I have a new project. And it's not just mine--it's shared by longtime friends Liz Prats and Auzy Osburne (both super awesome people and writers).
Anyway, we're giving stuff away and TOMORROW I'm making an exciting announcement. So stop by Writerly Rejects, and give us a little love. :)
N~
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
The Writer's Voice Contest
So, the awesome Cupid's Literary Connection is part of a pretty cool blog. Familiar with the Voice? On NBC? It's similiar to that, and this is my entry. Now lets all keep our fingers crossed that mine is selected! :) This is Entry #86
EDGE OF THE FALLS QUERY:
Dear Amazing Judges,
EDGE OF THE FALLS, a young adult dystopian retelling of Beauty and the Beast, is complete at 82,000 words.
Sixteen year old Sabah has lived her entire life with the Mistress, exiled from the nearby Shielded city. She’s familiar with danger--acidstorms and genetically-altered animals and the Commission's soldiers. Even the Mistress poses a threat. Twice a year, she forces a child over the edge of the waterfall in search of starrbriars, a rare flower with healing properties. But Sabah has always believed the risk she lives with is better than the control of the Commission.
When she learns that Berg is having an affair with the Mistress, Sabah is furious. As the Mistress pushes her to accept an offer of Citizenship, Sabah escapes into the wilds. There she is rescued by Arjun, a human genetically altered into a ban-wolf. While with his pack, Sabah learns secrets about the Mistress’s obsession with starrbriars. Arjun offers her a future—a precarious one if the Commission ever learns about the ban-wolves’ hidden city. Now Sabah is forced to make a choice: return to the safety of the Mistress and Berg, or live with the dangers of Outside with Arjun.
Thank you for your consideration of EDGE OF THE FALLS, I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Nazarea N. Andrews
nazareanandrews@gmail.com
The First 250 words:
Chapter 1
I feel eyes on me and I shiver.
The icy mist from the Falls soak me and the cliff beneath my feet. As I make my way across the icy rocks, I wonder who is watching me—one of the younger children? Or the white shadow that I have seen peering from the darkness in the past few weeks?
I resist looking back at the Manor. Even having lived most of my life within its shadowy halls and fire-lit rooms, seeing the Manor from a distance is eerie and forbidding. Somehow, it seems more dangerous than the yawning darkness of the Falls.
I drift toward the river, the water rushing alongside me to plummet over the edge in a cascade of ice and mist.
What would it be like, to fall into the unknown depths below me, with nothing to hold me to safety? The thought distracts me and I stumble, falling. My heart pounds as I fall, my knee slamming into the rocks, ice biting into my palm. I ease backwards, edging slowly away until there is a safe distance between myself and the precipice.
A sneeze behind me makes me jerk, sending my heart racing and my feet edging further from the Falls. I look over my shoulder, and a deeper fear blooms inside me.
Lilith is trudging through the ice-capped snow, the tip of her red nose poking out of her hood. She bends, inspecting something near the ground and I hold my breath, hoping. If she has found the starrbriars, we might be able to postpone the inevitable for a few more days.
EDGE OF THE FALLS QUERY:
Dear Amazing Judges,
EDGE OF THE FALLS, a young adult dystopian retelling of Beauty and the Beast, is complete at 82,000 words.
Sixteen year old Sabah has lived her entire life with the Mistress, exiled from the nearby Shielded city. She’s familiar with danger--acidstorms and genetically-altered animals and the Commission's soldiers. Even the Mistress poses a threat. Twice a year, she forces a child over the edge of the waterfall in search of starrbriars, a rare flower with healing properties. But Sabah has always believed the risk she lives with is better than the control of the Commission.
When she learns that Berg is having an affair with the Mistress, Sabah is furious. As the Mistress pushes her to accept an offer of Citizenship, Sabah escapes into the wilds. There she is rescued by Arjun, a human genetically altered into a ban-wolf. While with his pack, Sabah learns secrets about the Mistress’s obsession with starrbriars. Arjun offers her a future—a precarious one if the Commission ever learns about the ban-wolves’ hidden city. Now Sabah is forced to make a choice: return to the safety of the Mistress and Berg, or live with the dangers of Outside with Arjun.
Thank you for your consideration of EDGE OF THE FALLS, I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Nazarea N. Andrews
nazareanandrews@gmail.com
The First 250 words:
Chapter 1
I feel eyes on me and I shiver.
The icy mist from the Falls soak me and the cliff beneath my feet. As I make my way across the icy rocks, I wonder who is watching me—one of the younger children? Or the white shadow that I have seen peering from the darkness in the past few weeks?
I resist looking back at the Manor. Even having lived most of my life within its shadowy halls and fire-lit rooms, seeing the Manor from a distance is eerie and forbidding. Somehow, it seems more dangerous than the yawning darkness of the Falls.
I drift toward the river, the water rushing alongside me to plummet over the edge in a cascade of ice and mist.
What would it be like, to fall into the unknown depths below me, with nothing to hold me to safety? The thought distracts me and I stumble, falling. My heart pounds as I fall, my knee slamming into the rocks, ice biting into my palm. I ease backwards, edging slowly away until there is a safe distance between myself and the precipice.
A sneeze behind me makes me jerk, sending my heart racing and my feet edging further from the Falls. I look over my shoulder, and a deeper fear blooms inside me.
Lilith is trudging through the ice-capped snow, the tip of her red nose poking out of her hood. She bends, inspecting something near the ground and I hold my breath, hoping. If she has found the starrbriars, we might be able to postpone the inevitable for a few more days.
Monday, April 30, 2012
My bad.
I know what your thinking. I KNOW. Its like I died or something. Actually--I'm not dead. I promise I'm not.
Having a little baby has seriously limited my time on the computer, however, and what little time I've been carving out has been devoted to writing. (More about the new WIP next time!) But believe me, I'm aware I've neglected this little blog, and I promise (again) to do better.
I'm gonna start posting once, maybe twice a week. I can scrounge up something once or twice a week, right? Right.
BUT!!! There is BIG NEWS!!! It's coming, super soon. So keep your eyes open--here and on fbook and twitter. (You follow me on twitter, don't you? I knew you loved me :)
Okay, that's all for now, lovelies. The characters are calling. Happy writing!!
N~
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Guest Post: Shelli Johannes
Today, we have the lovely and talented Shelli Johannes of Market My Words as a guest discussing her author's process. I will be reviewing her (amazing!!) book, Untraceable later this week, but until then--here's Shelli.
Tell us about a typical day for you?
Gosh, as a mom there never seems to be a typical day. But I will tell you a good day when both my kids are in school until about 2. But this is only a couple days a week. Mostly I only have from about 9:30 – 1 on my own.
7:00 get kids up
7:01 argue about what to eat – get breakfast
7:10 pack lunch
7.15 tell daughter to get ready for 10th time
7:30 drop daughter off at school
7:45 get second one breakfast while pack his lunch and bag.
7:46 argue about what to eat
8:10 get him dressed
8:15 argue about what he’s wearing. Try to get shoes on him.
8:30 chase dog around yard to get him in crate so I can take kid to school
8:30-8:45 listen to Kids bop and take 2nd kid to school
9:00 breathe and get home. Make coffee.
9-9:30 Call Critique partners to talk about writing.
9:30 - 10 check emails and FB and twitter and emails and FB and twitter
10:00 more coffee
10-1:30 write (ahhhhhhh) – interspersed with coffee breaks, check emails, FB, and coffee
1:30 have lunch. Argue with myself about what I’m going to eat.
2:00-2:30 check emails, FB and twitter.
2:30 chase dog around yard to get him inside
2:40 pick up first kid
2:50 pick up next kid
3:00 4:30 play with kids. This consists of park or games or coloring.
4:30 computer time for kids and check email, FB, twitter.
5:00 put show on for kids while getting dinner ready
5:30 give kids dinner
6:00 hubby gets home
6:15 play time with daddy
6:30 bath time
7:00 story time
7:30 bedtime
8:00 get mad at kids for coming out of room several times.
Where do you get your inspiration? What are some writing aides (music, coffee, ect) you use?
My inspiration is creating stories I want to read. So I have tons of ideas of things not out there. My brain is full of them. Seriously it is always working. I have ADHD so my brain never stops thinking. Ideas pop into my head all day long. My problem is that I have too many and cant decide on which ones to focus on. My writing aides are coffee and usually music. Sometimes I talk out loud while I’m writing – with dialogue or questions. Crazy thing is – sometimes I even get answers J
Do you prefer outlines and why?
I do a short story summary so I know what book is about. Then I come up with the pitch – this helps me get the overall direction.
Then I take the story and break it out into bullets – jotting down what happnes. They usually start with “And then this happens. And then that happens.” Nothing iconic.
Those bullets end up breaking down into initial chapters – so I may start out with 15 chapters at first that blow out into 50 later. I don’t do a whole outline but I do outline as I write. So if I write chapter 1 – I automatically know what is coming next so I will put down a couple bullets for chapter 2 and 3 -then I write 2 & 3 before I know what will happen next. So on and so forth.
Tell us a little about your editorial approach--I think it's as important as the initial drafting :)
I try to plow through my first draft wthout stopping. This is where I focus on plotting and overall story. What happens. I find if I stop – I never move forward again. So I don’t go back and look at what I’ve done until I’m at the end. Or I try not to anyway. Unless some question comes up and then I add it to the appropriate chapter where I need to address it later.
By the time I have a first draft, I usually have a rough outline with notes on what needs to happen.
Then I go back from the beginning and blow out each chapter more. This time I add in clues and work on sub plots.
I don’t do character traits or voice until the end.
My first draft is mostly dialogue and some setting notes. I’m much better at plotting and setting than I am at voice. Voice and characters come last for me. They are the hardest for me to capture but I find it’s easier when I know the story. I feel like I have to learn about my characters as I go through and see how they react to things.
Editing – I print out book and read out loud – editing as I go. Jotting notes and changing things on paper.
I’ve always thought you could learn a lot about a writer from who they admire--who are some authors you look up to?
Hm I like different things for different reasons.
James Patterson – how he keeps the tension – esp. in Alex cross books
James Hall – Gone wild is one of my favorite books - it is issue driven and plot driven.
Sue Grafton for mystery.
Carrie Ryan for keeping tension in non action scenes. And her action scense are amazing.
Tell us about a typical day for you?
Gosh, as a mom there never seems to be a typical day. But I will tell you a good day when both my kids are in school until about 2. But this is only a couple days a week. Mostly I only have from about 9:30 – 1 on my own.
7:00 get kids up
7:01 argue about what to eat – get breakfast
7:10 pack lunch
7.15 tell daughter to get ready for 10th time
7:30 drop daughter off at school
7:45 get second one breakfast while pack his lunch and bag.
7:46 argue about what to eat
8:10 get him dressed
8:15 argue about what he’s wearing. Try to get shoes on him.
8:30 chase dog around yard to get him in crate so I can take kid to school
8:30-8:45 listen to Kids bop and take 2nd kid to school
9:00 breathe and get home. Make coffee.
9-9:30 Call Critique partners to talk about writing.
9:30 - 10 check emails and FB and twitter and emails and FB and twitter
10:00 more coffee
10-1:30 write (ahhhhhhh) – interspersed with coffee breaks, check emails, FB, and coffee
1:30 have lunch. Argue with myself about what I’m going to eat.
2:00-2:30 check emails, FB and twitter.
2:30 chase dog around yard to get him inside
2:40 pick up first kid
2:50 pick up next kid
3:00 4:30 play with kids. This consists of park or games or coloring.
4:30 computer time for kids and check email, FB, twitter.
5:00 put show on for kids while getting dinner ready
5:30 give kids dinner
6:00 hubby gets home
6:15 play time with daddy
6:30 bath time
7:00 story time
7:30 bedtime
8:00 get mad at kids for coming out of room several times.
Where do you get your inspiration? What are some writing aides (music, coffee, ect) you use?
My inspiration is creating stories I want to read. So I have tons of ideas of things not out there. My brain is full of them. Seriously it is always working. I have ADHD so my brain never stops thinking. Ideas pop into my head all day long. My problem is that I have too many and cant decide on which ones to focus on. My writing aides are coffee and usually music. Sometimes I talk out loud while I’m writing – with dialogue or questions. Crazy thing is – sometimes I even get answers J
Do you prefer outlines and why?
I do a short story summary so I know what book is about. Then I come up with the pitch – this helps me get the overall direction.
Then I take the story and break it out into bullets – jotting down what happnes. They usually start with “And then this happens. And then that happens.” Nothing iconic.
Those bullets end up breaking down into initial chapters – so I may start out with 15 chapters at first that blow out into 50 later. I don’t do a whole outline but I do outline as I write. So if I write chapter 1 – I automatically know what is coming next so I will put down a couple bullets for chapter 2 and 3 -then I write 2 & 3 before I know what will happen next. So on and so forth.
Tell us a little about your editorial approach--I think it's as important as the initial drafting :)
I try to plow through my first draft wthout stopping. This is where I focus on plotting and overall story. What happens. I find if I stop – I never move forward again. So I don’t go back and look at what I’ve done until I’m at the end. Or I try not to anyway. Unless some question comes up and then I add it to the appropriate chapter where I need to address it later.
By the time I have a first draft, I usually have a rough outline with notes on what needs to happen.
Then I go back from the beginning and blow out each chapter more. This time I add in clues and work on sub plots.
I don’t do character traits or voice until the end.
My first draft is mostly dialogue and some setting notes. I’m much better at plotting and setting than I am at voice. Voice and characters come last for me. They are the hardest for me to capture but I find it’s easier when I know the story. I feel like I have to learn about my characters as I go through and see how they react to things.
Editing – I print out book and read out loud – editing as I go. Jotting notes and changing things on paper.
I’ve always thought you could learn a lot about a writer from who they admire--who are some authors you look up to?
Hm I like different things for different reasons.
James Patterson – how he keeps the tension – esp. in Alex cross books
James Hall – Gone wild is one of my favorite books - it is issue driven and plot driven.
Sue Grafton for mystery.
Carrie Ryan for keeping tension in non action scenes. And her action scense are amazing.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Possess
Book Review:
Title: Possess
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Date Released: 8.23.11
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars!
Synopsis:
Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her over-protective mom, by Matt Quinn, the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, the voices are demons—and Bridget possesses the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from. Literally.
Terrified to tell her friends or family about this new power, Bridget confides in San Francisco’s senior exorcist, Monsignor Renault. The monsignor enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession, but just as she is starting to come to terms with her freakish new role, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. And when one of her oldest friends is killed, Bridget realizes she’s in deeper than she ever thought possible. Now she must unlock the secret to the demons’ plan before someone else close to her winds up dead—or worse, the human vessel for a demon king.
I was drawn to this book because of the cover. It's gorgeous and creepy and had me thinking, with a cover like that, the book has to rock.
And for the most part, I was right. The book was excellent--I adored Bridget and her strong personality that occassional gives way to weakness and the need to not always be strong. I liked the supporting cast and bought into the romance between Matt and Bridget--and FYI, Matt is definetely crush-worthy. :) I loved the images during the exorcisms--although the doll shop scene was creepy and I'm still considering taking my kids dolls and locking them up. I really liked the relationship that Bridge has with her mother, the way it's both loving and difficult--something to be expected in the wake of her father's death.
The writing was very solid, as well. It was equal parts eerie and snarky and amusing, with very little backstory to bog me down. And the mythology of fallen angels was well done without falling into the traps of being overdone.
At parts, I felt the plotline was predictable--the twists and turns were ones that I saw coming early on--but even that didn't bother me much. Reading Possess was a nice change for me--I wanted something dark without being dark, something that had a healthy dose of romance to spice it up and make me swoony.
Gretchen's Possess did that, effortlessly. I definetely recommend it and look forward to future creepily fun stories by Gretchen.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The End Goal
The other day I posted a Facebook status about Write Or Die. Which, since I'm drafting NEW NOVEL, isn't that surprising. Writerly friends made appreciative noises and we all wandered back to our corner of cyberspace (some of us with shiney new words!)
And that was all. Until dinner at my in-laws a few days later when in the middle of laddeling gravey onto his cube steak FIL asked what it was.
FIL: So what is Write or Die, Nazarea?
ME (startled): oh, um. It's this site I use when I'm drafting that makes me write.
FIL: I looked at it.
M: Oh. Well. It, um, keeps me motivated and moving.
FIL: But it doesn't actually help you write?
M: Well, yeah. It makes me write a certain amount in a set time.
FIL: So it's a timer.
Me: Sorta.
FIL: So you can type anything, quality doesn't matter.
Me (shrugging and ready to change the subject.) Well, I'm drafting so it's a tool that works well for this stage. Um, could you hand me the peas?
And that was that.
UNTIL...(Come on, you knew there was a point)
It was bugging me, because I couldn't properly explain why WODie was so helpful. And I finally came to it a few hours later when I was talking with Mike. It's simple: when I'm drafting, polish, format, spelling--none of that matters. What does matter is the story. Getting it down before the inspiration and drive is gone. Write or Die, with it's irritating noises and disapperaing words helps me do that.
Of course, polish and shine eventually do come into play. But for me--for my individual process, that's what subsequent drafts and editing and revisions are for. The first draft doesn't have to be perfect and that's okay. As long as I have it written, I can improve the heck outta it.
SO!!! THAT'S why I use Write or Die. :) What do you use your first draft?
And that was all. Until dinner at my in-laws a few days later when in the middle of laddeling gravey onto his cube steak FIL asked what it was.
FIL: So what is Write or Die, Nazarea?
ME (startled): oh, um. It's this site I use when I'm drafting that makes me write.
FIL: I looked at it.
M: Oh. Well. It, um, keeps me motivated and moving.
FIL: But it doesn't actually help you write?
M: Well, yeah. It makes me write a certain amount in a set time.
FIL: So it's a timer.
Me: Sorta.
FIL: So you can type anything, quality doesn't matter.
Me (shrugging and ready to change the subject.) Well, I'm drafting so it's a tool that works well for this stage. Um, could you hand me the peas?
And that was that.
UNTIL...(Come on, you knew there was a point)
It was bugging me, because I couldn't properly explain why WODie was so helpful. And I finally came to it a few hours later when I was talking with Mike. It's simple: when I'm drafting, polish, format, spelling--none of that matters. What does matter is the story. Getting it down before the inspiration and drive is gone. Write or Die, with it's irritating noises and disapperaing words helps me do that.
Of course, polish and shine eventually do come into play. But for me--for my individual process, that's what subsequent drafts and editing and revisions are for. The first draft doesn't have to be perfect and that's okay. As long as I have it written, I can improve the heck outta it.
SO!!! THAT'S why I use Write or Die. :) What do you use your first draft?
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Hello, there!!
Apologies need to be offered first--I've been particularly bad about blogging. And that's...boo-hiss. In my (albeit pathetic) defense, I've been mommy-ing and revising!
Princess and Monster-Girl are deep into the new school year, loving cheerleading and dance (seriously adoreable, watching them do ballet and tap). JuneBug is growing like a weed, and laughing which is super cute.
And then of course there is writing. Which I'm gonna hush about, because I'll need something to blog about later this week.
But the blog. Right. I'm going to try to start blogging twice a week (three times if your lucky!!). Maybe once about writing/life and book blog the other day. How is that for you, lovlies? I'll try to find some pretties to interview (I was really good at that, once upon a lifetime ago) and see about getting this thing respectable. What do you think?
Any ideas, leave them in the comments. :)
Princess and Monster-Girl are deep into the new school year, loving cheerleading and dance (seriously adoreable, watching them do ballet and tap). JuneBug is growing like a weed, and laughing which is super cute.
And then of course there is writing. Which I'm gonna hush about, because I'll need something to blog about later this week.
But the blog. Right. I'm going to try to start blogging twice a week (three times if your lucky!!). Maybe once about writing/life and book blog the other day. How is that for you, lovlies? I'll try to find some pretties to interview (I was really good at that, once upon a lifetime ago) and see about getting this thing respectable. What do you think?
Any ideas, leave them in the comments. :)
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