Since I haven't yet gotten a paid account (I'm thinking about it) I can't do a real fancy poll, so I'm requesting you to comment. I know, more thought is necessary, sorry. ;-)

Back when I was trying to figure out what to do with this blog over the summer, a number of people expressed interest in not only real-person interviews, but character interviews. This also interested me, because I think I've exhausted my brain trying to come up with questions to get to know my characters better.

So, characters available for interrogation include pretty much anyone* in the Arion books or Wings & Fangs. Please tell me what you want to know, and who you want to hear from. Questions can range from "What's your favorite color" to "What's your favorite song?" to "How did you feel when..." but please note if I've sent you partial/full MS of anything, don't ask anything too spoiler-y; I might answer that kind of question in a private email, but probably not on the blog. Sorry.

So pretty, pretty please leave questions & who they're for in the comments. If I don't get any questions, I probably won't bother with the character interviews, so if you're interested at all, gimme something to work with! ;-)



*If I don't know enough about the character, I'll say so, but I doubt you'll be asking questions of Maid #2 or Random Clerk, so feel free to ask anybody.

Today is my first interview on this blog, and I'm very excited to say it is with the fabulous Tiffany Trent!

Tiffany (tltrent here on LJ) is the author of the Hallowmere series, and currently has a few other projects in the works! She's graciously come out of her current Internet Hiatus to answer some questions for me. Enjoy!


KF: Are you a musically-inspired writer or do you need silence? If you write to music, care to share any of your fave writing songs/singers/groups?

TT: VERY musically oriented. I practically need music to write. It just sets the perfect mood. I love soundtracks especially because they usually have a dramatic arc that helps with the action of the stories. But I do also have a few bands I'm partial to—early Duran Duran is practically on repeat including rarer tracks like "Secret Oktober," "The Seventh Stranger," and "Night Boat." I also love Snow Patrol—"Run," "Chasing Cars," and "Set the Fire to the Third Bar." Mute Math is my most newfound love—"Noticed" and "Control" are among faves there. And then there are old standbys like Sia, Massive Attack, Fiona Apple, Rachael Yamagata, and Imogen Heap. I could go on, but probably should stop now, eh?


KF: Is there any writing advice you wish you’d never heard?

TT: I was strongly dissuaded from writing genre early on because it was creepy, fantastic, and…*genre*. I wish I'd never listened to that, though in truth working in literary nonfiction circles for a while probably did strengthen many aspects of my fiction.


KF:Come clean: Out of all your characters, which one is your favorite? No fair saying all of them, but if you’d rather turn it around and say your least favorite, I suppose I'll forgive you.

TT: My favorite character is one very few people have met, so I'll just talk about published characters. I admit that probably my favorite character thus far is Euan, the Fey Prince in Hallowmere. I still kind of want to write a book from his PoV. ETA KF: Ha! Yes! *want*


KF: You write a lot of historically-based fantasy- how do you balance the need to have relate-able characters with social constraints of any particular time period that we might not really understand now?

TT: That's really, really hard. I'm a bit of a stickler for historical accuracy. I worried endlessly over whether I'd gotten all those details right with Hallowmere, thinking everyone would call me on them and never dreaming that people would take issue with the books because I was being *too* accurate. I found myself often having to defend the main character's choices and actions because she really was acting as a sheltered girl of the 1860s would have. Some people saw her as weak because she didn't forge straight ahead and take control, but I knew for a fact that a girl of her situation would not have been equipped to take charge like that. She had to learn how, and that was meant to be a big part of her arc throughout the books.


KF: I know you have a martial arts background- do you think you'll ever write any books based around those experiences?

TT: I already have, actually, with my first (unpublished) novel. I'd like to someday return to those books and re-tool them for YA. They're adult right now and fraught with problems, but I think a YA version would be really fun. Also, I suspect that my next contemporary novel will feature a teen martial artist. And of course I can't help wishing I could get some martial arts novels in graphic novel form, as homage to my wuxia novel predecessors.


KF: Can you tell us anything about what you're working on now? According to your Twitter, your word count keeps going up, up, up!

TT: I'm working on a contemporary paranormal that I’m calling MARKED, for now, though I'd guess that title will change. Through a series of chance encounters with a hell-bent Muse, a young violinist could be the salvation or destruction of the world's greatest band. This is one of those novels that you just write for the love, because it won't stop beating at your backbrain. When this one is out my system, I will go back to my book about Darwin and the secret history of his voyage on the Beagle.

KF: You've done a lot of revision lately, so this question comes from Travis M.: What is your most successful revision technique?

TT: As I'm writing, I realize and accept that I'm most likely leaving holes. Of late, I've had more success getting through the first draft and on to revision if I just give myself permission to note what needs to happen in a subsequent draft and move forward. This may make for a real mess later, but it keeps me moving. Just getting to the revision seems to be the big hurdle for me. Once I'm there, I'm fine. So giving myself permission to wait until revision to work out a kink is a very good way to tilt me toward the process.


KF: And, because I've wondered this about some of your characters, this question from Kitty: Where do you find the names for your characters?

TT: Etymology. If you want to see what my characters are going to do, look up what their names mean. Corrine, for example, means "Light Bearer." One of the names I chose for Euan actually means "Son of the Dark Fairy." I don't do this with all of them, but the majority of them I do. And sometimes the name just comes to me. Lately, all names seem to be courtesy of the Letter V—Vespa from my most recent novel and Velvet in the current novel. I'm hoping to explore more of the alphabet soon. :-)



Thanks for the great answers, Tiffany!

I've found if there's one thing that gets people arguing faster than yelling "Twilight is the best book evar!" in a room full of Harry Potter fans, it's mentioning that your book begins with... the dreaded prologue.

I have a prologue. Actually, I've had two. The first one I cut up and inserted into chapter seven, which is exactly where it should have always been. But I put the new one in it's place, because I felt, and still do feel, that something needed to be there.

I have a few reasons for wanting to keep my prologue. The main one being that I think the reader needs to see the relationship Arion had with the brother he lost to truly understand his actions. But he's emotionally shut down throughout the beginning of the book and, in that state of mind, wouldn't allow himself to think about his brother. Being in third close, I have few options for bringing up things he wouldn't think about. And he certainly wouldn't stand for anyone else talking about his brother.

Also, when I asked my beta readers if they thought the prologue added to their understanding of the characters/conflict, 4 out of 4 of those who have responded gave a very emphatic "YES." And my bff whines at me every time I say I'm thinking of cutting it. So it's kinda hard to argue with that. :)

Of course, I somewhat understand people who dismiss prologues out of hand. I've seen a lot that are info-dumps, that don't add to the story, and whose set-up goes nowhere. I get the annoyance there. And I know I probably sound like every other writer who whines, "but mine is different!" but... I feel like mine should be there.

But would I cut it if it meant the difference between being published and not? Yeah. I probably would. I'm at the point where I feel like most of the story is malleable. I do like revision, and I love it when I can see the story getting better. So if it worked out that there was a way for me to do thing things the current prologue does within the context of the chapters, I'd cut it. For now, it stands.

Why am I muttering about this? Mainly because I'm about to send out queries, and my first five pages happen to be my prologue. I think they're pretty good pages. But, without the rest of the story behind them, I worry. Then again, I am a known worrier. I tend to worry about pretty much everything. So I'm hoping this is going to be like most things I worry about and it won't be a problem. But if it is?

Changeable. Cause that's just how I roll. (Ugh, I did not just say that, did I? I did. I'm such a dork.)

In an effort to calm myself down (yeah, I'm still kinda pissy...) I'm yoinking this meme from Melissa Marr (melissa_writing), including her additions & additional rules (see end)

YA Book Meme

( Instructions: )

To whoever left an incredibly nasty comment on a Very Lovely Author's LJ entry:

I don't know if you're someone who wants to be published & is frustrated with the process & just picked a target. I don't know if you're a random troll just spouting stupidity & hatred all over the internet. And I don't care. What you just did was rude, hateful and just plain wrong. Of all the people to take a swing at, you chose someone who is genuinely nice, compassionate and loving, and you hurt her.

You are what is wrong with the world. I don't know why people seem to think the best way to make themselves feel better is to put other people down. Putting more negativity out into the world helps no one, and I certainly believe it will come back to you ten-fold.

And messing with the YA community? So not cool. It's not like messing with some other literary-types, because we tend to band together (yes, we- even those of us that aren't published). There might be some squabbles & tiffs, a few cliques, yes, but in general, we're pretty tight & we support each other. I hope you weren't thinking stirring us up would help you in any way, because you're quite wrong.

*deep cleansing breaths*

I'm not going to talk about this again. I hope the author that this happened to will forget it ever happened & realize none of what was said in the comment is true. But seriously, people. Think before you type. Realize there's a person on the other end of that username. We're all in this together- so I hope, whoever you are, that you get over yourself & stop spreading hate. It doesn't say anything about the person you attacked, but it sure paints a picture of the kind of person you are.

Other than the first and last books, this month was, apparently, Vampire Month!

1) Emily of New Moon by L. M. Montgomery
The Emily Trilogy, Book 1
Middle Grade, 10+
This is one of my forever-favorite books. I was a little afraid to re-read it, since I hadn't since beginning at Hollins, but nope, it held up, and I realized I'd even forgotten a few of the minor subplots. I never read Anne until I was in college, thinking it somehow a betrayal of Emily, since everyone always seemed to like Anne better- but not me. I still love Emily best. And, of course, Teddy Kent.

2) & 3) The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle by L. J. Smith
The Vampire Diaries, Books 1 & 2
YA, 12+
I won this volume a while back from kazdreamer, and when I received the 5th book to review, I figured it was the perfect excuse time to read the series. I enjoyed these, but feel like I was missing out, since I didn't read them when back when (granted, they came out when I was still reading Boxcar Children). I know if I'd found them when I was 13 I'd have loved them. Either way, I thought they were lots of fun, though at first I was ambivalent about Elena. I did grow to like her. She definitely had a lot more... gumption... than certain other heroines of vampire romances. And I found myself liking that about her later on, but at first I could not understand why I wanted the girl who always got what she wanted to get what she wanted. *shrug* Whatever. So I dove right into the next volume...

4) and 5) The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion by L. J. Smith
The Vampire Diaries, Books 3 & 4
YA, 12+
I enjoyed this one, too, though the plot arc from books 1 through 3 made much more sense to me than the plot of the fourth book. I think it was originally a trilogy that was added on to, but someone correct me if I'm wrong there. Anyway, up until the very end of the fourth one, which ( spoilerish ), I was still thinking they moved along decently well & were pretty fun, light reads. So I headed into book 5 with a certain set of expectations...

6) The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Nightfall by L. J. Smith
The Vampire Diaries, Book 5 also The Vampire Diaries: The Return, Book 1 (apparently this is a 'new trilogy' but the same characters?)
YA, 12+
And then I got to this... well, there's no real nice way to say it. I just thought it was a mess. Supposedly set a week after the end of Dark Reunion, where the "Class of '92" graduates, suddenly everyone had a cell phone, shopped online, and had a lot of technical capabilities. And none of the characters acted like they had before- any development they'd had from the end of the previous book was gone. And, apparently, vampires cannot have sex, though all the blood-sharing scenes were overtly sexual (I can give examples if asked). And for me, the biggest disappointment was that it was just kind-of dull. The characters run around for 500-some pages doing next-to-nothing, but discussing it over and over and over. *sigh* I really, really wanted to like it! But I just couldn't. I have seen some reviewers who loved it, so maybe it was just me... but I couldn't get into it.

7) Operation Storm City by Joshua Mowll
The Guild Trilogy, Book 3
Middle Grade, 8-12+
This one was fun. I wish I'd read the other two first, because a number of references weren't fully explained (which I think is fine, especially in the concluding book in an on-going trilogy), but all-in-all, this was an exciting adventure, set in India and China in, I believe, 1920 or so, and features a brother and sister pair on a mission to find and rescue their parents, a female straight-talking pilot, a maharajah and his butler, a tiger and a host of other interesting characters. While I recommend reading the earlier books in the series first, this is definitely one I'll be seeking out to read the first two. Also, the books are formatted kind-of like a textbook in that there are charts and pictures and explanations of side-characters throughout- great for kids who like more to their books than just pages of endless words (like my hubby, who flipped through all the technical drawings!)

Books read this month: 7
Books read this year: 41


Anyone read any of these? I welcome discussion, especially of The Vampire Diaries books! Maybe someone can talk me into liking Nightfall?

So, I've seen this going around & figured what they hey, I'm up, might as well. So here are some of my first lines...

Arion (Prologue)
"Marius, tell me a story," Arion said, gazing up at his older brother from the depths of his monstrous bed. "You haven’t in ages."

Mordagrin (Prologue- might change as story evolves)
"No-" Marius's stomach plunged as he pushed away from his father's desk. "No! You- you can’t be."

Wings & Fangs: Bewitched (Chapter One- Deirdre)
My fingers itch. That's usually the first sign, but I forgot. I mean, as symptoms go, it's kind-of weird.

Wings & Fangs: Taken (Scene One- David) (not in chapters yet)
"Where exactly am I?" I asked, looking around. As far as I could see there was nothing but unbroken field.

Broken Promise (Chapter One)
Can it be a rule that great-grandmothers do not leave demon-trapping rings lying around with their things? Especially without leaving specific instructions regarding the keeping of said demon inside said piece of jewelry…

Jora (Chapter Two- Cause Ch. 1 is probably getting cut)
The horse's hooves clopped softly on the dusty road. Jora held the reins loosely in one hand as she walked alongside her tall, tan* mare.

Knight School (Prologue? Chapter One? Haven't decided...)
I found a girl in the yard. He'd left her in a place where he knew I'd find her, be the first to see her hair glint in the sunlight, nearly trip over myself to check her pulse.



Yeah... those are all in various stages of completion... but they're my main ones. And really, all are subject to change if I come up with a better first line! ;-)


*No, Brittany, I have not yet changed the color of the horse. I realize horses are not tan. I will choose another color. Eventually.

Soooooo many good books are coming out/sitting around my house! I need to learn to read faster...

Books I need to read here (in no particular order):
Fire by Kristin Cashore (ARC graciously loaned to me by tiffanyschmidt) (Oh, who am I kidding, this one goes first!)
Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
Lament by Maggie Stiefvater
Things Are Gonna Get Ugly by Hillary Homzie
Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend by Carrie Jones
Water Steps by A. LaFaye
ETA: My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent (free, short ebook prequel to her Soul Screamers series!)
... and like 100+ more that just aren't in my line of vision right now...

And then we have the ones that I need to find at B&N tonight...
Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev (waiting for me behind the counter 5 days early!)
Prey by Rachel Vincent
Blue Moon by Alyson Noel
Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci

*groan* Seriously... Either I just stop writing & read all the time, or I learn to read faster. I'm opting for the latter. :)

"All right, I'm ready!" ~ Anastasia
in the song "Learn to Do It" from Anastasia

Yesterday I had the oh-so-fun moment of "Oh crap, how do I calculate my word count? And format my manuscript? And... and... and...?"

So I went to Google and started searching. Word count came in pretty simply with only two methods dominating the search: Whatever Word tells you OR 250 x # of pages (either way rounding to nearest 1000). Right now I'm going with Word, but I might switch if I'm told to do otherwise (until then, I almost feel like I'd be lying!). They're somewhat close, but not exactly the same.

Formatting, however, was so much more fun to research because everyone seems to have a different formatting pet peeve that someone else says is how you're supposed to do it. Ah, how exciting. Underline vs. italicize? # vs * * * vs white space for breaks? Bold anything ever? How to indent paragraphs? Where to put the word count? How much white space starts a chapter? *twitch*

Now, before any of you swoop in with "Oh, no, calm down! It's okay!" and other such comments... I'm not freaking out (at least, about that stuff!). Actually, some sick part of me finds all these contradictions highly amusing.

After reading about a zillion "articles" and random blog posts on every topic, I think I've got the basics. And I know when something doesn't look professional. So I'm not particularly worried on those fronts. I'd love to do everything "right" the first time, but that doesn't necessarily look possible. So I'm going to do the best I can, using as much information as I can find.

Next up, the query letters! I've got three at the point where I'm going to have to call them done or drive myself crazy rearranging commas. I'm planning on always having five out at a time (we'll see how that goes...), so that means two more!

Except... I'm having some trouble "personalizing" some of the queries. I really want to show people how I have done my research (seriously, chime in if you've seen my querying research binder- my thesis adviser said it could be a book itself!), and that I'm not just querying them because they're an agent. I'm querying people who I genuinely feel I would work with well. Who rep what I write. Who seem to have similar tastes to my own. I want an agent, yes, but not just so I can say I have one- I want a professional, working relationship with someone who can sell my book.

Alas, my Google skills are somewhat failing me. There are a few people who I can't find quite enough information on for me to feel like I'm truly personalizing the letters. This frustrates me. In fact, a few of them I'm thinking of switching who I'm querying in their agencies because of this*.

Well, I've been at this research & query-writing for about four or five hours now, so I think I'm going to take a reading break.

Anyone want to chime in with their current or past querying adventures? No names, no bashing of anyone, please. I'm trying to keep this somewhat light and I'm not locking this post. (If you have anything you'd like to share privately, you can email me at kathleenfoucart at gmail dot com)


*This is only in agencies where I'm so torn btw. 2 or 3 agents that it was sort-of arbitrary which one I decided to go with. Why are so many fantastic agents in the same agencies? So hard to choose!

Hey all, I'm still alive, just trying to get a lot of random bits of life back in order. Nothing terrible going on, just still playing catch-up from last month- and it's almost July! Ugh!

Anyway, I'm really only popping in to promo a contest I meant to mention (and, uh, enter) when she first posted it... Tiffany Trent (aka tltrent) is having a "Favorite Strong Female Character" contest on her blog (enter here), and you could win a hardback omnibus edition of Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness! So head on over and join in the discussion about your fave strong females. She's picking on July 1, so hurry!

I decided to go with Katsa from Graceling (Tiffany S. I swear I will get to Fire ASAP!), but as I was thinking about it, I realized a lot of my favorite strong women characters actually come from TV, not books- like Sarah from "Chuck" or Fiona from "Burn Notice." I'm pondering pondering over this in a blog post soon, but even if that isn't the topic, I promise there will be more posts coming up! I just need to get a few of these "to-dos" off my plate!

This is a big weekend for birthdays...

Sunday is not only Father's Day but also Dad's birthday. And let me tell you, all the ads all over everything online proclaiming "the perfect gift for Dad" do not know my father. I didn't see one that looked like anything he'd like. Yeesh! But he called & gave me some ideas, so it won't be yet another B&N Gift Card year.

Sunday also happens to be the birthday of my best friend & immediate-beta-reader, Brittany. (Immediate-beta-reader means I haven't even re-read what I've written yet & it's in her in-box. Yes, she's caught numerous mistakes this way!) Her present is currently on the table next to dad's... but will be headed off to TX soon. She's uh, much easier to buy for. :)

And the last of my list of birthdays is actually today. And fictional. Because today is Arion's birthday. Somehow this never occurs to me until the day-of. So no party for him. He's probably happier that way- he's the kind of person that grimaces and hides in the nearest closet when people come at him with balloons and cake and confetti. ;-)

I couldn't find my camera, so I didn't get any pictures, but Emma has chosen the winner of the Readerly/Writerly Influences contest. I wrote everyone's name on a notecard, folded them, put them in a basket & shook them up. Then Ms. Curious Dane stuck her nose in the basket, snuffled through them & licked one. Repeatedly. So Emma has decreed that the winner is:

hinode!!!

hinode, send me an email at kathleenfoucart at gmail dot com with your mailing address & I'll get your books out to you shortly!

To read all the entries, see the comments section here. Thanks to all who shared their stories about stories! I'll probably have more contests in the future, so be sure to check back!

Today's the last day to enter my Readerly/Writerly Influences Contest. The winner will be chosen tomorrow by The Dane. Still not sure how, exactly, but I'm thinking note cards and a large enough basket for her to get her nose in...

Also, still looking for questions for interviewees. The questions will be going out by the end of this week. I got a few general ones via facebook, but if you want to ask anyone anything specific, now's the time to get your question in!

So this week I'm finally starting to feel better, but instead of having time to catch up, I've been swamped planning a friend's bridal shower for this Saturday, and doing a ton of agent research. And I just realized I, uh, have no synopsis to send to said agents. Better get on that...

Anyway, I've got a bunch of things I wanted to mention, so here goes:

- My "Readerly/Writerly Influences" contest is still going on here until midnight (Eastern time) June 15, so get your entries in! Two free books to the winner.

- The wonderful Jen, aka wldhrsjen3, has posted a very interesting question for adult readers of YA . What do you think makes a good book?

- I've got a great list of people lined up to interview this summer! But as I was writing out my interview questions, I realized I was only asking things I was curious about, and well, I'm hoping more people than just me will read the answers! So what do you want to know about these fantastic people? Here's a list of those that have thus far agreed to the interviews:
Tiffany Trent,
author of the Hallowmere series beginning with In the Serpent's Coils
Karen Mahoney,
LJ's own kazdreamer, whose first published short story will be out this summer in The Eternal Kiss
Emily Adamo,
creator of the webcomic "Fun in Jammies"
Sarah Prineas,
author of The Magic Thief and The Magic Thief: Lost
Carrie Jones,
author of Need, Girl, Hero, Tips on Having a Gay (ex)Boyfriend and Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape)
Amie Rose Rotruck,
aka R. D. Henham, author of Bronze Dragon Codex
Hillary Homzie,
author of the Alien Clones series and the upcoming Things Are Gonna Get Ugly
A. LaFaye,
winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical fiction for Worth, her newest novel Water Steps is out now!
Stephanie Burgis,
author of the upcoming YA Regency fantasy trilogy The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson, beginning with Book One: An Improper Magic (2010)


So if you have any questions for those listed above, please leave them in the comments! I might not get all of them in the interviews, but I will certainly do my best. (I'm going to try and ask a few more people, but getting sick kinda threw off my groove, so if I get anyone else, there will be a similar post for questions for them.)

I think that's all for now... Don't forget to enter, discuss and question! :)

"An old racetrack joke reminds you that your program contains all the winners' names. I stare at my typewriter keys with the same thought." ~ Mignon McLaughlin

I've had a few odd experiences with my writing lately, and I've started calling it my "subconscious writing work" for lack of a better term.

One thing I've been doing a lot of lately is side-story (as my friend Tony calls it). I've been writing pieces of Arion from other characters' points of view or scenes that are completely off-camera. I've done this for a while, and while it's fun for me, I've always thought it was... not a waste of time, but not always the best use of my time. Why, exactly, am I playing with a scene from Isis's point of view when it will never be in the book?

The other day I realized exactly why I wrote a particular scene between Isis & Josephine, and it wasn't what I thought. I thought I was writing it to explain to myself what Josephine knew & didn't know about the relationship between Arion & Isis. I didn't realize it actually told me something very important about Isis, something I need to know to write Mordagrin, until a few days later when I re-read it and noticed her reactions.

Another side-story scene I wrote is something that had basically been there from the beginning, but 1) I hadn't wanted to go there and 2) Mordecai wouldn't exactly let me until recently. I think part of it had to do with some comments I got back from tiffanyschmidt and melissajoyadams about Arion's emotional life, and I knew there was an "answer," I just hadn't figured it out yet. Then I realized what Mordecai had actually done in that library and, well, it just came together. I think I actually smacked myself in the forehead over that one...

But it isn't even just this kind of thing that's been fascinating me lately. My playlists are becoming more and more where I'm finding character motivations. Not so much for Arion, because that was really the first one I made and I'd chosen most of the songs for very specific purposes. But when I listen to the songs on the Mordagrin and Wings & Fangs: Bewitched playlists, where often I just throw songs on a whim, sometimes I get a little freaked out by how well they fit before I've even written the scene.

For example, I started adding songs like "I Just Can't Live a Lie" by Carrie Underwood, "Driftin' Away" by Garth Brooks (Chris Gaines CD) and "Cry" by Kelly Clarkson to Mordagrin before I had any idea about the emotional conflicts I was going to find in certain relationships. And then there's songs in the Wings & Fangs: Bewitched list that have let me actually get to know David, who has to be one of the quietest MCs I've ever had. And these are songs that have been on this list over a year, ones that I thought I added more in relation to D than David, but now David's owning them.

I've posted this quote before, but I wanted to throw it up again, cause it's part of where I got my terminology and oh-so-fitting:
"...I discovered that if I trusted my subconscious, or imagination, whatever you want to call it, and if I made the characters as real and honest as I could, then no matter how complex the pattern being woven, my subconscious would find ways to tie it together -- often doing things far more complicated and sophisticated than I could with brute conscious effort. I would have ideas for 'nodes', as I think of them -- story or character details that have lots of potential connections to other such nodes -- and even though I didn't quite understand, I would plunk them in. Two hundred pages later, everything would back-fit, and I'd say, "Ah, that's why I wrote that." ~ Tad Williams


Anyone care to share anything they've found this way? Just typed something & had it work itself out or in or whatever? I know a lot of people on my friends list are more pantsers than plotters, so I figure some of you have got to have good stories!



Contest Reminder: You have until June 15 to get your entries in for my Readerly/Writerly Influences Contest. Only three entries so far, so the odds of winning two free books are pretty good!

Since I've done next-to-nothing to promote my contest this week I've decided to extend it another week. So you now have until Monday, June 15 to enter to win free books! And remember, even if you have these already, maybe your bff doesn't? So enter & spread the joy of free books :)

The contest details & comment thread for entries are here.



Also, gigantic thanks to everyone who responded to my f-locked entry the other day... I'm sure it's just the start of my freak-outs, but I promise I will try to keep the public displays to a minimum. :)

Hi all! To kick off my summer blogging extravaganza*, I decided to have a contest! But what to do and what to give away... I have no book of my own to give away yet. I have no highly-anticipated ARCs lying around at the moment (in fact, I think every ARC I have now has a corresponding 'real book'). So I've been thinking long & hard (as much as possible w/ sinus issues & a head cold) about what to do.

So here's the deal. I want to know about the book(s) that made you a reader or a writer. In return, I'll give away the first two books in the first two published series' by my biggest writerly-influences.

( So here's my story... )

Now, technically, there's a lot more to my story. But as far as I'm concerned, Rowling and Clare will always remain two of my biggest writing influences, the ones whose words really caught me and spun me around to face the "writer" direction.

And for that, I'm giving away a hardcover copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and a paperback copy of City of Bones, which is the first book in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments trilogy**.

Here are The Rules:
1) You get one entry for commenting here and telling me which book or books really made you think you could be a writer, or, if you're not a writer, what book really turned you into a reader. Or, heck, if you've always been a reader, your favorite book. I'm not picky. :)

2) After following Rule #1 you get one additional entry for each of your blogs/facebook pages/MySpace Accounts/Twitter linking back here. Leave a comment (replying to your original if possible) with your link(s), so I can verify. (If you post on Facebook, you'll need to Friend Me) for verification.
Please do not spam other people's blogs, listservs, whatever- I will not count those entries!

3) For this particular contest, I will ship anywhere, since it's my first. But if shipping winds up astronomical, I'll probably restrict in the future (sorry).

4) I'm leaving this contest open for a week, so please respond by midnight (Eastern time) on Monday, June 8 EDIT: June 15 for a chance to win! Winner will be chosen by The Dane.



*I'm horrible at titles. Seriously. So if anyone can come up with something better than "Summer Blogging Extravaganza" or "Summer Blog-a-thon" I'd be eternally grateful.
**I realize a lot of people already have these books. Especially Harry. But I figured the hardback might be enticing and either way, free books!

Posting May's reading list now because I have Sooper Sekrit Planz for tomorrow. ;-) So you might want to check back then... But here's what I read in May

1) Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
YA, Ages 12+
Absolutely loved it. I think this is probably my favorite book in the series so far. Also, I think I might be one of the last people in the world who feel sorry for Keenan, judging by some other reviews I've seen...

2) Desert Tales, Volume I: Sanctuary by Melissa Marr
YA, Ages 12+
I really enjoyed this, following a different storyline in the same world as Wicked Lovely, though I'm not really a manga girl. I'm trying to get used to it, but it didn't really feel long enough to me. Eh, I just like novels more, I guess. *shrug*

3) The Eye of the Forest by P. B. Kerr
Middle Grade, Ages 8+
I, uh, wasn't fond of this one. And unless the rest of the Children of the Lamp series reads totally differently, I doubt I'll be ready any more. It just felt sooooo condescending to me. Not necessarily in an "oh, children, let me tell you about..." way, but condescending to just about any kind of person.

4, 5 and 6) Brian Urlacher, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Ben Roethlisberger all by Michael Sandler
Early Reader, Ages 7-10
I had these for reviews, but if anyone knows a kid in grades 2-5 who need to do a report on a football player, these books were informative and interesting, even to non-football-fan me.

7) Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
YA, Ages 12+
This was a lot of fun and really kicked me back into reading. Plus, uh... it has Sonny Flannery in it- a hot, Irish Janus Guard raised by fey. Need I say more? I'd recommend it to any YA fantasy fan. I can't wait for the next installment, because as exciting as this one was, I'm betting it gets even better!

8) Dull Boy by Sarah Cross
YA, Ages 12+
I absolutely adored this book. I had to special order it, but it was totally worth the wait, and it made being sick a lot more bearable. The main character, Avery, is so great, I wish I'd been friends with him in high school, and not only because he can fly. ;-)

9) Graceling by Kristin Cashore
YA, Ages 12+
WOW. This wasn't a book I'd been planning on reading before it came out. I'd heard some good things, but, eh, the pictures I saw of the cover didn't really appeal to me (I know, I know, you'd think I'd have learned by now...) and I wasn't overly interested in the blurbs I'd read... And then I saw the cover in a store. Katsa's eye reflected in the sword tip caught me. I kept looking back at it, even as I walked away. So finally I wound up buying it and I'm so glad I did. It's fantastic- action, adventure, romance (rather steamy, too!), and a fabulous heroine, who, for some reason, reminded me of Bones. I think it had to do with her social skills... or lack there-of. ;-) Either way, fabulous book, and I think any of my friends who enjoyed Alanna or Sabriel should totally read it.

ETA: 10) Vacations from Hell by Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Claudia Gray, Maureen Johnson, and Sarah Mlynowski
YA, 12+
Okay, so I couldn't sleep last night and wound up finishing off this collection of short stories. I never was much of a short story fan, but a lot of my favorite authors are putting great ones out there now, and this group is no exception. I've been trying to figure out a favorite, but I can't; they're all really good. And is it totally weird that after reading just a few of these, I really wanted to go on vacation??? (Also, Libba, I'm blaming you for any nightmares I may have had last night...)


Books read this month: 10
Books read this year: 34 (yes, I'm behind...)

And that's it for May, unless I finish another book tonight...

I've come down with something. Not sure what. According to the doctor, who I told I have allergies, I, uh, have allergies. Though usually it's not allergies that lay me up in bed for four or so days straight, with a sore throat, coughing & aching, and with a painful-to-the-touch neck and face.

So that explains the recent lack of posts.

I'm still gearing up for summer posting, just slowly and possibly not starting on June 1, as I had originally planned. If I've contacted you RE: interviews, I promise, the questions will be coming just as soon as my body decides it is no longer sick & lets me stand up for more than five minutes. And if I have not contacted you... I might still be contacting you. Just waiting until I'm forming coherent sentences*.

And yes, I did manage to tear myself out of bed yesterday morning for coffee with the fabulous tltrent, but apparently that's the last thing I'll be able to do for a few days. *sigh* At least it was fun!

And speaking of fun... The one thing I've been managing to actually do is read. Just finished Dull Boy by Sarah Cross & thought it was fantastic. Seriously, you should all go buy it & read it. :)

All right, setting the laptop down now (cause yes, I am just that addicted to this thing & have it in bed with me) & trying to get some rest. But I promise, more soon! Really!



*So far as I can tell, this post was formed of coherent sentences. It also took most of my brain power and, uh, yeah, there's none left for emailing. Sorry.

I have a problem character. She's not a problem like Arion was (thinking one way & then acting like a total dumbass) or like Isis was (acting like a doormat until I figured out what the heck she was doing) or even like Mordecai (outright lying to me on many, many occasions).

Nope. Josephine is a problem because she loves her husband.

( Potential Arion (and possibly Mordagrin) spoilers within... )

Anyone care to share any favorite character-writing exercises?


*Yes, I promised a post Thursday or Friday and today is Saturday. Sorry. Thursday I was kinda busy and yesterday I felt crappy. Still feeling a bit crappy, but decided I needed to post!