WARRIOR WEDNESDAY: New WIP

As I'm sure y'all know by now, I've been writing YA for the past year and a half-ish. Three books so far, all with female lead characters. (And all the while, I've been itching to write one from a guy's POV.) Well, my son and his friends had no interest in reading girly stuff. When I said I might write a 'guy' book, the requests/suggestions for scenes/plot elements came pouring out. Car chases, car explosions, building explosions, hand-to-hand fight scenes, weapons, smoking hot babes...

Little did they know, I'm aiming for a bit different audience. I'm thinking more along the lines of Beautiful Creatures, The Replacement, even I Am Number Four--basically guy's POV, but still some romance.

Of course, I plan on working those suggestions in. Sounds like a damn good time to me!! Then while those ideas were stewing around, I watched a Twitter Pitch Fest held by a few agents. It got me thinking, so I boiled the concept down to a single, 140 character pitch, and I was off and running.

So, I sat down and roughed out the first chapter of a guy's POV with a concept I've also been dying to play with. I cleaned it, honed it, teased out a thread to follow, then tested it on a couple YA guys. 17 and 18 respectively, and they both said they want to read more. (I know what you're thinking, "two isn't a good representation," but they are big readers and would've told me if it didn't read right for them as a guy character.) So... Woot! Their thumbs-up was a great encouragement to keep on with the story. My new CPs are busy, and I'm not sure they'll want to look at a partial, so I'm flying blind for a while.

And having hug fun getting in touch with my masculine side. *snort*

Um... WOW.

Right now, I'm LOVING January. RESONANCE is in the hands of editors, a few of them at dream publishers (squee!) and there's movement on the FORESIGHT front in a way I never dreamed possible. Okay, scratch that. Yes, I did--kinda. Those who've read my writing now I'm a vivid image writer, I like to make readers SEE... I'm not talking the "big screen" kind of SEE with this, though. And, nothing's certain. And, I'm sure there's a crapton of stiff competition. But um... WOW. Just to think FORESIGHT is where it is, being considered for what it is is fricking AWESOME!

Man I can ramble, can't I? I really should be writing. Dystopian? Boys' POV para? hmmm Time for the WIP Roulette!

*spins imaginary dial* Alrighty, peeps, time to be productive.

FIRST LINES

Yesterday was a carnival ride. I was strapped in, helmet on, and totally missed the fun of the YA Highway and their Favorite Lines Road Trip. So, I'm grabbing for the straws dangling off the end of that wagon and posting some of my first lines...

From RESONANCE (out on subs):
I sat in the shadows of the auditorium wishing I could throttle Shaina Weston.

From A SLIGHT CASE OF DEATH (Work In Progress):
Death is not how I planned to end my night.

From DRENCHED (in revisions):
If Purgatory is between Heaven and Hell, my seat in Advanced Chem was Purgatory Central.

And from TRANFERENCE (Work In Progress):
(set up to favorite line)

Alarm sirens wail above the ration line in the town square. The breathy shriek pierces my ears and a shudder slides down my spine. The peal pitches higher, and my fight-or-flight instincts dump adrenaline in my veins. I should stay in my place. I should act like the rest of these Commoner puppets.

Doing what I should will be the death of me. (favorite line)

Now I really should do something productive. Yesterday was a total wash in the productivity department after some news from my agent. It still boggles my mind, but I think I've calmed down enough I may be able to write!

Monday's Muse

This week I'll be spending some quality time with with a hot late-teens blond--in my dystopian WIP! Thanks to my friend Heather Howland I have this inspiration pic of the romantic hero in what's tentatively titled TRANSFERENCE. His name is Aaron Auchul, and he's a SEER, an Official in the government police force gifted with the psychic ability to see where people are and what they are doing.

Aaron's sarcasm is honed to as sharp a point as government-issued knife. His lean, likes to think he's mean, but Aaron has a small problem. Seventeen year-old Isilen Temple, criminal by birth and Aaron's next target, is the one person he cannot see with his mind and she refuses to be silenced without a fight.

The chemistry between the characters is rife with all kinds of tension, and has been damn fun to write. so once the housework is done, I'm opening a file and going to get lost!

Because DH says I'm a split personality...

The silly little school girl in my is dying of want for this:

While the big fat meanie in me is dying of giggles over this:

WARRIOR WEDNESDAY

Well, things have been interesting. A few little emails from my agent have been hitting my inbox. Not only is RESONANCE out there in query stage, some editors are asking to read it! *cue the butt dancing in the typing chair*

Some OMG-ing and a ridiculous amount of pacing has ensued. I'm trying to be calm. Really I am.

Thankfully, my teen beta had dropped by the other day to start hashing out the sequel (tentatively titled DISSONANCE). Which is also the reason for today's blog post title, WARRIOR WEDNESDAY. It is my goal to turn my chicken scratch notes and gobblety-gook to the left into something cohesive and followable. The storyline is shifting darker, some secondaries are shifting into more major rolls, some minor plot elments figured out, couple major plot elements not.

Pour the coffee and back away slowly. This could get ugly.

I'm not sure how other writers do this part. Mine has varied story to story. The dystopian idea came out like Athena fully-formed. The original idea for RESONANCE was a little tinkering. This one looks like its going to be a tinkerer too.

And that's all the time I have, Hubby is home with vension to package up.
Tootles!

THIS AND THAT

First, let me say...

HAPPY AND BLESSED NEW YEAR TO ALL WHO VISIT HERE!

The holidays are over. While the gatherings with family and friends are always nice, I'm kinda glad to see it finished. No more running around. No more sewing--unless I want to. No more cooking for parties and such.

I've critted two books for my Savvy CP's: LEAVE ME BROKEN by Heather Howland and WHERE POPPIES BLOOM by Katy Upperman. Both are amazing in their own way: LMB is a gut-wrenching emotional rollercoaster ride that leaves you aching. WPB is sweet and spooky, and the prose is so engaging I might just read it again. Then, there's Jus Accardo's GATEKEEPER and Oasis girls' stories to read, too. Plus, there's books to write and books to revise. Busy, busy, busy.

AND RESONANCE IS OUT ON SUBMISSION!

Squee!! (queue the stalking of my inbox for news) The book is different from anything I've written, or read and can't wait to see if editors love it as much as beta readers and CPs have. And with that I'm going to succumb to the headache pounding inside my skull and turn this computer off. Much love!

CHRISTMAS CRAFTS 2010

Today's finished project:
This snowflake boy is a Christmas present. I designed the pattern a couple years ago, and just had to make him agin this year. He's so CUTE! Made of white fleece, fiberfil, red winter patterned fleece, lock eyes, corduroy nose, french knot mouth. (picture's not the best, but I'm not hiking in the snow for the good camera)













Another project this winter:
A denim stocking with rustic-looking patches appliqued from
Christmas print materials. The cuff is fleece, with embroidered ribbon trim. This was a gift for our favorite teen friend, so she'd have a little Christmas in her college dorm room.

Fixing what's broken

Have you ever clung to a one-eared teddy bear? Refused to throw away a favorite toy just because it was broken? Yeah, that's me. At least with stories. I queried widely with my first YA, and received rejection after rejection. (Stupidly figured out months later that my agent for my adult romance works with YA, too O.o)A few agents loved aspects of it, but had issues with how the plot was handled, etc. I sniffled. I sobbed. I cooed to the poor broken thing, then packed it in gauze and put it on a respirator.

Well, thanks to talking with Heather Kinn and Heather Howland, I've come to an angle to fix what's broken in DRENCHED. It will take scrapping huge hunks of it, reworking the over-all story arc, basically a COMPLETE rewrite. Am I masochistic? Guess so, because I'm really really excited about this!

AVERY AND THORN WILL LIVE AGAIN!!
THANK YOU, MY HEATHERS!!

SATURDAY SINGALONG

My newest writer pal Jus Asscardo is talking songs that stick in your head. Last week she gave me a new addiction, Say You'll Haunt Me by Stone Sour. This week, however, she picked one I listen to often. Along with Stone Sour I've been listening to a lot of Papa Roach. I guess it goes along with feeling just a little combative...

SATURDAY SING-A-LONG

Earworms. Your favorite song. Your character's favorite song. The song that just FITS the scene you're writing. Well, my online pals and I are posting our Saturday Sing-a-longs and this is the song that's been on repeat while I wrote two chapters' worth of the dystopian:



Isi does what's necessary and hurts someone in the process... Lands her butt in jail, even. So this one really fits.

Other Saturday Sing-a-long posts:
Heather Howland
Jus Accardo

The struggle

Ethereal feel, delicate strokes of words, rise and fall, bittersweet atmosphere of high stakes, heartaches and heart-touching romance.

VS
Dark, sharp-edged phrases, fast paced from the start, more action less romance, and the type of tension only a love/hate relationship can give.

HELP I'm addicted to the cracktopian!

SHINY NEW TOY

Have I ever told y'all I'm a WIPaholic? Yeah. Lots and LOTS of stories in one stage or another. And right now, when I should be nose to the grindstone with RESONANCE, this annoyingly interesting and way-too-much fun dystopian pops it's head up and won't go away. So, to placate the dystopian gods pestering my brain, I'm trying to purge it into a file. So far, I have a blurb, a complete summary and a snippet toward the end. But this...this is the first couple paragraphs of Chapter One.

Alarm sirens wail above the ration line in the town center. The breathy shriek pierces my ears and a shudder slides down my spine. I should stay in my place. I should act like the rest of the Commoner puppets.

Doing what I should will be the death of me.

People in the city square freeze mid-step, identical looks of fear spreading across their faces. Life snaps to a halt, arms clutching packages to chests, mothers reining in children on their wrist strap leashes. Good little marionettes awaiting the Mentalist Guild Operative announcement over the loudspeakers. I was born without puppet strings, and with a healthy self-preservation instinct--not to mention the knife I have sheathed in my boot and the blue-steeled contraband tucked in the small of my back.

A week’s worth of ration stamps crinkle when I curl my fist around them and shove them in my pocket. I duck my head, hiding my face behind a curtain of hair, knowing it won’t shield me from an Operative. Motion soothes my nerves, gives my mind a chance to plot escape routes while I put distance between me and the Commoner crowd before the siren above runs out of breath. After the siren comes the proclamation, then comes the Operative. There is no hiding from a Seer, and I can’t risk being seen.

CONTEST TO SHARE

Yes, that's the Snoopy Dance. I'm doing it because there's a chance to win BOOKS!! Books I desperately want to read and am lox on book buying funds.

Hey, y'all my blog buddy Jessie Harrell has a contest going to win three of the Soul Screamers books! Color me drooling. Go and enter! I sure did...

JESSIE'S CONTEST

CONTEST NEWS

First, there is a HUGE contest starting soon on my YAlitchat Query Kick-Around group. This is a great opportunity to get your query in front of big names in the business for review, improvement and the big winner will be the recipient of a TBA editorial prize from one of the judges. ROCK ON QUERY WARRIORS!

QUERY KICK-AROUND CRITIQUE CONTEST

And, there's a contest over on the Oasis for YA's blog to win a signed copy of Shelena Short's THE BROKEN LAKE. Our own Jessie Harrel did a very nice interview with Shelena, who seems to be a big, big sweetheart, and I know Jessie is dying of want for that book, so make her happy (jealous maybe?) and go enter, would ya??

SHELENA INTERVIEW AND CONTEST

Gobsmacked and grinning

Well, my agent is in love with the sample and synopsis of RESONANCE and wants to put together a proposal and start submissions!! I feel like the Cheshire Cat. My cheeks hurt.

Why is there a Willie Nelson song in the back of my head?

On the road again...

A bit darker poetry

Give and take

Give and take
neglecting you
hurting me
the wrist aches
the blade bleeds
cut it out
cutting me
forgiving you
forgetting me
the precipice beckons
the feet betray
step over the edge
stand alone
telling you
listening to me
no quarter given
none deserved
give and take
of hurting you
hurting me
no me left
tears took it all
hurting you
killing me

Yes it was a dark time when I wrote this. NO I have never been suicidal. consider it "situational poetry." Feeling slightly growly today and thought it was worth a revisit. And, it gave me an excuse to use that gorgeous Victoria Frances painting. :)

Whew

First draft for the synopsis of RESONANCE is done! This book doesn't follow the trends, it's inventive, plays off physics and spins it toward magic, but still has a "paranormal romance" feel.

Tagline: One love. Two dimensions. Only one choice.
First line of the synopsis: Random teens in Harmony Ridge are losing their sanity, and I’m afraid I might be next.
First line of the book: I sat in the shadows of the auditorium, wishing I could throttle Shaina Weston.


If I had wine, I'd be drinking it.

A bit of poetry

Adonis

thou art brazen

to walk in human form.

As could my hands

sculpture

the beauty that is you,

And would that I was able

to caress such muscled stone

in the likeness of a god

‘Neath my palms

in beauty’s reign,

Tis your visage

I would work

And, when the gods

fell to jealousy

would only I call my task

complete,

For your reflection

would win Narcissus’ pool,

And topple Olympus

at your feet.

I guess I should have known when I wrote this poem years ago that I was destined to write YA, because that young guy in the picture was the kind of Adonis I saw when I wrote it. Funny how hindsight is 20/20.

BLOG CARNIVAL

Oasis for YA is having a blog carnival today and each of the Oasis Ladies have taken a particular sense. I snatched up SIGHT right away--always have been a visual writer...

Here's mine for SIGHT:
The African sun and cottony clouds should have sparked happy thoughts of swimming in the azure waters with my boyfriend, Terry. But, as I took in the lush view from the hotel window, I couldn't help remembering the terrace party, our fight and him leaving me in center dance floor, alone. Phillipe, tan skin caressed by alabaster moonlight, had looked the absolute definition of 'forbidden fruit' when he'd asked me to dance. Now, feelings of guilt, dark and hard as the rocks beside the outside wall, threatened to punch up tears. Then, Terry walked in, fresh from the shower and wrapped in a towel. Sunlight poured over him, lighting his lean muscles, dancing in his damp, wavy hair and giving his smile angelic light. I smiled too, but it felt like a lie.

Now, here are the rules of this particular carnival: You've just graduated from high school and your awesome parents have taken you and your boy/girl-friend on the trip of a lifetime to the Seychelles Islands off the coast of Africa. This (picture above) is the view from your hotel window. You have ONE paragraph to describe the setting, and you can use only ONE of your senses. Go...
(then come back and share the link, so we can see what you've done!)

LINKAGE:

Sound - by Nikki Taste -by Jessie Touch - by Sheri Smell - by J.A.