Updates!

So much is going on lately that I need to do an update post!  Let's see...where to start...

My life:
As some of you know my husband graduates with his PhD this semester, which means a big move come summer.  I am both excited and terrified by the impending exodus.  I'm mainly excited by the prospect of not having to work two jobs and finally having time for writing.  But I don't want to leave my friends, family, and the one job that I do like.  I'm also worried about where this move will put me in relation to the industry.  Because of all this I've been super stressed and not writing all that much.  :(  One thing I can definitely say about becoming a writer is that I've definitely discovered what a sensitive person I am when it comes to stress and anxiety.

Recent:
I just went to Arisia this past weekend.  I was a little bummed because, despite my efforts, I didn't get a chance to be a panelist this year.  Despite that, it still rocked.  I went to some fun panels, ate way too many chicken tenders, got invited to be an extra in a movie, got invited to present an award at the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival, met Nicole Peeler and Genevieve Iseult Eldridge, got to see PJ Schnyder, bonded with The Lady and the Leopard, hung out with some old college friends, and got an awesome new shirt and squid barrettes.

On the con front: 
This year is promising to be a busy one!  I'm starting to hear back from conventions.  I'm already slated to be a panelist at a number of them.  As of now I'm confirmed at I-Con, MarCon, Steampunk World's Fair, and Authors After Dark.  I'm trying to get on Lunacon and Connecticon.  I'll be attending DragonCon, but not in an official position.  Depending on where we end up moving, I'll try for some others later in the year.

Writing: 
Scar-crossed is still on submission with three of the biggest houses representing YA literature.  One has had it for over two months, so I hope that time was spent getting approval to offer me a contract.  *crosses fingers*  Just in case, we've got another round of submissions to editors going out soon.  I'm excited about this submission because I've recently changed Scar-Crossed.  After going back and analyzing the rejections I've gotten so far I decided that the reason I'm getting rejections is because the editors can't figure out how to make my work stand out in a market flooded with paranormal love triangles.  So, I really thought about what makes Scar-Crossed different from what's out there and decided to go back into the manuscript and highlight these aspects.  I'm hoping that this will produce positive results.

I'm going back to the short stories for a few weeks.  I need to finish editing Unbinding Elizabeth, which will be published under a new pen name because it's erotica and I don't want my poor little YA readers to grow up too fast.  I'm also working on the next short in the City Steam anthology.  It's going to be called The Krie Seekers.  It's longer than The Alchemist's Perfect Instrument and contains multiple POVs, but will retain the psychological horror aspect.  I'm aiming for it to be a little more mainstream and marginally less squicky.

As far as novels go, I'm mainly focusing on Double-Crossed (the sequel to Scar-Crossed), an adult steampunk novel (set in the world of Dormorn) called The Great White Light, and a YA cyberpunk that's I'm tentatively calling CyberElla.  I'm hoping to finish one of these soon, but that's entirely dependent on what other external factors want to come sit on my creativity for months at a time.  *glares*  *does the haka*

Plans for The Blog:
I'm changing things up again.  I really love blogging and doing the giveaways, but my work schedule just doesn't make this easy!  I'm keeping Monday Muse as the "fun" aspect, and I'm going to alternate between Toolbox Tuesday and Write Well Wednesday as the "industry" aspect.  Now, for the fans, I'm going to start trying to have an occasional "Feature Friday" which will showcase a particular author and his/her work.  There will be a showcase of the work, a review (chosen, not written, by me), an interview, and will conclude in a giveaway of an autographed copy of the author's book(s).  I'm going to try aligning the giveaways with the blog-hops I've been doing so that the author gets the maximized amount of exposure to new readers.  I encourage you all to continue entering the giveaways and to check out these wonderful authors!

Finally, some fun:
I'm currently listening to: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
I'm currently reading:  Gardens of the Moon by Stephen Erickson
I'm craving: Panera's new oatmeal
This is the last thing that made me laugh myself breathless:

Write Well Wednesday: Creating the Preparation Plan

Yesterday we talked about the need for an author to have a preparation plan for how they want to deal with the public/promotional aspect of their career.  Today, I'll help you get started in designing one!


As mentioned yesterday, your plan should be a contingency plan full of "What Ifs," "How Tos," and "Golden Rules" that will help the external world see your author persona as how you want it to be seen.  When constructing the plan, the "How Tos" should follow the "What Ifs."  Based off of what you write for these two, you'll create a basic set of "Golden Rules" that define your public author persona.  In other words, try your best to think of every possible good or bad situation you may end up in.  Figure out how to deal with it without damaging your author persona.  Create a set of easy rules that you can live by whenever you put on your author hat.

Here are some things you'll want to think about:

1.  How accessible to do you want to be?  Think long and hard about separating your personal life from your writer persona.  You don't want creepers stalking you at work or kidnapping your children.  If this requires creating a pen-name, making a new Facebook page, or wearing a Zorro mask, do it.

2.  What can you physically and emotionally deal with?  Decide ahead of time what your physical and emotional limitations are and don't make exceptions.  If you are a sloppy drunk, don't drink with fans or readers.  If you get annoyed by people who can't get to the point, consider an online only persona or taking some classes to deal with this.  If you get grumpy and irritable after being on panels for 12 hours, try to have a wing man to deal with fans.  If you have creepy basement dweller stalkers, get really burly escorts to hustle you out and walk you to your car.

3.  How do you interact with your fans and critics?  Try to treat everyone the same...Otherwise you may end up with someone who thinks they are "special" or "your friend" and might cross a boundary or two.  It's okay to have and make friends, just make sure you can clearly see the line between friendship and hero worshiping stalkers.

4.  When dealing with emails, tweets, and blog posts.  Try to be as kind and clear in responses as you can be.  Don't be afraid to say no to or ignore belligerent people.  It's always a good idea to give a "disclaimer" type of message or note outlining that you don't sit by the computer waiting for fan mail, thus you don't answer right away...

5.  What kind of networking and promoting are you going to do?  Make time for your fans.  The best way to build a following is to interact with people, not to just bludgeon them with advertisements!  Show your fans that you are a real person.  Just.don't spend so much time networking that you forget to write!  If your fans are demanding too much of you then you need to step back and reassess your schedule.  (The best way to do this is to just make sure you set clear rules about your networking before you even create an account!)

6. Are you an author on a soap box?  Consider your transparency and affiliations.  As a person you've got your own socio-political and religious affiliations (or lack of).  Do you want these affiliations to define you as an author?  If not, make sure you keep these topics out of your persona's spotlight.

7.  Do you need a muzzle?  Be careful what you do and say.  Things DO come back and bite you in the bum, especially with the internet.  YA moms don't like their children reading books written by an author whose Girls Gone Wild video is up on YouTube.

8.  What happens when you start interacting with other authors?  Don't be "that guy."  Try your best to be civil and humble -- especially around other authors.  You are not a diva, someone will always pwn you.  These are your "co-workers" so don't go all fan girl when you meet Dean Koontz.

9.  How do you want others to see you?  Dress the part.  You can go professional or dress to your genre, just remember that once you decide you have to remain consistent so that your fans can recognize you more easily.  Also, be appropriate for the genre you write!

These are just some of the things that you're going to want to make sure you consider when creating your plan.  Have fun and good luck!

Toolbox Tuesday: The Disaster Preparation Plan

Whether you write under your own name or start your career under a pen-name, you'll have to put a lot of thought into how you want to present yourself to your readers.  For a lot of writers this simply means being themselves, but for others it's not so easy.

Being a writer, especially one who makes an effort to promote their work in the public eye, requires a lot of interaction and diplomacy.  Quite often, this can catch a new author unprepared and, handled badly, could cause irreparable damage to the author's reputation or lifestyle.  You may end up with your home address or phone number posted all over the net.  You may have to deal with a belligerent reader at a signing.  Or, you may defend yourself in a blog post and it may be taken the wrong way.

The best way to prevent being taken by surprise or making a mistake is to have a "preparedness plan" for your persona.  I know it sounds cheesy, but you'll want to establish a list of exactly what your limitations are going to be, what you'll tolerate from your fans, and how you're going to interact with both the people who hate you and those who love you a little too much.  Basically, a contingent plan of "what ifs," "how tos," and "Golden Rules."

Tomorrow we'll talk about some considerations that should go into making such a plan.

Monday Muse: Young Men Dead - The Black Angels

There is something about how dark and creepy this song is that makes me like it.

YA Faeries and Fantasy Blog Hop

Welcome to another giveaway!  These are a few of my favorite things rolled into one amazing Blog Hop, so I'm super excited.

Here's the deal:  Below is a list of books that one lucky winner (selected through Rafflecopter) will be able to chose one book from.

NOTE: I will be at a convention the weekend of the 13th, so winners will not be posted until at least that Sunday night.  Regular posts will resume on Monday the 16th.

Ready?

1.  Decide you want one of these awesome books!  There is such a large selection so that if you happen to win another one of the giveaways in the hop, you wont get a repeat!

Any one of the Modern Faerie Tales by Holly Black
Any one of the Iron Fey books by Julie Kagawa
Any one of the Wicked Lovely books by Melissa Marr
Any one of the Books of Faerie by Maggie Stiefvater
Any one of the Wings books by Aprilynne Pike
Any one of the Wonderous Strange books by Lesley Livingston
Any one of the Need books by Carrie Jones
Any one of the Abhorson books by Garth Nix
Any one of The Seven Kingdoms books by Kristin Cashore
Any one book by Tamora Pierce
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
Daughter of Smoke and Bone or  by Laini Taylor
Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner
Reckless by Cornelia Funke
Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card

2.  Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter.  This hop runs from 1/6/12 to 1/12/12.  Hit the green "Do It" buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the green enter buttons when you're done.  (You may have to log in using facebook to do this).


a Rafflecopter giveaway


3.  Click the link to go visit the ridiculous number of other blogs giving away other YA faerie and fantasy books!

Write Well Wednesday: Affect vs. Effect

Another quickie today cause I have a 12 hour day at work, writer's group, and I have to set up for tomorrow's YA Faeries and Fantasy blog hop!

"Affect:" vs. "Effect."  It's one of the biggest issues for some writers.  I could attempt to explain it or let Grammar Girl do it for you.  Since I don't have time to think about how to explain it clearly, we'll go with the later!

Learn about "affect" vs. "effect" here!

Toolbox Tuesday: The Contract

Omigosh!  I completely forgot yesterday was Tuesday!  I think that whole New year's day off got my clock all messed up, LOL!  Sorry about that folks.  I guess today is imaginary Tuesday and tomorrow will be imaginary Wednesday...

So, today's tool is The Contract.

*cue ominous music* 

I felt it necessary to include the contract in the toolbox because contracts make everything wonderful.. Well, not really...they're full of language you don't understand and loopholes...But for what I'm talking about they are wonderful.  :)

What I'm talking about is expectation.  Contracts are great for working out what is and isn't expected between two parties.  AND, if someone doesn't follow a contract then you get to pwn them in all sorts of legal ways.  I am not a proponent of illicit law suits, but sometimes you just gotta fight and everyone's weakest spot is in the wallet.

So, contracts.  I'll admit I have no legal knowledge, so I can't clarify contract language and what-not.  I have a lawyer writer buddy and an agent for that.  What I can say is that a contract should be fair and you should fully understand every aspect of it before you sign it.  If it's full of language and legal terms you don't understand, get someone who does to explain it to you.  It's never a good thing to accidentally sign away your kidneys as collateral... 

If you don't like something in your contract, ask for it to be changed or try to make an agreement that both you and the party you're signing with can agree on.  If you're lucky enough to have an agent, they'll do this for you. 

Although, you're going to want to make sure you make your expectations clear to your agent so that he/she can rally for your cause.  Be aware that if you're a new author, the likelihood of getting those golden clauses in your contract is slim to none.  That doesn't mean you shouldn't educate yourself on what you should ask for or fight for what you want.  You never know...

Finally, don't ever do anything or make any kind of agreement without a contract.  This is an industry and this is your job.  We rely too heavily on other people for agents, editors, and publishers to be dragging their feet or leading you by your nose.  Get a contract, make sure they follow it, and make sure you follow it!

Monday Muse: Lana Del Rey - Born To Die

Lana Del Rey is a new discovery! She's quite lovely and has an even lovelier voice. Please enjoy!