ecstatichttp://community.livejournal.com/capes_c
- Mood:
okay
Julie Kenner provided a quote for Phenomenal Girl 5! I'm not sure if it's in time to get on the cover or not, but here it is!
"Phenomenal Girl 5 kept me up late turning pages. Kudos to debut author A.J. Menden for creating a fully realized superhero world with a well-rounded cast of characters complimented by a sharp-witted narrator that you can’t help but want to spend time with."
Also, Dorchester's announced a make-your-own cover contest, where you can dress up as your favorite characters and take a photo to send in for prizes. Anyone out there want to re-enact a Phenomenal Girl 5 cover, well, that would just be all kinds of awesome! More info is here: http://www.dorchesterpub.com/Dorch/Speci
- Location:at work
- Mood:
lethargic - Music:Michelle Branch
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72,900 / 85,000 (85.8%) |
Now, here's why I'm boring you with it. I recently did the line edits for PG5. I had to stop in the middle of this - with a different main character - and go back to Lainey. First of all, I was happy how easily I snapped back into "Lainey mode." I guess she's never far away in my brain. And then, when I went back to book 2, I was glad to see that Lainey and Mindy sound different. They're going to sound somewhat similar, they're both coming out of me after all, but I know sometimes in first person POV different characters can sound exactly the same. But they are definitely two different people speaking, and I was glad to see that.
Now when I finish and go through the this-is-crap phase, I may feel differently. But for now, I'm glad it's still working!
- Location:at work
- Mood:
busy - Music:"Call It What You Want" - NKOTB
The Friday Writers Coffee Break is up at its new home over on capes_coffins. Please follow the link to discuss.
http://community.livejournal.com/capes_c
This is the topic of the week over at fangs_fur_fey: What do you try to do to stay healthy? Does it affect your writing? What else would you like to start doing to stay healthy?
I just got a Wii Fit this month, and it is fabulous! I do exercise with it every day - good for stress relief and good for toning your body. I also try to eat healthy. Some days are better than others.
What else I want to change is to try to stop mentally stressing out about everything. It interferes with writing and isn't exactly healthy.
- Location:at work
- Mood:
restless - Music:air-conditioner running
This week's topic is about writing superstitions - what do you need to do/items you need to get inspiration?
http://community.livejournal.com/capes_c
- Location:at work busy
- Mood:
nervous - Music:System of a Down
I'm having computer issues, I don't know what's going on and I can't 100 percent track down the source. So until that time, my Internet time is going to be severely limited. So if you don't see me around, that's why. I'm sure I'll talk to you all soon!
I have 5 trunk novels, three of which are an actual series, and I was just wondering about that the other day, if I could ever stand a chance to resurrect them or breathe new life into them, or if I should just consider them learning experiences and never look back. There are elements of all of them I like, and elements of them I dislike. All would need, oh, about 20,000 more words, so nothing's going to go straight back into the hopper without a major overhaul. And therein lies the issue - other than two ideas for more EHJ books I have perculating, I have so many other ideas for other series and types of books cooking in my brain that I'd like to get to work on, I don't know if I want to go back. Perhaps the elements I like will be cannibalized into other books. Right now, I'm thinking I will cross that bridge with my agent when I get to it.
- Location:at work
- Mood:
thoughtful - Music:various book soundtracks
Today's question comes from
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
merb101 who recently stumbled across another post dealing with this issue: Should books have ratings or content warnings, much like movies and television shows do? ( My Response )
I'm interested in seeing what everyone says about this. It could be the makings of a great debate. Just remember, everyone, to play nice.
Almost forgot, please do check out fellow OWGer Sharon Ashwood and my other home away from home,
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
capes_coffins.- Location:at work
- Mood:
curious - Music:Hot Child in the City
( My Answer )
So, are you a plotter, a panster, or somewhere in the middle, like me? How do you sit down to plot (or not) your next story?
Oh, and BTW, if you aren't sick of my ramblings, join me and my fellow writing group member, Sharon Ashwood, over at our joint-blog,
capes_coffins for our weekly ramblings, excerpts, and more! It's a community so be sure to click watch or the little friend button.- Location:at work
- Mood: okay
- Music:Chaos Mix
http://www.amazon.com/Phenomenal-Girl-SH
Excitement abounds!
Oh, any suggestions for topics for Friday Writers Coffee Break tomorrow?
- Location:at work bouncing
- Mood:
bouncy - Music:Phenomenal Girl 5 soundtrack
First of all, Phenomenal Girl 5 is now appearing in the Ingram catalog. For those of you who don't know, Ingram is one of the major book distributors here in the U.S. My mom is a bookseller, which is how I found out. According to it, my publication date is October 2008 (guessing Oct. 28 based on other Shomis release dates?) Here is the one sentence blurb:
An up-and-coming superhero finds love with the man assigned to train her and a plot that will push the couple to the extent of their powers.
Cool, huh? Excellent job, whoever wrote that! Editor? Publicist? I like it, whoever did it.
Secondly, for those of you who didn't know, I have a website now! Check it out at www.ajmenden.com
Finally, after kicking around the idea for a while, my writing group friend, Sharon Ashwood, and I decided to create a blog for the both of us, as a kind-of cross promotional thang. She writes urban fantasy'paranormal romance too. Content's going to be whatever we want to talk about each week, be it a new movie or book (or comic books), or having a few other authors over to chat. We'll see where the wind takes us. So check it out if you want, just be sure you click the "friend" or "watch" button and not the "join this group" button.
capes_coffins - Location:at home watching Dr. Phil
- Mood:
excited - Music:the theme song
Back when I had the schedule to write from midnight to 4 in the morning every day, I could kick out a 65,000 word book in a little over a month. I think I wrote PG5 in a month and a half or so. Now that I'm trying to adjust to my new schedule and right now only working on the weekends, things are moving much slower. I'm really going to carve out more time to write, because I miss it.
But pre-contracted deadlines, I also wrote in fits and starts. I could write every day and do 10,000 plus words a week, then I might not write for a week or more. And the time between books REALLY lagged. At the very least, I feel like I'm becoming more disciplined with my writing.
I don't know that I notice a difference in quality. I think with every book, I get better, but that's just a learning and growing thing, not a quality thing. I've noticed when I did NaNoWriMo, the quality wasn't as good, but that may have been the story itself and not the write-50,000-in-a-month thing.
- Location:at work
- Mood:
mellow - Music:people talking
- Location:lurking in Gotham
- Mood:
crazy - Music:Batman Dance
Now, onto topic. This week's topic is from rlane33, who asks about the dirty little secret of the book-buying world. How often do you buy books? Or do you borrow them from the library or from friends? And does that bother writers?
( Read more... )
So what's everyone else do? How often do you buy books? Or do you borrow from friends/library? And what do you think as a writer?
Now I'm off to sing some NKOTB.
- Location:at work
- Mood:
giggly - Music:Tonight - NKOTB
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Phen
- Location:at home watching The Office
- Mood:
envious - Music:The Office theme song
Tekgrrl Soundtrack
Afraid - Nelly Furtado
I Want to Hold Your Hand - T.V. Carpio
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
Let it Be - Carol Woods
Watch Your Back - Benny Cassette
Promiscious - Nelly Furtado
Army of Me - Powerman 5000
Hole in the Earth - The Deftones
No More Heroes - Violent Femmes
Technical Difficulties - Julien-K
Negative Creep - Nirvana
Wonderwall - Oasis
Backburner - The Killers
Funeral of a Good Girl - Bif Naked
That's the Way (My Love Is) - Smashing Pumpkins
Bad Habit - Joss Stone
If I Fell - Evan Rachel Wood
Proper Nice - Joss Stone
Helter Skelter - Dana Fuchs
End of the World - Armor For Sleep
Combat - The Deftones
Rivere - The Deftones
Doomsday Clock - Smashing Pumpkins
Worlds Collide - Powerman 5000
Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums - A Perfect Circle
- Location:at work
- Mood:
ditzy - Music:Tekgrrl Soundtrack
( Read more... )
So writers, how would you address this issue? Readers, how often do you want to 'check in' with the other characters? And while we're talking about POV, what's your favorite POV to write in or read and why?I've become more accustomed to 1st person POV, since I'm writing it, and I've noticed a lot of urban fantasy/paranormal are 1st. Don't know why.
- Location:getting ready to leave
- Mood:
happy - Music:Queen
Topic of the Week from fff: Do you print out your manuscript to edit and do you change fonts?
I used to have to print it out, but I've gotten to the point of being able to do it all on screen. I think it's from my job of having to edit on screen and the fact that I haven't had a working printer in years, LOL. I've had to depend on the kindness of my parents whenever I needed a hard copy for agents. I think the last time I managed to get my printer to work was when I printed out PG5 as a requested full for my publisher. It died shortly after again. You learn how to edit on screen with no printer. Necessity is the mother of invention and all of that.
However, when I do critiques for someone else, I have to print it out to read it. Don't quite know why that is.
I use whatever font, size and color comes up in Word. I never change it.
- Location:at work recovering from the stress
- Mood:
exanimate - Music:Dennis Miller's radio show
