For The Love of Anubis

Do you like paranormal romance?

How about mythology?

Egypt?

Jackals? (Hey, I just got back from a mammalogy convention. You're lucky I didn't put Canis lupaster.)

Sexy mens and strong female heroines?

Way back there, about two years ago (jeez, it's been a long time), I met a paranormal romance writer on AW. I needed something to do; she needed a beta. She wrote, I read. She published. The rest is pretty much history.

Oh.

And she's got a new book out from Musa publishing. Of course I bought a copy (it's gorgeous, even on the inside). You should too, if you like any of the stuff above. Or if you think you'd like to like anything from the above list.

Here's the cover and blurb:

Sometimes the very thing you've run from all your life is the one thing that can save you

A street-wise hustler, Stormy has been running most of her life from the creature that killed her family. However, when she meets Fury, a being so stubborn he could give a mule lessons, running is no longer an option. When he claims he’s her protector and the other half of her soul, Stormy would rather take her chances with the beast chasing her.

His dogged determination to protect her and his seductive expertise spark to life dreams she’d all but given up on: dreams of belonging to a family, and of having a life where running is nothing more than exercise. But with vile creatures hunting her, demanding her blood, and pack members who want her head instead of her help, Stormy will have to find away to place her trust and heart in Fury’s care. If she can’t, then neither of them will have a future to dream about.





You can purchase STORM'S FURY in various formats from Amazon (here) or Musa's website (here). Nya is also holding a contest to win a free--yes, FREE--kindle. Find those details on her blog here

Hope everyone is doing wonderful--have a good one :)

Currently listening to Ax Men on The History Channel

For the love of editing. (Subtitle: Where the (fake) money be made)

*lets loose big sigh*

*clears throat*

*shuffles feet*

Oh, hell, never mind. The Painted Queen is now completed *resists happy dance*. For anyone who has ever completed a WIP (and if you haven't, keep truckin' and it'll happen), the high you get is pretty much indescribable. Proud? oh yes.

For a long time I was a serial starter. Either through faulty design (erm. plotholes) or waning interest (A.D.D.), things just never seemed to get done. And they never will unless you MAKE THAT MANUSCRIPT YOUR BIOTCH  BEND TO YOUR WILL. Write, dangit. Write right now, and you can sort out the problems later.

And now I'm at the 'later' point.

Now, lovelies, it is time to edit this 90k monstrosity. It's not going to be pretty. I bow to those who can manage a publishable first draft. Mine looks nothing like that. Potential, yes. Publishable--nowhere close.

Hopped up on copious amounts of caffeine, my editing session (cliff notes version) goes something like this:

YAY HAPPY HAPPY YAY! WOOHOOO! WAIT, WHAT? OH HELL. WHO ARE YOU? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY WRITING. WTF. IDK. OMG. IHML. DAMMIT. CRAP. JUNK. MESS. x2.

Yep, editing is where the money* is made. It's what separates the joyous premature queriers or submitters from people who are trying to do This Writing Gig** for the realz. If I were to start querying this thing now, it wouldn't be pretty. I'd just be setting myself up for some serious Rejection Pie. This is because THE FIRST DRAFT IS ALLOWED TO SUCK AND OFTEN DOES. It bears repeating: The first draft is allowed to suck. What's not (shouldn't be) allowed is submitting it before it's ready. That's like going out without your pants. You are either Lindsay Lohan or not ready. It's one or the other. Probably the latter.

To mention that often used metaphor--the first draft is like a lump of clay. It may not be beautiful, but maybe it's close to the right color or texture. It likely needs some adjustments, some added bits here and there, some trimming for clarity. You can probably see some of the seams in this lump of clay. Smooth those out. Work with it. Be pliable enough to listen to advice. Implement the good advice. You'll be amazed with the results.

That willingness to work through the suck, to keep trying no matter how people point and laugh, is what separates the I-AMs from the wannabes. It's the difference between being successful and being a whiner. (And nobody likes a whiner.)

And, oh goodness, this draft is full of suckage. (Not that kind, you silly perv). The first editing sweep for me is something akin to a controlled burn--I try to identify major problems and kill them with fire. Kill the adverbs with fire. Scene that doesn't contribute? Dead. Strange chunk of writing that is probably aliens trying to communicate with me because I don't remember writing it? Ashes.

Then I generally move on to more annoying things.

For instance. Some of my thoughts during this editing sweep go as follows:

Oh man. Messed that up. *inserts quick fix*

Whoops. Stupid spell check. *laughs*

Whoa. *sinking feeling*

Hey, MMC, why are you so bipolar? You were just happy and Sexy. Now you're brooding. Still Sexy though. I guess that's a win.

A six-year-old could write better dialogue than this. Srsly.

Villain: Why don't you laugh evilly already are you kidding me this is ridiculous.

I'm pretty sure that is a physical impossibility. *doublechecks* OH YEAH. NOT HAPPENING.

*Snorts in derision* REALLY?

FMC: You're acting like a moron. And I'm pretty sure that's all your fault.

OH, HAI, PLOTHOLE THE SIZE OF TEXAS. Didn't see you there.

*Sees Wednesday the EvilMonsterCat has walked across keyboard, deleted a whole chapter and replaced it with ‘weov,asdoiethasdvp34098* *Drinks more coffee* *Thinks hard.*

*Decides that's probably an improvement*

What? Who are you?? I KNOW I DIDN'T WRITE YOU HERE.

FML. (Realizes a character got left behind in chapter 7, never to be seen again. #toomanycharacters and #probablynotthatimportant)

YOUR EYES CHANGE COLORS SIX TIMES OMG ARE YOU A CHAMELEON?

  

WHERE DID YOU EVEN COME FROM.

  

WHAT AM I DOING??

Before finally: IDK WTH IS GOING ON HERE FML I NEED A DRINK.

But then, when it seems all is lost, I find that one scene and think, hey, not so bad, Lee. Not so bad.

*Enjoys that for a moment. Then goes to make the other 50 chapters not so bad.*




You just think I'm sleeping. When you leave I'm going to minimize AW, open your WIP, erase 6.56234 chapters and replace them with gibberish that's probably better than what you manage, even when you're trying. And I think I've figured out the 'save' function, just to really tee you off.



*In this case, I’m not even talking monopoly money. One day.
**The Writing Gig means different things to everyone, but to me it means procuring actual real agentperson and editor.




Currently listening to: Prepare For Battle--Jerry Goldsmith and The National Philharmonic Orchestra of London and Sportscenter on the TV.

50k in 30 days. Oye.

I did it. I signed up for the insanity fun that is National Novel Writing Month--eek!

Find the site here: http://www.nanowrimo.com/

For those who may not know (or don't wanna click the link), NaNoWriMo is an annual event that draws hundreds of thousands of writers, both published and aspiring. Basically, it's a writing free-for-all, with the main goal to pull words from the aether and put them to paper...erm...word processor. 50k.

In 30 days.

That's about 1,666 words/day, for those strange creatures who actually like math.

Whether you abhor numbers (*raises hand*) or not, 50k in 30 days probably seems like quite a challenge. I know that it will be for me. Try as I might, I don't write regularly, or at least not in a daily routine. I have relegated most of my writing time to the weekend, where I can spend a few continuous hours on my projects. Generally I can turn out 3.5k a week, usually in about 3 hours. Weekdays are too crazy with school and work and thesis crap.

But, that being said, I'm going to try and tackle NaNo this year. Is it crazy? Will I even have a chance to 'win'? Yes and probably a snowball's chance in hell, respectively.

Joining NaNo is helpful to me for two reasons:
1) It means I have a deadline of October 31st for my current WIP. I need deadlines. Otherwise I fiddle on the google or on AW or on crackbook or chew my nails or take naps instead of writing. Hi, I'm WT and I am a procrastinator.

2) It also means I have a distraction to keep myself from editing immediately after I type the end in mah current WIP. Letting it rest for a month will help me to be more objective when the time comes to go back and gut edit the thing. (And major edits it needs.) Plus, the idea I've got for November is one that been pestering me for months and months. One that's been trying to lure me astray. To distract me with its Shiny New Idea-ness. (All words are better with -ness endings. Face it.) I've resisted admirably up to this point. (The query that I tapped out oh so very quickly doesn't count...right? I swear it was just tiny moment of infidelity...I mean weakness.)

I want to get a down and dirty draft done for WIP2. Basically, the beginning, the pivotal scenes, and the ending. While I'm shooting for 50k in 30 days, I'm not going to be too disappointed if I fall short. Any words on paper are progress, and most of those words will get changed through editing sweeps anyway. The point is to get the words out there, period. No editing, no fretting, no second-guessing.

Write. And then write more.

I'm posting this here as a little accountability thingy. Every three days or so I'll post my progress. I have say that I'm really stoked about this story. It's got some pretty dark themes going on--much darker that in my current WIP. Should be fun.

Should any other NaNo-ers exist out there, my handle is lilchubb. Add me. We can talk or moan/groan together. It's always funner (today, a word) when there's people to commiserate with ;).

Ah! Janitors!

Hi folks.

Long time, no blog. I know. [hangs  head]

Even though I haven't been blogging much (erm. AT ALL), there's still been lots going on with me. Firstly, I completed all my summer classes, which means that I'm done with real classes FOREVER*. Yay! Secondly, I've been overrun with labwork, and the IT guys at my university apparently hate the genetics lab because they killed our internet to the room**. So that's where I've been--cooped up in the cold, boring lab without Pandora to keep me company. Que terrible!

Anywho. [Knows none of the above is particularly interesting]

So the point of this blog post is to thank Ellen over at WordThief for sending me JANITORS by Tyler Whitesides. Admittedly, in all my awesomeness***, I won the book, but still, she sent it.

Like it arrived. In the mail. For the realsies.

I've had a little trouble focusing as of late, so I haven't quite finished it yet, but I'm really enjoying it thus far. The main character, Spencer Zumbro, cracks me up with his mannerisms. Daisey 'Gullible' Gates is JANITORS version of Luna Lovegood, and who doesn't love a Luna? All in all, I'm sure I'm going to really enjoy it (once I find two seconds to sit down and finish it.) And seriously, how can you not love that cover? The little stripey newt thingy is twelve kinds of adorable and you know it. But I digress.

I have a feeling I'm going to really love this book. Not to mention, once I get done with it, I'll probably hold my own giveaway for it--pay it forward and all, y'know.

So. Follow Ellen. She's a YA writer who always has some great blogposts going on, as well as some rockstar-awesome contests. (And Ellen, I'll be getting you a picture with the book--once I drag a rake...er...comb through my hair. :)

Until next time,

~l


*Thats a lie. Sort of.
** Damn them.
***This is also a lie. The only awesomeness in this post is Ellen, who hosted the contest. I just posted a comment.


What I'm listening to: New Slang by The Shins

Yep. This.

Productivity--I haz it.

It's shaping up to be a good week here: in the past two days, I've cranked out 7k that I'm pretty happy with--yaya! Even though it's just a rough (first) draft, I'm really seeing ways I can iron this story out and make it fun/interesting/something-someone-somewhere-will-wanna-read.

Hopefully, this weekend will be even more productive, but we'll see how that goes. *fingerscrossed*

So how's your writing going? Any goals met?

hayyyyyyy :)