Starting a New Story

It's been a crazy couple of months getting ready to send out my last novel EXISTENCE. I have it out to a few agents and publishers and now I'm playing the waiting game.

Waiting is just the best thing in the world, right? I don't know about you guys but I can't just sit still and wait (see this post for further details) so I'm starting a new story. I hope to have it done well before this baby comes at the beginning of September. Needless to say I'm hoping those who bestow muses see fit to give me and extra boost in the next couple of months.

Anyway here's a little blurb about the new story if your interested --

Dakota Russell has never placed a toe outside of the two-thousand square foot prison where her Elders insist she must stay in order to avoid danger. But when a boy is lying unconscious on the other side of the river she gathers her courage to step outside of the safe zone.

She never believed in the old religion about the Puhagant who can wield powers unknown to most modern men, until she discovers that she is one of them. The land she has never left protected her from discovering these powers, but the old magic no longer holds.

To make matters worse, the unconscious boy, Carter, is being hunted by his father for knowing too much about a plot to start the next world war. Armed with the ability to connect and find other people, Dakota and Carter take off on journey to find themselves, and save what remains of the peace between the Untied States and the rest of the world.

So there you have it. It should be fun to write :)

Anyone else playing the waiting game? What are you working on?

***

P. S. I have chosen the winners of the gift card and critique via random.org. Shallee has won the $10 and Andrea gets the critique. Congrats ladies! I'll be e-mailing you with the details :) 

200 Followers Giveaway!

Wow, what a journey this has been. A little less than six months ago I left blogging then promptly came back with this site. It was a harder and longer struggle to get to 200 followers this time around, but I've made even more incredible friendships then I ever thought I would and it's been a true blessing to have this blog.

I couldn't let this milestone go without thanking those of you who have stuck around through my spradicness. If I could, I would grant each of you the wish of a lifetime. But I can't, so how does a $10 amazon gift card sound? Or maybe a three chapter critique?

Prize # 1 -- $10 gift Card

Prize #2 -- 3 chapter critique.

If either of those things sound good to you, leave me a comment with which prize you would like (or if you want the option of either/or, that works too) and I'll put your name in the hat. Winners will be drawn and announced on Tuesday June 26th. Good luck to everyone who enters!

Good News Abounds!

Success is in the air, my friends. I don't think I've been through a week with so many awesome pieces of news. So instead of hording that news to myself I want to shout it from the rooftops.

"I have the coolest and most successful blogging friends in the world!"

*ahem*onto the news -

Stephen Tremp is giving away his e-book for free. Yes, you heard right, free! Here's the description on Amazon -

The Information Age is moving at breakneck speed. Breakthroughs in areas of science that were once fodder for science fiction are now becoming part of our everyday life.

A group of graduate students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology has stolen a breakthrough in opening and stabilizing Einstein-Rosen Bridges, commonly known as wormholes, that allows them to instantly transport people from one location to another. Their goal is to assassinate any powerful politician and executive controlling the world’s banking system that would use this technology for their own greedy gain rather than the advancement of mankind.

In south Orange County, California, young Chase Manhattan, part of a new breed of modern-day discovery seekers, seeks to leave behind his life of danger and adventure and settle down as an associate professor of physics at University of California-Irvine. He also desires to build a lasting relationship with a beautiful woman he has not seen since high school.

His idyllic plan is postponed when he soon uncovers the diabolical scheme on the other side of the country. He realizes he is the one person who can prevent more murders from happening and either control or destroy the technology. Once the M.I.T. group understands Chase and his friends have the ability and motivation to not only take the technology from them, but also thwart more killings, Chase finds himself in their crosshairs, the top-of-the-list target on their assassination agenda.

As the death toll mounts, Chase and his friends must battle this group of misled zealots from M.I.T. on both coasts and in cyberspace in a thrilling, desperate race to determine the outcome of this monumental, once in a millennium discovery that will drastically change life as we know it—for better or worse.

Breakthrough, the first book in the Adventures of Chase Manhattan series, begins with a big bang and offers the audience exciting, unique, and diverse heroes and villains. The result is a fresh suspense thriller series integrating elements of greed, betrayal, passion, lust, unconditional love, coming of age, and hope. The action is swift. There are numerous red herrings, twists and turns, that will keep the reader turning the pages and wanting more.

But hurry, it's today only!

Also, the awesome Precy Larkins got an agent! Go check her out and say congrats!

And last, but not least, Chantele Sedgwick, who is one of the best people ever, has gotten her book cover - 

Cool, no?

So go around and say hi and spread the love for these awesome authors!

Staying Positive

This writing things is hard. I'll admit that I've had my share of days where I want to give up. Putting cursor to word document is emotionally draining. Sometimes the temptation to give up is astronomical. Wouldn't life be easier if I wasn't constantly putting myself through the stress that comes with pursuing a career in writing?

But guys, I'm living my dream. Yes there are days when it's hard to be a writer. Whether it's that block that comes when I'm writing the climax or a tough critique or just a day when I feel like everything I write is crap.

All of that doesn't change the days when the words flow and you get just the right compliment.

Yes, writing is hard, but it's worth it. And that's something I think we all need to remember when the going gets tough. To make it in this field we have to remember the good as well as the bad. Stay positive and never give up!

Forbidden Love

Well hello there faithful readers (and new initiates)! It's great to see you all this morning! Why am I in such a chipper mood? Well,  I FINISHED MY BOOK! Yes, finished. I'm getting ready to send it off for it's first ever query in the next couple of days. Let's just hope it stays finished ;)

In other news, I'm almost at 200 followers! I feel a giveaway coming on....

Now onto the purpose of today's post, which is to participate in the fabulous blog hop hosted by none other than Lilly McFerrin (super cool chick and awesome critiquer). The theme is Forbidden Love and there are prizes involoved including a free query critique to any and all who enter. So get on it!

Without further ado, here's my story:

Rena Lowrey stood on the edge of her world. The train rickited by not ten feet in front of her, stinging her face and causing her brown hair to fly into her nose and stick to her lips. The horn blared as the last car passed, pushing her backwards with the force.

Chase Graten stood on the other side, that devastating half smile crossing his lips. His skin was dark with the sun and his shirt frayed at the edges. Proof of just how far apart his world was from hers.

He crossed the tracks, sweeping Rena into his arms and spinning her around.

Rena sighed into his shoulder. "How long do you think we have?"

"A minute, two if we're lucky."

He set her on the ground and took her hand. "Ready to run?"

"Do you think they'll catch us?"

"Most likely, The Watchers won't let us get far."

Rena nodded.  She knew how dangerous it was to love someone on the other side of the tracks. It meant giving up her life of safety and privilege for the life of a fugitive. She pulled at his hand and their legs started to move.

It ended before it began.

A huge winged creature swooped down from the sky, scooping them up in his leathery arms. Rena squirmed and kicked, but soon they were too high off the ground.

Chase found her arm. "I will always love you, this doesn't change anything."

She wanted to tell him that she loved him too, but the wind caught in her throat and the words wouldn't come.

The Watcher dropped them into pile of sand and Rena had to claw her way out, coughing in sputtering.

Chase was by her side in a moment making sure she was okay.

“We’re alive,” she said. But she didn’t know how long it would last. No one ever survived when The Watchers came for them.

May Mini-Reviews

It's that time again! For those of you who don't know, I'm working on reading a book a week for 2012 and giving a little taste of my opinion about each one. I didn't quite as much this past month, but I've been diting like crazy, so it's worth it :)

I started out with a novel from an author I've actually met before. The Hourglass Door, by Lisa Mangum. I'd heard so many good things about this book, I couldn't wait to dig in. Plus, I wanted to do my research on popular time travel novels and this felt like a good place to start.

That being said, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I have really hard time reading 1st person past tense novels becasue my mind changes the words to present tense. It's just my opinion, but if you're writing in 1st person it should be present tense.  The other thing was the clear lack of time travel. Yes, one of the MC's travels through time, but I really wouldn't classify the book as time travel.  I think I was so hyped about reading it that I just got disappointed. That being said, I still really liked the male MC.

I had Lola and the Boy Next Door on hold at the library and it finally came in this month. I really liked Anna and the French Kiss so I expected to like this book too, and I wasn't let down. I love the quirky Lola and the style conscious Cricket. A very cute and fun read!

This was another time travel novel that was hyped about, so I was way excited to read it. Hourglass by Myra McEntire is another 1st person past tense novel that had only a drop of time travel in it.

The MC really bothered me in this book. She was so antsy and afraid of everything. They didn't travel through time until the end of the story because 300 pages just had to be devoted to telling us how the time travel was possible.

I'm sorry, but this is 2012, everyone already believes time travel is in the realm of possibilities. I really didn't like the ideas being pushed on me.  This is the first book I've read this year that I honestly did not like. Every other book at least entertained me to some degree. ( I feel like that's really harsh--a lot of people like this book, I'm just not one of them.)

Last, but not least, I read Clockwise by Elle Strauss. I've been following her blog for a while, wanting to read her book, but a little afraid to take the leap. The other day she was giving it away for free so I decided it was now or never and downloaded a copy. I was reading another book, but I thought I'd take a quick peek at the first chapter.

I was hooked.

Once again, this book was 1st person past tense, but it was written so well it didn't bother me at all. I stopped reading another book so I could finish this one. And I was reading it on my phone (which I normally have a really hard time with.)

The time travel was awesome, the characters were so well rounded (and likable) and the story had me biting my nails. It really killed me to have to wait until my next paycheck to buy the 2nd book. It was the best book I read this month, hands down.


That's it for the month of May. What was your favorite read last month?

For links to the images, please check out my Pinterest Page.

For the Love of the Book

I almost didn't blog this week, but I have a lot on my mind and it only seemed right to write it out. As most of you know, I've been working really hard on my book trying to get it ready to query. I've read through it twice, added a few scenes, taken out a few more, and sent it off to be critiqued.

Here's the thing. I love my book. Both times that I read and edited, I did it within three days. It's easy for me to get lost in the characters and the story and fall in love each time I read it again. But not everyone is going to love my book.

It's a good thing to have people read your book who don't like it. You can get insights into things you might have otherwise missed. At the same time, it's really hard.

I handed my book over to a complete stranger that I met on Ladies Who Critique. It takes a big leap of faith to trust your baby with someone you don't know, but someone who you trust will give you honest feedback.

The only problem is that sometimes honesty is translated as, here's everything I hate. Which, for me, is sometimes a lot to swallow. I want to know that they at least laughed at my jokes or considered something thoughtful about my characters. But to deal with a rampage, it can take a lot out of person.

Critiques are important. They help you grow. This person had a lot of good points about my book that I would not have picked up on. But one comment has stuck in my head and refused to let go.

She told me she hated my main character. HATED! Why? She thought my MC was too confident in herself, and cocky to boot. Personally, I don't have problem with confidence. In fact, I love a character who can take the story by being a strong leader. That's how I wrote my character. When it comes to time travel, she knows how to handle herself.

Not everyone is going to agree. It's hard when you love someone so much, and they feel so real to you and you're told that they are awful people. It's like a stranger coming up and telling you your friends and family are worthless.

My head is in a bad place right now becasue of it. I can't change who my character is. She's confident becasue she knows how to handle the situation. It doesn't mean she's not flawed. She makes mistakes. Sometimes she's rude without meaning to be that way. Sometimes she doesn't see people for who they really are.

Even with all that being said, I still love my book. I've just lost confidence in if it's right to share with the world.

Yet, I'm still going to try. I can't quit just becasue one person didn't like my MC. I may be the only person in the world who does. And that's okay, becasue at least I didn't give up on myself.