Monday, June 24, 2013

June 2013 #writemotivation Wrap-Up and #fundsforfeaky

June is almost over and I feel like I accomplished very little. Some of it is my fault (*cough*Skyrim*cough*), some is just life in general. That doesn't mean I failed. Failure is not in my #writemotivation vocabulary. As long as I get something done, I'm not a failure. Did I meet my goals? Yes. But I still don't feel like I wrote as much as I should.

  1. Try not to kill my muse Done. Muse is cooperating and adding more stories to my brain...
  2. Write up character stuff and whatnot for “Snapshot”, aka the Uber Plot Bunny. I did that and even wrote the first chapter.
  3. Blog once a week. Done.
  4. Cheer on my buddies. On blogs and even on twitter. Plus I attended a virtual meetup and made Michelle laugh so hard she just about fell out of her chair.
  5. Try not to obsess about HJ being at Mentor Agent. Done. *twitch* Got an email from my mentor letting me know that I should be hearing from them soon. MEEEEP!
By the way...if you haven't tried Google Hangout, it has some fun features. For part of the conversation, I was a monocled king with an epic stash. Unfortunately, I was alone when this happened.


We took a lot of pictures of Michelle because she had the best facial expressions. I'll be nice and not post an embarrassing one...I'll keep those for blackmail later.
I was laughing so hard I was crying.

Now on to July's goals.
  1. Try to write every day or do something involving writing (really didn't do that in June and ended up flopping around like a dying goldfish)
  2. Finish up my beta read (if I don't finish it before the end of June)
  3. Cheer my #writemotivation pals on
  4. Blog once a week.
One last thing, a friend of mine was forced from her home by a flood. Her library where she works was under several feet of water and she had 10 minutes to evacuate her home with only those few things she could carry. I am participating in an auction to raise money to help her and her family as well as provide books to the library where she worked.

For more info on the auction and how you can help, go to Jessa Russo's blog. There are links to the various auction items. If you don't want to help her directly, there are other people affected by the flood who have lost jobs and homes.

'Till Next Time

Where I Get Creepy about Vicious by Victoria Schwab

In three months Victoria Schwab will achieve world domination. This gives me three months to achieve minion status.

Don't let her cute exterior fool you. She will be your overlord.

To that end, I will switch to creepy Gollum minion mode for this post in an attempt to win an ARC (Advance Reader Copy for those of you unworthy of her attention) of her newest book Vicious.

YOU CAN'T HAVE IT! IT'S MY PRECIOUSSSSSSSSS!
Why do I want this book so badly?
  1. Victoria is an brilliant writer who also maintains a humble attitude and takes none of her amazing talent for granted.
  2. Superheroes. She wrote a freaking book about Superheroes. With best friends turned enemies.
  3. Did I mention she wrote a book about SUPERHEROES?!
  4. Said book is dark and twisted and I have a feeling I won't know who is really the good guy and who is the bad guy.
YES! IT WILL BE MINEEEEEE!!!
Even David Tenant laughs at your feeble attempts to get it!

'Till Next Time, my Precciouuuuusssssssss.....

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Cover Reveal: The Coldness of Marek by Rachel O'Laughlin

I'm so excited that I get to be involved in this reveal. Normally, I don't know anything about a book before seeing the cover. In this case, I got to read this book way early. Like beta early.

It started out as a simple request. Rachel needed another set of eyes on her story. It was fantasy. I love fantasy and I must say I was NOT disappointed.

What she handed me was a brilliant, political intrigue story set in a fantasy world. Now, I'm not talking magic, elves, etc. I'm talking people, kingdoms, revolutions, betrayal, love, hate, loss.

All the good stuff. Even in it's beta state, it was awesome. I haven't seen the final version, but I can only assume it is amazing.

So anyway, enough gushing. Let's meet the author and the cover!

Rachel O'Laughlin

Author Bio:

Obsessed with all things history, Rachel grew up reading adventure stories the caliber of Rafael Sabatini and only recently fell in love with fantasy as a genre. She lives in Maine with her husband and children, grows roses and tweets often. In addition to reading and writing, she loves coffee, spy series, and alternative rock.

Release Date: August 6, 2013
Goodreads Link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17968606-coldness-of-marek
Pre-order Direct from Author: http://rachelolaughlin.com/novels/coldnessofmarek/
Author Website: http://rachelolaughlin.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/rachelolaughlin
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/r.k.olaughlin


And now for the cover!!!!















Serengard has been under Orion rule for centuries. Centuries of insufferable adherence to laws and traditions that none of its people ever asked for or agreed to. Raised by her scholarly grandfather in the fiery southern city of Neroi, Trzl is out to turn the monarchy into a free society where knowledge is king and no one has to be subject to the whims of an Orion.

As the rebellion escalates, her choices have an eerie impact on the revolution at large, elevating her to a position of influence she has only dreamed of attaining. But there are downsides to her power: appearances and alliances that must be upheld. One of them is Hodran, a rich rebel who wants to aid her cause, and another is Mikel, a loyalist farmer who wants to destroy it… and who just might be winning her heart at the same time.

By the time Trzl realizes she is in too deep, she has an infant son and a dark mess of betrayal and lies. She runs, to the farthest corner of the kingdom, in hopes she will be left alone with her child. But she has a few too many demons. Someone she once trusted takes her captive among the chilling Cliffs of Marek. She is thrown back into the political mess she helped create… at the mercy of a man she never wanted for an enemy.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

June 2013 #writemotivation Week 3

Not much has changed except instead of just having one story screaming in my head, I have two. I blame Seleste DeLaney. It's her fault. I showed her this video by Meg Myers.


Honestly I can't get it out of my head. It's so deliciously obsessive. Anyway, I mentioned that it gave me ideas, but I hadn't really thought too much about it. Anyway, she and I started talking and next thing I know we have a story idea.

Not that she and I are writing a story together, but rather, we're kind of, sort of, maybe seeing who can write it first. My money is on her, but she's admitted that she has a LOT of stuff on her plate. So who knows. We'll see. We each have our take on the story. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
  1. Try not to kill my muse My muse and I have agreed to a cease-fire.
  2. Write up character stuff and whatnot for “Snapshot”, aka the Uber Plot Bunny. I need to clone myself. That is all.
  3. Blog once a week. Almost missed it this week!
  4. Cheer on my buddies. Monday I hit several blogs. :D
  5. Try not to obsess about HJ being at Mentor Agent. Got an email from my mentor letting me know that I should be hearing from them soon. MEEEEP!

Anyway, that's it for now. Wednesday (bright and early), I have a cover reveal for Rachel O'Laughlin's book, The Coldness of Marek.

UPDATE: Forgot to link to my Pinterest board so you can see the cast and music inspiration for the book.


'Till Next Time

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Thursday's Children : Inspired by Chuck Wendig

Originally, I was going to write about this brand new awesome story idea that hit my brain like a two ton heavy thing...thanks Seleste!...but I'm too angry to talk about that. Ok, maybe not so much angry, but more disappointed with the male half of the species. I'm not writing this post to run to the protection of women, I'm writing this because I want to signal boost what others have said. I want to stand up with those who are willing to give voice against this rampant stupidity.

So why am I doing this now?

Well, here's one reason here. Anita Sarkeesian tweeted about how she was disappointed that there weren't any games for the XBox One that featured a female protagonist.

That wasn't the problem. The problem was the responses she got on twitter. Anita posted a blog with several of the tweets she got. If that doesn't piss you off, then you aren't human or you're one of the loser d-bags that think this kind idiocy is cool.

News flash...YOU SUCK!

Chuck Wendig has several posts (Post 1, Post 2, Post 3) about the subject of Misogyny, Sexism, and the Rape culture these attitudes encourage and why people who propagate this attitude are less than human and not men at all, but little boys who are so desperate to prove that they aren't sniveling weaklings that they mistreat and otherwise degrade women.

News flash...THIS MAKES YOU A BULLY AND A COWARD!

It does not make you awesome, manly, or even human.

You could argue with me, but you're wrong. Plain and simple. As a matter of fact, I dare you. I guarantee you don't have a valid argument and will result to name calling and then go on to question my "manliness", my sexual orientation, and whether or not I have "a pair".

Well, yeah, I do. Thanks for asking and I guarantee mine are WAY bigger than yours. I don't have to hide behind bullying and misogynistic behaviors to feel better about myself. I don't have to prove that I'm tough, I don't have to prove my sexual orientation, I don't have to prove that I have "a pair".

Why?

Because I'm a man. That's why and I have NOTHING to prove.

If this is still too complicated, lets do a little history lesson with the game chess. Yeah, I was in chess club, so what?

Here goes. Chess was invented over 1500 years ago in India (don't believe me? Look it up). It's morphed over the years (as have all games), but it still puts it as one of the oldest games in the world (yes there are others older I'm sure, but we're talking about chess).

Question? What's the most powerful piece on the board?

News flash...IT ISN'T THE KING.

Think about it. It's the piece that everyone protects as dearly as the King and if you manage to get a pawn to the other side of the board, nine times out of 10, you'll pick this piece?

Still haven't figured it out?

Maybe you should have joined chess club...

Ok, for those who've never played or are among the brain-dead portion of the populace, I'll make tell you.

News flash...IT'S THE QUEEN.

Seriously, it can move in any direction across the board and cause rampant destruction of the enemies forces. The King? He can move one square, can't move into danger, and you lose if he dies. The King is a pansy. Either he's hiding behind a castle or he's running around the board trying not to get his ass handed to him by a pawn (p.s. the weakest pieces besides the king).

Still want to argue with me? Go ahead. Prove me wrong. I dare you.

News flash...YOU'LL LOSE.

One last thing, it isn't just men propagating this attitude, there are women who do it too. Read the second answer to the question on this page.

Rant over.

'Till Next Time.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

June #writemotivation update Week 2

ACK! I almost forgot to do this! Shame on me!

*gets bloody scourge from the blood scourge closet*

Seriously, thought, lots of stuff going on in my head. I'm starting to get a good feel for how I want Snapshot to go and even the characters. It has some serious dark stuff, but not the same or to the same degree as Hate Jacket. That kind of dark doesn't fit. Snapshot will be lighter and I hope to get some snappy interplay between my two lead characters.

But there will be drama. As a matter of fact, I actually made myself slightly ill while writing the first chapter. Not that anything was happening directly to my MC, it was more how people were acting around her. Where Hate Jacket will make your heart pound, I think Snapshot will break your heart a little.

Now for my goals.

  1. Try not to kill my muse My muse and I have agreed to a cease-fire.
  2. Write up character stuff and whatnot for “Snapshot”, aka the Uber Plot Bunny. Going well so far. I'm not up to a chapter a week yet, but getting there.
  3. Blog once a week. Almost missed it this week!
  4. Cheer on my buddies. I've tossed out some #writemotivation dino tackles and stuff, but need to hit some blogs.
  5. Try not to obsess about HJ being at Mentor Agent. Struggling with this, but I've talked to a couple people about it and I'm ok for the time being.
I should probably save this gif for awesome news, but I can't resist. It's adorable.




'Till Next Time.

Friday, June 7, 2013

Blog Tour: UPRISING by Jessica Therrien Author Interview

For those of you who've been following my blog for a while, you'll recognize the name Jessica Therrien. I've done cover reveals for both of her novels (and I hope to do more). Not only is she an awesome writer, she's wonderful person too.

Today, is a special treat. I got to do an interview. Jessica, in her not so copious free time as a writer/mom/wife, was able to answer all of my questions. Seriously, she's awesome.

So, without further goofiness from me, I give you Jessica Therrien (who's last name I have yet to spell correctly the first time...sorry Jessica!!!).



Author Links:

Links to Oppression (Children of the Gods #1):

Links to Uprising (Children of the Gods #2):


Q: A lot of author's point to one book as being THE book that inspired them. What book inspired you to become a writer?

A: Oddly enough it was the absence of THE book. I was looking for the next hot YA novel after burning through the genre. I couldn’t find it…so I decided to write it.
Many books have inspired my writing, though. There are too many to list.

Q: There are a lot of stories involving gods and mythology out there. What sets yours apart from the others?

A: Most books involving Greek mythology are about the gods as they are known in the myths. My books are based on the premise that the Greek gods were never really gods at all. The characters in my books call themselves Descendants. They live 500 years and have supernatural abilities. When their ancestors exposed their race in ancient Greece, they were mistaken for gods.

Q: Can you tell us about your first concept of Ellie? What was she like? Was she as we see her now or different?

A: She was much different. Originally she had light hair and looked nothing like me. If you look at the cover and then look at my author photo you’ll notice some similarities :D I realized later that I had based the character on myself, and I changed her appearance to match mine. She’s always been a little piece of me.

Q: Who's your favorite character to write in this series and why?

A: My favorite character to write in Oppression was Kara. In Uprising it was Alex. Of course they ended up being two fan favorites as well. Both Elyse & William were fun to write too, but something about them was/is complex and challenging. Kara and Alex were easy and fun. They told me what to do.

Q: How many novels do you plan for this series? Any characters demanding a spinoff?

A: Gosh. I’d love to write a spinoff for Kara & Alex. I hadn’t thought of it until you asked! Good idea! I’m not sure how many novels there will be. Right now I’m planning on three for sure. I’m considering a 4th…maybe a spinoff ;)

Q: Anything else you'd like to share about you or your writing? Any new story ideas tickling your brain?

A: I write slowly, so I have no idea when I’ll be releasing something after this series, but I am excited to start something new. My next book will be a standalone novel for sure. Writing a series is very demanding. I have a ton of ideas…but they are top secret, lol!

Q: Describe a day in the life of Jessica Therrien. You know, just because.

A: This is a lot more boring than you are giving me credit for, haha!
6am-Wake up. Feed baby. Change baby. Play with baby. Put baby to sleep. Clean house. Write. Repeat.
(Note: nowhere in there does it say “get out of pajamas”)

So there you have it. Jessica in her own words. Hope you enjoyed the interview and check out her books (links above). They're worth it.

'Till Next Time.

Monday, June 3, 2013

June 2013 #writemotivation Update Number 1

Um...wait...it's June?!

WHERE THE HELL DID MAY GO????

Seriously, I can't even remember last month or even what I did. I know what I didn't do, that was write. I did think, I did read, and I did stress, but not much writing.

I also learned that my muse has decided to turn into a teenage girl. And she's insisted I join Pinterest so she can post pics of boys.

If I make it through the month without killing my muse, I'll call it a win.

Anyway, it's the first of the month and another goal month, which is good. Hopefully this will keep me on track and I won't get lost in the depths of Skyrim...too much...

So here are my goals (with a slight addendum)
  1. Try not to kill my muse So far I haven't, but it's still looking dicey
  2. Write up character stuff and whatnot for “Snapshot”, aka the Uber Plot Bunny. I am making myself a goal of 1 chapter a week. I should be able to do that without issue.
  3. Blog once a week
  4. Cheer on my buddies
  5. Try not to obsess about HJ being at Mentor Agent
It is going to be a busy month. I have an upcoming guest post with the amazing Jessica Therrien on the 7th and I am also participating in a sekrit project with my friend Carey Torg. I will post links on that later. It sounds awesome and hopefully my part won't suck so bad.

And a random cute gif...

'Till Next Time.