Trekkin' Along on Track (or Oh God I Have to Rewrite 10 Chapters in 10 Days)

Tip of the Day: I tweet about bookish and library things at @bmlkidsteens if you want to follow me!

I'm here, checking in on my November goal!

Goal recap: To revise my YA WIP and have it ready to sub by Dec. 1.

And as of today, I'm on page 165/206 and feeling totally on track!

It hasn't all been easy. During my lunch breaks at work I tried really hard to get in a solid 45 minutes of revision, but sitting at my desk in a cubicle -- even with my headphones on and personal laptop powered up -- doesn't always keep the coworkers away. I love them and all, but but but...NaNoREMo people! :)

I also got feedback from my wonderful Helper Monkeys critique group...and I learned that, uh, there were some "issues" with the chapters leading up the climax. And the climax itself. And oh yeah, the resolution chaps need some clarity. Oh boy. BUT! I was so inspired by them as well -- they helped me brainstorm "fixes" and I could feel what a better book these changes would make -- so when I sat down to write, the words came easily.

This book is different from anything else I've ever written: It has two 1st-person povs, a speculative story with a thriller feel, and a faster pace with bigger stakes. I'm really excited about this novel and hope my revisions are making it into the story I imagine.

How is everyone doing with their NaNo projects?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

It's good to have goals

Tip of the Day: hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving! Try not to eat too much pumpkin pie (oh wait...never mind...eat all the pie you want, you totally deserve it after working so hard this year!)

My November Goal: complete edits on the current book I'm working on.

The Progress: not so great

After completely switching what the book I'm currently working on for the month, I had a bit of a slow start. The switch turned out to be wise, though, and edits with this book are going much better. I've gotten quite a bit done, though there are several chapters I need to update and about two chapters to add.

Since I haven't worked on this book in about three years, there's been much time spent getting into the heads of the characters again. But it's been fun, challenging, and progressing forward has been rewarding.

To celebrate, I'm definitely eating some pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving!


And then...it's right back to work. I still have eight days left in November to complete my goal!

Well at least right after I wipe my tears for the hundredth time today after watching X-factor tonight. Was I the only one that cried at like every story. I told my husband, I'd hate to be the singer without an inspirational story.

--Emily

The Goal Oriented Girl

Tip of the Day: Looking for a good YA read? TANGLED TIDES by Karen Amanda Hooper releases this week and is available in preorder now.

At the beginning of November, my Rochester face-to-face critique group and I set goals for the month. It's an annual tradition. My goal was to finish writing the ending of my YA novel work in progress. Those last few chapters are hanging over my head like a dead weight. So how did I do?

Terrible! I don't think I've written a word!

It's not true that I haven't written a word of anything, of course. But these past few weeks have been life changing for me. I lost my office job in June and my other, more long-term goal for the year has been to work as a freelance writer and editor. This has taken off tremendously all of a sudden. Every project I work on is a learning experience, and every client brings me a new set of skills. I can't wait to tell you all about it as I move forward. For now, though, my routine of looking for work most of the day and then doing some of my own writing is completely broken.

I did manage to rewrite my first scene after attending the Highlights Mastering Setting conference with Kim Griswell and K.L. Going. That was a hard-working conference, by the way. I like my new beginning a lot better. Naturally, now that I know what my ending is going to be, I have more of that tone infused into the beginning.

So I'm definitely making progress over here, but I am disappointed that I haven't been able to type THE END. In fact, not working on my fiction is making me very snippy. For Thanksgiving, I hope I have the chance to curl up with the next chapter. Too bad the school system lets the kids take off time for the holiday! (Just kidding. Sort of.)

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday: Winner of THE FIRST TIME Giveaway

And the winner is.....................

THE SECRET

WRITER!

Congrats! I just

ordered your book

and you should

have an e-mail

with information

shortly!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Just Teasing

Tip of the Day: Remember, you have until midnight tonight to enter the giveaway for The First Time Anthology. Comment HERE. Winner announced tomorrow.

Right now I'm in the middle of revisions on my latest book, THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT. The teaser I'm including is from Chapter 2 when the main character, Livvie, is reading tabloids for an assignment in her Interpersonal Communication Class and notices the cute guy next to her.

I find the page and oh man, it’s true! It’s totally Shaz A.M.! Nasty, nasty, nasty! Man, she had to be scraping his denture cream off the back of her tonsils after this make out session. I flip the page for more pics. “Ok, seriously,” I say to the cute guy in the desk next to me in class, “you’ve gotta see this.” I hold up the magazine for him to see. “She’s going to make ol’ dude break a hip in that position, right?”

The cute guy laughs and his hair shakes out of his eyes. “That’s just wrong.”

I take a longer look at him. Wow. Why haven’t I noticed him before? Serious hotness. He’s got these crazy dark eyes and even darker hair. If he wasn’t dressed so preppy he’d almost look kind of goth. Not that I’m into goth. I myself don’t have any super interesting style. I’m your average whatever looks cute yet is still comfy kind of girl. Hence the worn-out jeans, tee, and converse I’m sporting today. I really want to talk to this big cup of cuteness some more though. “What are you reading?” I ask.

He holds up a National Enquirer. “Botched plastic surgery,” he says. “See, this one’s bottom lip looks like it ate her top lip.” He points to a picture of a woman who looks more feline than female.

I lean over for a closer look. “Whoa! You’re right!” I say. “I bet she wishes she could hit undo on that.”

He smiles. “My name’s Chas Montgomery.”

“Cool name, Chas,” I say, sitting back in my seat. I bet on the weekends he likes to kick back with a nice cigar after a rousing polo match with his buddies, Thurston and Chadwick.

“And you are?” he asks, holding a hand out like he just pointed to a letter on Wheel of Fortune.

“Livvie Peterson,” I reply. “Livvie’s short for Olivia. But I’m sure you already guessed that. Not much else it could be short for, right? Maybe Olive. But who would name their kid Olive? Outside of Popeye’s girlfriend’s mom. About a million and a half years ago. ‘I yam what I yam’, right? But, I babble. Yeah, anyway, it’s Livvie.” Wow. I am all kinds of smoothness here. I don’t know how he’s keeping his hands off me right now.

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

NaNoREMo Teaser (or Public Viewing, Take One!)

Tip of the Day: There is still time to bid on some great kidlit writer items in Jean Reidy's Light up the Library Auction!

I am still plugging away at my revision to meet my goal this month. As I read through earlier chapters that have been in existence the longest, I find myself tweaking just words, so I know it is close! In the later chapters, I need to make some detail changes to the "science" part of the book, but I see how it is going to all come together.

My teaser is from the very beginning of the novel, BLACKOUT. The book is told in alternating povs, Leo and his younger sister Jenny. Chapter One starts with Leo's pov:

Dad and Jenny hugged goodbye. It was like they thought they’d never see each other again or something. I watched their silhouettes from the living room window. Like an outsider.

I never got that close to them. And they never got that close to me.

I shoved my duffle bag and portable amp into the back seat of the SUV, unzipped my guitar case, and strapped the Strat over my shoulder. I could compose an alt-rock hook in the time it’d take for my sister and Dad to say adios. The two of them could go on about solar cells or neutrons or whatever for days. They had gone on about it for days.

Leaning against the car’s door, I played around with a heavier riff. Dad had no neighbors to complain about the noise. Not for miles. For five days I’d been stuck with two people who didn’t know a bass guitar from a violin and didn’t care if they ever learned.

Mom’s side of the family had music going for it, but it also had an aunt who went nuts when she was 17. Like me. The age, not the crazy part. Not yet.

I didn’t fit in with Dad’s side of the family, and wasn’t sure I wanted to fit in with Mom’s.
###

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Teaser Tuesday

Tip of the Day: my friend and critique partner Shana Norris just released another eBook this week called Surfacing. Check out the info about it here.

After spending time working on a variety of books, this is the current one I've been editing lately. Not only is it getting polished...again, it's also getting a new title. But it was formerly named Con Girl. I'm sure you can imaging why :) The new title is a secret (mainly because it keeps changing :) ) Hope you enjoy!

“Whit,” he said, catching me off-guard before I could initiate the plan. “I think we should talk about this. I never meant to hurt you or lie to you.”

He released his arms from me, but the feeling of his touch remained as my skin tingled. I backed up closer to the tree, trying to shoo the feeling away. Knowing he still powered over my thoughts made it harder to curl my arms up and touch the edge of his jacket, but shear will-power forced me to continue on with my plan.

I couldn’t move the light, down-filled coat much, but I did enough that I could feel something heavier in his right pocket like I had suspected.

“It’s water under the bridge,” I answered, turning on the charm and smile. I even made my hair flip out and fall, so it could seductively brush up against his hands. “I was actually coming to apologize to you. I felt bad about the way I treated you at the airport. I realize now you were just doing the job your dad and my parents wanted.”

He touched my hand as I was going lower on the zippered edge of the jacket. “Nice try, Whitney, but you do realize I know who you are, don’t you?” He pulled a set of keys out of his right pocket, pinning me against the tree again with his left hand, and dangled the keys out of my reach. “Fishing for these?”

At the sound of his voice, I got mad for a variety of reasons. First, I couldn’t believe I almost stole something. Even if it was just keys. I had never stolen anything in my life. Sure I’d been given many things under false pretences, but never took something. Even if I was going to give it back. Second, I couldn’t believe I had gotten caught. Preston always fell for the feminine charm. That’s how Tasha and I got him to stock most of the displays for us.

“Actually, you knew Whitney Campbell. Whitney Brown is much more forgiving.” The tree bark felt like nails clawing into my skin as I pushed further into it, but I didn’t care. “Like I said, I just came to apologize to you. Besides, I think it’s best for both of us if we just forget we ever knew each other prior to Copper Town.”

“You want me to forget everything that’s happened in the past two months? Our entire friendship?”

--Emily