So Far Behind

So I realize I MIGHT look like I’ve been neglecting this blog lately.  I could certainly see why you would THINK that.  But trust me, its not true!  I started cleaning up the links on the side!  And I updated some spelling errors!  That’s progress!

I have been busy for the last month working on MOONSET and dealing with the pesky Real Life.  Let’s just hope that January was one last little Real Life fluke leftover from the year that was 2009 and call it a day.

As some of you may know, I joined up with six other amazing young adult authors as part of the YA Rebels, a vlogging group hosted on Youtube, where each of us pick a day of the week to vlog on.  Each week we have a topic, and you get seven different perspectives.  You get advice, discussions about our writing styles, and on occasion a really funny quote or two.  So I’m the Saturday Rebel, which means I get to ring in the weekend.

Here’s my latest video, so please check it out and subscribe to the channel! And if you have any suggestions for topics you’d like to see us discuss, let us know!  Leave a comment on a video!  Or leave me a comment here!

Real update sometime later in the week!  The link to the Rebels is in the sidebar, so feel free to check it out!

Confronting Superstitions

I am as superstitious as the next person when it comes to my writing.  I must do it this way, I must clear that off my desk before I write.  There’s always something.  Its something I think most of us can relate to.  Everyone has their writing foibles, bad habits, quirks, or superstitions.

For the past 9 months or so, I’ve been struggling to break mine.  Do you know what the worst one was?  When I was working on edits for WITCH EYES for Colleen (way back at the end of 2008), I would get on the computer in the morning during my free time before work…and I had to win a game of Spider Solitaire (set on Medium) before I could open my writing file.

Now if this was regular solitaire, or Freecell, no big deal, right?  Play a game, MAYBE two, then get to writing.  No, but Spider Solitaire is SO MUCH HARDER.  There were really bad days where I spent hours losing game after game after game before I finally got close to winning.  That was a habit that had to go.  So one day I just refused to Spider Solitaire even though my hands were shaking with a need to fill up my free cells with a King or a 7.

Then it was smoking.  I had to smoke while I worked.  (Yes, I was a smoker).  So I quit smoking.  And let me tell you, those first few rounds of edits were ROUGH.  I wanted to start drinking just to take the edge off.  Going from a crutch to no-crutch is a very humbling experience.  Because suddenly, despite the fact that you averaged 1,000 words a day since pre-school, the 5 words you’ve written since Monday are the worst words that have ever existed in the history of man.  And God forbid you add a sixth word to the pile.  It will immediately make all 5 words before it even worse.

It used to be I couldn’t show anyone my WIP without immediately panicking that the unfinished book was now RUINED.  (This one happened as recently as last summer).   Or the one that said if I put my funny, awesome lines of dialogue out there in the universe, someone was going to point out they were terrible, and/or derivative.  I also felt like I couldn’t edit as I went along – I’d have to wait until the draft was done to make changes.  Yeah, the fix to this one was easy: write a terrible book.  Now I tweak as I go, because it stops me from wandering, and it also reminds me where I was going.

The only quirk I really subscribe to now is not so much a writing superstition so much as it is convenience.  I have to have my computer facing the window so I can look outside while I write, and I have to have headphones to drown out the normal apartment sounds going on around me.

So this is my challenge to you.  Have a superstition that maybe makes your writing life harder than it does easier?  Challenge it.  See if you can do it without giving in.  Give it time, push through the pain.  Maybe it’ll work for you too.

Randomness:

Some of you may have heard about the YA Rebels, a new vlog group that has started up consisting of a bunch of YA writers.  I’m the Saturday over there, and a lot of interesting people are filling in the rest of the week.  (But we know Saturday is the most important, right?) You can go here to see the channel, and my intro video from last week, in which I talk about how I got kicked in the face is right here.

And the writing update for week 1 of 2010:

MOONSET:

27648 / 80000 words. 35% done!

Just One Question

Why are you reading this blog right now?  Why aren’t you out buying the FANTASTIC Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers?

Seriously, go check it out!  I’ve ordered my copy!  Click the picture to go to the Amazon page for SGA.

Warning:  Do NOT think that this is one of those books you can “just read a few chapters before bed.”  Won’t happen.  You will start reading, and then you will finish reading hours later.  Regina grabs you by the throat and shows you what high school can really be like.

And yes, the author’s a friend, but I totally adored this book anyway.  Courtney’s books have a tendency to sucker punch me to the gut.  Much more violent than the actual girl!

End of the Year Thoughts

It has been…a year.  Its totally cliche to say this has been a year of highs and lows, but it seriously has.  It’s been a year of reflection for me – realizing that what doesn’t kill me really DOES make me stronger.  And that things happen for a reason.  Its been a big year for balance for me – there were bad and good things that have happened, but all in all the good and the bad have equaled out.

Hmm.  I wonder how many cliched sayings I can fit into one blog post.

Without going into details, this was a year that my professional life took another step forward — my fantastic agent sold my first two novels — while my personal life kinda cracked apart.  I spent a good portion of the year writing, then rewriting, then rewriting some more, a novel that still needs some room to breathe before its considered ‘done.’  I wrote a good chunk of the intro to my contracted book two, and then set that aside while I was waiting for the book to sell.  And then just recently I picked up a new idea just to wriet “something” and found a whole lot of voice that I wasn’t expecting.

Truth be told, my life is nowhere near where I thought it would be at this time last year.  This time last year, I was still adjusting to living by myself again, struggling with the day job, fingers crossed about my novel, etc etc etc.  I lost some friends, and gained a whole lot of new ones.  Now my novels are sold, the day job is no more, and I’ve spent most of the last month getting closer to my family.

I did some goals for last year and posted them on my blog, but the only one I really managed to accomplish (I think) was to quit smoking.  Which I did back in March.

Total words written in 2009:  About 150K.

Total finished projects: *sigh*  0

New friends made: tons.

And then my writing goals for 2010:

• Complete edits on WITCH EYES for editor Brian.
• Finish draft of SPIRIT GAMES and send to agent.
• Outline sequel to SPIRIT GAMES that’s already mostly written.
• Send 50 page sample of MOONSET (current plaything) to agent.
• Finish writing MOONSET.
• Once edits are done, finish writing sequel to WITCH EYES.

So my goals for 2010 are basically to finish writing 3 books, all in various stages of completion.  I’m thinking I might do a monthly check-in or something, just to see how far I’ve gotten over the course of the year.

Right now at the end of the year, we’re looking at:

MOONSET:

10615 / 80000 words. 13% done!

SPIRIT GAMES: (needs a new intro, and a new climax and ending)

59765 / 70000 words. 85% done!

DEMON EYES (WITCH EYES sequel):

22097 / 90000 words. 25% done!

Agent Appreciation Day

My agent is the type who – when she’s in the middle of a particularly tense scene – has TALKED TO the characters despite the fact that she was in public.  This is the anecdote that I think won me over in the beginning.

Colleen has been my agent for almost a year and a half now, she sold my first two novels to Flux a few months ago, and throughout all that time, she has never, ever wavered in her love and support for my book.  She’s been an advocate for me, she’s listened to me ramble on the phone (and done a bit of rambling on her own), and while I’m still learning how to leave her alone to do her job, she’s left me alone to do mine.

Agents get a bad rap from time to time, and my agent’s no exception.  However, she’s always got something positive to say to me, even when the news isn’t the best.  She refuses to give up, and I admire that.  As her client, she’s bent over backwards to keep me in the loop, she’s checked in with me multiple times to find out what I needed from her, and if I did need something, she’s provided it.  I’ve learned that I can approach her when I’m having a problem, and there’s always a resolution to be had.  Its hard to get out of that mindset that agents are not to be bothered, and to remember that the agent is there for you (assuming you’re a client and not a querier, then the rules are a little different).  and when I once had a panic attack while sketching out ideas for a sequel, she took time out of her Saturday morning to calm me down.

One of the best parts of having an agent that’s an admitted geek is incredibly helpful.  Firstly?  If I’m not a fan of a show she adores, she’ll convert me sooner or later.  She’ll explain exactly why the show is awesome until I cave and watch.  And then I’m inevitably hooked.  Although we disagree from time to time, its been pretty rare so far.  Second – when we discuss edits, and she references a certain character, she’ll understand what I mean when I describe someone as “part Starbuck pre-Anders mixed with a little Cordelia.”  She’ll totally get where I’m coming from, and she won’t bat an eyelash.

I think the fact that she likes to torture me a little bit is also a noteworthy trait.  Its never malicious, but its definitely something I’ve enjoyed when she drags something out on a phone call.  She LOVES the unexpected phone call (which immediately sets me into a panic) and then leaving me hanging for a minute or two.  In hindsight, its extremely funny.  My mother loves her for that very reason – it seems like she enjoys when people give me a hard time.

Not to mention she found me an editor who suggested that he liked getting in touch with his clients via ouija board.  I still think that is possibly the greatest answer I’ve ever heard.  And its the kind of answer I totally resonate with.  Wouldn’t have happened without her.

So yeah, my agent’s pretty awesome.  Sadly, you can’t query her until after the first of the year.  But if you’re looking, you’d be lucky to have her.

**Note: This is part of Unofficial Official Agent Appreciation Day, a fabulous idea of Kody Keplinger’s. Because sometimes agents get a bad rap, we wanted to join together to surprise our agents with a little love. A list of participating blogs will be available here: http://lisa-laura.blogspot.com/**

The Grimm Off

It’s time for the Grimm Off!

What is the Grimm Off? Well!

My friend and incredibly talented author, Victoria Schwab (whose book, THE NEAR WITCH debuts in 2011 with Hyperion), was stressing one night.  She was upset because she hadn’t written anything, so I told her to write me a fairy tale.  I even gave her a prompt to help her get started.  Of course this backfired and she expected ME to return the favor.  And then things spiraled out of control, we were having some sort of contest, my competitive streak got engaged, and then I started thinking of fairy tale inspired insults (all in good fun, of course) that I could use.

With a challenge.
And a voter’s prize.
All hosted by the wonderful Tye.

Both of our stories are posted over at:

the blog of the lovely Tye Cattenach

(You should all follow her anyway, as she’s lovely) and you simply go over there and have a read and vote! There’s even a treat for a voter.

Sounds like fun, yes?

Please go have a look if you get a chance. I can’t promise mine is any good and we’d both love your support!

Here’s a snippet from mine:

I had become possessed by the clock and its strange little brick house that had no doors or windows.  When the women in town talked about the clock’s house – if they spoke of it at all -  they called it “that place next to the church.”  When the adults spoke of it, in mixed company, it was called the grain house.  But only Grandfather and the other old men of town called it the Or Lodge.

“The horologe moved another minute last night,” one of the old men grunted.  The pipe smoke burned my nose, but I kept still.  “Jones saw it when he came out from the prayer circle.”

“Getting close to midnight,” my grandfather agreed.

(Note: Children were harmed in the telling of these stories)

Edited to add:  yes, I pretty much copied V’s homework.  Or blog post.  Whatever.

Fairy Tales, Rebellion, & Some Teasing

I don’t know how it started*, but now I’m in a contest against one of my very favorite writers, Victoria Schwab (author of THE NEAR WITCH, coming out from Hyperion in Winter 2011).  Each of us has to write a dark fairy tale using certain prompts.  So for the next week, my focus is split on writing a short story involving ‘clocks’ and ‘a seaside town’ and having it done and ready next Wednesday.  And I accidentally kinda forgot all about it this weekend amidst everything else I had to do – now I’ve got only a day and a half to finish!  And I’ve only got about three hundred words!

* Actually, I challenged her to write me a fairy tale first, and then she challenged me back, and then things got out of hand and now it has a title and its being promoted like its the next UFC main event…

Then there is something I’m REALLY excited for.  I’m going to be a part of a vlog group, the YA Rebels, starting up in January all about YA writers – things we’re going through, peeking behind the curtain, that sort of thing.  We’re split up in several different stages of the process – some have books coming out in 2011, some of us are agented, and some are searching.  It’s a great mix of people (except somehow I’m the only boy).

Watch the teaser trailer below:

A Couple of Videos

Just a quick update to share two really cool videos.

The first is an Spanish promo for the final season of Lost.  It’s fan-made, has no new footage, but its still really awesome.  Chances are if you’re a Lost fan you’ve already seen this around the internet somewhere.

The second is more personal.  A writer friend sent me an email the other day mentioning my agent, and a book she thought was mine.  So I went and watched the video, and sure enough it was Colleen talking about the road to selling my book.  It was super sweet (and features a new Colleen client at the end, too!) and was a real ego-boost when I was avoiding my writing yesterday.  I consider Mondays my own personal day of rest, and I won’t write on Mondays (because they are evil) but yesterday was a panicked “must clean everything in sight” day for other reasons.  So seeing that video was so much fun.

Fast forward to about 3:40 if you want to hear the part with Colleen.  The other stories are just as interesting though!

A Medley of Random

You know what really grinds my gears?  When you’re at the grocery store, and you run into the laggers.  Y’know, those people behind a cart who take their time walking the aisles, or those REALLY annoying people who stop to talk to someone coming the other way – thereby blocking all aisle traffic.  My favorite yesterday was the person who kept stopping and staring around for his wife (who was one aisle over) and kept getting irritated when I kept needing to grab things that he was currently blocking.  Huff and puff all you want, but at least move out of the way.  Sheesh!

Thanksgiving is over, and this year was just as memorable as last year.  At last year’s dinner, one of my younger sisters was told to lead the prayer.  She decided to announce to everyone that if she was leading the prayer, then we were all praying to Satan.  This year, the OTHER younger sister decided to try picking a fight by announcing that she shouldn’t have to pray, since she wasn’t a Christian.

It was a nice, quiet meal, I can tell you that much.  With the occasional snicker from one of my uncles.

Onto book things.  Rewriting the ending to Spirit Games (finally).  I’ve got it outlined for the most part, which has made the writing pretty easy.  Except for the chapter which was totally outlined with all the things that needed to be said to tie up loose ends…and then I got done writing it to realize that I didn’t hit ANY of the salient points.  Oh yeah, that was a fun day.

Once I’m done with the ending, all I have is a few tweaks and changes that need to be made to tie everything back together again, and then the draft is DONE.  Its exciting because for a long time (August through part of October actually) I thought this was the Book that would not Die.

Its funny, because the end result is a completely different book than the one I started out writing.  One of my MCs was a total background character in the first draft, and another got killed off for good about halfway through.  And I think that those first couple of scenes I wrote (the original chapter 1 and 2) aren’t even in the book anymore.  In any form.

Its interesting to look back on how different this book has been to write than Witch Eyes was.  That one felt like it had been so much easier – when it was just as difficult just in different ways.  This time around though, I could put the book down and look away because I already had a book on submission, and I could go back to focusing on that.  Which is SO not a good idea.

Also, something completely unrelated that occurred to me the other night.  Someone on Twitter asked “What’s the one book I should read if I want to write a novel?”  Some people gave answers, but I didn’t say anything.  Because in my head, I was thinking “all of them.”  I guess because if you want to write a book, but you’re only willing to read one book, then you’re not really all that willing, are you?  If you want something, give a hundred percent.  Read every book you can get your hands on – whether its fiction, nonfiction, in your genre, or all about how to write.  There’s no one book that’s going to teach you everything you need to know, just like there’s no fast track to getting your book published.  Just read, research, and absorb as much as possible.

 

Things I’m Thankful For

Well, everyone else is doing one!

I’ve got a lot to be thankful for, even though some days I forget that or take it for granted.

Let’s see.  There’s my family, who’s always been there for me when I needed it.  My friends, both in person and online, who have supported me and my writing.  Leah, who’s been my best friend since we both slacked off in Psych class in college.  My mom, who can barely remember my name sometimes. To my mother’s house, which I plan to nap in because its oh so comfortable.

My agent, who tells people to ship the characters in my book, and doesn’t harass me about when my next book will be in her hands.  My friends in TS, for sending me emails that cheer me up almost every single day (even though they wake up RIDICULOUSLY early). My editor at Flux, for believing in my book.  And all the people and friends I may not talk to every day, or even every month, but who have still helped me get to where I am right now.

And definitely to everyone that’s sent me a message in some form about how they can’t wait to read WITCH EYES.  That makes me super excited like I can’t believe.