I'VE MOVED!!!

After signing a publishing contract for my Urban Fantasy, FREYJA'S DAUGHTER, I built a website and MOVED. Come check it out!

www.RachelPudelek.com

Wonder Woman: UnApologetically Woman

Wonder Woman. The movie? Amazing.

But why?

Well, duh, because Wonder Woman is bad-ass.

Except, we've had other movies featuring bad-ass women. So what's so special about this one?

Yeah, she's the main character. That makes a huge difference. But what else? I think it's because she's not only bad-ass, but she's unapologetically bad-ass. She's strong and her strength isn't merely in sex appeal, or twisted with evil intentions as most strong women are portrayed in movies. And her strength doesn't come from her similarities to men, or by her having traditionally male attributes. She's feminine and compassionate and uses her intuition (her belief or gut feeling).

She's unapologetically woman.

Where do you think she got these personal convictions, this way of being herself without apology, despite the men who say she can't do this or that throughout the movie?

Wonder Woman was raised in a matriarchal society.

According to Dr. Heide Goettner Abendroth matriarchal societies are not the opposite of patriarchal societies. They are not "Mother-ruled" like the patriarchal "Father-ruled." Rather, they are Mother-centered, which is vastly different. They are gender egalitarian and many are full egalitarian.

Diana (Wonder Woman) grew up without lies to put her in her place, without the shame of womanhood. She grew up listening to her intuition, even if that meant secretly training against her mother's wishes. Can you imagine how many personal hurdles she'd have to fight just to train as a warrior if she'd been told or led to believe that women couldn't fight? If she'd been taught that father knows best (males know best) do you think she would have stepped foot onto "No Man's Land"?

When girls are raised in a culture that deems them as the lesser sex by the laws passed, the school dress code enforced, the lack of layered female characters in movies, the pigeon-holed clothing options they're given, the accepted rape culture surrounding them, the disgust of menses displayed by their peers and adults, and so much more...they grow up inheriting a shit-ton of self-shame.

And self-shame weighs you down. A lot.

But in the movie Wonder Woman, Diana doesn't have to deal with that added self-shame on top of the weight of her dangerous mission. She's driven by compassion for humankind and won't let anyone lessen that conviction. If someone called her a "special snowflake" due to her activism, their words would mean nothing to her because she wasn't raised in a culture where war and power trump love and compassion. She didn't re-think her actions to help, or have second thoughts, because death and dominance weren't accepted norms for her. She respected life, which you often find in matriarchal cultures.

Like others, I cried during the fight scenes. Chills ran up and down my body throughout the movie. Viewing a little girl with dreams of learning to protect herself touched my heart. Everything about that movie resonated deeply with me because I've been studying matriarchal (and matrilineal) cultures and their spirituality for years. In almost every manuscript I've written, the main character is a girl/woman raised in a matriarchal family or society.

My current manuscript passion, Freyja's Daughter, follows a huldra raised in a matriarchal family, but governed by a dominating patriarchal establishment. Those who govern her insist that it's unsafe for her to use her huldra abilities, that if she does she'll become a danger to herself and to others. She's conflicted because her mother secretly taught the opposite. But the night her huldra takes over for self-preservation, her life is changed and her beliefs solidified.

In every story I write, my goal is to display and inspire unapologetic women.

The major response to the Wonder Woman movie has breathed new hope into me, as I'm sure it has for many others. The girl that I was, who asked lots of questions and was told men have always ruled and would always rule because that's how it's meant to be... Well, she's smiling. Because the public's response to Wonder Woman suggests that things, they are a changin'.


Want to know more about matriarchal societies? :)

http://mentalfloss.com/article/31274/6-modern-societies-where-women-literally-rule

http://aplus.com/a/matriarchal-societies-different-mainstream?no_monetization=true

http://metro.co.uk/2013/03/05/where-women-rule-the-world-matriarchal-communities-from-albania-to-china-3525234/

http://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a19105/matriarchies-still-exist-today/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pierre-de-vallombreuse-matriarchal_us_560c2c90e4b0af3706df136b

Here's a video of Dr. Heide Goettner Abendroth teaching:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsJNq-O7CEU


And of course I've got book recommendations for those interested. 

My Latest Researching Adventure: Reiki

I wrote a story called Freyja's Daughter that follows a huldra, Faline, as she tries to reestablish a disbanded secret society of folkloric women in an attempt to fight the big bad who's been oppressing them for generations. Of course each type of folkloric creature hates the others, so such a task is dangerous and nearly hopeless as her oppressors are always hot on her trail.

One group Faline must persuade are the succubae. Now, every one of my beta readers has a favorite group, and I love each group for their unique sub-culture and abilities, but you guys...the succubae were so much fun to write. Especially their leader, Marie.

According to myth, a succubus is a demonic female creature that is most often said to lure unsuspecting and innocent men into sexual relations. Sometimes this happens within the men's dreams. Sometimes, within their room. Always, they were "forced" by the succubus.

(I'd like to add here that many of our well-known myths have a patriarchal bent to them. It is my goal, within my writing, to take those myths and iron that patriarchal shit out.)

So in Freyja's Daughter, the succubae are not demons--they've just been given a bad stigma because they're powerful women. And no, they don't force anyone to have sex with them. There's more pleasure in the willing.

The succubae in Freyja's Daughter can control and manipulate energy.



Because I plan to continue writing in this Wild Women world in the form a series, I also plan to delve deeper into each group's sub-culture. The next book in the series will shine a spotlight on the succubae group. And last week I attended an energy-healing class as part of my research.

There's lots of different types of classes that teach energy work, but one I've been hearing a lot about lately is called reiki. Even my massage therapist swears by it. So I signed up and went in with an open mind.

As part of the class materials I was given a laminated chakra chart and a book called The Reiki Manual: A Training Guide for Reiki Students, Practitioners, and Masters by Penelope Quest. According to this manual, reiki is a holistic healing method using energy. The practitioner uses life force or universal energy to clear energy blockages in their clients. From the manual: "Reiki (pronounced RAY KEE) is a Japanese word which is most often translated as 'universal life-force energy."

Buy here

I love researching and experiencing new things, so I really enjoyed this class. I got to experience what it feels like to get a reiki treatment, which was highly relaxing. (I'll definitely use that sensation in my next Wild Women book.) The instructor said many of her clients fall asleep during their reiki treatments and I could definitely see why. And the explanation of reiki energy, its history, and how it's used gave me some story fodder. Personally, I don't plan on becoming a reiki practitioner or anything like that. But it was a fun class and the concepts introduced gave me lots to chew on and certainly more than a couple ideas for use in future stories.

What's up next for me in the name of story research? Well, I'm planning a trip to Oregon to visit the Portland underground, which I'll use in the second Wild Women book. :)

Spring Equinox

If you're ready for the new growth of spring, take heart, spring equinox is just around the corner.

This year's spring equinox is March 20th. What does that mean, exactly? Well, according to TimeandDate.com "The March equinox marks the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator -- the imaginary line in the sky above the earth's equator -- from south to north and vise versa in September."

But if you're a nature-lover like me, spring equinox means so much more. Our days are getting longer. Trees leaves are unfolding from buds on bare branches. The biting cold in the air is dulling to a smooth breeze. It's a time to celebrate the sprouting personal growth within our own lives, amplifying the light and love we hope to share with others.

In the winter, most plants go within themselves. They're no longer "on show" for the world to see, looking outward, but rather down deep, looking inward. I imagine many of us do the same thing that time of year. We self-actualize in the quiet moments spent curled under a blanket, hiding from the freezing outdoor temperatures. We review our life and decisions in December and create or tweak new life goals in January. We're given a few months to try these new goals on for size, to work out the early kinks of our yearly plan. Maybe a daily visit to the gym isn't realistic. Maybe yoga fits your body better than Pilates. Maybe the once-a-month date with your partner needs to be doubled to twice a month...

Come March we begin crawling away from our fireplaces and heated blankets to look outward again, to display to the world the beautiful new aspects we've created within ourselves over the winter. We unfurl our petals with confidence, with the knowing that in the next few months our roots will only grow deeper, our leaves will only stretch out further.

Spring equinox embodies the hope of old traditions and the new growth they celebrate. How do you celebrate spring?

Feminist Fiction

Yesterday, while at work (the library) a co-worker asked me what I write, exactly. Normally, when someone asks me this, I say, "Urban fantasy," or I explain the plot of my newest manuscript. But yesterday I said, "I write feminist urban fantasy."

"I take it you're a feminist, then?" he responded.

"I am," I said with a smile.

"What does feminism mean to you?" he asked, which I inwardly applauded his question.

"It means equality," I answered. "I aspire to live in an egalitarian society."

He nodded, explained that he too believes in an egalitarian society, and then asked what makes my urban fantasy feminist. He got the short answer because we had a bunch of books that weren't going to shelve themselves. But today I'm blogging about the long answer.

It is my desire, through my fiction, to level the playing field. My 5th grade teacher loved Greek mythology. And as a child sitting in her class, listening to her tell the tales, I remember wondering why the men seemed so much stronger--in mind, heart, and body--then the women. I realize that's not always the case. The goddess Diana is incredibly capable according to the myths. But when we're talking about Greek mythology, it's certainly not a level playing field. In fact, when we're talking about most mythology it's not a level playing field.

But, if you dig--and I mean really dig--you'll find a treasure trove of pre-patriarchal mythology. Some of the names of the gods and goddesses will be similar, if not the same, but their roles were vastly different than the mythology we know today. The pre-patriarchal mythology shows a more level playing field.

Before I wrote my Wild Women series I researched folkloric female monsters from across the globe. Why monsters? Because I'd noticed that the strong, heroic females in the pre-patriarchal myths transformed into either weaklings who needed protection, or evil, manipulative women--sometimes seductive and sometimes old and haggard--in the myths we know today. This led me to assume that those once powerful guardians of the forest were turned into seductive man-eaters who lived in trees. That the once nurturing healers were turned into haggard old witches who mixed potions and created spells to kill crops.

 

So I compiled a list of these fabulous female folkloric monsters and set to finding out their pre-patriarchal roots. The first book in the Wild Women series, Freyja's Daughter, shows these female monsters learning about themselves what I'd learned about them--that they weren't monsters at all. This, of course, birthed a whole series of books about these folkloric women coming together from all over the world and changing their circumstances.

Just talking about the series excites me, stokes my fire to work toward a world of equality. I hope it does the same for my readers.

Because as far as I'm concerned, a level playing field benefits everyone.      
 

Month of (Book) Love

Happy February--the month of love!

And what better way to celebrate love than to talk about book love? Either a book you're writing or one you're reading.

I've just started a rewrite for Deadly Splendor, but recently put the polishing touches on Freyja's Daughter, so let's talk about that one.

Freyja's Daughter is about a huldra, Faline, who's reality is flipped upside down when her sister is abducted by her protectors. To get her sister back, Faline seeks the help of her ex-fling, Officer Garcia, and her mortal enemies--the succubae, mermaids, rusalki, and harpies.  

You can browse through my Freyja's Daughter Pinterest board here.

How about you? Experiencing any book love this month?

CRITIQUE GIVEAWAY!!!

I have this weird thing about me. I like critiquing queries, and I'm good at it too, so that helps. I've wanted to offer a critique giveaway for a while, but have been too busy to actually do it.

But guess what? The time has come. :)

I am now writing full time and couldn't be more thrilled. To share in my excitement, I'd love to help you polish your work for upcoming contests or querying, or both. 'Tis the contest season, right?

I'll pick five entries to critique their query and first five pages of the manuscript. I'm open to all fiction as I have experience writing and critiquing MG, YA, and Adult fiction.

It's easy to enter. In the comments below, just leave:

-Your name
-Your Twitter handle
-The genre and category of your manuscript
-A sentence or two about your manuscript
-The first sentence of your manuscript


It'll look something like this:

-Rachel Pudelek
-@rachelpud
-Adult Urban Fantasy

-When huldra Allura's sister is abducted, she recruits the help of her enemies--the succubi, harpies, mermaids, and rusalki--to rescue her sister and destroy the organization responsible.
-My prey, a five foot-ten Caucasian male, ordered a double shot pumpkin spiced latte as he tapped his pointer finger on the counter. 

I can't wait to read what you all are working on! Good luck!

(Offer ends 12:00 am on June 28th, PST.) 

Adult Paranormal/ Urban Fantasy Novels Coming 2016

I am a huge fan of urban fantasy and paranormal books, television shows, and movies. So far my favorite books are the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs and the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. And I am loving the new show, Lucifer! But I've been on the look-out for adult urban fantasy and paranormal books that either released in 2015 or are set to release this year by debut authors. So much so, that I've decided to create a list. And if you know of any that I haven't listed, definitely share the info. (This list is traditionally published books only. I'll create another separate list for indie pub'd books because there's WAY MORE paranormal/UF books in the indie world.) Click under the cover for the link to Amazon.

You can order it here.

Where the fairy tale ends, destiny begins.

Elizabeth Tanner is no Tinkerbell, and her life is no fairy tale. Broke and drowning in student loans, the one thing she wants more than anything is a scholarship from the Trinity Foundation. But after the ancient Irish text she's studying turns out to be more than just a book, she becomes their prisoner instead. And when Trinity reveals Elizabeth is half-Fae, she finds herself at the center of a plot to save the magical races of Ireland from a brutal civil war.

As Commander of Trinity's elite warriors, Finn O'Connell isn't used to having his authority challenged. He doesn't know whether to punish or protect the infuriating young woman in his custody. When he discovers the Dark Fae want to use Elizabeth's abilities to control the source of all power in the universe, he'll risk everything to help her.

At the mercy of Trinity and enslaved to the Dark Fae, Elizabeth finds herself alone on the wrong side of an Irish myth thousands of years in the making. Refusing to be a pawn in their game, Elizabeth has to fight her way back to the man she loves, but to do so, she must wage her own war against the magic that binds her.

You can order it here.

Bailey Chen is fresh out of college with all the usual new-adult demons: no cash, no job offers, and an awkward relationship with Zane, the old friend she kinda-sorta hooked up with during high school. 

But when Zane introduces Bailey to his monster-fighting bartender friends, her demons become a lot more literal. It turns out evil creatures stalk the city streets after hours, and they can only be hunted with the help of magically-mixed cocktails: vodka grants super-strength, whiskey offers the power of telekinesis, and tequila lets its drinker fire blasts of elemental energy. But will all of these powers be enough for Bailey to halt a mysterious rash of gruesome deaths? And what will she do when the safety of a “real world” job beckons? 

This sharp and funny urban fantasy is perfect for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and grown-up readers of Harry Potter. Includes 14 recipes from a book of ancient cocktail lore.

Order the US version here. 

When we first meet Kit, she's a fox.

Nineteen-year-old Kit works for the research department of Shen Corporation as a phenomenaut. She's been “jumping”--projecting her consciousness, through a neurological interface--into the bodies of lab-grown animals made for the purpose of research for seven years, which is longer than anyone else at ShenCorp, and longer than any of the scientists thought possible. She experiences a multitude of other lives--fighting and fleeing as predator and prey, as mammal, bird, and reptile--in the hope that her work will help humans better understand the other species living alongside them.

Her closest friend is Buckley, her Neuro--the computer engineer who guides a phenomenaut through consciousness projection. His is the voice, therefore, that's always in Kit's head and is the thread of continuity that connects her to the human world when she's an animal. But when ShenCorp's mission takes a more commercial--and ominous--turn, Kit is no longer sure of her safety. Propelling the reader into the bodies of the other creatures that share our world, The Many Selves of Katherine North takes place in the near future but shows us a dazzling world far, far from the realm of our experience.

These aren't by debut authors, but they are stand-alones or the first in a series, being released this year:

You can order it here.

Being a superheroine is hard. Working for one is even harder.

Evie Tanaka is the put-upon personal assistant to Aveda Jupiter, her childhood best friend and San Francisco’s most beloved superheroine. She’s great at her job—blending into the background, handling her boss’s epic diva tantrums, and getting demon blood out of leather pants.

Unfortunately, she’s not nearly as together when it comes to running her own life, standing up for herself, or raising her tempestuous teenage sister, Bea.

But everything changes when Evie’s forced to pose as her glamorous boss for one night, and her darkest secret comes out: she has powers, too. Now it’s up to her to contend with murderous cupcakes, nosy gossip bloggers, and supernatural karaoke battles—all while juggling unexpected romance and Aveda’s increasingly outrageous demands. And when a larger threat emerges, Evie must finally take charge and become a superheroine in her own right...or see her city fall to a full-on demonic invasion.

Order the international version here. 

Vintage Canada is thrilled to announce the debut of a new urban fantasy series. Kristi Charish's The Voodoo Killings introduces Kincaid Strange, not your average voodoo practitioner...

For starters, she's only twenty-seven. Then there's the fact that she lives in rain-soaked Seattle, which is not exactly Haiti. And she's broke. With raising zombies outlawed throughout the continental USA, Kincaid has to eke out a living running seances for university students with more money than brains who are desperate for guitar lessons with the ghost of a Seattle grunge rocker--who happens to be Kincaid's on-again, off-again roommate. 
     Then a stray zombie turns up outside her neighbourhood bar: Cameron Wight, an up-and-coming visual artist with no recollection of how he died or who raised him. Not only is it dangerous for Kincaid to be caught with an unauthorized zombie, she soon realizes he's tied to a spate of murders: someone is targeting the zombies and voodoo practitioners in Seattle's infamous Underground City, a paranormal hub. When the police refuse to investigate, the City's oldest and foremost zombie asks Kincaid to help. Raising ghosts and zombies is one thing, but finding a murderer? She's broke, but she's not stupid.
And then she becomes the target... As the saying goes, when it rains it pours, especially in Seattle.

Oder it here. 

Maire is a baker with an extraordinary gift: she can infuse her treats with emotions and abilities, which are then passed on to those who eat them. She doesn’t know why she can do this and remembers nothing of who she is or where she came from.

When marauders raid her town, Maire is captured and sold to the eccentric Allemas, who enslaves her and demands that she produce sinister confections, including a witch’s gingerbread cottage, a living cookie boy, and size-altering cakes.

During her captivity, Maire is visited by Fyel, a ghostly being who is reluctant to reveal his connection to her. The more often they meet, the more her memories return, and she begins to piece together who and what she really is—as well as past mistakes that yield cosmic consequences.

From the author of The Paper Magician series comes a haunting and otherworldly tale of folly and consequence, forgiveness and redemption.

Order it here. 

Mattie Carver’s engagement party should have marked the start of her own personal fairy tale. But when her fiancé, Ben, is violently abducted the next morning, her desperate quest to find him rips her away from small-town life and reveals a shattering truth: magic is real—and Ben is hooked. It’s not the stuff of storybooks. It’s wildly addictive, capable of producing everything from hellish anguish to sensual ecstasy almost beyond human endurance.

Determined to find out who took Ben and why, Mattie immerses herself in a shadowy underworld and comes face-to-face with the darkly alluring Asa Ward, a rogue magic dealer, infamous hustler…and her missing fiancé’s estranged brother. Asa has the power to sense magic, and he realizes Mattie is a reliquary, someone with the rare ability to carry magic within her own body, undetected. Asa agrees to help find Ben on one condition: Mattie must use her uncommon talent to assist his smuggling operations. Now, from magic-laced Vegas casinos to the netherworld clubs of Bangkok, Mattie is on a rescue mission. With Asa by her side, she’ll face not only the supernatural forces arrayed against her but the all-too-human temptation that she fears she can’t resist.

Order it here. 

From New York Times bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn comes an all-new series set in the realm of her Otherworld novels.

I’m Shimmer, a blue dragon shifter. Thanks to a mistake, I was exiled from the Dragon Reaches and sentenced to work for Alex Radcliffe, a vampire who owns the Fly by Night Magical Investigations Agency. Now, not only do I have to adapt to Earthside culture, but every time I turn around, somebody’s trying to kill us. And worse, Alex is as gorgeous as he is exasperating. But you know what they say: All’s fair in love and bounty hunting…

When an old friend of Alex contacts him about a haunting at the High Tide Bed & Breakfast in Port Townsend, Washington, we think we’re on a simple ghost hunt. But our investigation quickly transforms into a deadly fight as we uncover an eighty-year-old murder, a cursed house, and a dark force trapping the spirits within. To stop impending disaster we must break the curse and lay the angry spirits to rest.

Order it here.

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Fallen series and the Remy Chandler series, a new dark fantasy series filled with demons, exorcisms, and the fight against the worst that hell has to offer...

There is more to our world than meets the eye—darker things, crueler things. Exorcist John Fogg and his wife, psychic medium Theodora Knight, know what lurks in the shadows. But even they’re not prepared for the worst Hell has to offer...

It was supposed to be a simple exorcism, a publicity stunt to firmly establish John and Theodora’s thriving paranormal investigation empire in the public eye. But something went wrong, leading to an on-air massacre that unleashed a malicious host of demons and left Theodora catatonic, possessed by countless spirits.

John sets out on a desperate quest to find a cure for his wife, but his obsession brings him face-to-face with an even more terrifying problem: Theodora’s possession is only one piece of a deadly plot that is threatening the entire world. Because an ancient evil is about to make Earth its battlefield—and without John and Theodora’s intervention, there is no chance for salvation...

A Stormy Life

I live in western Washington, and yesterday we had a storm. We tend to get them from time to time. Within the last four years of moving back home (to Washington) we've had two bad ones.

The first winter after I moved home an awful snow storm blew in. We lived in the country at the time, and used well water, electric heat, and an electric cooking stove. The snow weighed down the branches so badly that the trees broke from the pressure, bringing electrical lines down with them. A forest lived behind my backyard and the air was so incredibly still and quiet without the sounds of electrical items. I'd stand outside and listen to trees groaning and cracking from the weight of snow and ice. For days I had no running water, no heat, and no cooking stove.

I no longer live in the country. I now live near the water. Yesterday's storm brought wind and rain. It brought down trees, took out power, broke windows, removed roof shingles, tore down fences and even some homes. It sounded as though a giant sat on my roof, pounding its fists and tearing off the shingles one-by-one.

But today, just like after the snow storm, I regroup, assess the damage, and begin the repairs.

Mother's Nature's storms remind me a lot of life's storms. Oftentimes without warning a tragedy, or illness, or personal turmoil will roll in. If you're like me, your first response is to run outside and try to brace those things that seem likely to fall down first. You see the dark clouds coming and you try to make yourself believe the damage will be minimal, nothing bad will happen if you can just __________.

But then the storm hits you. It stirs up your life and there's nothing you can do but batten down the hatches and wait it out. You hear scary things. You feel scary things. And every minute creeps by like an hour at the DMV.

Eventually, though, the storm passes. You peek your head out from under your security blanket to assess the damage. Yeah, there's damage. Your personal storm may have cost you a friend or two, a significant other, a job, a familial relationship. It's hurt your pride, your patience, your self-esteem.

But it's time to regroup. Maybe apologies need to be given or received. Maybe broken relationships need to be cleared away so that new relationships can be built. A new foundation of hope must be poured. New seeds planted to eventually take root. New boundaries posted.

Yes, the storm brings changes--some good, some not so good. But in time, those new additions and adjustments and foundations won't be so new anymore. They'll be the same ol' same ol' and with any luck, your storm will be just another "That one time..." story you'll tell your friends over a second glass of wine.

   

The sky as the storm rolled in.

   

THE YEAR I READ MY BOOK to 4th GRADERS

Earlier this year I began volunteering in my 4th grade daughter's class. I've helped out before, but this time I came with an agenda. My daughter's teacher had asked me to visit every Friday to teach the kids how to write and to offer creative inspiration. And during my visits I could read a little of my middle grade novel, THE CURSE of the MUMMY PRINCESS. A chapter a week.

That's how it started.

During my first visit, as I sat down in front of a classroom full of kids to read my manuscript, I freaked out inside. And apparently outside too, because a girl in the front row pointed out to the rest of the class that I had a dark red rash growing up my neck.

With a shaky voice and a red, blotchy neck, I read the first chapter of my story...out loud...to kids.

And they loved it.

I was no longer asked to spend my time teaching writing, but to read as much as possible of my manuscript before the bell rang.

Over the top of my purple Kindle I'd see the teacher pause from grading papers to sit and listen. And my heart would quicken.

The kids started drawing pictures of the characters and scenes from the story. And with great detail. They caught the part that explained the gold in Aziza's braids. And the part that showed Aziza's dark skin and her servant Halima's lighter skin tone. They caught everything!

Some days, if I finished before the bell rang, the teacher would excitedly pull up pictures of ancient Egypt for the class to see and I'd tell the kids little historical tidbits that weren't included in the story. Two weeks ago, the teacher explained to the class that my manuscript challenged some ways of thinking, which led into a great class discussion on gender roles and religious freedom. (Yes, my daughter's teacher is AMAZING.)

Not only did the kids (and an adult) enjoy my story, but it inspired important conversations.

And you know what else? While some would call it a "girl book" because the main character is female, the boys liked it just as much. Today one of the boys told me his favorite character is Isis because she's tough and strong.  

Today I finished telling the story. My heart sped as I read those last few pages, hoping the ending didn't disappoint the children listening and picturing the action unfold in their heads. When I said "The End" I received applause from twenty-something sets of hands. And my neck probably still got red and blotchy, but for a completely different reason than before.

I wouldn't have experienced any of these things if I hadn't read my manuscript to a big group of kids. A big group of amazing, intelligent, imaginative, deep-thinking kids.

I'm not saying you need to run out and read your manuscript to an elementary school class. I am saying, though, it's an incredible experience.    

Playing with Images and Worlds

I wrote a contemporary sci-fi romance. It has dual POVs, with one POV taking place on our world and the other taking place on another world; a seemingly perfect world. In the story those of the perfect world saw that we needed a little help and because everything is connected they opted to help us out. They call themselves Watchers. We call them our conscience.

When I was developing this story world, I wrote a Watcher's Poem, though it's more like a creed. Today I played with it a bit and here's how it turned out. :)

WRITE POWERFULLY

Happy Holiday Week! 

My friend and I had a discussion that inspired me to write this blog post. It's timely as we're heading into 2015, creating new goals.

We writers are an interesting and sometimes neurotic bunch. And oftentimes on our path to traditional publication we ask questions like, "Am I a good enough writer?" or "Will I ever be published?" 

Completely normal. All of us have done this, and will continue to question ourselves for whatever writerly reason. 

But here's the thing, most of this publishing path, you control in one way or another. It has a lot to do with how much work you want to put into it. With how willing you are to persevere. 

Are you a good enough writer? That's a great question. Write a manuscript. Get critique partners who know what they're doing. (CP's who don't try to edit your voice, but rather look for character and story line issues.) What if you learn you're not a good enough writer? Easy. You get better. You read a ton. Pick apart books and movies that you love and hate, figure out why. Practice. And then write another manuscript. Have CP's pick that one apart too. They didn't finish reading it? Find out why and fix it.

Will you ever be published? Well, that's kinda up to you.

I've met many writers who have gone merrily down the path to publication only to realize there's a fork in the road. A bunch of forks. And they find themselves looking into options they wouldn't have considered in the beginning. The publishing world changes and so do you. It's okay to examine your wants and needs every now and again and change your mind about them. 

And yes, if you're wanting traditional publishing with a big house, you're going to need an agent. That may be daunting. Believe me, I queried two manuscripts and felt like I'd taken up residence in the query trenches. But you still aren't completely powerless. Agents WANT to sign new clients. They WANT to sell your manuscript. So give them a reason to choose yours. Try not to give them a ton of reasons to reject it. 

Is your concept unique? Is it marketable? Is your manuscript well written? Does it fall within the word count guidelines? Is your query stellar? Are you sending it to agents who represent your genre? These are all things YOU HAVE CONTROL over. 

You're not a frog sitting on a lily pad, surrendering to wherever the wind chooses to push that round green leaf. You can hop to other lily pads. Heck, you can swim in the pond. You have options and you have power.

I completely understand the flurry of emotion this publishing path can bring. So I'm not trying to trivialize or simplify this at all. I do know, however, that when we feel powerful, we stress less and behave powerfully. We write powerfully. That's my goal for myself in 2015 and it's my goal for you as well.

I have one question: You feelin' froggy?

MY 777 CONTRIBUTION (AKA: I Was Tagged)

Good FRIDAY morning! 

Today I was invited to the 777 challenge by my agency sibling, Suzanne Warr. Here's the gist: Post 7 lines from your work in progress (WIP), which you will find on the 7th page, 7  lines down. 

I've decided to use my WIP, THE CURSE of the MUMMY PRINCESS. I'm in the final revision stages of this manuscript and pretty excited about it. Oh, and it's a middle grade time travel, adventure novel. :) 

Here's my 7 lines:

Halima cracked open the lid to my sarcophagus. Light flashed in slivers through my bandages and the pain in my empty gut faded. Sharp brightness burned my eyes. A loud thud echoed and shook the casket as Halima removed the lid altogether. With a quickness, she went to work on my wrappings, starting at my forehead, pulling and tearing the linen strips. One more rip and the unfiltered light seemed to pass through my eyes and sear my brain. I blinked hard. I wished my hands were free, so I could rub the stars away. I closed my eyes, but opened them again. Despite the pain, I had to see what the afterlife held for me.

And also, when I'm writing a manuscript I like to find pictures to inspire me. Here's a few of my favorites for THE CURSE of the MUMMY PRINCESS. :) 

Have a great weekend! 

MY LUNCH with EDITORS & AGENTS

I was attending my first ever writer's conference. My goal of this conference was to make an agent fall madly in love with me and my novel. Months earlier, I'd entered my ms, DEADLY SPLENDOR, in the conference's writing contest. As I was handed my registration and welcome packet the day the conference started, I was told that as a finalist in the writing contest I'd earned an extra pitch session as well as the opportunity to sit at the editor's and agent's table during the award luncheon.

Yes, yes, lovely, extra pitch session, agent's table, okay. Not important. Not if my pitch wasn't brilliant, which it wasn't. My focus was to perfect my pitch before the next morning, before pitch time.

I couldn't afford to stay in the hotel, and I lived 45 minutes away from the conference, so I'd leave the conference late at night, get a little sleep...

...then be back on the road, returning early the next morning. I arrived at the conference on Saturday morning after a nervous night's sleep, ready to pitch my heart out.

I was scheduled for three three minute pitches and one ten minute pitch. Back to back to back to back. My nerves were shot. But that wasn't the end of it. Directly following my last pitch, which ran over, I had a query class taught by an agent who wasn't taking pitches. We went around the room, sharing and critiquing our queries, and when it was my turn, the agent said she hadn't received my query. Therefore, she hadn't critiqued it. Broken heart in my throat. "But," she'd said, "Go ahead and read it to me."



I did. I read my query in front of a room full of people and a very impressive agent. Do you realize how scary that is? She asked for the manuscript. :)

Directly after the query class, was the awards luncheon. I had totally forgotten to freak out about it! Not only was I about to find out if I'd won and then stand on a stage in front of a bunch of people, but while I waited for the YA division to be called, while I bit my nails off, I'd be sitting among agents and editors. Yes, I asked if they served wine.



And no they didn't.

Turns out, out of that whole crazy morning, sitting at the big round table right beside the stage had been the most relaxed part. They mostly chatted among themselves about their recent travels and personal lives. I think a couple of them didn't even know I was an author until my name was called. Ha! And of course when I returned to my seat with an award they all congratulated me. I didn't end up pitching to any of them during that lunch, which was a relief to me and probably them too. ;) And I had a great opportunity to chat with the two professionals I sat between, both of which had requested my manuscript earlier that morning.



SO there's my story of the crazy whirlwind day I ate lunch with a table of editors and agents. :) Do you have any similar experiences?      

NEW LENS COATING to HELP COMBAT COMPUTER EYE STRAIN

It's that time again, when I step away from the lensometer, pull my lab coat on, arrange the PD stick and pens in my pocket, and basically don the cloak of an optician. Because this is another blog post brought to you by Rachel, the author who's also an optician. :) 

I recently had a visit from Dave, my office's lab representative. (We mainly use a lab called Hoya, but there's others out there). Every so often he swings by our optometry practice and chats with us about the new technology offered in lenses. After the meeting I pulled him aside to explain my vision needs and the fact that I'm an author who stares at the computer screen for hours on end. He suggested I order an aspheric, digital lens with recharge coating. And while I do plan to tell you writers all about aspheric and digital lenses, today I want to talk to you about recharge coating.

And here's why:

It blocks a portion of the blue light from electronic devices. 

Odds are, if you've bought prescription glasses, you've been offered a clear coating on your lenses called anti-glare, or anti-reflective coating. The coating is clear, but can leave a faint greenish sheen if it's tilted in a particular way. It cuts the glare of oncoming headlights at night so you don't have the star-burst effect across your lenses. It also helps with glare from overhead lighting. I mainly love anti-reflective coating because it makes my lenses practically clear so people can see my eyes and not their own reflection. 

But, as Dave explained to me, there's a new kind of anti-reflective coating. His lab, Hoya, calls it Recharge. It's works similar to the traditional anti-glare coating, but it goes a step further. It protects against the blue light emanating from computer screens, tablets, back-lit eReaders, and smart phones. 

See, there's something called a visible light spectrum, and it's basically what it sounds like. Within this light spectrum, there's good blue light that regulates our sleep patterns and then there's bad blue light that basically messes up those patterns. Overuse of devices can cause Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) and Digital Eye Strain (DES). Symptoms include headaches, blurred vision, and fatigue.

Once David left our office, I ordered the lenses he'd suggested and then waited impatiently for them to arrive shiny and clear and beautiful. 

They did. And they are amazing. 

(While the traditional AR coating has a green sheen, Recharge has a blue sheen. I've tilted the glasses so you can see the sheen. The top picture is viewing the lenses straight on and you can see they are clear.) 

My eyestrain after a day of editing on the laptop has been cut down considerably, if not altogether. And a headache is no longer a part of my nightly reading sessions on my Kindle.    

Next time you're finishing up with your eye exam and picking out frames, make sure to ask for the Recharge coating on your lenses in lieu of your regular anti-glare coating. I think it's a great step up in eye-care technology, especially for those in my publishing industry. 

Blog Release Party for Michelle Merrill’s novel, CHANGING FATE!

All Kate wants is to live. Battling cystic fibrosis is hard enough, dying from it is even harder. When her mom moves them closer to the hospital in the middle of her senior year, Kate’s determined to isolate herself—saving everyone the trouble of befriending a dying girl. It’s a difficult task when cheerful optimist Giana insists on being Kate’s friend.

Kate’s resolve falters even more when curly-haired Kyler captivates her with his sweet melodies. As her emotional walls collapse, Kate realizes the people she’s been pushing away may be the ones giving her a reason to live. But it might be too late.

Want to win a free copy? Visit each participating blog and find all 16 key phrases—2 in each fun fact about the author. Put them together and answer the question in the giveaway on Michelle’s blog for extra points! The giveaway is open to everyone no matter where you live!

Michelle Merrill (1 & 2)

Carol Riggs (3 & 4)

Shallee McArthur (5 & 6)

Kelley Hicken (7 & 8)

Annette Larsen (9 & 10)

Rachel Pudelek (11 & 12)

Melanie Stanford (13 & 14)

Chantele Sedgwick (15 & 16)

Michelle Merrill loves kissing her hubby, snuggling her kids, eating candy, reading books, and writing first drafts. She names her computers after favorite fictional characters and fictional characters after favorite names. To learn more about her, visit www.authormichellemerrill.com.

Trailer.

2 fun facts!

11.      My favorite authors are Jane Austen, Brandon Sanderson, Maria V. Snyder, Jessica Day George, and Shannon Hale. If you haven’t heard of them, well…why haven’t you heard of them? You’re missing out!

12.      I like to sing, but only in a large group. I pull some sweet solos when I’m all alone, but no one will ever get to hear them!

Michelle Merrill

Author of Young Adult Contemporary, Changing Fate

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THE WRITER'S PROCESS Blog Hop!!!

Hi there! Happy Sunday! My lovely agency sister, Sarah Glen Marsh, wrote about her writing process and tagged me in the blog hop to share mine. :)

1. What are you working on? 

I'm currently revising a MG novel about a twelve-year-old mummy (the daughter of a pharaoh) roaming New York City with her servant-turned best friend. I'm also doing a last read-through of my YA light sci-fi romance before sending it off to my agent. The YA manuscript includes parallel universes and immortal humans acting as the consciences of moral humans. Oh, and there's lots of kissing. :) And then there's what's going on in my head...The plotting of a dark YA contemporary romance that sheds light on a fairly private American sub-culture.

2. How does your work differ from others in your genre?

When I'm building characters, I tend to flip gender and societal stereotypes on their heads. For instance, in my YA horror, DEADLY SPLENDOR, the female protagonist is the predator/monster, not the guy. Oh! And one more, I almost forgot. My stories are deeply connected to nature. In DEADLY SPLENDOR, the plants play a big role in healing, punishing, and surviving. In my YA sci-fi, SHATTERED CHOICES, the immortal's technology, clothing, and buildings are all nature based.    

3. Why do you write what you write?

Because it's what's in me. My very first book was nowhere near the genre I write now. And while I loved the process of creating, I realized the story wasn't truly what was in me. I believe in mystical things, have a deep regard for nature, and love genuine people, flaws and all. So that's what I write about.

4. How does your writing process work?

This may sound weird, but I don't feel I have a writing process. Because although I've written four complete manuscripts, with each one I had a slightly different process. With my first one I pants'd it in nine months, edited it, and queried it way too early. With my second I pants'd it in two months, revised it, had it critiqued, queried it too soon, had it critiqued some more, rewrote it, queried it some more...You get the picture. With my third manuscript I plotted the whole thing beforehand. With my fourth I did a mishmash of plot and pants. I think it really depends on the story.

But I do have writing guidelines. Here's the guidelines I've set for myself.

1) Write the rough draft. NO EDITING!
2) Read through the completed rough draft and edit as I go.
3) Read through edited rough draft, add world-building and character layers, if need be.
4) Send manuscript to a CP or two.
5) Using CP's notes, read through manuscript, revising as I go.
6) Load manuscript onto Kindle and read it as I would any other book, with laptop nearby for changes.
7) Send manuscript to another CP or two.
8) By this time it's tiny things the CP's point out, usually personal preference stuff. I fix a couple things based on their suggestions that I agree with.
9) Send manuscript to my agent. :)

Please know, this is SOOO not the end of the process. Christa is a hands-on type of agent so once she reads my stuff, she sends great feedback and ideas to make my story sparkle.

So that about wraps it up. Interested to know what others would say about their writing process? I've tagged these writers:

Jennifer L. Alvarez is the author of the Guardian Herd Series. Book one, STARFIRE, will be out 9/23/14 from HarperCollins Kids. You can find her on Twitter here. Not only is Jennifer a great writer, she's also a wonderfully supportive friend. You can find her latest blog posts here.

Amber A. Barden is the author of FOR HER PROTECTION, coming soon from Ellora's Cave. You can find her on Twitter here. Amber is a writer friend I've known since...I'm not sure how long. But it's been awhile. We traded queries way back when. And believe me, her stories pack a sexy punch. You can find her latest blog post here.

Rayna Stiner is my best friend and has been my critique partner from the moment I finished my first manuscript. She's incredibly supportive and genuine. Her lovely prose and fantastical plots make her a gifted writer. You can find her on Twitter here. And her latest blog post you'll find here.