarea Andrews will be released on January 5th, 2010 by Key Publication's Network. If you want to find out how to win a copy, go here:

http://apps.nazarea-andrews.com/blog/

Also, all of you guys should participate in ViNoWriMo by joining the Key Publications Network forums. It'll be lots of fun. It's based around a theme, and if you win, you have a chance at publication with Key Publications Network.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Lying About Word Count

Don't. Do. It. Slush pile readers, editors, and agents aren't stupid. Soon as you send that Word document off to us with 1700 words stapled to your e-mail, and we realize the story seems longer, we're reviewing your word count only to discover it's 3,000 words longer than what your e-mail dictated (or perhaps 10,000 words longer if it's a novel and not a short story).

We're not stupid. Don't insult us.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Dedications

I'm not published yet, but a lot of people have been doing dedications inspired by the Invincible Summer blog, and I totally want to jump on board and rattle everything and everyone who has helped me since I first began writing.

I would like to thank my second grade teacher, Mrs. Connor, for forcing us to sit down and write in little journals everyday for about thirty minutes. Without that, I don't think I would have fallen in love with writing.

My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Reimsneider, for constantly cheering me on, even though my writing was complete garbage. Without your superb faith in me, who knows if I would have stuck it out? I was only ten.

My fifth grade reading teacher, Mrs. Yancy, for really encouraging my love of reading, because finally falling in love with reading made me a better writer.

My sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Eterlie, for loving what I wrote, even though I knew it was trash still.

My eight grade teacher, Mrs. Moore, for just being plain awesome.

My freshman teacher, Mrs. Klose, for being plain awesome as well.

My senior AP Lit teacher, Mrs. Boatwright, for beta reading my first short story still on submission, and for being an amazing teacher who, believe it or not, really made me a much, much better writer.

My ENGL 1101 professor for encouraging me in my writing and for giving me a 92 on my expository paper, which just highlights my writerly name.

The Oddville Press for publishing Dead Poet's Pendulum, which is my first fiction publication and reminds me why I'm writing fiction in the first place.

Sarah Day Owens of The Xtreme section for giving me a chance to be a teen journalist and explore other forms of writing.

My fiance Jeff Ferreira for always supporting my writing and being a good proofreader for Witch Tourniquet.

My friends Laura Keating, Michelle Davignon, Laurel Swanson, and Stefanie Tauscher for always giving my writing a chance, even though I look back now on some of the stuff you guys read of mine and cringe.

My parents for having faith in me and realizing that writing is a serious passion of mine.

Steven Loos for, even though you couldn't really beta reader Witch Tourniquet, pointing out that Alice wasn't as developed as she could have been, and by saying that, you helped me drastically with Witch Tourniquet.

Nazarea Andrews, Elizabeth Prats, and Drittz Guen for being awesome beta readers, for being the first beta readers to actually stick it out with this novel and help me flesh it some more. Nazarea and Drittz, you will get your chapters soon. Nazarea, you need the break, and Drittz, I need more hours than 24.

And all the fabulous AWers who read my teasers and enjoy them.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Being a Trendy Writer

Every time I meet someone new at college, he or she is always a writer. I'm a magnet for writers, but in any case...

I was speaking with a girl about the publishing industry, and she brought up that if you want to get published, it's often safe to stick with trends--while adding a new twist to that said trend. Basically, she said you can't really write what you want as a first time novelist. I suppose there is some truth to the trend thing, but when the vampire trend was rampant, all the vampire books I saw in the YA section were books from already established authors. I had yet to see a vampire book from a debut author--except maybe Kristen Cast, but she worked with PC Cast. I don't technically agree with not being able to write what you want as a first time novelist.

Plus, trends go by quickly. I'm not going to stop Witch Tourniquet so I can start a novel on angels that'll probably take me a month to finish. By then, the angel trend will be gone, and a new trend will be on the rise. I'm going to say up front that I wrote a novel that included an angel-like girl before angels became trendy, but Witch Tourniquet and its prequel are my top priorities right now. Said novel needs so much work, anyway.

Now I'm not shunning the power of the market. I'm just saying that I think writers can still write what they want while catering to the market in some way. A lot of debut young adult authors, I think, wrote what they wanted to write. I know Carrie Ryan did. She even said so.

What are your thoughts on this, bloggers?

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Teaser Tuesday Eight

Pastor Brandon narrowed his eyes. “I’m certain Amethelissa would appreciate it if you discussed personal matters.”
The way he drawled out those last two words suggested he knew something. “So you do know something about it?” she asked, trying to keep herself from sounding condescending.
Nathaniel grabbed her hand. “Alice.” His tone was firm. “Amethelissa wants you to talk about what happened at the moors, remember?”
Pastor Brandon leaned forward. “Yes, Alice, tell me what happened.”
“I don’t have anything to say about the moors. Pastor Brandon, can you please answer me?”
Pastor Brandon attempted to keep his demeanor calm, but Alice saw the infuriation threatening to break through his eyes. “We’ll discuss this later, Alice.”
“Why can’t we discuss it now?” Alice balled her fists to prevent her calm from ebbing away.
“Young lady, we are here to discuss personal matters. Now your dear friend Nathaniel wants you to talk about what happened at the moors. But if you wish to waste my time, Miss Sheraton, you may leave.” His demeanor remained calm the entire time, which irked Alice.
She knew what that response meant. He had information about the cross, information he was none too willing to presently share. In fact, he might never share the information with her, for she was a fifteen-year-old girl, and most adults would rather not waste their time explaining something of significant importance to a child. And since Pastor Brandon didn’t want to say anything about the cross, she also assumed he wouldn’t answer her question about her hand print. Since she had no further business, she rose from the pews.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

YA Highway Giveaway

So, to celebrate 100 followers (more now), YA Highway is giving away some pretty awesome books, which include:


GRACELING by Kristin Cashore

JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta

HOW I LIVE NOW by Meg Rosoff

CRACKED UP TO BE by Courtney Summers

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia

SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater

WONDROUS STRANGE by Lesley Livingston

The first place winner gets a choice of fabulous bookcases to put four of these beauties in. The second place winner will receive the remaining three books.

How can you win? Just be a follower of YAHighway.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Beta Readers

Right now, half of Witch Tourniquet has been revised. My beta readers may be at different parts in my novel, but they're all doing a wonderful job so far. These readings are actually going a lot smoother than I thought--but perhaps it's because I'm adjusting myself around what they look for, and I'm going ahead and editing future chapters around what they've pointed out in past chapters.

When I began this journey, I was so worried that the story would not be appealing enough, that Alice might not be round enough, that everything would be way too confusing for a beta reader to want to handle, and that everything was going to be so marked up in red that I'd have to question why Dead Poet's Pendulum got published.

But it's been going smooth so far, and I can say with much certainty that after chapter thirteen, I think it'll be relatively smooth from there (maybe a few tiny bumps, but not major re-writes like I had to do for chapter three).

I'd like to thank Nazarea Andrews, Drizzt Guen, and Elizabeth Prats for helping me with this. Though you guys may point out different things, you aren't that far off when it comes to agreeing what you feel should be changed.

Just half to go!

Teaser Teusday Seven

That's just sad. What happened?