Cover Reveal

I'm beyond excited to share with you the cover for my young adult fantasy, Pleasantwick, coming December 2014.

I'd always said that if I could choose my cover artist, it would be, without a doubt, Nathalia Suellen. She's incredibly artistic and amazing, with an eye for fantasy. So when I decided to self-publish I contacted her immediately, to get a slot in her schedule.

I'm happy to say, she didn't disappoint.

Pleasantwick has been years in the making and to see an actual book cover for it just blows me away.

So, are you ready to see it?

Drumroll, please.

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If you haven't already seen the back cover blurb, go to the My Books tab at the top of the page.

So what do you think of the cover? I hope you love it as much as I do!

My Big News!

Over the past couple of months, you may have noticed that I've been hinting around about a having a big announcement. Well, here it is...

I'm self-publishing my young adult fantasy PLEASANTWICK.

PLEASANTWICK will release December 2014. It will be available as a soft cover book and as an eBook at Amazon (Kindle), Barnes and Noble (Nook) and Smashwords (Sony, and other formats.)

This wasn't an easy decision as I've always pictured myself having an agent and going the traditional publishing route. Honestly, until recently, I hadn't even considered self-publishing, because of the stigma associated with it. Understandably so, when you've got new writers out there who don't take the time to learn the craft and familiarize themselves with the publishing business. 

But here's the thing...

The professional writers, the ones who've edited and revised the crap out of their work, who've hired editors and cover artists ... they are taking over the self-publishing industry.

So, after spending the last several years in the query trenches, trying to find someone to help me fulfill my dream of being a published author, I finally decided to take my career into my own hands and turn my dream into my reality.

One of the best parts of self-publishing is that I have complete control over the product I put out. I hired an editor. (Yes, my book is being professionally edited.) And I've hired my dream cover artist Nathalia Suellen. Her work is amazing! (She's responsible for the SPLINTERED series covers.)

I love this book, and I believe in this book. I'm excited to share that I'm planning a cover reveal soon, hopefully a blog tour, and definitely some giveaways. I'm so excited about the giveaways!

What's my book about? Here's the blurb from the back cover.

When her father begins restoring an enormous, ancient rundown house in the middle of the California woods, Melinda Richards is instantly captivated. Steeped in mystery, the grand old structure, dubbed Sotheby House, boasts a history—and power—that Melinda would never guess. She’s lured back time and again, especially after meeting a handsome stranger in the nearby woods. Strong, soothing, charming…Luke makes her feel calm and excited all at once, and it’s not long before Melinda is spending every spare moment with the enigmatic young man.

Luke Sotheby is in trouble—in more ways than one. Not only is his magical world, Pleasantwick, under attack by dark witches, but his ancestral home, the very portal to that world, has been bought by a commoner! And worse—he’s falling for the commoner’s daughter. Melinda is smart, sweet, brave…she makes him feel things he’s never experienced (and for an empath, that’s really saying something). At a time when all his energy should be focused on the preservation of his home and the safety of his people, Luke is drawn to Melinda on a soul-deep level that’s impossible to ignore.


As the magical battle spills over into the common world, the young couple begins to face dangers the likes of which neither has ever known. Lives will be lost, secrets revealed, and if Pleasantwick falls, Melinda and Luke could be separated—forever.

Writing tips "by zombies"

If you're a writer you probably have several --if not dozens-- of notebooks lying around. I do. Some have specific purposes and others are filled with all kinds of notes, writing exercises, and doodles. One of them has the date of my next dentist appointment scribbled in the top corner of a page, unfortunately I can't remember which one. 

But I have one notebook that I keep separate from the others. It has a hard cover with a butterfly on it. This is where I keep writing related tips. It has definitions and examples of common terms, punctuation, grammatical rules, sentence structure, and often misused words.

I've decided to share some of my notes with you. Maybe you'll find something helpful.

• Expository: adj. intended to explain or describe something.

Using exposition instead of observable dramatic action is "telling versus showing."

Exposition

Melinda and Kelly had been best friends since the first grade. They were closer than sisters and shared everything.

Observable dramatic action

Kelly plucked a handful of french fries off Melinda's lunch tray. "My brown boots would look great with your new skinny jeans. You should wear them to the dance Friday."

• Don't use passive voice!

Passive voice is when you place the object being acted upon before the initiator of the action, or make the initiator unclear.
For example "The car was hit" rather than "Jason hit the car."

Here's a helpful trick: If you can insert the phrase "by zombies" after the verb and the sentence still makes sense, then you've used passive voice.

The tree was struck by zombies.

Lightning struck the tree.

The second sentence is active.

• Dependent clause

A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence [dependent clause comma independent clause].

For example: While she was asleep, the dog ate her homework.

A dependent clause with "ing" verb implies simultaneous action. You should limit the number of these on one page.

For example: Pressing his lips together, he hesitated.

•  Split infinitive

A split infinitive is when you put an adverb between "to" and a verb.
For example "to generously sprinkle" or "to boldly go."

Instead of

You have to really watch him.

Try

You have to watch him closely.

• Avoid waffling words

Words that don't add meaning and can usually be eliminated: actually, basically, quite, definitely, really, truly, ultimately, very

• Avoid filter words

Filter words distance the reader for the point of view of the character. Words like: saw, heard, felt, knew, watched, decided, noticed, realized, wondered, thought, looked.

Instead of

Melinda knew she had to get out of there.

Try

Melinda had to get out of there. (Or) She had to get out of there.

• Don't use 20 words when 5 will do

I don't think I need to explain the last one. 

That's it for today. I hope my notes made sense and maybe helped you out a little bit. Next time maybe we'll tackle adverbs.

Disclaimer: Even though I may be familiar with the above rules, I'm sure I haven broken most of them at one time or another -- probably even in this post.

Are you truly ready to query?

I recently went looking through my files for a writing timeline of my manuscript, now called Under the Violet Sky, and what I found surprised me. I was so naive when I began writing this story.

Although being naive has it downsides, I don't think it's entirely a bad thing.

I started writing about these characters in October 2008. I wasn't sure where I was going with it, or how long I'd even stick with it. But the more I wrote the more excited I got to keep going, to prove I could write a whole novel. It went through a lot of changes, including POV and from first person to third.

In my writing diary I had a note from December 2009 stating that I thought I'd be done soon and able to query after the new year.

May 2010, I noted that I'd "officially" completed my first novel.

I sent my first query in July of 2010.

So back to what I was saying about being naive, looking back I realize that I was NO WHERE near ready to query this manuscript. But I thought I was. I was ambitious and enthusiastic. And I queried away. I'm embarrassed for my past self.

But here's the thing ...
If I knew how much work I'd have ahead of me, how many years of writing and learning and querying and rejection were ahead, and how insanely slow and hard the publishing business is ... I might not have stuck with it.

But I did stick with it. Or maybe I should say, it stuck with me. Because there came a point when I wasn't saying I have to keep going to prove I can do this; Instead I was saying I NEED to do this. Period. You couldn't pull me away if you tried.

Let's skip ahead to February 2014. That's right, almost four years later, after working with critique partners and betas, and revising the heck out of this manuscript. I was finally truly ready to query.

So my point is, don't rush. Don't make the mistake I did and query too soon. Get help. Get a second, third, fourth set of eyes on your work. Once my bad writing habits were pointed out I was able to start catching them myself. My writing got tighter and better. 

I've found that writers in general are very supportive of one another. There's all kinds of help out there, you just need to know how to find it. I'd still be lost and flailing on my own if it weren't for the wonderful people I've met through tweeting and blogging.

Here are a couple helpful links and hashtags:

Agent Janet Reid is a great source for answering questions about querying.

On Twitter
#amwriting
#writetip
#yalitchat
#kidlitchat
#querytip
#tenqueries
#askagent
And following @brendadrake is a must. She hosts #pitchwars and #pitmad. She's really awesome.

Do you have a question? Just ask. I'll do whatever I can to help.

  

Alive and Kicking

Hello friends!

It's been a busy summer and I can't believe it's almost over already.

I'm happy to say my summer started with a family reunion, and the healing of old wounds. Don't live with anger and regret, because that's no way to live and it's not healthy. Don't say you should call that person someday. Do it TODAY. Chances are, that person will be glad you did.

It's also been a summer of puppies and kitties and bunnies, and if you know me then you know that makes me a happy camper.

We also spent some time traveling to county fairs for my 17-year-old daughter, Lindsey, to compete in karaoke contests. She won first place at two of them!

Lindsey is in the center.

Click here for Lindsey's winning performance of Hurt by Christina Aguilera

So anyway, I'm still here and I'm still writing, just not so much on the blog. I've been busy with my second novel Give Me A Sign, which I'm about a quarter of the way toward my target word count.
  
And as for my first novel Under the Violet Sky, well, I may have something exciting in the works. But for now, you'll have to wait.

So there you have it, short and sweet, just like me. lol

I'll leave you with this ...

... because I'm hoping it's true. ;)

#ROW80 Check-in 4/13/14

This is my first official check-in since I just started on Wednesday. I'm off to an okay start. Hopefully this week will go better.

My goals were listed as this:

1. Write at least 300 words a day, at least 5 times a week.
2. Read everyday, at least 1 chapter.
3. Work on my time management.
4. Check-in twice a week with a blog post.

My progress went like this:

1. I wrote three out of the five days, totaling about 802 words. Meh.
2. I read everyday. I started reading CHASING BROOKLYN by Lisa Schroeder. It's a 412 page novel in verse and I've almost finished it. That's pretty good for me. I'm a slow reader. Yay!
3. I'm trying to work on my time management, but I haven't been able to fit it into my schedule. Oops.
4. I remembered to check-in. Yay!

For this week, how about I try this:

1. Write at least 1,500 words
2. Keep reading everyday. At least one chapter.
3. Work on time management. Though I'll have extra obstacles this week. Two teens home on spring break.
4. Check-in twice a week with a blog post. And try to make it a little more interesting.

See ya Wednesday!

Goals for ROW80

A Round of Words in 80 Days is the writing challenge that knows you have a life. It's a group of writers who make realistic, measurable goals and support each other. They have check-ins twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays.

This round started on April 7th, but I just learned about it. So I'm jumping in late. You can too! You can find more information here.

Since I'm not very good at routines or setting attainable goals, I'm going to start out #ROW80 with a few simple goals. I'll see how the first week goes and try to bump it up a little for next week.

1. Write at least 300 words a day, at least 5 times a week.
2. Read everyday, at least 1 chapter.
3. Work on my time management.
4. Check-in twice a week with a blog post.

Good luck everyone! I look forward to meeting new people and following their successes.