Pacific Northwest Writers Blog Hop

I had a different post planned for today, but I was hit up by fellow Pacific NW author Michael G. Munz, author of Zeus Is Dead and several other novels (learn more about his books here) for the Pacific Northwest Writers Blog Hop. Not only did this sound like fun, but it bumps my other post to next week, freeing me from coming up with a new idea. So Here's my contribution to the hop...

1) What am I working on?

My immediate goal is to finish editing the second book in the Clockwork Cat series and get that to my agent by the end of October. Why the end of October? Because we all know what November is.

NaNoWriMo!

I know a lot of authors aren't into the NaNoWriMo write 50,000 words in a month thing. I love it! I won't wax eloquent on why here, I've done that in several blog posts previously. If you really want to know why I love it you can learn more on some of those old posts (My NaNoWriMo Tips and Lessons Learned and Confessions of a NaNoWriMo Addict (and Lessons Learned)). For a short answer, The Girl and the Clockwork Cat started life as a NaNoWriMo novel and that alone is reason enough for me to keep doing it. I already know what I'm writing this year and, after all the editing and book promotion, I'm dying to get started.

2) How does my work differ from others in its genre?

In the Young Adult category, I think having a really strong female protagonist without having a heavy romance is fairly unusual. In all my work, I like to establish the women as self-sufficient and strong before I let them get too involved in romance that might take away from their own self-discovery.

On the steampunk side of things, the low-key gradual development of that technology throughout the series is also uncharacteristic of that genre. It has been a source of disappointment for some readers who are heavy steampunk devotees, but hopefully I can win them over by the end.

3) Why do I write what I do?

I love working in fantasy and science fiction, mostly because there is boundless opportunity to explore creativity while still giving ample opportunity to research and learn. In The Girl and the Clockwork Cat, for example, I spent days researching Victorian London and learning everything I could about that time, but the fact that it is fantasy gave me the ability to take what I learned and turn it into something new.

4) How does my writing process work?

I do actually outline in a sense, but not in the typical sense. When I get an idea, I bounce it around in my head for a while. When I have a good feel for my primary character(s) and I know, at the very least, what their goals are and where I want the book to start and end, I begin making notes and sketching out pivotal scenes. Sometimes I'll rough out a more detailed timeline, but most of the time I let that information live in my head and start writing, allowing it the story to move dynamically while I work. And there you have it. My contribution to the Pacific NW Blog Hop. Don't forget to drop by Michael G. Munz and follow through to some of the other authors on the blog hop.

Now to keep the blog hopping I'm passing the torch to another Pacific Northwest author.

Ceejae Devine

Ceejae Devine focuses on personal spiritual experiences, which is something she never imagined she’d be doing because she’s not religious and she doesn’t fit most people’s ideas about what it means to be spiritual. She is a feminist and a single parent with two daughters who are both strong in art, math and science. Ceejae spends most of her time following thoughts to see where they lead, and she’s been making surprising discoveries. She is currently fine tuning her memoir and developing a mini-book called “Critical Revelations About Contemporary Spirituality.”

Ceejae's links: Facebook, Twitter, Website

Enjoy!

In the Interim

The last week has been a little crazy with adjusting to the idea of having a book out, trying to keep track of social media and writing up guest blog posts and interviews. Outside of that, I've been trying to edit the next book,

get Teagan established with a vet in our new town,

get my horses in to a vet for their dental appointment,

prepare for a book release party,

and manage all the other little details of life (like going to urgent care for a cat bite). I hope to have something more fun up on my blog soon, but in the interim, if you're curious about my book, The Girl and the Clockwork Cat, you can follow some of the reviews and guest posts on my blog tour here managed by the fabulous YA Bound Book Tours.

Happy adventuring!

Long Silence

The blog has been very quiet lately. Despite my best efforts, I can’t get my cat to write posts for me.

If I haven’t been blogging, what have I been doing?

Writing and editing books. Yeah, I know. Who does that?

I have one book that should be ready to send to my agent soon and another that will be ready hopefully by November (before the madness of NaNoWriMo because I will be doing that again). I have a third book that I may burn in frustration, but I haven’t quite given up on it yet, and a novella that I plan to start sending out in August.

But that alone isn’t enough to keep a blog in the black like this.

As I mentioned in my previous post Life Changes and Getting Comfortable with Spiders, I’m also getting my house ready to sell. This involves packing,

painting,

and many other frustrating, stressful and time-consuming tasks.

As if that weren’t enough, we had our last big 4^th of July party at this house. Along with the half-day party, 45-minute fireworks show, and live singer at intermission, we added a fire troupe performance by Dragon Steps to intermission this year.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAUy5wwauIE&w=560&h=315]

Add to that the simple tasks of life—apparently sleep is a necessary thing—something had to give. So what haven’t I been doing?

You guessed it. Blogging.

Writing Compromised and the Liebster Award

Ever have that experience where you’re editing a manuscript and you come across a section that’s horribly written compared to the rest. After some thought you recall that you wrote that section when you were sick with a bad cold, sinus infection, flu or whatever. You make a vow to yourself as you slog through trying to fix it that you will never ever again let yourself write while sick. Only you know, deep down inside, that when that time comes you’ll try not to work and big guilt-wielding fists inside your mind will beat you up over the work that isn’t getting done until you give in and start writing.

I’m at that point now, that sick point. In a valiant effort to mitigate damage, however, I am letting those guilt-wielding fists win in the form of a blog post because I have an easy one in the queue thanks to the fantastic Briana Vedsted who recently nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award. Thanks Briana!

The Rules

1. Accept the award, post the picture of the Liebster Award on the top of post, say who nominated you for the award, and list their blog site (see above).
2. List 11 random facts about me.
3. Nominate 11 other bloggers for the Liebster Award and list their blog sites.
4. Notify the bloggers of their award.
5. Ask the award winners 11 questions to answer when they accept their Liebster Award.
6. Answer the questions left for me by the blogger who gave me the award.

11 Random Facts about Me

1. I love stacking things to the point that if you put a board game in front of me I would almost rather make sculptures out of the dice and game pieces than actually play the game.
2. I love playing board games (Arkham Horror or Dominion anyone?), almost as much as I love stacking the pieces.
3. I also love video games. Single player RPGs mostly, though I can be talked into a good adventure game now and then.
4. I don’t drink beer, but I have discovered a soft spot for good cider.
5. I’m afraid of heights unless I’m in a cave.
6. I love history, especially in the form of historical structures and artifacts. The true stories behind such things give me a world of ideas.
7. I love to prompt conversation then sit back and listen (unless someone asks me about my writing, then I never shut up).
8. My favorite instrument is the violin.
9. I’m addicted to Burt’s Bees lip balm. Seriously. There are 2 by my bed, one in my truck, one in my purse, one on my desk, one by where I sit in the living room, one in my kayak emergency kit,  and a few in a drawer in the kitchen in case I run out.
10. I’m addicted to Science Fiction television to the point of throwing a Firefly screening party and loosing considerable sleep over the occasional Doctor Who marathon.
11. I don’t sing in the shower, but I do sing in my truck (all the time).

My Questions from Briana

1. What is your favorite movie? The Fifth Element maybe, or Howl’s Moving Castle, or How to Train Your Dragon. Too many great movies to choose from really.
2. What is your favorite book? Again, too many to choose from, but I think the Last Herald Mage trilogy would be one of the top picks (yeah, I cheated and picked a trilogy).
3. Do you like sunset or sunrise better? Sunrise. It marks the start of a new day with tons of potential.
4. Are you a cat person, or a dog person? Cats. Nothing against dogs, but I am very much a cat person.
5. Have you ever eaten any wild game? Yes. It has happened.
6. If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be? I would be in less pain all the time I suppose (too many injuries).
7. Do you have someone in your life that is your best friend? Who is it? I’m fortunate to have many people in my life who I would call my best friends for varying reasons. I think different people play different roles in our lives so calling only one person a best friend is really rather misleading in a way. If I had to pick, I imagine my husband and my mom would top the list.
8. Where would you like to go on vacation? Just got back from London (where I finally got to see in person many of the places I wrote about in The Girl and The Clockwork Cat and get ideas for use in books two and three) and Dublin (where I got to see places that may show up in future books). I would like to go to Japan or Malta next.
9. Are you happy or sad when it rains? Depends on the day. Rain can be fun or depressing or indifferent depending on my mood that day.
10. What is your favorite food? Popcorn. That’s a dietary staple, right?
11. Do you have a hobby? What is it? I have many hobbies including kayaking, horseback riding, caving, dancing, iaido, and so on. Too many perhaps.

My Nominees

• Confessions of a Wordslut (http://confessionsofawordslut.com/)
• Kelly’s Eye (http://mrkelly2u.wordpress.com/)
• A Digital Magician (http://pathunstrom.wordpress.com/)
• Jason Alan. Writer, Character. (http://jasonalanwriter.wordpress.com/)
• A Fuzzy Mango With Wings (http://fuzzymango.wordpress.com/)
• DaphneShadows (http://daphneshadows.wordpress.com/)
• Shaven Wookiee (http://shavenwookiee.wordpress.com/)
• Catherine Johnson (http://catherinemjohnson.wordpress.com/)
• Ellen Gregory ~ To beyond and back (http://ellenvgregory.com/)
• Tami Clayton ~ Taking Tea in the Kasbah (http://tamiclayton.wordpress.com/)
• Elizabeth Fais ~ Where the awesome begins... (http://elizabethfais.wordpress.com/)

My Questions to those Nominees

1. What’s one odd quirk or habit you have?
2. Do you have any collections and what are they?
3. When you get free time alone, how do you like to spend it?
4. What’s your favorite season and why?
5. What’s your favorite instrument?
6. Do you prefer drama or comedy and what appeals to you about that preference?
7. Beer or wine (or something else entirely)?
8. What makes a party good?
9. What do you typically do on vacation?
10. Are you a morning person or an evening person?
11. My cat wants to know if you prefer sparkly toys or feather toys and why?

Next week I'll take you with me (virtually of course) on my adventure traveling through many of the areas of London that played prominent roles in my novel The Girl and the Clockwork Cat complete with many photos.

Happy living!

The Next Big Thing and the No Kiss

I was all ready to do my No Kiss Blog Fest entry (due today), then I was tagged by the wicked Tod McCoy (who’s really quite a pleasure to be around when he isn’t signing me up for extra work) for The Next Big Thing Blog Hop (also due today). The most logical thing seemed to be to combine these two into one post. The book I am working on is Clockwork Cat book three, but I’m going to focus on the Clockwork Cat series as a whole for the Next Big Thing and snag the almost kiss from book one of another series. Without further delay, here is my entry for The Next Big Thing Blog Hop followed by the much-anticipated (let me delude myself – I’m happy that way) entry for the No Kiss Blog Fest.

1. What is the working title of your book? Book three has no official title yet, it’s just book three. The first book is The Girl and the Clockwork Cat so Clockwork Cat has naturally become the series title.
2. Where did the idea come from for the book? The series started with an idea I had during a writer’s conference. I’ve gone into that in detail in Writing the Right Book so I’ll let you read that if you want to.
3. What genre does your book fall under?  I call it Young Adult steampunk, though the steampunk elements are not that heavy, especially in book one, which is almost more of a Young Adult alternate history. As the series progresses, the steampunk elements play more of a role.
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?  No clue. They are unique in my head and, at this point, I’d rather keep them that way.
5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? I don’t have one that encompasses the series, but this is one of the less horrible versions I came up with for book one: After finding a cat with an unusual clockwork leg, Maeko discovers just how much a London street rat can accomplish when she decides to protect the cat and prove the innocence of a friend’s family by pursuing a murder investigation through the squalid streets of the city.
6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? The books are represented by Emily Keyes of L. Perkins Agency.
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? The first draft of book one I wrote for NaNoWriMo 2010. Book two I wrote for NaNo in 2012. Book three has taken longer because I set it aside and rehashed some of the plot, which will now require a bit of rewriting before I finish the first draft.
8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Honestly, I’m not sure. It sticks more to the lower key alternate history style of steampunk in the nature of The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, but with more of a high-stakes adventure pacing… and a cat.
9. Who or What inspired you to write this book? Again, it was something said at a writer’s conference in conjunction with music from a Steampunk event I’d been to prior to the conference (oh, and a conversation with my mom in which the cat with the clockwork leg came to life and cemented the deal).
10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? The main character, a half-Japanese girl surviving as a pickpocket in the streets of London, is a vibrant and determined individual who really seems to capture my readers. Also, everyone loves the cat.

Now, I shall tag these authors to answer the same questions for next Wednesday:

• DaphneShadows
• Mike Schulenberg - Realms of Perilous Wonder
• Simontall - Science fiction, writing and general musings from a tall Englishman

But that’s not all. Here, for your reading pleasure and for the No Kiss Blog Fest is an “almost” kiss from the first book in my dark fantasy series. It wasn’t easy to find one of these scenes. Apparently, I'm not much for “almost” kissing.

Perhaps it was her insatiable curiosity as a reporter, but she was strangely reluctant to leave him now that safety was so close. “I… I don’t understand.”

“What if I told you I intend to kill you now?”

“I…” she hesitated, torn between instinct and ingrained fear.

“Do not think about your answer. Say what you feel.” His eyes held her captive.

“For some reason, I wouldn’t believe you.”

He smiled and Dark swirled around him, giving a sinister, yet deliciously forbidden allure to the expression.

“I don’t understand,” she repeated. “I thought Dark sovereigns were dangerous. I thought they… tortured people.”

He stepped in close to her. “We are very dangerous,” he whispered, his lips so close to hers that she could feel the breath of his words tickle across them. “Sometimes, we just are not in the mood to play.”

“The dress,” she muttered, looking down at the gown she wore to escape his intense gaze and focus on anything other than the longing now raging through her.

“Wear it when you return.” His hands slid up her arms to her shoulders. “You are trembling again. Are you afraid now?”

“No,” she breathed.

His lips brushed hers, almost more of a caress than a kiss. Then he stepped back, releasing her, and the Dark folded around him. In an instant, she was alone.

Savoring the lingering tingle of his light kiss, she licked her lips and tasted blood on them. It had the familiar coppery tang, but was unusually sweet. She ran her tongue over her lips again, searching for a cut that would explain the blood. Again, she tasted the copper-sweet tang and licked it away, finding no wound beneath. The wound inside her lip from her fall had long since stopped bleeding. This wasn’t from that. Odd.

Swallowing the taste of coppery sweetness, she turned to go inside and stopped mid-step. A chill ran through her. What had Syberis told her?

The cat’s voice whispered through her memory. “We are bound in hisss blood.”

Holiday Madness and Almost Kisses

The holidays this year have been incredibly busy. There's been dancing and iaido as usual, with kendo now added to the mix, but you have to fill in that summer caving, horse riding and kayaking time with something. (Wait! Did I actually have time for those things when the weather was nice?) There's enormous time sunk into holiday parties, visiting family, and planning out unnecessarily complicated gifts for loved ones. Then, just to keep things exciting, you add in a car accident (yeah, I realize now that this wasn't the best idea) some whiplash and all the accompanying insurance hassle, car repairs, and rehab that come with it. Suddenly, you find yourself slipping in five minutes at the computer and wondering where all the writing time went.

Rather than succumb to madness, I've opted to accept that this period of time is going to be chaotic for me. There will be opportunity after the New Year (assuming the world doesn't end because some poor Mayan got sick of working on the calendar) and what better way to kick it off than with a blogfest dedicated to the almost kiss.

The 4th Annual NO KISS Blogfest!

Here are the rules:

No Kiss Blogfest Jan 2, 2013!

Things You Should Do To Prepare For The Ultimate Non-Kissage Festivities!

1. Sometime between now and Jan 2, 2013 write a post about the No Kiss Blogfest to let everyone know you are participating and that they should too. Why? Because it's awesome! (Please link back)
2. Sign up for the No Kiss Blogfest by filling in the Mr. Linky here. Because Mr. Linky is awesome.
3. Tweet about No Kiss Blogfest, using the hash tag: #nokissblogfest because #hashtagsareawesome
4. After you've recovered from New Years Eve, write a blog sharing your Almost Kiss, No Kiss Blogfest entry (either one from your WIP, one you just wrote, one from a book, movie or tv show, or even a really hot almost-kiss picture)and post on January 2, 2013!!! Because reading your posts are awesome! (Don't forget to link back)

Get ready for the steamiest day of 2013! It's going to rule! Join the fun, sign up here!

Don't forget to tune in on my blog for my entry in the No Kiss Blogfest.

Happy Holidays!

Confession and Manipulative Distraction

Forgive me followers for I have sinned. It has been over a week since my last blog post. Why?

I’ve been having a blast doing a “final” edit on one of my books. When editing is fun, you don’t stop for anything. Really. Because editing being fun is almost as rare as hell freezing over. You can’t let anything interrupt that.

Going into this week I faced a huge backlog of blog posts that I needed/wanted to write. I was going to truly become the master of this domain and get ahead on my blog.

Guess what I’m doing today (other than writing this).

Yep. I’m editing again after a brief period of intense distractibility that gave me fodder for this post.

I need these. I don’t know why.

Now, before I go back to my glorious editing, I offer you a link to distract and entertain you.

Why am I doing this?

Well, I figure you might be a writer and if I give you enough things to keep you occupied, I’m reducing the competition under the guise of friendly sharing of fun web sites.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bmhjf0rKe8]

Yeah. I’ve got this all figured out now.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbiedguhyvM]

Happy surfing!

Are You Popular Enough to be an Author?

A new and improved version of this blog post can now be seen in the Spring 2012 issue (volume 2, issue 3) of Line Zero, a quarterly independent print journal from Pink Fish Press.

I wasn't popular in school. I don't recall ever wanting to be. As far as I could see, it didn't do the popular kids any good. If anything, they just had more expectations to live up to. My main concern in school was--no, not getting good grades--telling stories. I spent hours and hours of class time working on book ideas, which didn't do much for my grades. Most of my teachers liked me despite that and a few even encouraged me when they found out I was writing books instead of notes (yes, I was in school in the dark ages between texting on cell phones and etching on stone tablets).

When I started college, I took a different approach because then I was actually investing my own money in those classes. Funny how motivating that can be. I still didn't engage much with my fellow students. I had school and a job to focus on and somewhere in there, I had to make time for my writing. Popular wasn't going to get me good grades or the money to pay for the next term and it sure wasn't going to satisfy all the characters in my head.

Somewhere in the last few years, I got the harebrained idea to take my writing addiction and try to make a go at being an author. Only now, it looks like being successful as a new author has become a popularity contest. How many Twitter followers do you have? How many people follow your blog? How many fans do you have on Facebook? What is your Klout score?

I thought going into this that being a successful author was about writing well and telling a great story. I never wanted to be popular and I still don't really. I love the people I've met online, but I have little enough time for my friends and family and my writing as it is. Getting published isn't about me. It is about the enjoyment people get out of reading my work. As far as I'm concerned, if someone likes my writing, that's even better than them liking me.

Don't take me wrong. I do believe that an author should put effort into marketing their books to help with sales in today's environment and I honestly love the idea of being able to connect with my readers (once I have published work to offer them). What I don't get is how that turned into having to market ourselves to even get looked at by an agent.

We aren't our books. It isn't our charming smile and great hairdo that makes someone want to read what we write. Sure, that might lure a few people in, but what will keep them is good writing and good stories. Writing a good blog, doesn't mean you can write a good fiction novel. It means you can write a good blog. Conversely, writing a good book doesn't mean you're automatically a great blogger.

I honestly think the agents and publishers are putting a little too much emphasis on the social media aspect right now. That said, it is what they seem to want, so I am doing my part to step out there and wave my own flag (I just wish it had a skull, crossed katana and perhaps a bottle of rum on it).

If you want to play the game in the current market, you have to jump in the sandbox with the other kids and try not to be voted out. Can you build the best sandcastle? More importantly, does it matter how beautiful that sandcastle is if you open the doors and its empty inside?

see more Five Minute Getaway

Actually, if that's your sandcastle, you may not need anything inside. :)

So now that I have grumbled about social media on my blog (and shared it out to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn because no one would know I was grumbling otherwise) I’ll go back to editing.

I would love to hear your thoughts about the current emphasis on social media for unpublished authors. Can a good social media presence transcend bad writing? Does a poor social media presence mean disaster even if you have an amazing debut novel? Should your social media presence be a major factor for agents and editors considering your work?