I've taken the last few weeks off from m/m writing in order to concentrate on starting my new YA novel, which was a wrench, but needed to be done. But now that I've hit the 10,000 word mark on the novel, and I'm feeling quite comfy and bedded into the story (how long that'll last, who knows?) I think I'd like to pick up work on an m/m story again.
The problem is that I have several stories plotted out and two started and I'm not sure which one I should go for. So, just in case there's anyone out there in the blogosphere who a) reads this blog and b) cares, I'm going to set up a poll. Yay! Poll!
You can find the poll at the top right hand corner of the blog, and vote for what you would like me to do next. If anyone wants more information about any of the projects mentioned, you can email me and I'll be happy to post about it.
Thanks in advance for anyone who participates.
Thursday, 29 April 2010
And is Never Shaken Taster
Hi guys. It looks like the release date for And is Never Shaken is pretty solid, so it will be out next Wednesday from Dreamspinner Press. There's an excerpt on the website, but in celebration I'm going to post a different, work-safe snippet under the cut. Enjoy!
Friday, 23 April 2010
Possible Release Date for And Is Never Shaken
And Is Never Shaken has turned up on the Forthcoming page at Dreamspinner Press with a publication date of the 5th of May. You can see it and even pre-order it here.
I say 'possible date' just because they haven't emailed me to let me know this date yet, and I've noticed that they play about with the Forthcoming page quite a lot. Things jump on and off there all the time. So it might have disappeared by tomorrow, and come back with with a different release date the day after.
I suspect it's just one of the ways that the sneaky folks there at DSP keep us on our toes.
UPDATE: The book is also on Goodreads now, and people have already started adding it to their 'To Be Read' and 'Potential Buy' shelves! Woohoo!
I say 'possible date' just because they haven't emailed me to let me know this date yet, and I've noticed that they play about with the Forthcoming page quite a lot. Things jump on and off there all the time. So it might have disappeared by tomorrow, and come back with with a different release date the day after.
I suspect it's just one of the ways that the sneaky folks there at DSP keep us on our toes.
UPDATE: The book is also on Goodreads now, and people have already started adding it to their 'To Be Read' and 'Potential Buy' shelves! Woohoo!
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Rejection and Bitch-Slapping
Short post because I am, in a word, knackered.
Having allowed Wave to lure me into turning my five-minute rant on pen-names into an editorial post for her blog, I then got bitch-slapped by...oh, let's see...everyone. Pretty much. I've been replying to comments non stop and post of them are not of the 'Right On, Sista' variety. That'll teach me to have opinions. Or, at least, not to think about them a bit more carefully before sharing them.
I just heard back from TQ Press that 'Precious Possession' is not right for them either. This would be more depressing if it was a form rejection, like the one from DSP, but the lovely Michelle gave me feedback which let me pinpoint what was wrong. Basically I tried to tell the story in the style of a fairytale, with a sarcastic narrator voice. Michelle said that it basically felt like the first eight pages were info-dumping. So that didn't work, then. She also invited me to re-write and submit, which I fully intend to do once I get a spare five minutes. I know they're still looking for Halloween sips and I think PP could work really well for that.
The lesson I have learned this week: People (and by people I mean me) make mistakes. It's okay. The only unforgivable sin is not to learn from them. No more ranting on Wave's blog (I can rant here all I like, since no one reads it) and no more sarcastic narrator voice for me.
Now, back to my new YA novel. I need to hit 5000 words before I shut down tonight.
Having allowed Wave to lure me into turning my five-minute rant on pen-names into an editorial post for her blog, I then got bitch-slapped by...oh, let's see...everyone. Pretty much. I've been replying to comments non stop and post of them are not of the 'Right On, Sista' variety. That'll teach me to have opinions. Or, at least, not to think about them a bit more carefully before sharing them.
I just heard back from TQ Press that 'Precious Possession' is not right for them either. This would be more depressing if it was a form rejection, like the one from DSP, but the lovely Michelle gave me feedback which let me pinpoint what was wrong. Basically I tried to tell the story in the style of a fairytale, with a sarcastic narrator voice. Michelle said that it basically felt like the first eight pages were info-dumping. So that didn't work, then. She also invited me to re-write and submit, which I fully intend to do once I get a spare five minutes. I know they're still looking for Halloween sips and I think PP could work really well for that.
The lesson I have learned this week: People (and by people I mean me) make mistakes. It's okay. The only unforgivable sin is not to learn from them. No more ranting on Wave's blog (I can rant here all I like, since no one reads it) and no more sarcastic narrator voice for me.
Now, back to my new YA novel. I need to hit 5000 words before I shut down tonight.
Sunday, 18 April 2010
Reviews by Jessewave
A really exciting new challenge has presented itself to me this weekend. I've been asked by Wave of Reviews by Jessewave if I'd like to try writing reviews for her blog.
This is my absolute favourite review blog and I check it at least once a day; it informs a lot of my buying decisions. Being asked is a huge honour, and not just that but a great opportunity because it means that my name will become familiar to m/m readers before my books ever hit the market. Of course I said yes. Actually, I said 'HELL yes!'.
Nevertheless, it's a little daunting. First of all, as Wave herself points out, this is a serious responsibility. Not only am I going to be having an impact on the quality of this famous blog, but I'm going to hopefully be influencing other people's book buying, just like Wave, Tam, Lily, Jenre, Aunt Leslie and the rest have influenced mine. I have to be fair minded, thorough and objective, while also striving to be entertaining.
There are potential pitfalls. Although I've taken a solemn oath not to be snarky for snarks sake, there are going to be times when my reviews contain unfavourable remarks. Some readers aren't going to like that. I may review authors who are published by the same publishers as me, and that could be awkward if I have negative comments. Will they be angry at me, or think I'm being disloyal? It might not seem fair, but I know that people often aren't fair when their baby, their work, is under discussion.
Despite my niggles, I'm really enthusiastic because I love the m/m community. I've been an m/m reader for nearly three years but I've only dipped my toe into the m/m readers and writers community since January this year and I've found it to be a wonderful place, peopled with strong, intelligent, well-read men and women. People of high ideals, high standards and great integrity. I want to be one of them and that's why I'm taking the leap and doing this.
On with the show!
This is my absolute favourite review blog and I check it at least once a day; it informs a lot of my buying decisions. Being asked is a huge honour, and not just that but a great opportunity because it means that my name will become familiar to m/m readers before my books ever hit the market. Of course I said yes. Actually, I said 'HELL yes!'.
Nevertheless, it's a little daunting. First of all, as Wave herself points out, this is a serious responsibility. Not only am I going to be having an impact on the quality of this famous blog, but I'm going to hopefully be influencing other people's book buying, just like Wave, Tam, Lily, Jenre, Aunt Leslie and the rest have influenced mine. I have to be fair minded, thorough and objective, while also striving to be entertaining.
There are potential pitfalls. Although I've taken a solemn oath not to be snarky for snarks sake, there are going to be times when my reviews contain unfavourable remarks. Some readers aren't going to like that. I may review authors who are published by the same publishers as me, and that could be awkward if I have negative comments. Will they be angry at me, or think I'm being disloyal? It might not seem fair, but I know that people often aren't fair when their baby, their work, is under discussion.
Despite my niggles, I'm really enthusiastic because I love the m/m community. I've been an m/m reader for nearly three years but I've only dipped my toe into the m/m readers and writers community since January this year and I've found it to be a wonderful place, peopled with strong, intelligent, well-read men and women. People of high ideals, high standards and great integrity. I want to be one of them and that's why I'm taking the leap and doing this.
On with the show!
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Cover Squee! And Ipad Competition...
Look! Look! I got the final version of the cover for And is Never Shaken! And it's beee-ooo-tiful!
I loved the black and white version and kind of worried about how it would look 'painted' but this is such high quality work, I'm completely on Team Colour now. I'm just really crossing my fingers that my book can live up to this!
In other news (while I try to stop squeeing) DSP are running a competition which makes me drool, so I thought I'd share. If you, like me, are a techie-geek and adore gadgets and gismos, you might have been looking wistfully at your Sony E-Reader, Kindle or BeBook and thinking, 'Yeah, but it's not an iPad'. So a chance to get your hands on one for free should make both us happy. Here's the press release thingy (because I haven't finished my first cup of coffee yet and I'm not feeling creative enough to re-write it):
To celebrate the release of Dreamspinner’s eBooks being added to the iBookstore this summer, Dreamspinner Press is giving away an iPad in a random drawing. Every $10 you spend at Dreamspinner’s web site between April 15 and May 15 automatically enters your name in the drawing. The more you spend, the more times you’ll be entered. A winner will be drawn at random and announced on May 24.
Good stuff, right? Definitely worth a try.
In other news (while I try to stop squeeing) DSP are running a competition which makes me drool, so I thought I'd share. If you, like me, are a techie-geek and adore gadgets and gismos, you might have been looking wistfully at your Sony E-Reader, Kindle or BeBook and thinking, 'Yeah, but it's not an iPad'. So a chance to get your hands on one for free should make both us happy. Here's the press release thingy (because I haven't finished my first cup of coffee yet and I'm not feeling creative enough to re-write it):
To celebrate the release of Dreamspinner’s eBooks being added to the iBookstore this summer, Dreamspinner Press is giving away an iPad in a random drawing. Every $10 you spend at Dreamspinner’s web site between April 15 and May 15 automatically enters your name in the drawing. The more you spend, the more times you’ll be entered. A winner will be drawn at random and announced on May 24.
Good stuff, right? Definitely worth a try.
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Hmmph.
Just got the third - yes, that's third - lot of revisions back for the novel I finished last year. I have never had to revise more than twice before, not even on my very novel first novel ever, and even then the second lot was very minor.
This is a non m/m novel under my other name, and I know it's the best thing I've ever written. Frankly at this point (after two extensive rounds of re-writing and cutting nearly 10,000 words) I don't feel like I can improve it anymore. My editor says that the book is wonderful, phenomenal, brilliant - and yet she doesn't seem to actually get the story at all.
This is my first time working with this new editor, and it may just be down to us adjusting to each other but...Jeez. I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall. Or at least a person who doesn't understand subtext, conflicted/complex characters or any society other than the modern western world.
Sigh. Well, things might be a little quiet around this blog for a while, because I'm going into Revision Mode. Maybe when I come back I might have some actual readers/followers...
This is a non m/m novel under my other name, and I know it's the best thing I've ever written. Frankly at this point (after two extensive rounds of re-writing and cutting nearly 10,000 words) I don't feel like I can improve it anymore. My editor says that the book is wonderful, phenomenal, brilliant - and yet she doesn't seem to actually get the story at all.
This is my first time working with this new editor, and it may just be down to us adjusting to each other but...Jeez. I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall. Or at least a person who doesn't understand subtext, conflicted/complex characters or any society other than the modern western world.
Sigh. Well, things might be a little quiet around this blog for a while, because I'm going into Revision Mode. Maybe when I come back I might have some actual readers/followers...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)