NORTHWEST BOOKFEST!

I'm super excited. A bit ago, I compiled a list of my favorite literary agents. Near their names on the document I pasted the website address where their submission guidelines are explained. So, Tuesday night, as I started to send out my queries for Dark Waters, I went to those submission guidelines and in doing so I ran across an even that is not only happening in my neck of the woods, but it's happening this Saturday!

The Northwest Bookfest! I've been to one Book Festival in Abilene, TX when I lived there and I had a great time. They had a little workshop taught by two local authors. Then in their convention room sat tables and tables of Texas authors selling and signing their books.

Now, the population for Abilene is around 120,000. The population for Seattle (not including the many cities around it) is around 563,000 people. There are plenty of authors in my area. Seattle is about art. When you visit Seattle, it's everywhere you look. From the buildings to the most beautiful and original form of art: nature. 

So I am definitely going and can't wait to see the turn out of this event. Plus, I forgot to mention, there will be writing workshops ALL DAY LONG. There's a schedule. And they're tailored to different genres and needs. Yah, pretty stoked.

Oh, and it's free. If you live in the area, check it out. This Saturday.


This is just a few of some of the YA authors on the list to be there:

Margaret Stohl

Richelle Mead

Melissa Marr

Melissa de la Cruz

Heather Davis

My Maniac Tendencies

So, on Sunday I heard back from my critique partner about the last few chapters of my WIP. Two words: HOORAY and OUCH. If you've ever had an in depth critique partner, you totally know what I mean. She seems to really like my writing and the story, but the biggest issue she found, what she got completely hung up on, was the last chapter. It had some major flaws.

Yes, that's code for: My kids were home when I wrote that last chapter.

Further meaning that I tried to write this emotional scene with a litany of interruptions.

Lesson learned.

So as you can guess, all day Sunday I was thrilled by her encouraging words while stewing over the "issues" she found. And then yesterday I drove myself crazy with "what if" and "how will I" questions. I literally had knots in my back!

Why do we as writers stress out like this? One day we think we have something great, something readers will love and then the next day we want torch it all?

 I know you guys do this too. I read your blogs. ;)

 
 Is being crazy-emotional about a word document just something that comes with the personality of a writer? I'm thinking so. Did the authors of the past throw their typewriters in the trash bin only to gently retrieve it hours later with love and affection? I wouldn't doubt it.

By the way, I think I fixed the problems she found, and am hoping it's great. And I think I want to do another blog post in a few days about how fantastic critique partners are because her reaction to the story as a reader, and then her advice as a critique partner have been absolutely invaluable.

But for now, tell me about your maniac tendencies as they pertain to writing. Ever throw your laptop in the trash? 

The LAST TWO Sentences of My Book

I just now sent the last three chapters of Dark Waters to my wonderful critique partner, Charlotte. I am done writing Dark Waters, and pretty soon, I'll be done editing it too. At least for now. Hopefully I'll get an agent and an editor who will no doubt tear some things up. :)

You wanna read the very last two sentences? Charlotte, don't look: SPOILERS. ;)

I giggled as my mouth hovered below his. “I guess I can tell them that the predator learned she couldn’t live without her prey.”

So, now I'm off to work on the query. I've already written it, but when it comes to queries, I'm a perfectionist. I only have one shot and less than one page to explain who Allura is and why her story is so special. That to me means lots of fine-tooth-combing. When it's ready to send out, I'll post it here on my blog for everyone to see. 

Then, after the query, before I send it out, I need to write the synopsis. 

I can't wait to send out the queries!  

I found this picture online and love it. Thought I'd show you too. :)

 

MUSIC

I'm supposed to be heading out the door to go have dinner with my best friend, but I just had to announce that I am done editing my book. Well, in a way. See, with this one I wrote the whole thing except for the last chapter. I wanted to go through the book, editing, and then write the last chapter afterward to make sure I tie up every loose string. Or at least those that need to be tied. ;) My wonderful critique partner, Charlotte, is working her way through the book, so when she sends me her notes on the chapters she has, of course I'll be making those changes. But, mostly I'm done.

I realize I've had tons of coffee and therefore probably don't make much sense right now. I'm okay with that.

But, I wanted to post about music. I wonder what movie soundtrack best explains the piece of your story you're writing right now? These are mine. In writing the last part of the book I've been listening to two soundtracks: New Moon and Romeo & Juliet.

How about you?

YA Road Trip: Adult Characters to YA

Hello! This one is a little late, but I had riding-on-the-back-of-a-motorcycle-with-a-cute-boy writing to do. I'm in the editing process and after an amazing date and evening motorcycle ride with my hubby last night, I decided to put Allura on the back of a bike too, clutching onto David. Yah, she liked it.

Anywho...

It's Road Trip Wednesday over on YA Highway and today they asked:




This Week's Topic:
What non-YA character would you love to see star in a YA book as themselves?  It took me maybe a few seconds before I had my answer. The answer to everything. If you asked me what my favorite show ever is, this would be the answer. If you asked me my favorite vampire story, this would be it. If you asked me which amazing show was canceled and totally didn't deserve to be, I'd answer MOONLIGHT.  

 

Beth Turner from Moonlight as herself in a YA story, would be great. Moonlight is about a vampire who works as a P.I. When Beth Turner was a little girl, she was kidnapped by a crazy vampire lady and Mick (the vampire P.I) saved her. Now she's an adult woman and a journalist who through an article comes into contact with Mick. Sparks fly between them throughout the show and flashbacks of Mick saving her come until she realizes why she's so drawn to him. Her story as a teenager who is drawn to vampires but doesn't know why would be pretty fun. :)   

So what do you think? If you could see an adult character as a teenager in a story, who would it be?

On Finding Critique Partners

I have one more chapter to write of Dark Waters and I'm finished writing it. I'm currently going through the first phase of editing and expect to be done with that next week sometime.

But, as it's all coming together beautifully, I'd really like to get input from other writers. I had a couple critique partners with my last novel, New Hope, and they were absolutely invaluable. However, because Dark Waters is in a completely different genre (not Christian market and it's YA) I find myself with only one critique partner. She is my best friend who also writes and she's loving the story so far, but I found last time that more than one opinion was a smart idea. 

So, to my writer friends in the blog world, where does a YA paranormal writer go to connect with other YA paranormal writers willing to be critique partners? Thanks in advance for your input!