Fact vs. Fiction - Day #2 Prisoners in the Palace

I'm excited to have Michaela on the blog today talking about the fact vs. fiction and how her debut, Prisoners in the Palace came to be. Please give a warm welcome to Michaela :)

When I began writing Prisoners in the Palace, I started with biographies. Victoria is one of the most heavily biographed women in the world (!!!) so there are a lot to choose from. But my task is easier because I concentrate on her childhood, usually only a chapter or two in most biographies. Within those chapters, I looked for nuggets to start me thinking… and that’s where the story comes from. The nuggets in this case were the restrictions on her childhood and the dreaded Kensington System which was what her education regimen was called. Since I’m a parent of teenage girls myself, I knew that the life Victoria led would be intolerable to my kids. But the everyday details of her life were fascinating too because they are at once so similar and so different to our lives today. The way I described her schooling, the music she studied, the tutors she had, what she ate, her daily toilette, etc. are all based on fact.

Another nugget was about broadsheets. It turns out in the 1830’s you could print anything you wanted on broad sheets of paper and sell them on the street. They were often used to promote political agendas. When Victoria was Queen, more than one was addressed to her and designed to influence her thinking – much like we might see a full page ad in the New York Times today. I began to think about how dangerous this kind of publicity could be… and my plot emerged.

The challenge writing about a public figure is that you cannot alter the known facts just because it would improve the story. I can’t make Victoria 20 just because I feel like it. Although one of my critique partners insisted it would be amazing if Victoria snuck out of Kensington Palace and had adventures in London, I had to (regretfully) hold my ground. There was no way that someone as protected as she was could ever have slipped away for any length of time. So I created a character, Liza, who could be close to Victoria but who had the freedom to leave the palace. Liza is a ladies’ maid, and I portrayed her life as accurately as I could, based on my research about servants to the aristocracy. The fate of poor Annie, the maid whose place Liza takes, was also based on research about the working poor of London at the time.

It’s ironic that some of the most useful research about this time in London can be found in literature. Dickens and Thackeray were great sources for language and social mores. One of my favorite research tools was a book called What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool. Another amazing tool is a website called www.victorianlondon.org run by Lee Jackson (an author of Victorian mysteries). He has assembled a massive full-text indexed amount of literature and commentary about Victorian London.

Thanks so much Michaela! Don't forget you have a chance to win a copy of Prisoners in the Palace or one of 5 bookmarks:) Click here to enter!

About the book:

London, 1836. Sixteen-year-old Liza's dreams of her society debut are dashed when her parents are killed in an accident. Penniless, she accepts the position of lady's maid to young Princess Victoria and steps unwittingly into the gossipy intrigue of the servant's world below-stairs as well as the trickery and treason above. Is it possible that her changing circumstances may offer Liza the chance to determine her own fate, find true love, and secure the throne for her future queen?

Meticulously based on new interpretations of history, this riveting novel is as rich in historical detail as Catherine, Called Birdy, and as sizzling with intrigue as The Luxe.

Interested in reading the first chapter? That's easy, click here!

You can find out more about Michaela on her: website, blog, Facebook, Twitter
Cross-posted at: He Followed Me Home...Can I Keep Him? on 26 October 2010.

Familiars Throughout History by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson

Let's welcome the authors of The Familiars, Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson for a guest post today! *applause*

Familiars are the animal companions to a wizard or witch. They are mentioned several times in the Bible, from Deuteranomy to Leviticus. Shakespeare's Macbeth had them, too. Familiars were common in Europe during the Middle Ages, and could be seen in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. They existed in popular culture since the 1800s. The earliest and most recognizable of these magical assistants were the black cats of a witch. You’ve seen them on Halloween posters rubbing up against the leg of a woman dressed in black. Surely you are aware of some of the more famous familiars, like Harry Potter’s owl, Hedwig, or Gandalf’s horse, Shadowfax, or Merlin’s owl, Archimedes. Disney’s animated films added many more familiars to the lore, including Jafar’s parrot, Iago, Ursula’s eels, Floatsam and Jetsam, or Maleficant’s crows.

What would Heidi do if the world ends tomorrow?

What would I do if the world is ending tomorrow?

Well that would depend.

Is it ending due to a) zombie apocalypse? b) 2012? Because on our way to the beach this past weekend we were driving on a windy, coastal mountain road and bicycles kept shooting us strange signals with their hands like "Something is ahead," and since we are a bit of a zany family, we were like, "What if that something is ZOMBIES?" and we imagined them walking slowly up this winding road and were running ideas--like, "We could run them over? We can try and knock their brains out with our bow staffs?" etc., so it turned out to be not zombies, but what were they warning us about? I guessed a tsunami, since there are tsunami warning signs with arrows in Half Moon Bay--like in case of tsunami this is a safe spot--but I figured we'd know about that, and that the bicyclists wouldn't be so calm---so who knows what it was?

We never found out.

This is so ramblingly, but I guess if the world ending tomorrow I'd just do what I was doing. Surround myself with people I loved, and pray. Pray that our world wasn't ending due to slow-walking zombies rambling up a mountain road or a devastating tsunami that washed over the entire earth. o_O

Thanks for having me!

--
Thanks Heidi! Just a gentle reminder, Sea releases tomorrow, June 10th! You can buy Sea at Book Depository or Barnes & Noble or Amazon.

This was cross-posted on Read This Book! Remember, all comments on Read This Book will count as entries towards the giveaway at the end of the week!

Christine Brodien-Jones on Revising Your Manuscript

The “Alien Relic” That’s Your First Draft
~by Christine Brodien-Jones, author of THE OWL KEEPER

I remember being handed back a short story in high school with a B scrawled in red ink across the top of the page and the words: “Needs more work.” What was that supposed to mean? I was baffled. I’d spent at least two or three weeks working on it! I had no idea, back then, that writers revised. For me revision was a foreign concept. You wrote a story and presto! there it was, for people to read and admire. Besides, I was way too busy with other things to go back and rewrite a story I’d written for English class.

Years later, I’ve become one of those writers who looks forward to editing and revising. I love this process! In fact I have to resist the urge to rewrite every page of my novel as I’m writing it. That’s what Kurt Vonnegut used to do. His method was to revise every page until he got it exactly right and the book was a polished gem. (Somehow I don’t envision that happening with my books!)

The Kind of Cinderella Day I Wish for Every Girl (and Woman Too) by Kay Cassidy

The Cinderella Society is all about being the best you can be. The Cindys live by the creed "Celebrate your strength – Embrace your future – Be extraordinary". They support each other in living that every day and we can too. Here's the kind of Cinderella Society day I wish for you:

Under My Skin: Mini Guide to Beasties

Judith sure loves her beasties.. the poor town of Redgrave is overcome with them! I thought it would be fun to have her give you a little taste of what you'll find in Under My Skin....

Redgrave’s Beasties

As you’ve mentioned, Mel, Under My Skin (UMS) features a smorgasbord of paranormal beasties converging on one small northern Alberta town, Redgrave. Here’s the quick and dirty lowdown on the key creatures that roam the pages of my little gothic tale.

Wolven

In UMS, my main character, Eryn is a shapeshifter, part-wolven/part-human. They are born, not made. Wolven is a term I created for her species, but it’s basically the same as lycan, which is more familiar – humans shifting to wolf form. The difference between wolven and lycan is pretty great. Most wolven (with the exception of those like Eryn’s mother – those who feel more human than wolf) live the majority of their lives as wolves. That has huge impact on their human interactions; it affects their motivations and lifestyles.

I wanted to emphasise this fact, so wolven they became.

Eryn doesn’t know much about wolven strengths/weaknesses and therefore neither does the reader. But Eryn’s learning fast. ;)

Werewolves

Werewolves are very different from wolven. In the Skinned world, they are forged with dark magicks and ruled by their creator (usually a demon, vampire, or other strong supernatural being). They’re hell hounds, creatures without thought – acting on command and ruled by both their master and lunar cycles. When not killing, they rest in stasis, hiding in underground dens until the next full moon. At that time they awaken and serve the violent needs of their masters. They are filled with bloodlust. Bites do not themselves cause a human to turn. This can only be accomplished if the human is marked according to paranorm law, and then bitten. Without the mark, the bite only wounds or kills – it doesn’t spark the change.

And poor Redgrave is overrun with these nasty creatures. Yikes!

Vampires

No paranormal story is complete without a resident vamp, and Redgrave has a few in high places. Logan Gervais, the town’s chief of police, and his progeny, Wade, are taking the town, and Eryn, by storm. In the Redgrave world, vampires have the same rules as most vamp lore – they can’t be in direct sunlight, they drink human blood, and they can influence people with mind control.

Witches

There are several key witch characters in UMS. They work positive magic; their power isn’t used to harm. There are no warlocks – a witch is a witch – either male or female. However, witches rarely birth sons and when they do…look out – those boys have more than their share of power. Witches and wolven don’t get along (some pesky servitude thing from way back), so sparks are sure to fly if they’re left alone together. Maybe that’s why Wade and Eryn have such chemistry.

However, Wade is an oddity as far as vamps go. He’s the male child of a witch, and he inherited her power after he was turned. He has special abilities. He can walk in the sun, and Logan exploits this to his advantage. He thinks he has Wade under his black-nailed thumb. Humph. Too bad Wade’s developing a mind of his own.

Windigo

This creature of aboriginal lore is a shapeshifting, man-eating giant that lives in the North because its heart is made of ice. Legend has it that windigo were once human hunters who became lost in the snow and resorted to cannibalism to survive. Once they’d had a taste of human flesh, they became ravenous beasts. The more humans they eat, the bigger they get.

Luckily Alec Delacroix comes from a long line of shamans and hunters. He and his brother, Matt, manage to take down the windigo who killed their father. But will Alec be able to trust Eryn – to accept her ability to shapeshift like these crazed beasts?

Wolves

While not paranormal in any way, I did research wolf behaviour to incorporate their traits into Eryn’s character. There are many reasons my girl’s got attitude, hates authority figures, is competitive, etc. It’s in her genes, man!

Luckily, my husband’s cousin, Joe, is a Ranger working in Jasper National Park. He took this pic of a wolf he encountered while on a hike in the mountains.

 Joe was also kind enough to provide me with some stats on wolves in Alberta:

•  Wolves in Canada, particularly in Alberta, have it pretty good compared to wolves in the U.S. They don’t have to live in sanctuaries. We have plenty of wilderness for our wolves to explore.
• The largest wolves are found in the northwest (Yukon, Northern British Columbia, and Alberta). Historic range is/was all of Canada and most of North America.
• Average weight is about 45kg but can get up to 80kg.
• They’re believed to mate for life and have an average of 6 young.
• It’s believed that the species does not have an inborn tendency to kill but rather is born with certain behaviour patterns that allow it to learn to kill (i.e. they learn to kill from their parents.)
• They hunt for prey through direct scent, chance encounter, and tracking. They are quite coordinated in their attack. I recall watching a pack hunt elk. One wolf acted as a decoy and essentially chased a bunch of elk into an ambush. Others were waiting in a series of thickets.

So there you have it. A bit of “real” info on wolves and some lore behind UMS. I hope this intro into the creatures of the Skinned series was of interest. NOTE: There are still lots of creatures to make themselves known.
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Now that you've had a glimpse into her world, what do you think?

Cross-posted at: He Followed Me Home...Can I Keep Him? on 11 March 2010.

WISH - A Virtual Backpacking Tour

Every once in a while, a book takes place in your home town or one that you live near. It's kind of cool when that happens because you can relate to the sights and sounds. Most of the time, though, we have to rely on images or our imagination to visualize what's going on throughout a story. I've created here a virtual backpacking tour of the people, places and things you'll find within WISH by Alexandra Bullen.

As we start our day, we head out with backpack in hand and head to the corner store to pick up maps. We'll need one for cable car routes as well as for the landmarks of the city. And we're off..!

The Locale:

WISH takes place in San Francisco and if you're anything like me it's on the list of places to visit. Here's why:

With places like the Golden Gate Bridge, The Haight, The Presidio and Alcatraz, this won't be a dull day. Of course, it wouldn't be complete without a ride on the famous cable cars!

The Fashion:

The story really begins to take root when Olivia takes her sister's vintage Pucci dress to have it repaired. That's when things get interesting...

So since we don't have our own dress, we head out looking for awesome boutiques. If available, we could leave the backpack behind and hop in a limo, cause the "magical" dresses we're looking for have high end prices tags! Feast your eyes on these:

It wouldn't be right if we didn't include a few Pucci's for your viewing pleasure:

The Music:

After a full day of site-seeing and shopping, we hit a cafe featuring live music. We grab a chai latte and our favourite organic snack, sit back and prepare for auditory relaxation. In fact, there's a band featured in the book that gets compared to some of the hottest bands around right now, so for your listening/viewing pleasure, check this out:

We hope you enjoyed your tour!

Cross-posted at: He Followed Me Home...Can I Keep Him on 15 January 2010.

The City Series - Chicago: A Guest Post by Chloe Neill

Welcome to the first installment of WWUC's new series on city-based Internet resources for writers! The City Series is intended to provide a set of research links in art, photography, architecture, urban planning, etc., to writers who are sourcing particular cities for their stories, poems or manuscripts.

Are you a writer with a favorite city/setting? Would you like to contribute your sources to WWUC? If so, send an e-mail to chloe at chloeneill dot com.

Chloe Neill is an urban fantasy and paranormal romance author. Her two series, Chicagoland Vampires and Dark Elite, are both set in Chicago. Chloe is a big fan of the Windy City, and has done a lot of Web perusing for Chicagocentric research sites.

Basic Information:

• Chicago (Wikipedia)


• Chicago Neighborhoods (Wikipedia)


• Frommers - Chicago


• Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau


• Explore Chicago


• Go Chicago

Media:

• Chicago Sun-Times


• Chicago Tribune


• Chi*Town News


• Chicago Reader


• Chicago Magazine


• Gaper's Block

Transportation:

• Chicago Transit Authority


• Chicago Department of Transportation


• The L (or the El) (Wikipedia)

Architecture, Interiors and Landmarks:

• Apartment Therapy - Chicago


• Chicago Architecture Foundation


• Chicago Architecture (Wikipedia)


• ChicagoArchitecture.Info


• Chicago Landmarks (City of Chicago)


• Chicago River Virtual Tour


• Clark House Museum


• Millennium Park


• Stan Mansion


• Wheeler Mansion


• Wrigley Field


• Navy Pier


• Sears Tower


• Hancock Observatory


• Chicago Park District

Museums:

• The Art Institute of Chicago


• Museum of Contemporary Art


• Chicago Arts District


• Field Museum of Natural History

History & Culture:

• Encyclopedia of Chicago


• Chicago History Museum


• Chicago Historical Society's History Files (great vignettes on lots of topics!)


• Chicago Public Library History Resources


• Chicago History & Facts (City of Chicago)

Food, Drink, Entertainment & Shopping

• MetroMix Chicago


• Chicago Style Hot Dog (Wikipedia)


• Chicago Style Pizza (Wikipedia)


• Chicago Reader - The Food Chain


• Chicago Food & Walking Tours


• Thrillist - Chicago


• Daily Candy - Chicago


• Chicago Etsy Teams

Do you have a link you'd like to suggest? Leave a comment to be entered into the Firespell contest.

Cross-posted at: LiyanaLand! on 6 January 2010.

TENtalizing Tidbits: Kiersten White

Kiersten White is the author of the Paranormalcy series. The first book, Paranormalcy is out in 2010. She has a well written and well read blog, with interesting and amusing anecdotes about everything from writing to The Punctuation Nation.

Hello, Liyanaland! You can't see me, but I'm waving madly in the general direction of Singapore. Thanks for inviting me to play here today and talk about my upcoming novel, Paranormalcy (9 1/2 months and counting...and believe me, I'm counting).

When I was a little girl I used to lay in my bed at night, look out the window, and see monsters and witches congregating in my backyard. Not imagine them there, or wonder if they were there, but SEE them there. (No, I wasn't a weird child, why do you ask?) (This was also the reason I spent every night on the floor in my parents room.) (I got over it.) There isn't a country in the world without a rich history of supernatural legends populated by incredible, fantastic, and bizarre creatures.

Last January I was daydreaming (as I am wont to do), when I started thinking about one of these legendary creatures: the vampire. So maligned, so glorified, so sensationalized. But then I wondered how, if you didn't want to stake the dang things, you would control them.

Which got me thinking about those masters of misapplied control, Government Agencies. Which got me thinking about a girl--a sixteen year old girl--a sixteen year old girl with a very unusual ability--who happened to work for said Agency. And who, as it so happened, wasn't too enamored of this paranormal world she was forced to be a part of. Because, unlike what pop culture tells us, vampires in real life? Not so sexy. Pretty sucky, in fact. Blood sucky. Still not as bad as hags, though. And if you were sixteen and had a full-time job protecting the rest of the oblivious world around you from the things that stalk them in the night, well, you'd probably have quite the story to tell.

And a lot to complain about.

Like kissing. Where does a girl who spends all of her time processing and regulating supernatural creatures find the time (or even just the boy) for kissing? And even if maybe Evie's finally found someone she's quite certain she'd very much like to kiss, what's she supposed to do when these paranormal creatures she's been protecting the world from suddenly start turning up dead?

Ah, the teenage years. What made writing Paranormalcy so fun was that I could combine all of this supernatural mythology with a very modern setting and voice, and use it to tell a very basic story--a story about a girl who can't figure out where she belongs.

Because really, who can?

As for me, I sleep with my blinds closed now. I'll leave spotting the scary beasts to Evie. After all, it's her job.

Thanks for giving us this insight into your inspiration for writing Paranormalcy!

Stalkerage:
Kiersten White
Kiersten Writes
Twitter

Cross-posted at: LiyanaLand! on 10 December 2009.

Things you should know about Kami Garcia and Margie Stohl

Here are the authors of Beautiful Creatures themeselves, Kami and Margie, to tell you more about the other person.

Things You Probably Don’t Know About Margie
1. Margie is the queen of disaster preparedness. She has huge water drums in her laundry room and who knows what else. But if there’s an earthquake, you want to be at her house.

2. Margie could easily live on: marzipan, Wheat Thins with cream cheese, beans, and Diet Coke. (Generally, not in the same meal.)

3. She likes See’s candy, not Godiva. Starbucks, not Coffee Bean. The taco truck, not the fancy Mexican place down the street.

4. She knows more - about more things - than anyone I know. Who else can recite Eudora Welty and Stevie Smith poems from memory and tell you almost every item they unearthed on the Wilkes Expedition? (Do you know what the Wilkes Expedition is? I had to look it up.)

5. Margie is fiercely loyal. If you mess with the people she loves, she’ll take you down.

6. She is the best writer I know. And the best friend.

Things I KNOW you don’t know about Kami:
1. Kami is small but scrappy. That’s right, her stepfather was a cop, and she can Take You Down. When not busy breaking out of the locked trunk of a car, which (of course) she can. Muggers of the world, hear me now: she only looks small. Run, I say – RUN!

2. Kami does not like Crap On Things. Her hamburger: plain, well done, ketchup only. Her pizza: cheese. Her sandwich; turkey, plain. But if you don’t put extra ice in her Diet Coke, she will know. I don’t know how, but she will. Trust me.

3. Kami expects things to be difficult, but does believe anything is impossible. As a result, she routinely does things – and gets you to do things - you never thought she or you (or anyone in their right mind) could do.

4. Mrs. Garcia can get any child to become ten times the reader they were at the beginning of her class by expecting them to, believing they can, and telling them how. Same goes for writing partners. Same for friends.

5. Aside from writing, Kami is famous for her paintings, her photography, and her crab cakes. Her only flaw is her irrational hatred of commas. (Even if some people love them abusively.)

6. Kami is the one person you want with you in the trenches. Which is, I guess, why she is the one person with me in the trenches. Because,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

7. Kami has your back.

That made me go :3, right guys?

Photo credits to Alex Hoerner.

Cross-posted at: LiyanaLand! on 2 December 2009.

TENtalizing Tidbits: Julie Kagawa

Here's one of the coolest authors I have ever had the pleasure of talking to. Let's welcome Julie Kagawa, author of The Iron King! Hit it, Julie! (Click on the picture of the cover for an up close and personal look at its awesomesauce.)

So, Liyana asked me to do a guest post this week to show off my new cover, and I said “sure, no problem,” really before I realized I’ve never done a guest post before and therefore had no idea of what to talk about. (I even Tweeted her about this. I think my tweet went something along the lines of “I don’t know what to guest post about! Haaaaaaaaalp!”)

(Also, may I add that you shouldn’t ask for serious help on Twitter, as you get people telling you to post about sushi and tapirs. Or sushi eating tapirs. Don’t ask.)

Anyway, moving on. This is the month of November. To most people, November is the month of thanks, of turkey and stuffing and relatives, and eating so much food you swear you can’t even look at food for as long as you live. Or at least until dessert. But for many authors, writers, and thousands of aspiring novelists, November is the month of something else entirely.

Four letters. Four simple letters that can strike terror into the heart of the staunchest writer, that can make the bravest novelist weak with fear, loathing, and self-doubt. N.A.N.O.

Better known as NaNo Wrimo, or National Novel Writing Month. If you are one of the thousands of brave souls that signed up for NaNo Wrimo, I salute you. At the time of this post, we are nearing the end of our month long endeavor, and you might be looking at your manuscript with a kind of vague horror, thinking a bunch of chimps beating on several typewriters could’ve produced something more coherent. You might be thinking you’ll never be an author, much less a person who has produced something people actually want to read. If you are entertaining these thoughts, let me clue you in on a secret. Most, if not all, authors started out exactly where you are now. We all come to the field with very few skills, knowledge, or anything but the desire to write and perhaps get published one day. Want to know what separates a published author from a non-published one? I can sum it up in one simple word.

Persistence.

Yes, talent plays a part. Yes, knowledge and writing skills play a big part. Even luck plays a part. But writing is a craft you must learn, and you can only learn if you keep writing, no matter what. Know that it won’t come immediately, or all at once. Know that if you send your work to publishers, you are going to be rejected, and rejected often. It’s all part of the journey. But, if you keep practicing, if you keep learning and writing and striving to become the best writer you can be, one day there will be a ‘yes.’

It took me ten years to get my first book published, but I don’t regret the journey at all. The journey is what makes it possible to get to that ‘yes, we want to publish your book.’ But you have to keep going. Even if you’ve received a million ‘no’s, that one million and one could be the answer you’re looking for. In the words of Calvin Coolidge:

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

And, let me add my own words of wisdom, something someone told me long ago, and I believe wholeheartedly. “If you want something bad enough, you’ll get it. If you didn’t get it, you didn’t want it bad enough.”

So what are you waiting for?

--Julie Kagawa
THE IRON KING, Harlequin TEEN Feb. 2010
http://www.juliekagawa.com

Find out more about The Iron King here. Check out an excerpt while you're at it, too; you'll come back asking for moaaarrrr.

Cross-posted at: LiyanaLand! on 24 November 2009.

TENtalizing Tidbits: Suzanne Young

Suzanne Young, author of The Naughty List, is here today to battle deadlines and a teeny weeny Twitter addiction. Don't tell me she's the only one! *refreshes Twitter* Welcome, Suzanne!

Suzanne Young: My deadline is looming and I still have half a book to write. Sweat is forming on my brow. My throat is dry. I’ll never make this deadline! I’ll have to write 52 pages every day for the next two weeks if I hope to finish.

Wait. Let me check my Twitter account.

Yeah, does this happen to you? I thought I was the only one that suffered from internet addiction while writing. Turns out, I’m not! In fact, I’d say it’s an epidemic among authors and artists. I wonder if it has to do with the isolation of writing and art—the time spent staring at screen, while just at the bottom, just one click away, is a never-ending party with all the cool people you know!

It’s like they never sleep! There is always someone around to talk to! But then… there’s that deadline…

So in the interest of meeting deadlines (or even for NaNo) author Nova Ren Suma and I decided to make next week a Twitter-free environment. From November 1st to November 7th, we will not Twitter or Facebook. Why? Because we have a problem and we’re not afraid to admit it.

Would like to join this Twittercation? Do it! You can! I know you’re strong enough. Sure, will the yahoo headlines still tempt you? Will blogs somehow become your only lifeline to the outside world? Maybe. But you can beat them. You can beat the internet beast and finish your work!!!

If you’d like to join, find us on Twitter and feel free (pun intended) to blog about it! This is going to be the most productive week ever. I might even have time to clean my house!!!

Love,
Suzanne Young

Cross-posted at: LiyanaLand! on 5 November 2009.

TENtalizing Tidbits: Chelsea M. Campbell

Welcome Chelsea! She's here today on LiyanaLand to talk more about how close the release of The Rise of Renegade X is. Less than 200 days close. Damien-is-so-going-to-freak-out-close.

Chelsea M. Campbell: My countdown widget tells me there are now less than 200 days until my book, The Rise of Renegade X, comes out. Some days I look at the countdown meter and think, “Wow, the days are just flying by—it won't be long at all!” And some days I look at it and think, “199 days?!? Are you freaking kidding me? Do you know how long I've been waiting, and there's STILL over six months of waiting left to do?!?”

As Tom Petty says, the waiting is the hardest part. And there's a lot of waiting in publishing. It's kind of like how the human body is made of 70% water or whatever—publishing is made of 70% waiting. But fortunately, waiting doesn't mean *just* waiting. Sure, I am chomping at the bit for this book to be out so-people-can-read-it-OMG. I love this book. I used to feel kind of weird telling people I love the book I wrote—and, okay, I still do feel a little weird about it—but if the author doesn't even love it, how is anybody else supposed to? But anyway, there are lots of little stops along the way. I got the offer to publish fifteen months (to the day, actually) of the publication date. So half the waiting is over already, and in that time I've signed contracts, done revisions, copy edits, joined the Tenners, made tons of new author and blogger friends, seen my book go up on Amazon and Goodreads, reworked my website, and called my parents every time anything even remotely exciting happened.

And now I have my ARC (Advanced Readers Copy, a paperback copy that may contain typos and formatting errors, but that comes out early so reviewers and sales reps can get a sneak peek), with more coming. Getting my ARC seems like the last little milestone on the path to publication, and I've still got six months of waiting. But when I stop and think about it, it's not. It marks the end of revisions, other than one more pass on typos and such before the real thing hits the shelves, but really it's the beginning of other people reading my book.

A twitter friend of mine just posted a pic of a bunch of Egmont ARCs she won at a YA event, and mine was one of them! So there's proof that my book is out and about in the world, and people I don't know could be reading it, and I won't necessarily know they're doing it! How exciting is that? Like most exciting things, it's also kind of scary—funny how those two go together so well—but still awesome. I guess you could say that since revisions are over, now the really exciting stuff gets to start. Soon I'll have more ARCs to give away in contests and to take to bookstores and libraries to see if they want to get a sneak peek and maybe, ya know, order some copies.

(I will pause here to admit that going to bookstores and telling them I'm an author and would like to leave a copy of my ARC for them to read is terrifying. Stomach flopping, toe tingling terrifying, and I also can't wait, because I think once I get the hang of it it'll actually be fun and not scary, just a little thrilling. I hope. Plus what are they going to do, say no? Oh, no! Please, God, no—don't leave that free book with the awesome cover here! Get it away from me! Aggghh!)

Soon I'll also have pretty bookmarks to give out and a launch party to plan and signings to set up. (Did you know authors set that kind of stuff up themselves? For the most part, unless you're famous, it's DIY.) Not to mention other books I'm working on or have on submission, which means that while all this debut stuff is happening with Renegade X, the process is starting all over again in the background with other books. So even if I can't wait to get to read the first chapter to a room full of people, and I can't wait to see it on the shelves at the bookstore (if next May you see some twenty-something girl standing in front of the superhero/villain book with the hot cover, screaming or crying or just smiling like an idiot, that's probably me), and even if I can't wait to see how my book does out in the world, all aloney on its owney, at least I've got some stuff to occupy my time for the next six months. And as much as I hope the days tick by really fast on my countdown meter, you only get one debut, and I think I'd be really sorry if I didn't also savor all the moments between now and then.

Thanks Chelsea! Check out a trailer for The Rise of Renegade X made by Chelsea herself! Complete with epic music and a cool voiceover. :D




Grab the countdown widget here!


Cross-posted at: LiyanaLand! on 27 October 2009.

TENtalizing Tidbits: Anastasia Hopcus

Let's welcome Anastasia Hopcus, author of the soon to be released Shadow Hills as she reminisces on birthdays past with a special guest post. What, you didn't know it's Anastasia's birthday today? Now you do! Happy birthday Anastasia!

Anastasia: So I was thinking about birthdays---strange, I know---and I couldn’t help noticing that the ones that really stuck out in my memory weren’t the ones that went smoothly and perfectly. The ones I really remembered were the ones where everything went wrong, but I was with my friends and we had fun anyway. Looking back on it, I think my favorite birthday was the one that got screwed up the most. It was my 17th birthday, and my mother was letting me go on my first overnight trip with just my friend Katy. (It seemed to make her feel better that I was supposed to meet up with my Uncle Doug, but from what I’d heard about Doug’s youth, he was more likely to be a bad influence than a good one.) Katy and I already had our Halloween costumes, so we decided to dress up and drive six hours to go to the Renaissance Festival. (Can you say massive geeks?)

We set out with two horrible senses of direction and our friends' tent that we had lost the instructions for. The ride started off great--the music was loud, there was a lot of giggling and we were on our own. And, after a short while, completely lost. Thankfully, I’d remembered the car charger for my phone and we were able to call my mom for directional advice. Which, we realized an hour later, had gotten us even more lost. This is when we decided to stop and ask for directions at a gas station outside of a little Texas town... while wearing our Halloween Japanimation costumes. I had a toy machine gun strapped over my shirt---a shirt that I’d spray-painted with faux-chrome from Pep Boys so it looked like metal---and I was wearing one very squeaky pair of pleather pants. Katy was wearing an actual metal bra (I didn't even want to ask where she got that) under a fishnet top, and the large chains she’d worn as necklaces were clanging against her Mad-Maxian undergarment. So, in we walk, clanking and squeaking and generally looking like two complete weirdos. (I’d bet that Stop and Shop cashier still remembers those two insane city girls trying to find the Renaissance Festival.) Luckily, despite our appearances, they gave us directions.

A few hours later we arrived and set out to look for my uncle, who thought a cell phone would ruin the authenticity of his outfit. Thanks to this incommunicado stance, we spent the rest of our day walking around trying to find him instead of watching cheesy juggling shows and buying chainmail. We never did manage to locate my kilt-wearing, bag-pipe-playing, Harley-riding uncle---who for this event was going by the name King Doug. Surprisingly, this isn’t an uncommon name at Renfest. We ended up meeting several nice King Dougs, but I was fairly certain I was in no way related to any of them. By the time we gave up the search, it was time to go back to the car and set up camp---with a borrowed tent that neither one of us knew how to assemble. Even better, we now had to assemble it in a torrential downpour that came upon us so unexpectedly that one moment I was a dry Japanimation character, and the next I was a bedraggled girl covered in running rivers of silver paint. The girls in the car next to mine took mercy on us and---after I donned a shirt that wasn’t dripping spray-on metallic auto paint---offered to let us share their tent. We did some turbo-bonding with our new friends and found out that they went to high school with three of our other friends. In the end, after everything had gone wrong, we had a lot of fun.

Anyone up for a doomed road trip to a fake medieval village?

Cross-posted at: LiyanaLand! on 22 October 2009.

TENtalizing Tidbits: SEA ARCs

Heidi R Kling just got a box of SEA ARCs! Here's a Twitterview (Twinterview?) with Heidi and the pweeeety ARC #3.

How does it feel like to have your hands on the ARCs of your very first novel?
Very surreal. And exciting! I'm so grateful to the people at Putnam for creating such a lovely image for my words.

How does it look like, RIGHT NOW? Shineee, in a box, hiding in a safe..
One ARC is sitting next to me on the couch. The other one is sipping tea. Another is watching Gossip Girl..they are all here with me.

@SharonLovesCats: Are you petting them?
YES. They are more purpley in real life--the back cover color is remarkable. I want to drink it. And it's 336 pages! Also, the chin is on the first page!

Ahh, Gossip Girl ey? Hey, ARC! Who are you most a fan of on Gossip Girl?
ARC #3 is a fan of Hillary Duff. She especially likes her hat. When she takes human form she is going to buy one just like it.

Do you have a fight to see who gets to meet Heidi first?
ARC #3: Fortunately, I was at the top of the pile so I get Top Notch COUCH positioning. My bros and sisters are piled on the wicker trunk.

You have a lot of people wanting to meet you. Wanna do a shout out to them?
ARC #3: Hey everybody! For the next two seasons I will do everything in my power to escape from my master's cruel grip so I can get to you!

Thanks so much for that interview, Heidi and ARC #3! Have a great day ahead!
You too! Me and the ARC's thank you. =))

Cross-posted at: LiyanaLand! on 8 October 2009.