Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Dark CARMA

I know karma starts with a K, but Christine Bryant's name doesn't. CARMA stands for the first initials of each of the authors presenting books in their Dark CARMA tour. Check out my button (on the right side bar), and check out these BOOKS. They are amazing, and you're going to want to join the fun!

For My Next Trick

"Hey, Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat."

"Again?!"


I have no idea where Rocky and Bullwinkle came from this morning. There's really no point in asking. Let's just hope it's not going to be a Rocky and Bullwinkle kind of day.

Get moose and squirrel!

K, I think I'm done.

As I tie up the edits for The Tyrant King, I find myself looking ahead to those days when I wait to hear back from my betas and then the days (and weeks) while I wait to hear from my editor. What should I work on next? The obvious answer is The Lost Princess. She's actually my November project this year. What do do in October?

I think it's time for another e-book, myself.

The Price of Love, tentative release HALLOWEEN. Set in beautiful Scotland in an ancient manor house, this is one love story gone wrong that will send shivers up your spine.

Alita is thrilled to travel to Scotland to meet her future in-laws and plan the final details of her wedding. That is, until she meets her fiance's mother. Then Alita starts having strange dreams, dreams of dying a horrible death--dreams that spur her to dig into an ages-old mystery, and in the process learn not everyone is as they seem.

Yeah, you're right. I need to work on that synopsis. It's early, mind, and I haven't had a lot of sleep. :P

Look for more updates on The Price of Love in the coming weeks.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

But, I'm Published!

Last week, I heard from a friend of mine. We've kind of had mirror lives--our first novels came out around the same time, we sent our second ones to our publishers around the same time, we got rejected with requests to rewrite and resubmit--you know the drill. My friend, who'd worked very hard to rework her novel and has a much better book now than before, found out after 11 weeks that her publisher declined to publish it. I feel for her, particularly since I'm not as fast as she is doing rewrites, not to mention my crazy summer, and am on the verge of resubmitting my reworked novel. I'm confident my friend will move forward, but her experience has made me take a step back from my own life and think.

What will I do if my publisher declines to publish my second book?

First off, there's a reason I don't have a wireless keyboard (imagine keyboards sailing across the room to hit the far wall). My initial reactions to disappointment are sometimes unpredictable.

I know I'm not a bestselling author. I know having a published novel under your belt does NOT guarantee future publication. I've met really amazing authors with 6 or 7 published novels who still get the dreaded "no, thank you" from their publisher at times.

But, I also know I have certain obligations.

One, to myself. I'm a writer. What I love is to create stories and share them with others. Two, I have a modest fan base--actual living, breathing people who are anxiously awaiting the next installment of this series. I've heard it from them and bookstore owners alike. Granted, they aren't in the thousands, but they exist. And they matter to me. Three, I have an obligation to show my children that just because our dreams aren't easy doesn't mean we can give up. I read a great quote recently: Don't follow your dreams. Chase them!

But none of that changes the basic, economic fact that my publisher may not feel my book is strong enough to warrant their taking a risk on it. In fact, publishing my first book may have taught them I'm not as good a risk as they thought. As a writer, I have a distinct detachment from that side of the coin, and I don't know where they stand. Which is probably for the best.

The question remains: what will I do? I have options. I can try other publishers. I can search for an agent. I can self publish. In fact, in the next couple of months several of my writing friends are self publishing really incredible books. That will mean it will be harder to get my book in stores, but it will also mean I will have the book out to the public sooner than expected.

I really don't believe there's an easy answer here. Each process has its positive and negative sides. Shopping the book around could take the extra time my readers need to forget they're anticipating the next book. I need to evaluate my position, my goals, and see where I stand. What will be best for me, in both the short and long term? The other issue I have is that this is the continuation of a series, and how many publishers would be willing to pick up a series on the second book?

Decision, decisions. But at least I have options. :)

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

As Promised--my Newest Idea

The City of Light and its inhabitants have long been protected from The Dark by the aura created by the actions of their pure hearts. One day a booming, horrible voice resonates throughout the city. “People of Light, my shadow creatures have long watched you. In 2 days’ time my servant will enter your city to claim my future bride, the maiden Aliyah. Once I join her to me I will learn the secrets of Light and will finally be able to destroy you.”

I've thought for a couple weeks about this, long and hard, trust me, but I'm 99.9% sure this is my voice. This is something I wrote, and not just because when I transcribed it to the computer I could remember the sentences exactly as written without looking.

The thing is there are 5 maidens in the city named Aliyah. One has a younger sister, Gennavieve. Suspecting her sister is the demon’s chosen bride, Genna starts sleeping in her sister’s room. In 2 weeks, Aliyah will marry her one true love and create a bond not even a demon can break. Genna plans to protect her sister and save her from a terrible fate.

I love my strong female characters, as I'm sure you know by now. Genna is certain she can make a difference, and is even willing to sacrifice her life if it means her sister will be safe.

The demon’s servant sent to retrieve Aliyah is a Dark Warrior trained from birth to serve this demon. He is a tall, muscular mortal man endowed with special strengths to fulfill his destiny. Because the People of Light are not warriors they cannot oppose him. Instead they wait in fear, each of the 5 families praying it is not their Aliyah he wants.

**dramatic pause lol**

He comes in the night. Finding 2 maidens in the room there is first some confusion about who he must take. Genna convinces him to take her. He gives her 2 gifts from the demon—a bracelet that both marks her as the demon’s bride but also magically compels her to his lair. The other gift is a cloak. The demon has enchanted these cloaks. Through them he can read a person’s thoughts and when he wants to speak to them the hood comes up and only the wearer can hear his voice. His servant also wears one of these cloaks, though one has never before been used by a Person of Light. The demon finds reading Genna to be like finding the way through a maze. Her thoughts seem to hide from him, and sine her plan to save her sister is her purest thought he does not find it, keeping her identity secret from him.

Now, I know he's the Dark Warrior and all, servant to a demon, but I like him already. Don't you?

Genna has a loyal maid, Sorai, who insists in going with her. The Dark Warrior tries to talk her out of it, even offering to kill her quickly because the demon will not be as kind in her death. The chances she will be allowed to live and serve Genna are slim to none, but she insists.

Again, strong female characters.

Because the demon can read his Dark Warrior he knows the man may betray him. As the Dark Warrior takes Genna along the perilous road back to his master, he falls in love with her. Finally he chooses to defy the demon and save Genna, but the demon has foreseen this, and compelled Genna through the bracelet to move through the night, putting her ahead of the warrior. Now he must race to find her before she reaches the demon’s lair.

Classic good vs. evil conflict, but with some fun twists. I'm really looking forward to fleshing out this story, but don't look for it to be a series. I don't think it's THAT fleshy! :)

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

From the Other Side of the Move

I'm getting all my posts in early this week, in case I end up with no internet. Kinda hard to blog post with no internet. :)

What's new in my writing world? Well, the publisher rejected Lizzie Lilac and the Left Socks, as their children's book quota has been realized this year. I'm going to shop it around for next year. Hopefully I'll find someone who will want it.

Nothing new to report on The Tyrant King. I'm not writing/editing much, but I am learning quite a bit about how to improve my writing and look forward to making it a real knockout book once the kids are back in school. Yes, my kids haven't started yet. It's a casualty of the move, but they start today. Hooray! Tomorrow, I plan to be home all morning and afternoon with nothing but my thoughts. I almost can't believe I'm looking forward to that.

Still adjusting to small town living. That will take some time. But, I think I will enjoy the quiet. Less hustle and bustle. More writing time. More time with my kids. More bloggy time. :) More writing time. Wait, did I say that already? lol

In the move, I found something truly exciting--a fresh, new story idea that I'd written down forever ago and just can't wait to develop. In my next post, I'll give you the basics so you can tell me if you've seen or heard it before. One of my biggest fears finding something like this is that it's not my idea at all, but one I summarized from another source. I'd hate to be repetitive. If feels like mine, but seems so brilliant I can't quite bring myself to claim it. Make sense?