Sunday, April 24, 2011
Quick post about goodreads
If you're on Goodreads, please don't be shy. Feel free to add me as a friend, say hi, or whatever. I promise I'll accept your friend request and respond. I really like that site and the close interaction between readers and authors. So yeah, feel free to add me. :o)
Randomness :)
So ... Happy Easter lol! I know I'm late but I hope all of you have had a wonderful day. I'm currently lying in bed, happily stuffed with my mom's cooking, and about to go fight with the terror known as Macho. But first, I wanted to show you a little bit of randomness I like to call Light-elf Nails. Awesome name, huh?
This was just something I thought would be fun to do. I think I'll do a couple more to represent some of the other characters in Shimmerspell. What do you think?
Friday, April 22, 2011
My First Review :o)
I posted this on the kindleboards too lol.
Late last night, I checked my rankings and found that someone had finally reviewed my novella, giving it 4 out of 5 stars. I know it's not perfect, but I'm still happy about it. Here's the review:
I brought this book on my latest hunt for indie YA and I am so glad I did. To be honest this kind of fantasy usually doesn't grab me but Jensen was just such good company with her wicked sense of humour and don't-mess-with-me attitude I would follow her anywhere. This book was funny, often scary and overall a very entertaining read.
The person that reviewed it was another writer. I didn't ask her to review it and she's not one of my crazy relatives. I feel like a real author now lol.
Late last night, I checked my rankings and found that someone had finally reviewed my novella, giving it 4 out of 5 stars. I know it's not perfect, but I'm still happy about it. Here's the review:
I brought this book on my latest hunt for indie YA and I am so glad I did. To be honest this kind of fantasy usually doesn't grab me but Jensen was just such good company with her wicked sense of humour and don't-mess-with-me attitude I would follow her anywhere. This book was funny, often scary and overall a very entertaining read.
The person that reviewed it was another writer. I didn't ask her to review it and she's not one of my crazy relatives. I feel like a real author now lol.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
ROW80
Have ya'll ever heard of ROW80?
It stands for A Round of Words in 80 Days and it's this really cool writing challenge/supportive network of authors encouraging one another to buckle down and write. Of course I had to join in, so here is my goal: To write a clean first draft of 25k words between now and June 23rd. Simple, huh? It may seem that way, but no.
It took me nearly a year to write Shimmerspell. It shouldn't take that long to write a novella. But see, when I first started on it, I was working on my MSCE in counseling psychology. So I trunked the story until graduation, finished it, rewrote it twice, and then changed the pov which resulted in a whole new story. So yeah, my process sucks and I never want to go through that again. I want to be a working writer and in the self-pub world, that means having an extensive backlist. I'll never be able to have that if I don't learn how to manage my time better. Even now, I'm more focused on promoting Shimmerspell than writing the next book. I have to get it together pronto and ROW80 might just be the best way to do it.
*Edited to add: I've decided to make my goal 22k instead of 25k. I think it makes way more sense to aim for the same word count as Shimmerspell.
It stands for A Round of Words in 80 Days and it's this really cool writing challenge/supportive network of authors encouraging one another to buckle down and write. Of course I had to join in, so here is my goal: To write a clean first draft of 25k words between now and June 23rd. Simple, huh? It may seem that way, but no.
It took me nearly a year to write Shimmerspell. It shouldn't take that long to write a novella. But see, when I first started on it, I was working on my MSCE in counseling psychology. So I trunked the story until graduation, finished it, rewrote it twice, and then changed the pov which resulted in a whole new story. So yeah, my process sucks and I never want to go through that again. I want to be a working writer and in the self-pub world, that means having an extensive backlist. I'll never be able to have that if I don't learn how to manage my time better. Even now, I'm more focused on promoting Shimmerspell than writing the next book. I have to get it together pronto and ROW80 might just be the best way to do it.
*Edited to add: I've decided to make my goal 22k instead of 25k. I think it makes way more sense to aim for the same word count as Shimmerspell.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Update
This is just a quick and super late update about what's going on. The wonderful Nadine of the blog,Indie Ebooks, featured me on her blog this past Wednesday. I'm supposed to be included in another indie author showcase on Friday for L. David Hesler's blog. I'll make sure to provide the link for that one. Also, Shimmerspell is now available for 99 cents at Smashwords and Amazon. I want to do a giveaway, but I'm not sure what to do yet. Coupons and maybe a gift basket??? I don't know, but I'll let ya'll know as soon as I figure it out. And if you haven't gotten the chance to check them out, I've added a book trailer and an excerpt from Shimmerspell a few posts back.
Shimmerspell on Indie Ebooks
Shimmerspell on Amazon
Shimmerspell on Smashwords
Shimmerspell on Indie Ebooks
Shimmerspell on Amazon
Shimmerspell on Smashwords
Shimmerspell Book Trailer :o)
I know it's not fancy-shmancy, but I tried. I really, really tried. The music I used is Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, which to me is the creepiest song ever lol. Let me know what you guys think.
Music found at Wikipedia Commons
Stock photos at sxc.hu
Music found at Wikipedia Commons
Stock photos at sxc.hu
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Excerpt
Jensen pressed her back against the hunter green lockers and peeked around the corner. Her eyes met only closed doors, all except for the last classroom near the fire extinguisher. A choral rendition of “The Dog Days Are Over” filled the air, letting her know the glee club was practicing there. And since they were taking it from the top, she doubted anyone would be leaving the room anytime soon.
Satisfied, she eased forward, snagging her navy tank on the ragged hinge of a locker, ripping a tiny hole at the seam near her waist. She bunched the soft fabric in one hand, tore the thread away with the other, and allowed the tangled string to drift down to the cream and gray speckled tile.
After smoothing the tank back down, she tugged at the hem to inspect the damage. Tan skin peeked through the now thumb-size hole. “Great, just great.” She took a deep breath and released the air in a huff, deciding to focus on getting Shelby’s scrapbook.
Jensen strolled up to the locker and grabbed the single-dial padlock as if it were her own. She had never picked one before, but it couldn’t be that difficult.
She pulled the hairpin from her bangs and tucked the overgrown black and violet strands behind her ear.
After shaping the pin into an L, she swirled the dial of the lock clockwise twice and shoved the flat side of the hairpin into the tiny hole, sliding the pin around.
She tugged on the clasp. Still locked. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she grew more frustrated with each passing second. What could I be doing wrong? she wondered.
There was no way she’d be able to stay in the hall much longer. Someone would come out eventually, then the dog days would truly be over.
She closed her eyes and laid her head against the locker, allowing the coolness of the metal to seep into her skin. She imagined her revenge. The black hairpin becoming a skinny bronze skeleton key, the four leaf clover bow cool between her fingers as she slid it into the newly formed keyhole.
A flame sparked in the pit of her stomach, the prickling heat spreading throughout her limbs.
She twisted the key.
Clink. Barely audible, but nonetheless, a clink. Her eyes flew open at the sound, her shock dragging her back to reality and causing the hairpin to slip from her fingers. The clasp had popped free, spinning away from the lock.
“Call me Ms. Lucky,” she mumbled, reaching for the hairpin. As soon as her skin touched the metal, she yanked her finger back, shoving it into her mouth. The metal was hot.
Jensen thought it was weird, but pushed those thoughts away and opened the locker.
A wave of dizziness crashed down on her and she found herself leaning into the very source of her sour stomach. Her head throbbed like each lobe of her brain had entered a fist pumping contest.
She reared back and slammed the locker shut, backing away with her hand braced against the wall of metal for balance. She blinked and everything became more pronounced—the green of the lockers extra bright, the classroom doors an almost blinking white, like the world had suddenly gone HD and her eyes couldn’t catch up.
Something was wrong with her, but she couldn’t ponder that something for long. The sound of feet shuffling had her heart back-flipping in her chest. Unnerved, she turned to run, or more honestly, hobble to class, and slammed into a brick wall.
Liam. Except—not. The boy in front of her had pale pearlescent skin that shimmered underneath the overhead lights, his eyes no longer the cerulean she had come to adore, but a deeper, more vibrant blue that reminded her of giant sapphires. Tension lines bracketed his mouth, and his gaze darted up and down the hall as if he expected someone to show up.
Jensen found her eyes riveted to his face. She tried to count the number of hairs that made up his golden stubble, looking for something, anything to avoid dealing with the two things that had caused her breaths to come way too fast, and her palms to feel like she had dipped them in the ocean.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked, voice just as strained as the cords bunching in his neck.
She shut her eyes. They weren’t working anyway. But the darkness that followed only made her pulse speed up more, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. When she peeled her lids apart, she knew her sight wasn’t the problem because they were still there, still peeking over his shoulders at her. Still fluttering. Wings. Liam had wings.
He cocked his head to the side. “Did you hear me?”
Her brain felt like mashed potatoes and her thoughts reflected the mush. “Sorry, what?”
“I asked what you’re doing out here?”
Hallucinating. “I had to get something from my locker.”
He looked behind her and frowned. “That’s not your locker.”
“How would you know?”
“Because I know. It’s wrong to steal Jensen.”
It’s also wrong to be a vapid soul stealing whore, but nobody’s chastising Shelby about that, are they? “That’s not an answer.”
“But it’s the only answer you’re getting. Why do you care anyway?”
Jensen crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, hoping the movements made her the picture of nonchalance. “I don’t.”
He laughed, but the sound lacked in the humor department.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“Everything and nothing.”
“Well good luck figuring it out.”
“I doubt that’ll happen with you around.”
Jensen’s eyebrows shot up. She never said she wanted to be around anyway. “And why is that?”
“Because looking at you is like falling into a black hole—stupid, confusing, and probably detrimental to my existence.”
“Well, why don’t you just hit the ground and fly?” Her eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth, tapping the stupid lips that had allowed the word to escape. “I mean, die already,” she finished.
Liam’s gaze widened and he closed the distance between them, his minty breath warm against her face.
Caught off guard, she stumbled backwards, slamming into the locker behind her.
Liam’s hand pressed into her stomach, holding her in place while he gazed into her eyes, as if looking for answers to questions he hadn’t voiced. Then suddenly, his hand dropped away, fisting at his sides. He closed his eyes and shook his head like he was trying to knock his thoughts through his ears. “Stupid,” he muttered, the sound soft, but the meaning all the same.
“Oh, so now I’m stupid?”
He opened his eyes and reached up, bracing one hand on the locker beside her head, then offered her the most famous break up line of all time. “Not you. Me.”
Something about his expression had changed. He smiled, just a sad twitch of his lips, but it almost seemed like he’d resigned himself to accept some miserable fate. He cupped her chin and leaned forward, his nose nearly touching hers.
Her breath hitched in her throat and she knew she wanted it. She would’ve given in, would’ve leaned into his lips—did in fact lean forward, but the sight of his right wing twitching above his shoulder had her hand flying to his mouth, and her body flattening against the locker behind her. “I need to get to class.”
Without waiting for him to respond, she dipped below his outstretched arm and ran away, not looking back even once for fear his wing might twitch again.
Satisfied, she eased forward, snagging her navy tank on the ragged hinge of a locker, ripping a tiny hole at the seam near her waist. She bunched the soft fabric in one hand, tore the thread away with the other, and allowed the tangled string to drift down to the cream and gray speckled tile.
After smoothing the tank back down, she tugged at the hem to inspect the damage. Tan skin peeked through the now thumb-size hole. “Great, just great.” She took a deep breath and released the air in a huff, deciding to focus on getting Shelby’s scrapbook.
Jensen strolled up to the locker and grabbed the single-dial padlock as if it were her own. She had never picked one before, but it couldn’t be that difficult.
She pulled the hairpin from her bangs and tucked the overgrown black and violet strands behind her ear.
After shaping the pin into an L, she swirled the dial of the lock clockwise twice and shoved the flat side of the hairpin into the tiny hole, sliding the pin around.
She tugged on the clasp. Still locked. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she grew more frustrated with each passing second. What could I be doing wrong? she wondered.
There was no way she’d be able to stay in the hall much longer. Someone would come out eventually, then the dog days would truly be over.
She closed her eyes and laid her head against the locker, allowing the coolness of the metal to seep into her skin. She imagined her revenge. The black hairpin becoming a skinny bronze skeleton key, the four leaf clover bow cool between her fingers as she slid it into the newly formed keyhole.
A flame sparked in the pit of her stomach, the prickling heat spreading throughout her limbs.
She twisted the key.
Clink. Barely audible, but nonetheless, a clink. Her eyes flew open at the sound, her shock dragging her back to reality and causing the hairpin to slip from her fingers. The clasp had popped free, spinning away from the lock.
“Call me Ms. Lucky,” she mumbled, reaching for the hairpin. As soon as her skin touched the metal, she yanked her finger back, shoving it into her mouth. The metal was hot.
Jensen thought it was weird, but pushed those thoughts away and opened the locker.
A wave of dizziness crashed down on her and she found herself leaning into the very source of her sour stomach. Her head throbbed like each lobe of her brain had entered a fist pumping contest.
She reared back and slammed the locker shut, backing away with her hand braced against the wall of metal for balance. She blinked and everything became more pronounced—the green of the lockers extra bright, the classroom doors an almost blinking white, like the world had suddenly gone HD and her eyes couldn’t catch up.
Something was wrong with her, but she couldn’t ponder that something for long. The sound of feet shuffling had her heart back-flipping in her chest. Unnerved, she turned to run, or more honestly, hobble to class, and slammed into a brick wall.
Liam. Except—not. The boy in front of her had pale pearlescent skin that shimmered underneath the overhead lights, his eyes no longer the cerulean she had come to adore, but a deeper, more vibrant blue that reminded her of giant sapphires. Tension lines bracketed his mouth, and his gaze darted up and down the hall as if he expected someone to show up.
Jensen found her eyes riveted to his face. She tried to count the number of hairs that made up his golden stubble, looking for something, anything to avoid dealing with the two things that had caused her breaths to come way too fast, and her palms to feel like she had dipped them in the ocean.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked, voice just as strained as the cords bunching in his neck.
She shut her eyes. They weren’t working anyway. But the darkness that followed only made her pulse speed up more, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. When she peeled her lids apart, she knew her sight wasn’t the problem because they were still there, still peeking over his shoulders at her. Still fluttering. Wings. Liam had wings.
He cocked his head to the side. “Did you hear me?”
Her brain felt like mashed potatoes and her thoughts reflected the mush. “Sorry, what?”
“I asked what you’re doing out here?”
Hallucinating. “I had to get something from my locker.”
He looked behind her and frowned. “That’s not your locker.”
“How would you know?”
“Because I know. It’s wrong to steal Jensen.”
It’s also wrong to be a vapid soul stealing whore, but nobody’s chastising Shelby about that, are they? “That’s not an answer.”
“But it’s the only answer you’re getting. Why do you care anyway?”
Jensen crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, hoping the movements made her the picture of nonchalance. “I don’t.”
He laughed, but the sound lacked in the humor department.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“Everything and nothing.”
“Well good luck figuring it out.”
“I doubt that’ll happen with you around.”
Jensen’s eyebrows shot up. She never said she wanted to be around anyway. “And why is that?”
“Because looking at you is like falling into a black hole—stupid, confusing, and probably detrimental to my existence.”
“Well, why don’t you just hit the ground and fly?” Her eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth, tapping the stupid lips that had allowed the word to escape. “I mean, die already,” she finished.
Liam’s gaze widened and he closed the distance between them, his minty breath warm against her face.
Caught off guard, she stumbled backwards, slamming into the locker behind her.
Liam’s hand pressed into her stomach, holding her in place while he gazed into her eyes, as if looking for answers to questions he hadn’t voiced. Then suddenly, his hand dropped away, fisting at his sides. He closed his eyes and shook his head like he was trying to knock his thoughts through his ears. “Stupid,” he muttered, the sound soft, but the meaning all the same.
“Oh, so now I’m stupid?”
He opened his eyes and reached up, bracing one hand on the locker beside her head, then offered her the most famous break up line of all time. “Not you. Me.”
Something about his expression had changed. He smiled, just a sad twitch of his lips, but it almost seemed like he’d resigned himself to accept some miserable fate. He cupped her chin and leaned forward, his nose nearly touching hers.
Her breath hitched in her throat and she knew she wanted it. She would’ve given in, would’ve leaned into his lips—did in fact lean forward, but the sight of his right wing twitching above his shoulder had her hand flying to his mouth, and her body flattening against the locker behind her. “I need to get to class.”
Without waiting for him to respond, she dipped below his outstretched arm and ran away, not looking back even once for fear his wing might twitch again.
Review - City of Fallen Angels
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Why Jensen Isn't Black ...
My sister asked me this question. And the answer is ... drumroll please ...
Jensen is not synonymous with Kimberly. Seriously, it's just that simple. Jensen is exactly who she needs to be, which is other. Now, if I ever decide to write my memoir, I can assure you that Kimberly will be black lol.
But it kind of bothered me when she asked that. I never thought it would be an issue because it's fiction, not my life story. But now I'm wondering if people will be put off because Jensen's skin doesn't match mine.
This is all based off of the book cover of course, which I love. It matches a particular scene perfectly. But it just made me wonder, should you only write stories about characters of your own race? Am I wrong to write about faeries because I'm not one? Where is a confused emoticon when I need one? All I have for now is this :/
Jensen is not synonymous with Kimberly. Seriously, it's just that simple. Jensen is exactly who she needs to be, which is other. Now, if I ever decide to write my memoir, I can assure you that Kimberly will be black lol.
But it kind of bothered me when she asked that. I never thought it would be an issue because it's fiction, not my life story. But now I'm wondering if people will be put off because Jensen's skin doesn't match mine.
This is all based off of the book cover of course, which I love. It matches a particular scene perfectly. But it just made me wonder, should you only write stories about characters of your own race? Am I wrong to write about faeries because I'm not one? Where is a confused emoticon when I need one? All I have for now is this :/
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Shimmerspell Book Cover and Description
The cover was made by Claudia McKinney of phatpuppyart.com :-)
For the product description, I pretty much just tweaked my old query letter. It had already made the rounds through query letter hell and managed to get the attention of a literary intern, so I thought it would be good to use. Please tell me what you think. Should I change it?
Sixteen-year-old Jensen Meadows has never been one to choke on a tall tale. With a con-artist for a big sister, Jensen knows the value of a well executed lie. But when she overhears a murder confession at school and is abandoned by her sister, Jensen learns a few new things:
Drinking Red Bull isn't the only way to get wings. The Seelie Court still hasn't gotten over King Arthur's death. Shimmerspell, the power to move between the mortal and faerie realms, is missing. And somehow, her beloved sister is tied to it all.
With the help of a few teenage light-elves, Jensen wades through a sea of lies and begins to suspect that her whole life has been the tallest tale of them all.
Kindle Book Available Now :-)
Shimmerspell
Friday, April 8, 2011
Genre Confusion
I know you're probably wondering what could be so confusing. I mean, I wrote the darn book. I should know better than anyone where it would fall on bookshelves. But, I don't. It's hard to pick the right category when new genres seem to sprout everyday. Hell, I even read about a category called Paranormal Fantasy. What the hell is that?
Anyway, my genre choices are between YA Paranormal and YA Urban Fantasy. And I think I'm gonna have to go with Urban Fantasy. From everything I've read, my novella would fall into that category. It involves fantastical creatures, faeries, in the normal human world. There is some romance, but it's not the focus of the story. Now what concerns me is the fact that most YA UF novels seem to be told in first-person, while mine is in third. :-/
On to other news, SHIMMERSPELL has been beta read and edited. I'm gonna listen to it on my kindle and read through it a few more times, and then it'll be ready to publish. :-) What did I learn from my beta readers? Well, I can be quite long-winded at times. I have this ongoing love affair with wild similes. And my voice is golden. This of course made me smile from ear to ear.
Oh and did I mention that one of my beta readers was Lisa M. Cronkhite, who is an amazing writer and oh so helpful. She actually suggested that I query SHIMMERSPELL and try to find an agent. I, of course, thought about it, but I'm still going to try my hand at self publishing. I think I can do it and I'm so excited to try. I already have the cover made and I figured out all the html blah blah blah. So yeah, SHIMMERSPELL will probably be available soon.
Anyway, my genre choices are between YA Paranormal and YA Urban Fantasy. And I think I'm gonna have to go with Urban Fantasy. From everything I've read, my novella would fall into that category. It involves fantastical creatures, faeries, in the normal human world. There is some romance, but it's not the focus of the story. Now what concerns me is the fact that most YA UF novels seem to be told in first-person, while mine is in third. :-/
On to other news, SHIMMERSPELL has been beta read and edited. I'm gonna listen to it on my kindle and read through it a few more times, and then it'll be ready to publish. :-) What did I learn from my beta readers? Well, I can be quite long-winded at times. I have this ongoing love affair with wild similes. And my voice is golden. This of course made me smile from ear to ear.
Oh and did I mention that one of my beta readers was Lisa M. Cronkhite, who is an amazing writer and oh so helpful. She actually suggested that I query SHIMMERSPELL and try to find an agent. I, of course, thought about it, but I'm still going to try my hand at self publishing. I think I can do it and I'm so excited to try. I already have the cover made and I figured out all the html blah blah blah. So yeah, SHIMMERSPELL will probably be available soon.
Monday, April 4, 2011
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