So many words. So little time.
Category: awesomeness
This semester is finally over! I’m thrilled, to say the least. It’s funny, I couldn’t focus on writing with school stuff floating in the back of my brain, but the last two weeks, I’ve been feeling the writing itch going stronger, so I know the Muse is ready to get back to work. And so am I. This first “off” week, I plan to get everything situated and organized, and figure out exactly what I intend to work on this summer (Yes, I have to have a plan.). Then I’ll get started.
I can’t wait.
Jane Goodger is an author in love with all things Victorian: houses, clothes, carriages, so it’s no wonder she writes Victorian romances. Her latest book, The Spinster Bride, is the last book in the Lords and Ladies series.
Marjorie Penwhistle was once the belle of the Season, with men at her feet and the world on a plate. Now, at the ripe old age of 23 and still unmarried, she’s on the verge of becoming a spinster. Good thing Marjorie doesn’t care about that. She wants to live her life, travel, and care for her brother, who’s a bit different and the recipient of their mother’s ire. When Marjorie isn’t the recipient of it herself, that is, since her mother insists that she marry a man of title and wealth, and won’t take “no” for an answer.
Charles Norris doesn’t have a title. What he does have is a war wound that makes him bitter, and a desire for a wife and a family of his home. He also has a tendency to fall in love with completely the wrong women, so he blackmails Marjorie into helping him find a suitable bride.
Clandestine meetings, secret notes left in hidden spots, and covert plots draw the two together as they search for the perfect wife for Charles. Along the way, they become friends, and fully appreciative of the stellar qualities of the other. It’s a good thing they are entirely unsuitable for each other. Or are they?
The Spinster Bride is a humorous tale of romance and light intrigue, and characters that will make you laugh, sigh, and root for them to see the light. The relationship that develops between Marjorie and Charles shows real depth as the characters show their secret selves and realize perhaps the one they were looking for was right in front of them all along.
(Galley provided by Lyrical Trade via NetGalley.)
So, I got feedback from my other essay yesterday, the one I was wondering about while waiting for feedback from the first free-form essay. It was highly favorable. The professor loved it, except for my next-to-last-sentence, which was, he said, the only one he would change. That sentence was a cliché, which slip into my writing without me even noticing.
Should I have caught it? Definitely. Was he right? Absolutely. Am I upset about the feedback? Are you kidding me? I’ve learned a lot from this class, especially from his comments. I got very detailed feedback, several paragraphs long, on this essay. He took the time to tell me how much and why he liked my voice, my setting, my characters…and what I did at the very end that erased all of that hard work. Knowing the positives about the essay, and what negated them, allows me to actually learn this lesson, instead of just getting the grade.
The point of his feedback: cliché= laziness. Laziness is bad and undoes all of your hard work. So….don’t be lazy: avoid cliché!
Megan Morgan writes fantasy and paranormal romance. She’s an airport lounge bartender as well as a writer, and knows a thing or two about people. Her latest novel, The Wicked City, is the first book in the Siren Song series.
June Coffin is tired of the jokes about her name. She’s tired of people judging her for her tattoos and her smoking habits. She’s tired of being judged for being a Siren, able to influence people with her voice. But when her twin brother, Justin, is kidnapped by Chicago’s Institute of Supernatural Research, her attitude has a whole new focus.
Desperate to rescue Justin, June takes a walk on the dark side. To oppose her powerful enemies, she’ll need some powerful friends, so she teams up with a non-paranormal man who’s always supported paranormals. Too bad his wife just died, and June accidentally erased his memory. Oops. Her other teammate is a troublemaking paranormal leader who wants a little publicity for his cause, and isn’t afraid to go to great lengths to get it. With friends like these, what could possibly go wrong?
The Wicked City is a gritty paranormal romance with an intriguingly different premise. June is feisty and foul-mouthed, full of attitude, covered in tattoos and piercings, but she has a good heart and will stop at nothing to save her brother. The setting is dark,and the novel is steamy and sassy, with a twist.
(Galley provided by Lyrical Press via NetGalley.)
Amy Patrick is the author of several contemporary romance novels. Her first young adult fantasy novel, Hidden Deep, is the first book in the Hidden trilogy, and is available now.
Ryann Carroll and her mother have just moved back to the small Mississippi town her grandmother calls home. After her father’s affair, they needed a change. Ryann loves the change, and the deep woods surrounding her grandmother’s home. Ten years before, she became lost in those woods and almost froze to death, but a mysterious boy saved her life. A boy that everyone convinced her never actually existed.
Which she believes, until he shows up out of the blue one day, while she’s skinny dipping, naturally. All grown up now, Lad is the most attractive boy she’s ever seen, and Ryann is drawn to him more than any boy she’s ever met. But there’s something different about Lad. He says he’s home-schooled, but Ryann suspects something a little more…exotic.
Lad has thought about Ryann for years, even though he risked his life and those of his people when he saved her life. Now she’s back, and Lad is torn between his love for Ryan and the safety of the people he’s sworn to protect.
Hidden Deep is a young adult fantasy novel set in steamy rural Mississippi, and the steam spills over to the attraction between Lad and Ryann. The characters are great, and the unique setting comes to life on the pages of this engrossing read.
(Galley provided by Oxford South Press via NetGalley.)
So, I’m taking a short break from writing because of work and school. This session, I’m taking American Lit (blech) and The Art of the Essay (required for English/Professional Writing majors). I was not thrilled to be taking the class, as I’m really more into fiction writing than anything, but it hasn’t been so bad. We’ve read a few interesting selections, including “How it Feels to be Colored Me,” by Zora Neale Hurston, whom I’ve never read before. (No, not even Their Eyes Were Watching God. But guess what’s on my Kindle now…)
Obviously, we have writing assignments every week in this class. The normal, literary analysis-type assignments I don’t stress about, but a few weeks ago, the assignment was to write a short essay, emulating the style of one of the writers we’d covered. Suggestions for topics included issues in popular culture and natural disasters. My Muse grabbed onto that idea, and since I’ve lived near New Orleans, naturally Hurricane Katrina was my topic of choice.
So, I wrote my short essay about two brothers who didn’t evacuate before the storm, and who are now trapped in their house, listening to nature rage outside. I was pretty happy with the essay, but completely unsure what the professor would think of it. I’ve been waiting for the grade for two weeks, and I finally got it back.
I made a fantastic grade, which is awesome, but the professor’s feedback was even better. He said, “My goodness this is great. Homerun! What a terrific writer we have amongst us. Again, you have a unique ear–an ear that all great writers need to have. Nice pitch, tone, vocab decisions. Impressive. ” And, also, “Wow! impressive opening. You really have an ear for narrative voicings.”
Obviously, I’m happy with the grade, but the encouragement I got from the professor’s comments is even more valuable to me. I’m totally inspired now!
You know how I’ve decided not to worry about writing at all for the next four weeks, until the semester is over, so I don’t risk a brain meltdown? Turns out that taking an “official” break from writing has my Muse playing with story ideas.
Yep. True story.
Apparently, my Muse can’t wait to get back to work on Witches–which I haven’t looked at in years, and Chasing Shadows, which is more recent, but still not something I’ve thought about in like a year. Looks like I’ll be taking those two stories apart and revising them this summer. Plus working through HTTS with The Fall. I’m actually really excited about working on Witches. It was the first thing I started writing. I love the characters to pieces. I love the world. I love the plot. I even have the first draft of the second book written as well. I think the draft of Witches I have is over 300,000 words, though, so clearly there is a lot of work to be done, sigh.
But the Muse is stoked, and already at work in the back of my mind.
I can’t wait for the semester to be over!
Good morning. I’m just working through Holly Lisle’s How to Motivate Yourself workshop a bit this morning. She always has such interesting videos, like the one I just watched about communication between the right and left brains (and what happens when that connection is severed). I think my right brain influences me a lot. That would be my instinctive reactions, my desires, my hunches. My more introspective side, if you will.
Two people I’m close to are strongly left-brained, though. One of them…I don’t think his right brain gets much say in his life at all. The other, well, I think her right brain holds some sway. It’s interesting, actually, considering the differences. It’s like having two different people in your head.
I’ve always said I had two personalities.
Now I’m off to ponder my results from this morning’s exercises. And see if I can strengthen that connection between my brains.
Kissing Frogs is Alisha Sevigny’s first young adult novel. Ms Sevigny’s website says “A shameless romantic, Alisha and her husband have travelled the world together. On a trip to Panama Alisha fell in love with the country, culture, and their national emblem, the Golden Frog.” The result of that trip is her first novel.
Jessica Stone is popular: she has lots of friends, a hot boyfriend, and plans to hit the beach for Spring Break. But Jessica wasn’t always a cool kid. She used to be a really smart, goody-two-shoes type of kid. None of her new friends know about her past, and Jessica intends to keep it that way.
But Jessica’s Spring Break plans come to a screeching halt when she finds out she’s failing Biology. Her only chance to pass: a trip to Panama with the Conservation Club to save the Golden Frog. Like that’s not bad enough, one of her partners on the trip is Travis Henley, who knew her back in her nerdy days.
Except Travis has changed. Oh, he’s still the annoying prankster Jessica remembers, but he has depth. And Jessica finds herself wondering if she still has depth, or if her obsession with popularity has changed her beyond recognition. Soon Jessica finds herself on the adventure of her life as the group fights to save the Golden Frog before it’s lost forever.
So, my writing has been slipping, as usual. But I think I figured out why: writing is a me thing. It’s something I do just for me. That means that I feel like other things are more important than writing, because those other things have value to other people. Make sense? Example: school is important to me, but other people also see it as important, therefore it takes precedence over writing, even when I’m caught up on school stuff and have the time to write. Obviously, I need to train my brain to view writing as a primary concern.
I didn’t come to this realization on my own. I am taking Holly Lisle’s How to Motivate Yourself class, and this is the point of lesson one. I’ve read through this lesson twice, and it’s just now starting to sink in.
So what am I going to do about this mindset of mine? Change it. The first way I’m going to do that is by putting writing first, literally. Instead of doing my homework first on my days off, I’m going to get in my page goals. First part of the day = writing , writing = most important thing.
I’m not sleeping much, so I have plenty of time to put this plan into action. And I’m going to continue to work through this class, too, and see what else I can overcome.
Write on.
Tomorrow Is Another Day 