The BEA Post

I won't be around next week. Why, you ask? Because I'll be at Book Expo America!

Here's the rundown.

 Month9Books at BEA 2013 – Booth #2346 
Please stop by the IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association) booth #2346 at BEA 2013!
We’ll be revealing covers for DEAD JED: ADVENTURES OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL ZOMBIE, ENDLESS and VERY SUPERSTITIOUS: MYTHS  LEGENDS AND TALES OF SUPERSTITION. We also have giveaways and contests. Do not miss out on this awesome 9-author event.
Leave your email address in your jar, and you’ll be entered in our day 2 contest to win
1st prize: Signed banner
2nd prize: signed books bundle from BEA 2013 authors
3rd prize: Month9Books polo shirt
4th prize: Month9Books journal and key chain
Drawing to be held May 31 at 3:30PM and you must be present to win!
Authors signing as follows:
Thursday, May 30th
2:00pm: Lisa M. Basso – A SHIMMER OF ANGELS signing and giveaway (that's me! )
2:30pm: Georgia McBride/Shannon Delany – PRAEFATIO & VERY SUPERSTITIOUS Charity Anthology signing and giveaway + ENDLESS giveaways and cover reveal
3:00pm: Jackie Morse Kessler/Mari Mancusi VERY SUPERSTITIOUS Charity Anthology signing and giveaway
Friday, May 31st
2:00pm: Scott Craven – DEAD JED ADVENTURES OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL ZOMBIE cover reveal, signing and giveaways
2:30pm: Gabriel Stone-Shannon Duffy – GABRIEL STONE and the DIVINITY of VALTA signing and giveaways
3:00pm: Heather L. Reid – PRETTY DARK NOTHING signing and giveaways
3:30pm: Dorothy Dreyer – MY SISTER’S REAPER signing and giveaways + contest drawings


So, that's the entire Month9Books schedule. I'm really looking forward to my signing. Who else is going to BEA this year? How many of you have been before? Any hints, tips, or booths I absolutely need to stop by? Also, if any of you are going to be around, or in New York, let me know. I'd love to meet up.

Since I won't be around, there will be no Wednesday post next week, but this coming Saturday I do have a very special guest coming to chat, friend and pub-sister Heather L. Reid, author of Pretty Dark Nothing. Exciting times!

Tackling An Editorial Letter

This post was inspired by an email I received Friday afternoon. That's right, you guessed it. Edits for A SLITHER OF HOPE have arrived!

Friday: 

An email ping. Check email. The Letter has arrived! Eep! Freak out, in a good. I'm really excited to start working on these edits. Then, since I'm checking the email from my phone, I read the body of the email instead of trying to read a long editorial letter on a tiny scream. My editor says: duh, edits are here. Hehe. Sorry I couldn't help myself. So, it does say edits are here. It also says, feel free to contact her about anything. Awesome. If--more like when--I have questions or issues or am confused about anything, I can shoot her an email or schedule a chat session. Great! (My editor is awesome, BTW).

Then she writes, word for word:

For this weekend, I highly recommend not doing a speck of editing and simply celebrating the wonderful work you've already done. :) 

Me: Uh. Ok? 

I celebrated when I handed them in, so...do I celebrate again? What does she really mean by no editing this weekend? But...

 

Aaaaand bring on the doubt, self-loathing, and the inevitable pity party.

Oh, God. What does does the editorial letter say? It's awful. I know it's awful. Why else does she think I should wait to look at it? (keep in mind, I haven't even peeked at the official letter yet.) It's crap. My writing is so bad, the story is riddled with holes. *headdesk* This is going to tear me apart. 

Ah, yes, the dreaded--and inevitable--downward spiral. For most writers, self-doubt is all part of the process. When I handed in this book, I was happy, excited, proud. Every time I complete a project, I have this feeling that my writing gets better and better. 

Until a professional takes a look at it. Then I dread what might be coming.

So, instead of being a mess, I take the rest of the day to watch TV and relax (mind you I'd already written my 2k for the day).

Saturday:

Sleep in (hey, thirteen minutes of extra sleep is technically sleeping in), do morning chores, and get some writing done, because hey, let's face it, once I start edits I'll probably have to push A MATTER OF TIME aside for a while (unless I can find a way to edit during the first half of the day, then write for the second, but I'm not sure I'm capable of successfully project jumping that way, even if both projects are books in the same series).

With words done, I take Spartacus (come on, you know this by now, Spartacus is my laptop) into my office, shut the door, and open The Letter. Four pages of The Letter. *gulp* And it's formatted like a book. This bothers me so much, I have to change it. Good. Now it's right. And only two pages! *small leap of joy* Still, my hands tremble as I read.

I finish the letter and fold my hands together. 

It's not that bad!

Maybe she went easy on me, or, okay, so maybe I built it up so much in my head that anything short of THIS BOOK SUCKS! START AGAIN! would have been fantastic. 

In all honesty, she pointed out a lot of things that I struggled with during the plotting and writing process(es).

Next, instead of tackling the actual edits, I take the rest of the day to let it sink in and catch up on some cleaning, laundry and DVR. Because once these edits get started, all that will fall by the wayside. 

Sunday:

It's Mother's Day. I'm not heartless, so I take the day off; talk to my mom, go to a Giants game, and take the in-laws out for dinner.

Monday-Wednesday:

I read through all the comments in the side bar of the word doc, making notes in a separate notebook as I go. I've actually just finished, and have five pages of notes in my notebook, which isn't bad. Some suggested changes are minor, some are much bigger. 

I'm really looking forward to start making changes, and while the smallest are the easiest to make, therefore the first I really want to jump at, I'm going to take my time and think over the bigger picture stuff first. To do that, I'm breaking out my A SLITHER OF HOPE whiteboard and start brainstorming the major changes first. This should take a day or so. 

Then I can shoot my editor an email with any questions I might have. Right now I only see one question in my notebook that I've written HOW?!?!?!?! beside, but instead of emailing her fifty times, I'll do her a favor and wait until I can form a single, coherent email.

So, as much as I'd love to stick around, work calls!

If you have any questions about edits or editorial letters in general, I'm no expert, but I'd be happy to answer anything I can. In fact, if I get enough questions, I might be able to answer them in a detailed blog post next Wednesday. 

Cover Reveal: Overexposed

I have the distinct honor of helping friend and fellow Indie Ignites cohort, Adrianne James, reveal the cover of her new, exciting YA Mystery, Overexposed.

Before we get to the cover reveal, here's a little more about the book.

Synopsis:

In the tiny town of Willowspring, just about nothing ever happens except for layoffs, hockey games, and your average melodramatic teenage angst.

But that was before.

Vi, Ashley, and Macy are just trying to make it through the school year without one more humiliation when they team up for a simple photography assignment: create a story through a series of photographs. Can't be too much trouble, right?

Wrong.

The shutterbugs happen upon Willowspring High School's darkest secret. When everything around them starts to crumble after trying to do the right thing, their only hope is to stick together.

Why a Book Boyfriend is so Important

Hello lovelies!

In the last two weeks I wrote about writing, plotting, and the like, so I figured today would be about fun. And what's more fun than falling in love?

The heart palpataions, the nervous sweat, the trying-to-be-sexy that sometimes looks to most of the world like you're having a slow moment, and the pitter-patter of tiny bird wings as they hold up a string of roses in the shape of a heart around the face you've fallen for. There's nothing better than love, I tell ya!

Whether they lift you up or bring you down (temporarily, or course, I'm only promoting HEALTHY relationships here--even in fiction, healthy relationships are key) these boys are necessary. In real life, if your single, in a relationship, married, it doesn't matter. What happens in fiction stays in fiction. Plus, book boys are almost always better than real ones.

Here's a short list of some of my favorite book boyfriends.

-Sam (from The Wolves of Mercy Falls series). The good boy. He's sweet, yet oh-so tortured. And loyal. Don't forget loyal. This boy would never leave you...unless it got really cold. Even then, totally not his fault. Sam tends to remind me a little of Cam from my Angel Sight series.

-Noah (from Pushing the Limits). I've made no secret for my love of Noah since reading Pushing the Limits. He's the quintessential tamed bad boy. But his story is about so much more than himself. He has a goal other than landing Echo. He has a huge heart and two adorable little brothers he would do anything for. Noah and Kade share a few qualities, but I won't say too much. I will say that we'll learn much more about Kade in A SLITHER OF HOPE.

-Cassel Sharpe (from The Curse Workers series). Cassel is never what you expect. His actions surprised me around every turn. He's my wildcard. I've only recently finished this series (for some reason I tend to let the final books in trilogies sit around for a while before I read them. I must have trouble saying goodbye.) and Cassel is still fresh in my mind. Holly Black, if you're out there, Cassel is one of the most twisted, unique, enigmas out there in YA fiction and I love him. If you're tired of the cookie-cutter hero, Cassel Sharpe is for you. Bonus: he's hot. Double bonus: if you listen to the audiobooks, Jesse Eisenberg does a fantastic (read: swoony) job that will never leave you bored or tired of his spectacular voice.

And now I have a problem. I'm out of book boyfriends!

Here is where you readers can do me a solid. Give me a list of your favorite book boyfriends! Don't worry, I don't mind sharing. ;)

Who would you love to be stranded on a desert island with, or face your greatest fear beside? I can't wait to hear who you swoon for.

The Writing Wall Or How Plotting Is Like Cleaning Tape Off Of A Whiteboard (part two)

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When I left you at the end of last week's post, I was downtrodden, bruised, beaten, and in the lurch. But I stand--ahem sit--before you today a changed--well, slightly less useless--individual.

How did I crawl up and over my Writing Wall? What the heck does cleaning tape off a whiteboard have to do with any of this? Why am I asking so many questions?

Why, for dramatic purposes, of course! ;)

First, I'll tell you The Writing Wall I hit was a good one. I was creatively stumped. I stewed for hours, then days, trying to make something happen. It didn't, of course. Not on its own. So, I ventured into my office (where I sometimes write) and started pulling out the tricks of the trade. Notebooks, pencils, post-its, index cards, markers, highlighters (all of the above in varying colors), poster board, dry erase markers, and a whiteboard.

For those of you quick on the uptake, THIS is where the whiteboard comes into play.

Standing there, above all my favorite toys (yes, I'm dead serious here, I love my office supplies) I notice that damn tape was still marring three quarters of my new, large and lovely whiteboard. I pushed it aside, determined to stick to a notebook and poster board. (By the way, I do have two other whiteboards, but they are currently occupied with other projects, thus, no erasing will happen until said projects land on the page.) I tried working through these issues, I tried walking away, ignoring the plotting problem, tried figuring it out in the shower or letting my dreams take over (both of which usually work). This time, nothing was working.

My plot was stuck and so was my brain.

After ambling around for a few more days, I decided cleaning off the whiteboard might be my best option. I had convinced myself that if I had a whiteboard, so much miracle-ing would happen.

Yes, I make up words. All the time. Judge me not, least ye be judged -Yoda. (though I'm about a thousand percent sure he never said that. Just roll with the punches here, people.)

Moving on . . .

While I grabbed a scraping tool from my garage and went to work, I was struck by how tenacious I was about getting that damn tape off. Little by little, it was all coming together. Tape was peeling off in tiny strips and chunks, and my mind was working, behind the scenes and above the cursing. I worked as hard as I could, fighting through some of the really sticky patches, and in less than an hour and a half (no lie), the board was free of tape!

I did my little Snoopy dance, spiked the ball of tape into the garbage, and started plotting.

The funny part, I only wrote two plot points on the board before switching to a notebook and writing page after page each day.

A few more days later I realized it hadn't been the whiteboard that I'd needed, it was working on something else for a while. Again, I didn't get anywhere sitting on the couch and waiting for some TV show to do it for me, instead I worked very hard, in silence, on another task, refusing to give up.

The in silence part turned out to be very important.

While I was scraping, my thoughts kept coming back to my characters and the difficult places (both emotionally and physically) where I had left them. How did they feel inside? What would they do to change things? What would they give up to move forward? So, by the time the tape was gone, my creative juices were a roaring river of Peach Iced Tea. Why Peach? Because it's awesome, that's why!

It's been a few weeks since The Whiteboard Incident of 2013. I have more of my plot down, and I've even started putting words to the page again. I may not be moving as fast as I'd like, but I'm starting to realize this book (A Matter of Time)--just like book two (A Slither of Hope)--is going to take a lot of time.

So, there you have it. Stepping away, but still working hard helped me fight my way up and over that Writing Wall. Plus I got a brand new whiteboard. Though, and pay attention because this is the real punchline, after spending all that time and effort scraping away on my whiteboard, the tape left a tacky residue that I can write on, but NOT ERASE. Basically, I could have left the damn tape right where it was, around the inside corners of the board, because I wouldn't have been able to write on that part of the board anyway.

The ultimate headdesk? Yes, I do believe so, but that still doesn't change the fact that focusing on that medial task helped me out of The Pits of Writing Despair (cue ominous echo) and reminded me that there is no substitute for hard work.

This concludes today's program. Thanks for coming back. And please, feel free to laugh at my idiocy in the comments. My ego doesn't bruise too easily. :)

The Writing Wall Or How Plotting Is Like Cleaning Tape Off Of A Whiteboard (part one)

I'm currently in the early stages of drafting A MATTER OF TIME (the third and final book in the Angel Sight series). This makes me extremely happy, because I'm way ahead of my deadline so I won't be rushing to finish it. It also freaks me out a little (read: a ton) because I've never written a third book before--or finished a series.

While trying my damnedest not to be overwhelmed, I jumped right into the book and started typing away. So far I'm a few chapters in and was doing several #1k1hr sprints on twitter with old writing friends and making new ones (score!). Here's where I'm at so far (I'm also going to try to keep the new word count meter on the right hand side of the blog up to date as well, for those interested).

      A MATTER OF TIME
               

7724 / 50000 words. 15% done!

Woo-hoo! Beginnings are difficult for me, so 15% is nothing to shake a stick at.

However, while writing last Sunday morning, almost all the way through my first thousand words for the day, I hit a complication. Okay, you guys, I'm not going to sweet talk you, give you some flowery writer version of why I couldn't go on, instead I'm going to give it to you straight.

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I hit The Wall. You know, that thing runners talk about when they just can't go any further--not that I'm a runner (yet), though I'd love to be. Where was I again? (And any of you are surprised I can't concentrate on one title at a time?)

Oh yeah, The Writing Wall. Now, I could have gone on, forced some gibberish that I'd have to cut later in the edits stage, but why? I've learned, from a lot of trial and error, that I tend to be a clean drafter. I'd rather take the time, maybe step away from the laptop if I have to, and figure things out in a notebook or white board before returning to Spartacus (my amazingly wonderful laptop).

Here is where I should say that I have a rough outline for A MATTER
OF TIME done, but it's very brief, too brief, I've discovered, for this book. (sidenote: for me, every project is different--as I've said about a thousand times--a rough outline might work for another story, but not for this one).

Now, some of you may be hardcore pansters. You will hear no judgments from me. I do still write by the seat of my pants occasionally. This post might not be for you, and that's just fine, or you may see a technique I use while plotting that you may be able to incorporate into your work style. That's fine, too. Whether you're a pantser or a plotter, I'm not here to change your process. I'm here to shed some light on mine.

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Okay, back to giving the draft some distance. WARNING: Stepping away can be risky. It can open you up to so many hardships. If you unlatch yourself completely, there is a serious risk that you can let yourself get lazy. Thinking does not mean sitting on the couch eating Cheetos--though that does sound like an awesome writing reward--it means getting out, trying something new, or staying in and talking things through with yourself via a digital recorder, or jotting down notes in a notebook or on a whiteboard.

Speaking of whiteboards! You may be asking yourself where the "cleaning the tape off of a whiteboard" part of the title comes in, and you're in luck, because ... right now!

A few months ago, the fiance (then boyfriend) came home from work with a huge, beautiful, sparkly whiteboard in his hands. My eyes were like saucers when I grabbed it out of his hands and the two of us danced (awkwardly) in the middle of the living room (the whiteboard and I, not the fiance and I. He may have brought to me, but I have my priorities. Heh.)

Then I noticed something had marred my perfect new amazing whiteboard. Tape. There was gross, clear packaging tape about four inches from the borders, all the way around it. The fiance explained his work used the whiteboard to hold a monthly calendar and that they didn't need it anymore and were going to trash it, but he saved it for me. (Yes, I do already have two other whiteboards--we will discuss that in part two next week.) He said "it's yours. All you have to do is clean the tape off."

Easier said than done, I discovered. I struggled with it for days, resulting in tools and tiny ripped pieces of tape all over the house. I could only take the abuse and frustration (and yes, I'm not over exaggerating or joking here, this was a really hard road for me), I gave up, pushed the whiteboard into a corner of my office and swore to forget about it. Until the day I hit The Writing Wall on my latest project and realized I needed it.

Now I had no choice but to try and tackle both my problems, cleaning tape off my whiteboard and plotting my book. I couldn't push them aside or put them off any longer. But neither job would prove to be easy.

And, unfortunately, this is where I leave you to ponder the mysteries of the universe--or, you know, how I overcame the plot troubles and what the heck that has to do with tape on a whiteboard. It will all come together next week. I promise. (hint: it's about perseverance.)

So, until then, thanks for stopping by and see you next week, same blog time (Wednesday), same blog channel.

Movie Trailers You May Have Missed

Planes



Iron Man 3




The Wolverine



The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones



This is The End *warning R-rated trailer--NOT for kids*