Books for kids, teens, & those who are young at heart

Category: WIP (Page 15 of 16)

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

Warning: The Next Big Thing Blog Hop has gone viral. On this hallowed day, I’m sad to report I’m the latest victim. That means you’ll have to suffer through hearing all about my latest work in progress, a follow up to my novel Elixir Bound.

This all happened thanks to the virus-spreading Rosalie Skinner, who shared the pestilence of her work in progress last week.

What is the working title of your book?

Elixir Saved

Where did the idea come from for the book?

When I wrote Elixir Bound, I always knew I wanted to write a more epic sequel. Enter Elixir Saved. Three POV characters, an epic battle scene, and life-and-death choices.

What genre does your book fall under?

YA fantasy adventure

What actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

This is a tough one, mostly because I haven’t had power for the last few days, which inhibits my ability to scan the Internet looking for just the right actors.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Each saved by the Elixir, three survivors must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice with their second chance at life.

Will you book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Most likely neither. I’ll be sending it to the publisher of Elixir Bound once it’s ready.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Who can say? Hopefully not as long as it took to write Elixir Bound. I’m aiming for less than a year.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Genre wise I’d say Kristin Cashore’s and Melina Marchetta’s fantasies. Wouldn’t I love someone else to compare me to those writers!

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My sister Kylene, who died unexpectedly at the age of sixteen. I’ve been very candid about how she has influenced me in my writing career.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Most of your favorite characters from Elixir Bound will make appearances in this book. Honestly, I’ve grown so much as a writer these last few years, I think Elixir Saved will be even better than its predecessor!

On November 7th, the next victims of the blog hop will be posting about their own books and works in progress and spreading the madness. Tag, you’re it:

Meradeth Houston

Cheryl Carpinello

Sarah C. Pilon

Elixir Bound Cover Reveal

The good stuff just keeps rolling on in! I have a special treat for you in this month’s WIP Wednesday post: the cover of Elixir Bound!

There’s so many great details. The bottle of Elixir at the top, the vine of little white flowers, and the main character, Katora. I love her expression. When I first saw the cover, I almost didn’t notice the shape of mountains at the bottom (a wonderful depiction of The Sleeping Giant mountain range from the book). The best part: what else but my name…on the cover of a book!!!

*Sighs* with contentment.

Seriously, though, the blog has gotten way too writerly/booky lately. I promise I’ll be branching out with some different topics. Look for some science updates, more magnetic poetry, maybe a fun anecdote or two. All that and more to come on my new website. That’s right…my website is just about ready. My next (and last post on blogger) will guide you to my new website.

What have all of you been up to?

WIP Wednesday

Guess whose upcoming e-book has a page on her publisher’s website? (Duh, it’s me.) Check out the back copy for Elixir Bound and my author bio on the MuseItUp site. I was a little surprised to see it labeled as Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy (the paranormal part is what surprised me). Although Elixir Bound is definitely more fantasy than paranormal, I think it’s smart marketing to include the paranormal label.

I’m playing the waiting game with Elixir Bound right now. Waiting to hear from my line editor, waiting to find out about my cover art, waiting until I have some time to figure out how the heck to market this thing! I’m also waiting for a certain someone to fulfill his quest to find an important prop for the book trailer.

In the meantime, I’ve been squeezing out a few minutes of writing time to work on Black Butterfly (did you correctly guess the color and animal?). I also got a fantastic critique of Pirate Island (my middle grade adventure story) at the Poconos conference and have a whole new direction for revisions.

Next week I’m featuring Meradeth Houston author of YA paranormal Colors Like Memories on the blog. Here’s a book trailer to whet your appetite.

Life is a WIP

Today isn’t Wednesday nor is it the second week of the month. Oh well, you’re getting my WIP update anyway!

I finally opened up a Word document and typed out the beginning page of a certain project that has been developing in my mind for quite some time now. This one has been making my skin prickle with excitement. It’s mostly some scribbles in my notebook. I hope I can keep the excitement up about it now that it has it’s very own document on my computer. I have notions of trying to do a fast draft with this story, but so far in my writing career nothing has been fast!

The working title is a color followed by an animal. I’d love to hear your guesses about what it is?

This weekend I’m off to the Poconos for my favorite small conference with the Eastern PA SCBWI (and no, I won’t be hanging out in one of those wine glass hot tubs). I love catching up with my Poconos friends. And the amazing Laurie Halse Anderson is a keynote speaker! I signed up for her revision class too…maybe that’ll get my butt in gear on revising my MG novel Pirate Island.

What are looking forward to this weekend?

WIP Wednesday

Ummm..it’s the second Wednesday of the month…and this is my first blog post of the month…sigh…where does the time go?

FINALLY finished my latest round of edits on Elixir Bound. Over the years I have gotten much better at revising, but I still wouldn’t say I like doing it. I love the thrill of a new idea, letting it marinate in my brain, the tendrils growing into a plot and characters. Furtive moments of writing snippets in my notebook because I just can’t help but get these thoughts on paper. The possibilities are wide open, no disappointment that the words fall short of the image in my mind.

Revision is a slow slog though the vomit of words that made it to the manuscript, have been pored over a million times, and still don’t quite meet expectations. If I have to transform another HAD, WAS, THAT into more interesting language, I might just (oh, JUST is another one of those words I’m trying to cut out!) throw my computer through the kitchen slider.

Wait, what am I talking about? I’ve been waiting years to work with an editor on my manuscript to whip it into publishable shape. In that case, I LOVE revising. Too bad I can’t stop thinking about that new story…the one I haven’t even officially started writing yet. I look forward to the day I am sick of that story!

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