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Ponderisms, New Stuff, and Congratulations

Behold:

  1. I have decided to pull Hex from submission. I received some sage personal feedback from two agents and form rejections from all the rest, and I realize that Hex just isn’t ready yet. I love this story. I believe in this story. I know, really and truly know, that this is a story worthy of publication…but not yet. I see that now. So I’ll be going back to work on that after…
  2. I’m working on a new project. A newer new project. I’d been working on my time travel steampunk novel when this new project came along, and it was going pretty well. But you know how you’re working on a story when all of a sudden another story idea jumps out of nowhere and bitch-slaps you, demanding to be written? That’s what happened to me. I’m not really sure about this one. I mean, I love the idea, am having a blast writing it, but it’s kind of weird. I’m not sure how you’d market this one. It would appeal to fans of urban fantasy and paranormal romance, but it’s not either one of those things. It’s a truck stop romance set in a world infested with oversized crustaceans and giant squid, and it’s called The Octopus That Drank Lake Michigan.
  3. With this new novel, I have a pretty diverse collection of stories in some stage of being in progress. I’m trying to figure out how to make this site reflect all of these weird and different from each other stories and still have a unified feel and look. And I’m thinking of altering my online presence in other ways. I used to be an avid blogger. I still enjoy blogging occasionally, but time constraints which I never used to have are making it difficult to blog with both quality and frequency. I’m still going to keep the blog, but how do I want to use it? And do I want to turn to a social networking site as my main way of connecting with other writers and, later, readers? I’ll be figuring out all of this sometime and reporting on the changes when they come.
  4. Lastly, I guess I can share this now, since she’s gone public with it on her own blog. Way back in 2006, I first became friends and critique partners with AG Howard, and after years of hard work, she has now signed her very first book publishing contract with Amulet in a 2-book deal. Hers is a YA novel about what happens when the descendant of Alice of Wonderland fame finds herself on her very own Wonderland adventure. So congratulations, Anita! Here is the link to her announcement. She’s planning to do a series of posts about the submission process soon. I love reading about authors’ journeys to success, so I for one am planning to tune in for those.

Have a lovely day!

New Writing Gig

After spending a very enjoyable year writing for Debuts and Reviews, I was sad to see it go. The URL still houses a wonderful blog, but the reviews are pretty much gone, and with them my outlet for writing about the sort of books I love.

But a new opportunity has arisen: I will now be writing a speculative fiction column for the Cincinnati edition of the Examiner. For those of you who read my reviews on Debuts and Reviews, this is a little different. Examiner.com is a news site, and I am essentially a reporter. These are third-person articles which top out at 400 words or less. It’s a change and a challenge, and I’m excited about it. It lets me explore topics I never got to write about for Debuts and Reviews, such as local events and other fun stuff. My first post is live, so please do drop by, especially if you enjoyed my reviews at Debuts and Reviews or if you’re local to the Cincinnati area.

As for how this will affect my fiction writing schedule, I don’t see potential for a lot of problems. Writing for Debuts and Reviews was always a great way for me to take a break from my WIP and yet still use those creative writing juices. I always found that writing reviews helped my fiction rather than hindered it, and lately, I’ve really been feeling the need for an outlet like that. I think writing for Examiner.com is just what the doctor ordered.

Life, the Universe, and Everything

Not having the internet at home has resulted in it being a crazy long time since I posted anything. I really hate that it’s been this long. Still working on getting phone lines run to the new house and all that stuff.

In the meantime, I have been doing a lot of reading lately, but since I don’t have my nifty list of books I’ve read with me right now, I can’t do my October Reading post. (Will get it up ASAP.) I’m not expecting much reading for November; I’ve joined the crazy NaNo train. My Hex revision is nearly done, and I thought it would be a good thing to take a little break and come back to it fresh next month.

I’m about 3000 words behind on my NaNo word count, so I’ve got some catching up to do today. Better get to work! Let me know if any of you are doing NaNo. It’s nice to know I’m not alone!

We Interrupt This Blog Silence for a Post

Okay, here’s the deal. I’ve been freakishly, insanely busy. I had a funeral out of town in May (a very unexpected one), and I’ve been moving to a new house, working on a church fundraiser/theater event, planning my homeschool curriculum for next year, getting ready for the RWA conference…oh, and working on my novel. I still have no internet access at my new house (or phone, or gas, or television), so it hasn’t exactly been easy to get around to this blog. Much less check my email.

Yay. Life is fun.

But! I did sell another short story to Enchanted Conversation, for their upcoming mermaid issue. So that’s good news.

Once life is normal and internet access is once again available at home, I will post more regularly, I promise. I’ve missed blogging.

That is all. May the Force be with you!

April Reading

A busy month! With the release of two of the three books I have eagerly anticipated in 2010 this month (on the same day, in fact), not to mention some free books from a writer friend of mine, I have had a veritable reading feast laid before me. I haven’t even finished all the books! But here are the ones I did read.

Before I got ahold of my The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker ARC, I reread its predecessor, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber. Since it’s not been long since I blogged about and reviewed Strangely Beautiful, I won’t say much about it here, only that it’s a Victorian ghost story with some very fresh twists, and that I loved it. Check out my review for more info.

As for The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker, it is a worth sequel, complete with all the ghosts, gods, and ghastly apparitions of the first book. War between the spirit and mortal realms looms, threatening to take first London, then the world. And only Percy Parker can stop it, by traveling into the land of the dead. At times lovely, at times chilling, Darkly Luminous lives up to its name. (My review)

Since I was in rereading mood, I also pulled out The Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett again. I. Love. This. Book. Looooove it. I totally cannot wait for the sequel this fall. A comedy of manners, a romance, a mystery, and a dazzling fantasy tale, The Magicians and Mrs. Quent is a book I could read (have read) again and again. Now, Tia, supreme overlord of Debuts and Reviews, read it recently and wasn’t quite as enamored as I am, so you may want to get a less giddy opinion. Or if not, here’s my full review, posted last fall.

I tried another steampunk novel this month, one of the freebies I mentioned–The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia. Though beautifully written, it was a little melancholy for me. I’m still looking for my ideal steampunk novel, one which has all the wonder of a good old-fashioned fantasy book, except with steam engines and tophats. Still, The Alchemy of Stone was an engaging read. (Review forthcoming; I’ll update this page with the link when the review goes live.)

And last but not least! Lisa Shearin’s Bewitched and Betrayed came out this month, on the same day as Leanna Renee Hieber’s book. (Thank goodness I got that ARC of Darkly Luminous, or I’d have been beside myself trying to decide which to read first.) I have been waiting desperately for this book since finishing the previous one a year ago. Let me attempt to hook you with Bewitched and Betrayed‘s first line: “I was being chased by a pissed-off naked guy with a knife.” I mean, how could that line not hook you? (My review) So I am definitely looking forward to the next one, Con and Conjure, and even moreso to the one after that, because…

…I forgot to tell you that I won the contest! Yes, Lisa Shearin held a Name Raine Book #6 contest, and I won. So how exciting is that? In 2012, I will be able to walk into a bookstore, grab this book and a random stranger, and say, “You see this book? I named it.” Very awesome. (It’s called All Spell Breaks Loose, by the way.)

So that wraps up April Reading. But before I sign off, I wanted to alert you to a couple changes I’ve made to this site. I’ve posted a brief excerpt of my in-revision novel Hex (you can see it there on the sidebar; click “My Writing” to read my brief synopsis). Also, I finally managed to upload a photo to my “About” page. So. Look if you dare.

See you next time!

Randomness

I’ve got lots of little updates which don’t really fit into their own post. So…here they are!

My short story “Prince of Dreams” is now live at Enchanted Conversation in the Beauty and the Beast issue. It’s my first non-reprint sale since 2007, so I’m pretty happy. Hooray!

The Hex revision is coming along nicely. By my birthday next month, I shoudl be halfway through. Wouldn’t that be a nice present to myself?!

Speaking of which, I’ve been thinking about putting a brief Hex excerpt on my Writing page. What do you think? Is this just an arrogant, show-offy thing to do as an unpublished author, or is there really any benefit to posting a sample of my work. Again I ask, what say you?

Finally, I just wanted to express how much I love it on WordPress. I’m so glad I made the switch. I can house my blog and website under one domain–a command central for my online operations. Best of all, I can track my stats and know exactly how much traffic I get. And word is, there’s an LJ feature which allows you to cross-post on both hosts automatically, which I’ll have to check out. (Thanks for the tip, John.)

That’s all I’ve got. See you soon!

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