Tag Archives: young adult

NaNoWriMo Update: An excerpt

Posted on by

So my goals for NaNoWriMo have changed. Rather that push myself toward 1,667 words a day–because what I was coming up with was close to complete crap–I am focusing on pushing out good writing every day in November. After all, I have things to do people! I’m currently editing another of Mike’s manuscripts for publication soon. I also have the Wake of Darkness sequel to clean up and a couple of photo book projects to finish.

Anyway to get back to the point, I’m working diligently at NaNoWriMo and I’m not beating myself up for not hitting certain word counts. I think my story will actually make for a better novelette, much like Mike’s The Great Machine.

My NaNo story is called When She Learned to Be, and you may not like it. My central character is a teenage girl who is dealing with her homosexuality in a conservative family setting. I realize this is a subject that some people may have issue with. I don’t care. As a writer, I’m doing my job if I’m making you think. There are some scenes that I will be uncomfortable with writing–drug use and a sexual assault–but I’m writing them. If a little voice in the back of my head cringes (can voices cringe? you get what I mean!), I’m writing it anyway.

Here’s an excerpt. Please be mindful of the fact that this is extremely rough and hasn’t been edited:

Sarah’s face softened and a kind smile spread across her face. She understood perfectly. She’d been the unconventional black sheep of her own family; if she’d ever come out she would have faced a storm of disappointment and rejection from her parents and siblings. She had no doubt there’d be a firestorm when Dagny decided to do so.

“Oh honey,” she said, walking to her niece and handing her a tea cup. “Absolutely. Come to me any time.”

Dagny took the cup from her and smiled gratefully at her aunt. She knew Sarah would understand.

“Drink,” Sarah commanded. “It’s a special blend to relieve stress.”

“How did you…?”

Sarah smiled. “I could tell something was weighing you down the moment I walked in the door. Just get through the next few months and then come to New York and live with me.”

Dagny nodded. “Thanks, Aunt Sarah.”

“Of course,” she replied with a bright smile.

Dagny sighed and stared into her tea cup as if it were going to reveal some secret of the universe to her. Sarah studied her seriously.

“What are you not telling me?”

Dagny sighed. “I’m in love with someone.”

“Ah,” Sarah replied knowingly. “Who is she?”

Dagny shook her head. “Just a friend.”

“Just?”

“More than that, but I can’t tell her.”

Sarah frowned. “You have to tell her.”

Dagny panicked. “No, no, no,” she shook her head violently. “I can’t do that.”

“Of course you can!” Sarah replied.

“But it will ruin our friendship.”

“Not if it’s a true friendship,” she corrected. “You have to live your life. You’re too young to carry around that kind of weight.”

“But what happens if she rejects me?”

“Then she rejects you and you move on,” Sarah replied gently. “Life is made for living. In matters of the heart it’s better to regret taking a risk than to look back and regret not doing something. It’s hurting you to keep it to yourself. You need to free yourself of that burden; it shouldn’t weigh on your heart like it does.”

Dagny nodded.

“But will you do it?” Sarah mused. She didn’t actually expect an answer—she often asked her niece rhetorical questions. She did it to get her thinking.

“I hope so,” Dagny non-answered.

Sarah stared at her until her eyes rose to meet her aunt’s gaze. “So do I.”

***

NaNoWriMo 2012 Day 1

Posted on by

It’s HARD!!! Yeah, I’m not gonna lie or sugar-coat things. NaNoWriMo-ing is like being back in school and plowing through homework–which I pretty much totally love, but whatever.

It’s also FUN!!! There’s a whole support network both on the NaNo site and just out in the world. My G+ community is filled with writer rock stars.

If you’re unsure what NaNoWriMo is, it’s a mad sprint towards the goal of a 50,000 word novel, written in a month: Na(tional)No(vel)Wr(iting)Mo(nth). Mind you this is NOT a finished, ready to pimp out/self pub novel. This is an ash can version of a story that can be polished into something beautiful. (Thank you, my darling Mike for educating me on what an ash can copy of a book is)

So what’s my story about?

Nuh uh. Not telling yet.

What I can tell you are the following tidbits:

  • It’s Young Adult (I’m trying to interject the genre with some different points of view)
  • It’s realistic: I haven’t decided yet, but one of my characters may be addicted to drugs.
  • It includes unwanted pregnancy as the result of a rape.
  • It also includes a supporting character who is already shaping up to be one of my favorites. I mean, of all the characters I’ve ever written.

Stay tuned! Oh, and keep an eye on the NaNo widget to the right. I’ll keep it updated every day with my current word count.

Word Monkey Shenanigans

Posted on by

So yeah, I’ve been a horrible blogger the past month; it’s not really like me, but I have a valid excuse (although that’s all it really is, is an excuse).  Life has been throwing me some curveballs lately, but as the French say, c’est la vie!  So what have I been up to?  Well, writing actually.  I’m still pumping the dating book out.  I’ve also started NaNoWriMo with a dieselpunk YA book tentatively titled SAIL.  It’s kinda far out there, and this is my first attempt into the steampunk/dieselpunk genre, so we’ll see how it goes.

File:TheFaulknerPortable.jpgI’ve been tutoring some great kids lately – good Lord that makes me sound old!  They’re in college, but I’m at least a good ten years older than most of them, and yes, at almost 30 (eek!!) the difference between a 19-year-old and a 29-year-old is astoundingly obvious.  Kids in their early 20s (and those who associate with them) are just on a different plane than the rest of us adults – because age is more than just a number.  They just don’t “get” life yet, I’m convinced.  And it’s not necessarily a bad thing, just a fact of life.

So anyways, I rub elbows with PhDs on a regular basis, and it’s been really fantastic.  In particular, I’ve made friends with a professor who is one of the college’s philosophy instructors.  You can imagine what happens when you put a philosopher and a military historian together in a room with a topic, but he’s cool.

Dating Land continues to be adventuresome; watch out world!!  And watch out readers.  There’s more fun to be read about!

That’s it for now.  I’ll be posting some more flash fiction up here soon, and I’ll keep you updated on NaNo shenanigans and the dating book release date. 

Faithful readers, I love you all!! Smooches!!

Book Covers

Posted on by

Wow.  Words have been pouring out of me the past couple of days, but even a good run of writing needs a break from time to time.  So, I started playing on Photoshop and mocked up a few book covers for my eBooks.  I’m working on three.  Actually, one book – Wake of Darkness – is being pimped out to agents at the moment, but if I don’t snag one soon based on the book’s genre (vampires, which are a little tired in the marketplace, I’ll admit), I’m going to self publish it. 

So I thought I’d share the covers, because why not?  The final products may look nothing like these, but this is a fun way to envision them.  Enjoy!!

The first is for my Transmissions from Dating Land book.  I’m pushing this one out first – I’m aiming for mid-October, although that may be pushing my luck.  Stay tuned for more info on this one:

 

Here’s the one I drew up for Wake of Darkness:

 

And finally, the cover for The Map of Us.  Lisa – this is the retitled and under revise manuscript that you read for me quite a while ago.  New name, new focus and all that. :)

Stay tuned on info regarding the release of these three books, as well as others from my new micro-pub (I like that better than “indie publishing”).