Start the holiday off on the right foot - or whatever foot you have handy in the closet.
Join agent Lori Perkins from the L. Perkins Agency, Agent in the Middle and Ravenous Romance at her Zombie Stomp Agent chat October 30, 2009, 6-8p EST at the RR chatroom: http://rrauthors.ning.com. A great chance to learn more about agents - what they're looking for, how to pitch, what's hot in publishing and what has gone the way of sparkly vampires and wizards. Free e-certificates to be won for books at Ravenous Romance (including Hungry For Your Love) so don't be shy, come out and howl!
Sample chapters in the Zombie Dating Guide
So I'm getting ready for NaNo - the chalkboard is full and FreeMind is brimming with goodies. Vyolette is yelling, "I like to move it, move it" VERY enthusiastically behind me and I thought I'd share a bit of how this warped book will be moving. There were some stellar ideas on a thread on facebook so if you see something lacking, please jump in. The zombies will thank you for it.
New chapters for the ZDG:
New chapters for the ZDG:
- Does eating other men make you a tramp?
- Who asks whom out first? Who still has a tongue?
- One night-of-the-living-dead stands. Good idea or sex gone horribly wrong?
- How to fix a broken heart. Does putty really work or is Spam just as good in a pinch?
- Should you dump him or just wait until the birds pick him apart?
- Creative first dates: Coffee of the Damned; Horror movies - too scary or now a documentary?
Zombie Monkeys
Internet, I'm in a bit of a conundrum. For months I've been looking forward to starting the Zombie Dating Guide -- plotting chapters are done, witty lists ready to be made and chuckled over appreciatively by my husband, zombie photo shoot is finito -- and with NaNo starting in a few days, I'm ready to bag the thing and start work on space monkeys who try to find ice on Mercury.Where did my mojo go?
I think I need a new mascot. Say hello to my leeettle friend, Phil. Hey, it's the best of both worlds.
Okay people, what's going to get you through the next 30-ish days o'NaNo glory? Phil and I will be hiding under our desk for the most part, hoarding the most delicious of treats - peanut M&Ms. They will be mine. Oh yes, all mine. And Phil's.
NaNo love in NV Daily newspaper
As I sit here in my 2007 NaNo shirt and snuffle through my umpteenth cup of tea to get through the Piggie Flu decimating my house, I realized it was October 24th and my writer's group, Literary Geniuses, was featured in NV Daily. Yay us! It's part one of a two-part series on local writing clubs and we're so happy to be a part of the NaNo tide. Someone (read: me) is in serious need of bronzer. Good thing Vyolette (the baby) is so cute. ;)Today's task: Organize the ZDG chapter headings so I'm not wandering around IHOP like a boob next Saturday night wondering where to start.
Photo by Rich Cooley/Daily
Eye of the Beholder: my short story in Hungry for Your Love zombie anthology!
TOO much fun! Hungry for Your Love, the new zombie romance anthology from Ravenous Romance will be released October 29th! My short story, Eye of the Beholder, is included in this great collection of stories ranging from sweet romance to hot zombie lovin'. *eyebrow waggle* (damn it, the eyebrow fell off)Who's ready for a release party next week? The first round of Zombies are on me!
There was a gorgeous middle-aged woman who lived in a shoe...
I think this sums up my homelife pretty well. ;) NaNo, as always, will be a challenge between the five girls & husband, a half-constructed house and my natural inclination to wander off in search of low-carb chocolate goodness. Besides, the short story sale is rev'ing my engines toward the ZOMBIE DATING GUIDE -- I can't wait to get started!
Now, what are y'all planning? Tick toc, people!
Big thanks to Inkygirl.com for the comic!
SQUEEEE!
I think I just peed a little.
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER has been accepted for Ravenous Romance's Halloween zombie anthology HUNGRY FOR YOUR LOVE! Contracts are coming on Monday and I'm very excited to be part of this fun collection of zombie-themed love stories. LOL, never thought I'd ever hear that come out of my mouth.
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER has been accepted for Ravenous Romance's Halloween zombie anthology HUNGRY FOR YOUR LOVE! Contracts are coming on Monday and I'm very excited to be part of this fun collection of zombie-themed love stories. LOL, never thought I'd ever hear that come out of my mouth.
Plot mapping - FreeMind software
Until the chalkboard gets here, I've been working with FreeMind, a mind-mapping free software for Pocket Full of Posies and plotting out the Zombie Dating Guide. I gotta say, for a free program, it ain't bad. :) It's very simple to use and I'm sure I haven't even plumbed the depths of this handy program.
I'm primarily using it for character mapping for PFoP, I'll have use another page for plot (though that may wait until the chalkboard, I like to e-x-p-a-n-d more than is allowed on a computer screen). For zombies, it works quite well for chapter headings with their dropdowns.
What do you use to organize your thoughts? Paper? Software?
I'm primarily using it for character mapping for PFoP, I'll have use another page for plot (though that may wait until the chalkboard, I like to e-x-p-a-n-d more than is allowed on a computer screen). For zombies, it works quite well for chapter headings with their dropdowns.
What do you use to organize your thoughts? Paper? Software?
Writer's work space - getting your geek on
My brilliant friend, Adam Slade of Editing Hat, has posted a photo of his lovely workspace (complete with numbers because he's an overachiever). I had posted a photo of mine a few months ago on facebook but neglected to do so here because I'm a boob. So here ya go ^^^
Now for the exciting news, I bought a 10' chalkboard last weekend to dominate my office wall! YAY ME! I've completely geeked out at the thought of plotting my pea-pickin' heart out on this. NaNo, you will be mine. Oh yes. All mine.
Photos of scribbled on chalkboard by the kids coming soon. ;)
I'd love to see a link to your writing space, share it in the comments section and say hi to Adam for me when you pop over there!
Trick or Treating : writer-style
I've coerced my family into dressing up as literary characters/figures for Halloween this year. I'm going as zombie Jane Austen, Bryan is Cadfael from the Ellis Peters series, Rowyn is Wednesday Addams (there has to be a book in there somewhere), Syenna will Pippi Longstocking, Wynter will be a zombie in the cheese dip (from one of my articles), Lily be the Wicked Witch of the West and Vyolette is determined to be Ariel the Little Mermaid.
I plan on being a total drag and give out copies of The Elements of Style instead of gooey candy. Wha? They'll thank me when they head into freshman English. ;)
You Have Been Boo'd
I have a website dealing with one of my favorite activities: Boo'ing. Yep. I verbed it. It's basically teaching your kids to step away from TPing your friends and neighbors and leaving them tasty treats instead for the month of October. I wrote the poem, drew the ghostie picture and submitted it to Highlights (who passed on it after a tussle in the War Room) so while it's not my idea, I'm sharing the love. I am crazy about Halloween and anything that goes bump in the night (no jokes about my herd of kids and how they got here... ;) ) so it is not a big stretch to believe that a lot of my writing life focuses on my passion for the unexplained and flat out fun in the fall.How many of you focus a particular theme?
Query Query Quite Contrary
Ever send out a query and minutes later you're hiding under your desk after you realize what you've written is total crap? Yep. Me too. Today I was faced with the harsh reality that something I thought was well crafted was complete and utter shite when the agent I queried showed her example of a great letter on a well-known website. It wasn't mine.
GAH
I'm chalking this one up to experience and a reminder to polish the heck out of it before it ever leaves my hands. Next time I'm spending more time at Absolute Write's Query Letter Hell SYW (Share Your Work): password is vista and less time picking out scented rainbow-colored paper that sings when you open the envelope. Wha?
GAH
I'm chalking this one up to experience and a reminder to polish the heck out of it before it ever leaves my hands. Next time I'm spending more time at Absolute Write's Query Letter Hell SYW (Share Your Work): password is vista and less time picking out scented rainbow-colored paper that sings when you open the envelope. Wha?
Character photos
Misty water colored memoriesssssssss. Sorry, this photo does it to me every time-- :PA friend of mine uses photos of models and actors to represent characters in her novels. She's very precise in whom she chooses to carry the load in the story. She works off their expressions and posture, I'm in awe every time she pulls out the portfolio and "introduced" to her cast.
I have no such luck. I have a vague idea of a naked Daniel Craig for each of my heroes and I'm good to go.
Do you have a clear idea of your characters beyond the basics? I can barely finish writing a character bio without thinking I'm suffocating my muse - talk about overthinking. ;)
WIP it good
NaNo starts in four weeks. I feel like running around the neighborhood shouting, "THE NEW PHONE BOOKS ARE HERE, THE NEW PHONE BOOKS ARE HERE!!" (substitute NaNo for phone books) and hope someone wouldn't call the cops but up here on Fool on the Hill, I'd just get the nod from the crazy people next door and scare a fox. So, I'll shout it here and look smug.
In the meantime, I'm going full throttle on Pocket Full of Posies because it's fuuuuuuuun. A psychic medium is approached by the mother of a missing man and asked to find him. Bennet Kavanagh's gift speaking with the dead reveals the woman's tragic past - a daughter's death too soon, a loveless marriage with Senator Spencer Leonard and now her son, Grey Garrison, has vanished off the coast of South Carolina while working as a salvage archaeologist. Something doesn't ring true, however, does Portia Leonard have something to do with his disappearance - even the death of her daughter? Bennet's race to find Grey at the urging of his dead sister before he meets a similar fate throws her into the path of Washington, D.C.'s hidden ghostly world and the more sinister circle of deceit by their mother.
Pocket Full of Posies
In the meantime, I'm going full throttle on Pocket Full of Posies because it's fuuuuuuuun. A psychic medium is approached by the mother of a missing man and asked to find him. Bennet Kavanagh's gift speaking with the dead reveals the woman's tragic past - a daughter's death too soon, a loveless marriage with Senator Spencer Leonard and now her son, Grey Garrison, has vanished off the coast of South Carolina while working as a salvage archaeologist. Something doesn't ring true, however, does Portia Leonard have something to do with his disappearance - even the death of her daughter? Bennet's race to find Grey at the urging of his dead sister before he meets a similar fate throws her into the path of Washington, D.C.'s hidden ghostly world and the more sinister circle of deceit by their mother.
Pocket Full of Posies
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