NaNoWriMo: Are you ready for the craziness?

For those of you who don't already know, I am a HUGE NaNoWriMo cheerleader. I badger encourage everyone I know to participate in NaNoWriMo each year. So many of us have a novel inside, but we're positive we can never write it. I used to feel that way too. What's great about NaNoWriMo is you can't make any excuses--you just have to sit down and write that novel. And guess what, you will write it. Honestly, you will. I don't claim to have a vast pool of writely wisdom to bestow on others, but I do have some NaNo tips that have helped push me past the hump, and that have made me a more productive writer overall.

1. Just write. This is the most important one and, on the surface, it's the easiest one. However, it's more complex than most people think. I know the drill. Been there, done that. I can't write because I'm not inspired. I can't write because I don't have any good ideas. I can't write because I don't have time. Those are just three of the excuses I've used in the past, and I'm here to tell you they're nonsense. Really, they are. If you want to write, you have to put yourself in front of your keyboard or your pad and pen and you have to write words. Just write them. Don't worry about whether you're making mistakes or if your plot makes sense, just write.

The first year I did NaNoWriMo, way back in 2010, the novel I wrote was a hot mess. It's seriously unworkable, but that didn't make it any less valuable in the end, because it was the year I proved to myself that I could sit in front of my keyboard and bang out words, no matter how little I wanted to do so.

I think people underestimate how important it is to prove to yourself that you can do something. Even if you do it poorly, there's still a huge sense of accomplishment that goes along with completing a task you'd convinced yourself you couldn't complete.

2. Challenge yourself. When NaNo 2011 rolled around, I decided to mix things up a bit. Each year, I would pick a new genre and write a novel for it. My choice for that year was young adult dystopian, a genre I was pretty much 100% positive I couldn't pull off. The end result was Contributor, which is still one of my personal favorites. For NaNo 2012, I wrote a fantasy novel: Asleep. This year I'll be tackling new adult romance. The title is Starstruck, and I've sneakily included the cover for the book on my NaNo profile. Next year? I'm toying with trying out my hand at writing a mystery/suspense novel.

3. Have a routine. This isn't strictly necessary, but I find that establishing a routine gets me in the right frame of mind for writing. One year I drank pumpkin spice coffee every day during NaNoWriMo. I'm obsessive about the pumpkin spice, and that little treat gave me the incentive I needed to get working. I still associate pumpkin spice coffee with NaNo.

4. Reward yourself. I do a lot of bargaining with myself: If I write X number of words, I can play The Sims in the afternoon, or I can watch that movie I've been dying to see. Choose whatever works for you. Giving yourself rewards makes it easier to get motivated to get it done, and it feels good. Rather than drowning in guilt because you're fooling around when you should be writing, you can revel in the enjoyment of your reward while also feeling the warm glow of satisfaction at having met your goals for the day.

5. Prepare. Sometimes my prep is pretty extensive and at others it isn't. This will depend on your topic and how you write--I tend to be a pantser. This year I haven't done as much prep as in the past because my book will be contemporary. I have some basics down about my characters, and I have a rough sketch in my head of the setting. The previous two years, though, I did a lot more prep because I wrote dystopian and fantasy respectively. I did the world building ahead of time, outlined how the societies would work, wrote up character descriptions, etc. Getting this stuff done in advance means you can't come up with excuses not to write when you're in the swing of NaNo. You've done the groundwork, so all that's left is to put the words on the page.


6. Have fun and take risks. Throw in that outrageous plot element. Make your characters do something insane. Push yourself outside of your comfort zone. It'll keep you on your toes, make writing more interesting for you, and ultimately make your book better. Plus, imagine how great you'll feel when you pull off that crazy idea you want to try.

7. Do NOT give up. You'll reach a point where you feel like you've hit the wall. You're frazzled from caffeine overdose on top of a lack of sleep. You hate the plot twist you introduced ten pages ago, or your characters are giving you no end of grief, or you feel like you've completely lost the threads of your narrative. Yep, I've been there too. This is the hardest part about writing. The best thing you can do is push past it and fix it later. Giving up isn't going to make you feel good. As painful as forging ahead may be, you'll feel all that much larger a sense of accomplishment when you cross that finish line.

I'll be talking a lot about NaNo in the coming weeks, cheering on my fellow participants and describing my own trials and tribulations. One of the things I love most about NaNo is the community spirit. Writing can be a lonely endeavor, and I love that each November is when everyone is an author and I realize how alone I'm not.

If you'd like, add me as your NaNo writing buddy. I can never have too many of them. Best wishes and, most of all, happy writing!

Book Launch Day: Asleep is now available!

In 2012, I decided to try my hand at self-publishing. I wrote Contributor for NaNoWriMo 2011, and it was a novel I wanted to get into the hands of readers rather than sitting on my hard drive collecting dust, which is where all my other manuscripts were. It wasn't ready for publication yet, though, so I decided that, in the meantime, I'd polish up a manuscript I'd written and loved but never thought would be considered marketable enough for me to try shopping it to agents. My goal was to sell 100 copies in the first year. With a great deal of trepidation, I clicked the publish button on The Eye of the Beholder.

Now, a year later, it's still my most successful book. I not only sold those 100 copies, I sold a lot more than that--more than ten times what I'd hoped to sell. I had no idea a Beauty and the Beast retelling would resonate with so many others. I've always loved fairy tales, but I was sure the book was something no publishing company would ever touch, so self-publishing was a huge boon to me.

Since publishing that book, I've published several others. I was a bit like a kid in a candy store. I love to read, love to write, and I wanted to just writing everything I could. Each of my books is special to me in its own way, but The Eye is extra special because it proved to be the little book that could.

Writing a bunch of different things in a variety of genres has been fun, but when NaNoWriMo 2012 rolled around, I wanted to get back to my fairytale roots, and I decided to go with a reboot of Sleeping Beauty. Asleep is the end result.

I won't lie: the book gave me some serious headaches. I had fun doing the world building, and I loved the characters, but I had a hard time wrestling the book into submission. There was much stressing as I tried to figure out a timeline that would work and as I wrote and rewrote chapters to try to make everything mesh together. Then, one magical day, things finally began to fall into place, and I'm quite pleased with the end result. I hope you will be too!

**Note: This book contains some mature content**

A reimagining of the sleeping beauty tale.

When her beloved Prince Devaran is abducted from her parents’ castle during their engagement announcement ceremony, Princess Jessmyn vows that nothing will stop her from bringing his abductors to justice. Rescuing Dev won't be easy, and Jess will have to form an alliance with the other Realms if she's to win the most important battle of her life.

Imprisoned in a forbidding tower, Dev tries to find a way to warn Jess of the perils she’ll face. Weakened by deprivation and by the drugs administered by the madwoman who kidnapped him, Dev drifts between sleep and consciousness. As he relives cherished moments spent with Jess, Dev wonders if he’ll ever again be with the woman he loves.

Asleep is available on Nook, Kindle, and Kobo.

Special thanks to the awesome SM Reine, who did Asleep's fabulous cover. If you think Asleep's cover is beautiful, be sure to check out the gorgeous covers she does for her own books. They'll look fabulous on your ereader! Happy reading!

Monday Musings: NaNo angst and big news!

Well, tomorrow I will hit the 50k mark for NaNoWriMo, and I am overwhelmingly relieved about it.  I've been able to hit my target word count every day, but I'm feeling so insecure about this draft that it's making me a little nuts.  It doesn't help that I really, really want to get Phoning It In done and just haven't had the time to devote as much editing time to it as I'd like.  Once I hit the 50k mark tomorrow, I'm going to take a bit of a break from Asleep so I can get Phoning done, and hopefully I'll be a saner person for it!

I'm really starting to gear up for the Sci-Fi Spotlight promotion I'm participating in, in honor of Cyber Monday.  I'll be offering Contributor for 99 cents from November 26-30 as part of the promo.  If you're a fan of science fiction, you won't want to miss the promo because it's your chance to snap up 15 free books, as well as 15 books priced at 99 cents.  And, if you haven't already, be sure to enter the Sci-Fi Spotlight giveaway for your chance at $175 in Amazon gift cards, along with autographed books and swag!

In honor of Sci-Fi Spotlight, my blog theme for November 26-30 will be "Why Sci-Fi?"  Each day, I'll feature new indie authors participating in the promo.  They'll explain why they chose to write a sci-fi novel, and I'll include their book covers and blurbs.  Hopefully, this will help you discover some new favorites.

On Wednesday, December 5th, I'll be revealing the cover for Phoning It In here on the blog.  I'm very excited about releasing the novel, and plan on having it out before the end of the month, though I'll announce an actual publication date once the novel is ready.

And, somehow, in the middle of all this, I'll find time to plan birthday parties, spend time with my family, and just generally enjoy the crazy ride that is the holiday season each year.  I can almost taste the turkey now!

Feature Fridays: Dev is captured

I've had my struggles this NaNoWriMo, but I think I'm really hitting my groove with this novel.  Once I started easing up and just let it be what it wanted to be, I started to feel better about it.

When I started thinking about what I wanted to do for NaNo, I knew I wanted to write another Elizabeth Darcy book, and I decided to use the sleeping beauty story as an inspiration.  However, I didn't want to do the standard tale of the damsel in distress being rescued by the handsome prince, so I decided to have the princess do the rescuing.  Here, in its very rough form, is the scene where Dev is captured.

*****

Opening his eyes required a lot of effort, and he put the last of his remaining energy into it, managing to open them enough to see a narrow slice of the room before him.  A cloaked and hooded figure knelt before him, and at first he thought he was hallucinating, because the face looked so strange, like that of a scarecrow.  His confused brain tried to make sense of what he was seeing, and he finally realized that the other person wore a mask, which might explain why he or she didn’t seem to be all that bothered by the smoke.

“Who are you?” Dev ground out, his voice so low he could barely hear it.

“Ah, but we’ll have time for introductions later,” the voice said, each word like a caress.  The sound made him want to shudder, but he didn’t have the energy for it.  It wasn’t a voice he recognized and, besides that, it was accented, so he knew it wasn’t anyone from his realm or from Jess’s. 

“You’re from Moritan.”

“My, aren’t we a clever prince?”

“That would explain why you reek of sheep.”

Another pair of footsteps appeared, and Dev caught his breath as someone struck him across the face.  His head snapped back and he bit his tongue forcefully enough to make it bleed.  The tenuous hold he had on consciousness began to slip away.

“Enough,” growled the first voice he’d heard.  “We need him alive.”

“He’d be just as good to us dead,” a guttural voice responded.  Was it the man who’d struck him?

“No, you idiot, he would not.  The only way to lure Jessmyn to us is by using him as bait.  If he’s dead, she’ll attack, and we’ll never get close enough to get to her.”

“My apologies, greatness.”

Fear bolted through Dev, jolting him so strongly that it woke him from his stupor.  All fatigue forgotten, he lashed out at his two attackers, his swings wild.  His fist struck something solid, and he heard a grunt and a thud as the guttural-voice man dropped next to him.

“Subdue him,” the first voice ordered, and now Dev realized it was a woman.

His flailing took on a new desperation as two more pairs of feet approached.  Who would want to harm Jessmyn?  As far as he knew, her realm was on good terms with Moritan.  Moreover, it was not at all like King Mallaric to commit an act of such dishonorable subterfuge, and Dev knew Mallaric valued honor above all else.  No, if Mallaric felt any ill will toward King Amin and Queen Farah, he would make it plain.

Desperate, Dev tried shouting, but his voice failed once again.  The other two assailants descended upon him and, though he fought savagely, using his fists, feet, and teeth, he was simply too weak to beat them off.  They pinned him to the floor and he sucked in great gulps of air that seemed only to make him breathe more deeply, as if what flowed in wasn’t sufficient to feed his lungs.  The black borders of his vision filled more rapidly and he was lost, his lips unconsciously forming Jessmyn’s name.

Woo Hoo Wednesday: I'm obsessed with coffee

It's time for Woo Hoo Wednesday, the weekly (well, usually) event where I take a few minutes to share some thoughts about the little joys in life.

Last week, our toaster oven died, so I made a journey to Bed, Bath, & Beyond to get us a plain old toaster.  It turns out that 4-slot toasters are way fancier and a little pricier than I'd expected, but I eat toast nearly every morning, so a new toaster was a necessity.  Anyway, after finally settling on a new toaster, I also stumbled on the Aerolatte.  I'd seen it a few times and thought about buying it, and because I was there with coupons in hand, I decided to get myself one.  I've used it several times now and I love it.  Using my Keurig, I can make myself a coffee, heat some milk in the microwave, froth it up with the Aerolatte, and I have myself a delicious coffee treat.  Yes, it's the simple things in life that please me.  Woo hoo for Aerolatte!

Another woo hoo because I finally figured out how to use the birthday reward that had been loaded onto my Starbucks gold card.  Not that it's complicated, but I'd assumed it would just automatically come up when I paid with the card.  Actually, you have to tell the barista that you want to use it.  Yesterday, I had a nice Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino and it was free.  Free is always my favorite kind.

Are you sensing a theme here?  I sure do like my coffee, don't I?

I'll throw in a woo hoo for finding a TV show I love.  I'm way late to the party, but my hubby and I started Netflixing Bones and we're totally hooked.  We don't watch a whole ton of TV because we're pretty picky, so we're always excited when we find something that we like.  The mysteries on Bones aren't always all that difficult to figure out, but I absolutely love the quirky characters, especially Temperance.  Characters are always king for me, and I think that tends to come out in my writing.

Lastly, a woo hoo for my being close to finishing NaNoWriMo.  I've been stressing about it a lot because I know some people really enjoyed The Eye of the Beholder (yes, I do read reviews--they help me see my writing in a different light and give me some really invaluable ideas about areas to focus on for improvement), so I really want them to like this book.  I mean, I want everyone to like it, of course, but I want to feel like I'm really writing something great for those who buy another of my books, putting their faith in me to deliver a good read.  Writing Asleep is a very different experience because of this.  Before publishing, I wrote books that I thought worked, but now I want to be sure I'm trying my best to give my audience what they like and want out of my books.  I've always been a perfectionist, but now I'm exerting another form of pressure on myself, and it's very eye-opening.

Well, that's that for me this week.  Hope you're all having a lovely week and having lots of moments that make you want to shout, "Woo hoo!"

Monday Musings: My characters have a life of their own

This NaNoWriMo, I'm noticing the same phenomenon I noticed during last year's NaNoWriMo: my vision for what the story would look like and the way the story began to take shape aren't necessarily the same thing.  This is something I think most writers can identify with.  Usually, I don't consciously realize a story would work better if I did it a bit differently.  For me, it tends to be more unconscious.  I'll write something, read it, and think, "Oh, that does make more sense, doesn't it?"

I think a big part of my anxiety over this project comes from the fact that The Eye of the Beholder has been a lot more successful than I'd imagined it would be.  I'm thrilled I've found an audience, and I am very grateful for my readers.  However, I'm also aware that having this audience may lead to expectations.  When I wrote just for myself without ever knowing if anyone else would really read it, I didn't worry too much about the turns my stories took.  I just let my characters do their thing while taking me along for the ride.  But now I'm afraid that if I deviate a lot from the style I used in The Eye, I may let my readers down.

I didn't feel this same level of anxiety with Contributor or with Phoning It In, because they were different.  I'm interested in a lot of genres, and I knew some of my readers might like one genre in which I write but not another, and that's perfectly understandable.  It also frees me from having to worry about expectations, because I've already set up the expectation that what's coming is going to be different from what's already out there.

However, Asleep is meant to be my second in the Fairytale Collection, and it's shaping up to be a different book from The Eye.  The Eye was my take, but it was still pretty much a straight up retelling of the beauty and the beast story.  My inspiration for Asleep is the sleeping beauty story, but the tale I'm telling is far, far different from the Disney version.  There are elements I've straight up left out--the fairies--and elements that I've inverted--the princess being the rescuer while the prince is the rescuee.  So, while Asleep is also inspired by a fairytale, it doesn't stick as closely to the fairytale as The Eye did.

The major difference between this year and last is this: I'm having trouble letting go.  When Contributor started to turn out a lot differently than I'd anticipated, I went with it and was happy with the result.  I'm more nervous about Asleep because I've got something out there for it to be measured against.  At the end of the day, I need to be faithful to the characters and the way the story wants to progress.  I think any writer will say that if you fight this and try to make the story fit your original vision, the end result will be something that's not worth reading.

I'm gaining a new perspective on being an author with at least one published book.  When I first plunged into the world of publishing, I worried what my readers would think when they compared my work to that of other authors.  Now, I worry more about what my readers will think when they compare my previous novels to my newer ones.

Feature Fridays: Taking a flying leap

I'm making serious headway with Asleep, having hit the 25k mark today.  While I'm officially halfway done with NaNoWriMo, it will take more than 50k words to wrap up this story.

When it comes to the writing itself, there are portions I'm loving and other portions that rouse the vicious self-doubt monster.  There's nothing worse than trying to keep yourself going when that mocking little voice in your head says, "This stinks!  You think you're a writer?"

At any rate, I'm avoiding reading the bulk of the work because my NaNoWriMo motto can basically be boiled down to this: Just Keep Going.  No matter what happens, no matter how many typos I know I've made, no matter how much I hate the particular section I'm writing, Just Keep Going.

As with last week, this is completely raw, so there are likely some typos and random weirdness that may make little sense.  Consider yourself forewarned! ;)

*****

As the world went black, Jess’s face once more appeared to him, but this time she was around ten years old, and her eyes flashed in challenge.  Tanvir lurked nearby, but he’d already been disqualified from this particular challenge, due to his age.

“Your age must have two digits; otherwise, you’re too much of a baby to participate,” Jess told him loftily.  “Shall I explain that to you?”

“I know what two digits means!” Tanvir squeaked, his seven-year-old voice high with indignation.

“Watch and learn, children,” Dev’s cocky, twelve-year-old self called out.

“Dev, I don’t know if this is a good idea.  That tree is really high, and if you jump—” Tanvir protested.

“Keep your lessons to yourself,” Dev instructed, rolling his eyes.  “I’m not your tutor, so you won’t score any bonus points with me for cleverness.”

“Well, you’re certainly good at earning high marks for stupidity,” Tanvir snapped back.

“Or are you just trying to conceal the fact that your brother is more courageous than you?” Jess challenged.

“You’re both stupid, and I’ll have no part of this.”  Tanvir stamped his foot and ran off, heading back toward the castle.

“If you’re going to do it, best do it now, before your brother has a chance to tattle,” Jess said.

“Right you are.” 

Extending his arms in the air, fingers pointed, as he’d once seen an acrobat do, Dev launched himself from the branch on which he’d perched, feelings a rush of exhilaration as he flew through the air.  His confidence was high, his fingers steady.  There was no doubt in his mind that he’d catch the next branch, and so it came as a very rude surprise when only the tips of his fingers smacked into the branch, and he felt his hands clawing futilely at the air.

As he plummeted toward the earth, he heard Jess’s scream of horror and he couldn’t help but smile at the knowledge that he had managed to ruffle the seemingly unflappable princess.  His body striking the ground wiped the smile right off his face.  Fortunately for him, he landed rear first, which cushioned the impact.  Still, he fell back, his head striking the ground, causing his teeth to snap together.  Blood and grit filled his mouth and he felt dizzy.

“Dev!  Dev!  Are you okay?” Jess cried, suddenly appearing at his side.

Disoriented, he looked up at her and gave her a smile, some blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth.  “Are you an angel?” he asked, before he lost consciousness.

There was no forgetting the aftermath of that little episode.  It had caused some tension between King Amin and King Adar, both of whom knew they had impetuous and sometimes foolhardy children, but who both, in their distress, wanted to blame the other.  Dev had earned a sever concussion for his trouble, and he spent days in bed while he recovered, his head pounding, vision swimming all the while.  The boredom was almost more of a torment than the physical pain.  Eventually, his mother’s fears that he had permanently addled his brain were laid to rest, but there was no repairing the chip to the tooth on the top right side of his mouth.  As it was right next to his front tooth, it became a prominent part of his smile.  The truth was, he would have leapt from that branch again, because he had never forgotten how lovely Jess looked as she hovered over him, fearful for his well-being.

Monday Musings: My head is cluttered

This month, I feel like I have this nonstop shot of adrenaline coursing through my veins.  There's just so much going on, and it's tough to keep up with it.

My biggest source of anxiety is the fact that I'm juggling two novels right now.  While I'm very anxious to get Phoning It In out, it was also important to me to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, so Phoning has been shelved for the time being.  I will get it out by the end of the year, though, and I have a cover all ready to go.  I'm itching to do a cover reveal, so it's now just a question of deciding when, exactly to do that.  Feedback and suggestions on that front are very welcome!

As for NaNoWriMo, the manuscript is coming along nicely.  I made it over the 10k mark today, so I'm very pleased with my progress.  I set a goal of 3,500 words per day, five days a week.  Trying to write every day really stressed me out last year, and I've noticed that, lately, I get a bit twitchy when I don't write.  The problem with trying to make a career of being an author is I find it hard to just relax and unplug at times.  I always feel like I should be doing more work, so I'm making a conscious effort to treat this like a regular job, with certain hours being "work" hours while other hours are exclusively for family time, including weekends.  This does ease things for me.

That aside, I'm having a lot of fun with Asleep, though it is hard to drown out my inner editor at times.  I usually have a lot of anxiety when I write my first drafts, and I tend to think a lot of what I've written is bad.  This is why NaNoWriMo has been so invaluable to me.  It's taught me to push past those moments, get the words down, and then go back and polish things up later, and I think my writing is the better for it.  It's not always an easy thing to do, but it has definitely made me a much more productive writer. 

What's been really great about NaNo so far is feeling these characters come alive.  I had a pretty vague idea of what they would be like, and did a bit of planning the last few days of October, but I admit I'm mostly pantsing this one, and I'm really happy with the way things are working out.  I'm also developing a bit of a crush on my male lead, so hopefully I won't be the only one who finds him loveable!

I'm very excited to announce that, this Thursday, I'll have my very first post on YA Indie.  If you haven't taken a look at the blog yet, be sure to stop by.  A great variety of authors participates, and the blog features lots of great posts. 

That's it for me for now.  Stay tuned for details on the Phoning It In cover reveal, as well as details about a late November promo that's in the works.  I'm really excited about it as it'll not only help me reach out to a broader audience, it'll help introduce my readers to some other amazing authors.  Happy Monday!

Feature Fridays: First look at Asleep

It's day two of NaNoWriMo, and I've got 7,163 words under my belt, so I'm feeling pretty good about that!  My project for this month is Asleep, the second installment in my Fairytale Collection.  Asleep is my reboot of the sleeping beauty tale and, while I was looking forward to writing it, it's proven even more fun than I thought.

Today, I had some struggles with my inner editor, but I managed to beat her into submission.  The rules of NaNoWriMo state that there is to be no editing, so the excerpt I'm posting here is raw, uncut, and likely has a few typos--don't worry, they'll be fixed after NaNoWriMo, when I can edit to my heart's content.  This excerpt is from the very beginning of the book.  I can't guarantee it'll stay like this once I get down to editing, but this should give you a feel for the book.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

*****

I don’t have time for this.  I have drills to run, that supply issue needs to be resolved…  I wonder if security is tight enough.  I hope my father didn’t entrust it to that buffoon Wynart.  Surely he closed that gap in the north tower by now?

Jessmyn tugged impatiently at her gown.  She had to admit, it was stunningly beautiful, but she’d have preferred to be in her plate at the moment.  It was one of life’s great mysteries how a gown of satins and lace could feel more confining than a sixty pounds of armor.  She’d have to keep that question in mind for the next time her seamstress asked her what sort of gown she would like, so that she could instruct the woman to fashion her something a little less encrusted with pearls and small jewels, one that would allow for greater freedom of movement.

When Jess was truthful with herself, she knew the weight of her gown had nothing to do with the disquiet state of her mind.  It was nerves that were eating her alive.  Though royal protocol was old hat to Jess, she had never before been a part of something so monumentally important to her realm—nor had she ever experienced anything of greater personal importance.

Forcing herself to stand still, Jess closed her eyes and thought of Dev, tried to imagine how he was feeling at this moment, how he looked.  A small smiled played about her lips as she imagined him, though she also felt a sense of exasperation.  No doubt he was handling it all much better than she was.  He was probably busy cracking jokes with his attendants, making them roar with laughter.  At this image, her smiled widened and she opened her eyes, feeling somewhat settled at last.  Dev always had that effect on her.  It was part of what made him so essential to her life.

Still, she knew his jovial exterior likely hid just as many nerves as she felt.  For all Dev looked as if he hadn’t a care in the world, he felt things very deeply, even if others weren’t always aware of this fact.  He could not have captured Jess’s heart as it had were it otherwise.  This was both good and bad.  While Jess had to admit that she enjoyed knowing she understood this hidden part of Dev, it had also caused him some pain due to the blithe unawareness of others.

“Are you ready, your highness?” Lady Lilia Vindar asked.  Shyly, she glanced up at Jess, searching the princess’s face.  Jess could tell from the look in Vindar’s eyes that she was caught up in the romance of the occasion, and it made Jess smile.  Lilia always did love a good fairytale.

“I am,” Jess confirmed.

Lilia and the two other ladies in attendance dropped low curtsies and then took their positions behind the princess.  Jess squared her shoulders, tilted her head slightly back, and began her slow procession out to the main hall.

The crowd was noisy, boisterous and jubilant because of the celebration.  Music and voices competed with one another, creating a blend that somehow still managed to please the ear.  It was impossible to distinguish any conversation from this distance, but Jess could still hear tones that we somewhat unfamiliar to her ear, evidence of the attendance of the mighty and influential of the other realms.  This was the biggest celebration in the history of the Five Realms, and it was this more than anything that made Jess nervous.  Having so many important people in any one place was always an enormous security risk and, despite herself, she found her eyes darting around as she walked, looking for evidence of guards.  It didn’t matter that she had trained most of them herself; she could not help but feel anxious about the possibility of some sort of disturbance.

“There are twenty guards in this hallway alone,” her father said, coming to stand at her side and speaking in a low tones, so only she would be able to hear.  He had been waiting down the opposite corridor, and she had been so distracted, she had noticed neither his approach or the that he was watching her.

Some martial master I am!  I don’t even notice when my own father and his ten attendants approach!

Looking at her with some exasperation, as if he could guess what was going on inside her head, her father shook his head.  “My beloved Jess, can you not relax, just for one day?  This is a day meant for you, and for Dev.”

Woo Hoo Wednesday: True heroes

It's that time of the week, where I take some time to celebrate the small things that make life awesome.  So what made you want to say "Woo Hoo!" this week?

First off, my readers have once again made me shout WOO HOO!  After a slow start to the month, I had a couple of crazy, amazing days where my sales rose high enough for me to be in the top 100 in my subcategories.  As of today, I have now had my best month ever for sales of The Eye of the Beholder.  I want to sincerely, sincerely thank each and every person who has read the book, because you're making my dreams come true--really!  Because of you, I feel I can actually make a job out of my true passion in life, and there really aren't words to express how happy that makes me.

My second woo hoo goes out to NaNoWriMo.  I haven't taken as many days to prepare for it as I would have liked, because I've been so busy with edits to Phoning It In, which I want to have out by the end of this year.  However, I've had a LOT of fun over the last two days making plans for Asleep--and I do mean a LOT of fun.  I can hardly wait until tomorrow, so I can finally start doing some actual writing!  Because The Eye of the Beholder is doing so well, I was inspired to take on another fairy tale reboot for NaNoWriMo, and I can hardly wait to start sharing samples of it with all of you.  My readers ROCK!

However, all of this pales in contrast to the real news of the week, which is Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath.  My heart goes out to all those who have lost loved ones, and all those struggling to rebuild and get their lives back in order.  It's inadequate to say a woo hoo for those courageous first responders who have been rescuing people trapped by the flooding, who have been evacuating hospitals, who have been protecting citizens.  These people put their lives on the line every day for the greater good, and I can't imagine a more heroic thing to do.  If you ask me, our culture has a tendency to make heroes out of the wrong people.  My heroes are those doctors, nurses, police officers, fire fighters, EMTs, and Coast Guard personnel who put themselves at risk to help the rest of us.  Thank you so much for your service.  You have proven to us time and time again that your courage is unshakeable, even in the face of terrifying disasters.

If you're able, please join me in donating to the Red Cross here.  Monetary donations are so important, because they give the Red Cross the funds they need to buy supplies necessary to provide disaster relief.  You can also help by donating blood, and more information on that can be found here.  And another big woo hoo and thanks goes out to the Red Cross relief workers who go into disaster zones to help those affected.

Monday Musings: My mind is a playground

Ever since I was a kid, I've loved roaming around in my imagination.  It has always been my favorite playground.  And what's awesome about my life now is that my job is to wander around my imagination and see what I can find in it.  There are days when I honestly have to drag myself away from the keyboard, lest I end up with a serious Vitamin D deficiency due to lack of sunlight.

Today is one of those days where I'm having tons and tons of fun frolicking through my imagination.  As some of you know, NaNoWriMo is coming up (and if you don't know what that is, check out the link!), and you may also know I'm planning on working on another Elizabeth Darcy/Fairytale Collection book during November.   Today, I started laying some of the groundwork for that novel.  I didn't write any of the novel yet--that would be cheating, and cheating makes puppies cry, something to which I am vehemently opposed!  But I did start working on character and setting sketches.

So far, I've sketched out my main male and female characters, and I'm just going to come out and admit it: I'm already kind of in love with my male protagonist.  I'm also very happy with the way my female protagonist is shaping up.  I spent some quality time with Scrivener, using their nifty character sketch sheets to help me get a picture of what each of them will be like.  I'd already been working on my female character in my ol' brain, but I now feel like I have a much better idea of what makes her tick, and what her relationship with the male protagonist looks like.

From there, I started working on setting sketches, and that was so much fun!  The place templates in Scrivener really got my ol' imagination working.  I got to imagine what the settings looked like, what made them special and distinctive, and that inevitably led to me picturing lots of castles and beautiful vistas and other fun things. 

Basically, what I'm saying is, I was in nerdtopia today.

My writing style has always been distinctively pantser, but it only took me one attempt at NaNo to realize I needed a little focus or I risk ending up with a stream-of-consciousness mess that looks nothing like a manuscript--and that's exactly what I had at the end of NaNo 2010.  Last year, I started out by doing some background world building before I ever typed a word, and it made the writing flow a lot more smoothly.  The product of NaNo 2011 was Contributor, and I have lots of fond memories of drinking copious amounts of coffee while pounding that story out.

During the month of November, my blog will become something of a NaNo journal, complete with excerpts from the work in progress, which I'll post on Feature Fridays.  You'll get a first peek at the uncut version of Asleep, my reimagining of the sleeping beauty tale.  If you're planning on tackling NaNo this year and want a writing buddy to urge you on, feel free to add NCiacchella.  Good luck and happy writing/reading!

Tuesday Teaser: Sneak Peek at Contributor!

I'm back from my end-of-the-summer hiatus, raring to focus on my fall writing schedule.  On the agenda: book two in the Contributor series (which I've already started), and my NaNoWriMo project, which will be my alternative take on Sleeping Beauty.  I'm really excited about both of them, and am looking forward to getting back into the fairytale genre in November.

However, before those two is the upcoming publication of Contributor.  I've got an amazing cover for it, and am working on polishing up the last bit, but I'll be sending it over Amazon's way tomorrow, which means it should be available for purchase on Thursday!  Also, to celebrate the release of Contributor, I'm running a promotion: download a copy of Creators (the prequel novella to the series) for FREE on Amazon on Friday, September7.

To whet your appetite, I thought I'd offer a little taste of Contributor.  I hope you enjoy it!

*****

“As for you, Apprentice Morrow,” Andersen said, bringing her work up on the screen.  Her throat constricted and she could barely breathe.  “Your solution was quite ingenious.”

Surprised, Dara hazarded a glance at Letizia, who gave her a searing glare.

“It’s unfortunate that you made such an inexcusable error in the beginning,” Andersen continued, staring at her.  She felt like sinking down in her chair, through the floor, and continuing on down into the depths of the earth.  “Had Apprentice LeTour not caught it, your solution would have resulted in even more extensive damage.  An innovative mind is a useless quality in an engineer who makes stupid errors, errors that could cost Magnum millions.”

Dara went completely numb.  She felt as though her fingers and toes had turned to ice, and she feared they might begin to crack, shattering her into a million tiny pieces.  Still, that would probably be far less painful than the public dressing down she’d just received.

“Cheer up,” Javier murmured as they left the room.  “He did say your solution was quite ingenious.”  Surprised, Dara glanced at him.  He grinned crookedly at her.

“Um, thanks,” she said.

“No problem.”

Warming up to him, she smiled ever so slightly.  “Thanks for what you said to Ryan too.”

“Don’t think that means we’re on the same side, Dara.  There can only be one of us left at the end, and I don’t like you that much.”  He winked.

Feeling her spine stiffen, Dara nodded curtly and increased her pace, leaving him trailing in her wake.

Tidbit Tuesdays: The trilogy begins!

I'm really excited to offer this first glimpse into Contributor today.  This book was born during NaNoWriMo 2011, when I thought, "Hey, why don't I try writing a YA dystopian/post-apocalyptic novel?"  I had a lot more fun writing it than I would have imagined! 

*****

Dara swallowed hard, trying to fight the nausea that threatened her concentration.  As she stared at the monitor, the numbers and symbols seemed to swim through her vision, and she blinked several times, forcing herself to focus.  Though she was only seventeen, her training as an engineer had begun at the age of three, so she was more than capable of handling the task before her. 

This, however, was no exercise.  If she failed this evaluation, none of her years of hard work and dedication would matter.  She would lose her position amongst the Ballasts and would have to take up one of the menial occupations of the Cores.  If she did well, a prosperous future would be well within her grasp.

With one last deep breath, Dara looked at the screen. As she exhaled, she cleared her mind.  To her immense relief, as soon as she started to pick apart the problem, she lost all sense of her surroundings, her mind completely focused on unraveling it and implementing a solution.
At first glance, the problem appeared to be simple, but Dara knew the engineers wouldn’t lob anything quite so easy at her.  Because she had been first in her class, they would want to test the limits of her abilities, so she continued examining the schematics in front of her, her mind working rapidly to diagnose and analyze the problem.  She ran through a couple of scenarios, rejecting several possible solutions until, finally, everything clicked into place.  She broke into a wide grin as her fingers flew over the interface.  It was tempting to pump her fist in the air when the machinery resumed its smooth operation, but she managed to restrain herself—barely.

Almost instantly, a door opened and a tall, imposing man entered, followed by two women and one other man.  

“Ms. Morrow, I’m Head of Engineering Andersen, and these are my subordinates, Senior Engineers D’Angelo, Walters, and Chen,” the tall man said.

Stunned, Dara hoped she wasn’t gaping.  She’d had no idea the Head of Engineering would be supervising her evaluation, which was a good thing.  Had she known, she’d have been even sicker with apprehension. 

“P-pleased to meet you,” Dara said, cringing internally at her stutter.  She offered her hand first to Andersen, who shook it with a bruising grip.  Each of the others shook her hand in turn, and Dara tried her best not to squirm as they studied her.

“Due to the high level of aptitude shown by your evaluation results, you have been selected for a specialized apprenticeship program.  You and two other candidates will spend a year under the tutelage of the senior engineers.  The highest performer may earn the opportunity to become my assistant,” Andersen announced.  His eerie blue eyes were very keen, and it was clear to Dara that this was a man who missed nothing.

“Oh, thank you, Head of Engineering Andersen.  This is truly an honor, and I’ll work very hard to prove myself worthy,” Dara said.  She fought to remain composed as a giddy combination of relief and excitement washed over her.

“I will expect you tomorrow morning at six-thirty sharp, when you will begin your training with Senior Engineer D’Angelo.  A word of caution to you, Ms. Morrow: you must operate at your peak each and every day.  I expect nothing less than a stellar performance from you.”  Andersen’s eyes met hers, and Dara had the disconcerting sensation that his gaze was boring straight through her, stripping away skin and bone, muscle and sinew until all that was left was her very essence, her innermost thoughts.  She tried hard to suppress a shudder and thought she saw Andersen’s mouth quirk, as if he had noticed her discomfiture.

“I assure you, sir, I will not disappoint you,” Dara vowed.  The thought of working with this towering, blond, imperious man was dismaying, but she wouldn’t allow this to show—she couldn’t.  She knew full well that becoming the assistant to the Head of Engineering would mean big things for her.  If she had to work herself half to death in order to impress him, so be it.  Nothing mattered more than securing her future with Magnum.

“I will see you in the morning.”  He examined her for one excruciating moment before turning smartly and leaving the room. 

“Congratulations, Contributor Morrow,” Walters said, smiling warmly.

“We’ll see what you can do tomorrow,” Chen told her, a muscle in his cheek twitching.  The two shook her hand and left the room.

“I’ll escort you to the exit,” D’Angelo offered.  Her face betrayed nothing, and Dara’s stomach quaked.  The Senior Engineer was taller than Dara, her dark hair pulled back in an immaculate twist.  Her face would have been devastatingly beautiful were it not for the cold expression in her eyes.  As D’Angelo turned, Dara shivered.

They wound their way through the corridors of headquarters, Dara peeking into every window as inconspicuously as possible.  Though apprehensive about her severe master, she was barely able to contain the excitement that made her feel as if she wanted to fly apart.  She couldn’t believe that she was actually here, in Magnum’s headquarters, and that she was going to become a part of its team.  Her head spun as she thought about her acceptance into the elite apprenticeship.  She couldn’t imagine a more perfect beginning to her career.

They finally reached the exit, which led into the thoroughfares ringing the dome.  D’Angelo closed the door gently behind her.

“Be prompt tomorrow,” D’Angelo instructed, smiling and nodding at a man with a Magnum badge who was passing by, before turning back to Dara, all trace of the smile gone.  It was disconcerting.

“I will,” Dara promised.

“Head of Engineering Andersen is a man of many talents and one of Magnum’s most valued Contributors.  He has high expectations and misses little,” D’Angelo said, emphasizing the last two words.  “You must be meticulous.”  Each syllable was like a hammer blow, and Dara forced herself to stand up straighter.

“Of course.” 

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Thoughts...tricky, tricky thoughts...

Obviously, I've taken a rather lengthy hiatus from blogging.  This is for a multitude of reasons, the primary one being that, as much as I love how plugged in the Internet and all its wonderful tools (Twitter, Facebook, etc) allow me to be, I reach a point where maintaining a presence with all of them starts to really feel like a chore.  I'll sit down with the intent to spend half an hour catching up on Twitter only to find myself emerging over an hour later, blinking in bewilderment like someone who's just walked out of a cave.

I also tend to suffer greatly from a particular form of writers' guilt in which I feel just plain terrible and wasteful if I engage in any sort of leisure activity when I think I should be writing.  Seriously, I am an unforgiving taskmaster, as if I expect myself to spend my every waking moment chained to my computer writing, writing, writing.  This is sort of unjust as I've actually done a LOT more writing in the past year than I had done for probably the three years preceding.  I have finally managed to get myself to a point where I no longer accept excuses like "I'm just not inspired today" to hold me back.  I sit and put words on the paper.  Sometimes it's easy and I write a thousand or more words before I even know it.  Other times, it involves a lot of backspacing, undoing, retyping, etc.  If there's one thing I've learned from NaNoWriMo, it's that getting the words down is the important part.  I can--and do!--go back later and write and rewrite obsessively, striving for perfection.

After I did not make the second round of cuts for ABNA, I had a lot of thinking to do.  Did I want to polish up the ol' manuscript and try to shop for an agent, with the hopes that one might pick it up and sell it to a publisher with the end result of my seeing it in print within the next few years?  Or did I want to go the self-publishing route?  I agonized over this for weeks.  I feel sorry for my poor husband because he had to listen to me go on and on about it.  My dream has long been to have my book published, to go to a bookstore and see it sitting on the shelves.  However, I know how long a process this can be, and that's if you're lucky enough to find someone willing to publish your manuscript.  While I think my manuscript has an audience, I am not exactly overflowing with the conviction that some publisher is dying to take a gamble on me.  Plus, you know, the whole thing is scary.

However, self-publishing is also scary because, let's face it, there's still a bias out there about it.  In all honesty, I don't really get this.  Sure, maybe not everything written is a work of sheer genius, but what difference does that make if it finds an audience?  Even if two people enjoy it, there are two people who found something in the marketplace they wouldn't otherwise have found.  They are being provided with a good that they value and, really, isn't that what writers strive for?  I mean, we all want to write works of timeless wonder but the bottom line is that what we really, fundamentally want is for people to read our words.  Otherwise, why bother writing them?  Why in a culture that so values indie films and indie bands, so we sneer at indie authors?  I think the popularity of e-readers is changing this dynamic, and I think that's a good thing for both authors and readers.  Readers will be provided with even more choices than ever and the barriers to entry that once held deserving writers back will no longer exist, offering them the possibility of making a living doing what they love--writing.  Remember, J.K. Rowling received numerous rejections before someone decided to take a chance on her.  What if they hadn't?  What if Harry Potter had never been published?  Isn't that mind-boggling to think of?

Which leads me to my own personal decision: I have decided to indie pub one and possibly multiple novels.  I want to start small, get a feel for how things work, and see how well I do.  Because I find the ABNA rules a bit unclear, I have decided to refrain from publishing Contributor until after ABNA has ended.  This will give me time to do another round of edits and work on getting a good cover ready.

In the meantime, I have decided to publish another of my manuscripts, The Eye of the Beholder.  This is a novel that I spent seven years writing--and over the past few days I've rewritten a couple of the chapters with the intent of writing more.  See what I mean about writing and rewriting?  At any rate, this is a manuscript that is near and dear to my heart.  It's a retelling of the beauty and the beast story, which has always been a particular favorite of mine.

However, because it's so different from Contributor, I have decided to publish it using a pen name, whereas I intend to use my real name when I publish Contributor.  I'm doing this purely for the sake of clarity, so my readers will know what sort of work they're getting if they decide to purchase one of my books.  Because I like to dabble in various genres, I'm planning on using multiple pen names, one for each genre in which I write.  Hopefully I'll do at least one of those genres justice.

Things are going well with the edits, and I anticipate having the book available for Kindle devices by early May.  Because I am starting small and because I am frankly very attracted to the opportunities offered by the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, my book will be exclusive to Kindle for at least the few months.  Depending on how well it does, I may then look to using something like Smashwords to make it available on multiple platforms.

Right now, I'm feeling very lucky.  I have an extremely supportive husband who is 100% behind me, as well as a great writing group and some supportive friends and family members who have given their time in order to read and critique my manuscripts.  I am excited about the possibilities for the future.  I can hardly wait to share my work with a broader audience.