I Know, I Know...

I'm ridiculously behind on the blog - life has just been too busy. However, I'm full of ideas about things I want to blog about AND I'm a week away from my first international book tour. So I hereby promise to you that I will be blogging more soon and I will have pictures from my tour!

Thanks for hanging out with me even when I'm sadly absent from this page. I do miss blogging - this space in one in which I love to write.

If you're wondering where else you might connect with me and my life, I'm more frequently on Twitter and Facebook due to their facilitation of short online engagements!

Until a real blog post - here's a new favorite artist of mine, whose music is oft playing as I write RISE (Nightshade Prequel #2).



Also cool about Zola Jesus - she's a fellow Wisconsinite!

(Re)Write!

Do you remember the childhood rhyme:

Pete and repeat are sitting in a boat
Pete falls out, who's left?
Repeat

And it begins again. Oh the joy.

I've gotten into the habit of responding to the question: How long did it take you to write Nightshade, with this - I wrote it between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2008.

Stop. Rewind. Let's clarify and I'm accepting fault here for any misconceptions my pat answer may have created. I wrote the FIRST DRAFT of Nightshade between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2008. I continued revising that draft on my own from January through March of 2009. With my agents from March to June of 2009 and with my editor from August through October 2009. That first ecstatic draft required a lot of refining.
A while ago I did a post for The Tenners about how not to get published. Here's a relevant excerpt about first drafts vs. revised manuscripts:

Another familiar moment in the writing life: you've done it. You've written a masterpiece! It is so beautiful and it's all yours!! In fact, you decide it's so very, absolutely perfect in that moment after typing the last sentence that you need to send it out to your dream agents NOW. Revisions are for wimps, right?

Wrong. Along with not finishing (and don't you DARE query before you've finished, and I mean really finished!!), querying too early will get you NOT published. I attended a writing conference where Jane Smiley gave a keynote. At one point she said "the first draft of what you wrote is perfect and wonderful, because you wrote it." She was being sincere and her comment encapsulated the joy that is the creative process of writing as well as the unbelievably ecstasy of accomplishment when you finish your novel. But the "perfect" is a moment for you and you alone.

You should celebrate. You did it! But you should NOT query. Think of it as a Gold Rush moment. You're alone, panning in a river and you hit it. The mother load! Wow!! That's fantastic. But no one wants your unformed lumps of golden goodness until they've been heated up and melted down and transformed into a beautiful piece of jewelry. Right? Don't send your lumps of gold out. Wait until you learn how to refine them into something everyone can appreciate.

I'm bringing this up because saying I wrote Nightshade in a frenzied four weeks is probably setting a bad example. That first four weeks was my Gold Rush moment, but months of work after that first milestone transformed my shiny lump into a finished piece.

Writing is the beginning. Rewriting brings the real payoff.
Speaking of rewriting - one of my best debut buddies, with whom I've had the joy of sharing revision chills, thrills, and spills - has a wonderful book hitting the shelves today. If you don't have Kiersten White's Paranormalcy on your radar, hunt it down in a bookstore as soon as you can.
You'll be bleepin' sorry if you don't :) It's hilarious, thrilling and glittering, sparkly fabulous. Happy Book Birthday, Kiersten!

I'm Melting, I'm Melting!

While I enjoy sunshine, I wasn't built for heatwaves. My skin burns to a lovely tomato red in less than 60 seconds on a hot day. We're in the middle of a doozy right now. A week in the mid to high 90s with heat indexes well over 100 degrees.

This sort of weather renders me listless and spacey. I'm working on a super sekrit Nightshade-related project right now, which I will soon be able to share with you, and I keep forgetting to attach documents or links to emails and correspondence because the heat renders my brain power to about 60% of it's normal function.

I consider fall my favorite season with spring running a close second. Dealing with this extreme heat, and knowing that in six months I'll be blogging about extreme cold (though I prefer the latter), I realize I'm something of a Goldilocks when it comes to weather.

But I swear I'm not just being fussy - I simply don't function right in this heat; it's like my body and mind are on strike, demanding a week at the lake instead of life as usual. The only upside is that hot days brew up awesome thunderstorms on some nights.

How's summer working out for you? And do you have no-fail ways to beat the heat? I'm relying on popsicles and iced coffee.

In Which I Am Opinionated

I generally consider myself to be a peaceable person, but a few things make steam come out my ears. At the top of the list: bigotry, sexism, and misogyny.

If you want to peer into my brain for a few minutes - stop by the Book Faery's blog to check out my guest post on sexual double standards in fiction, plus you have the chance to win a Nightshade ARC!

And don't forget to submit your designs for the Wolfsbane cover contest.

Welcoming Kirsten Miller!

Special treat today, blogging friends. Author Kirsten Miller has provided a guest post. Hooray!

Hello!

My name is Kirsten Miller, and I’m the author of The Eternal Ones. I’m so thrilled that Andrea has invited me to “guest post” on her blog, since I’m a big fan of her work.

She’s asked me to tell you a little bit about my book, so here goes . . . It’s both a romance and a thriller. It’s filled with secret societies, snake handlers, soul mates and people who’ve lived countless lives. The Eternal Ones is sexy, dark, and extremely strange. I have a hunch you might like it!

As you might have guessed, reincarnation is at the heart of The Eternal Ones. It’s a subject that’s fascinated me since I was a kid. I don’t know if I’d call myself a believer, but I do think that reincarnation could explain quite a few of life’s little mysteries—déjà vu, child prodigies, inexplicable phobias, and love at first sight to name just a few.

(People always ask me if I’ve lived before. I must admit that I’ve always felt like I might have died somewhere in Europe during the Second World War. But who knows? Anyway . . . .)

The Eternal Ones follows a girl named Haven Moore who’s always had visions of a city she’s never visited and a handsome young man she’s never met. Then one day she discovers that the visions aren’t just fantasies—they’re actually memories of another life.

Finally Haven understands why she’s always felt like there’s someone out there that she needs to find. And a chance glimpse of a young man on TV convinces her that she should look for him in New York. When she arrives, Haven finds herself linked with a notorious playboy and a mysterious secret society. And that’s when things really start to get strange.

If any of this has captured your interest, please drop by my website (theeternalones.com) or my blog (http://theeternalones.wordpress.com/), where I’ve been giving past life readings to brave souls who send in a photo.

And if you’re interested in reincarnation, you’ll definitely want to drop by the Ouroboros Society. (ouroborossociety.com) It’s just a little bit sinister. Ha!

Thanks so much, Andrea, for inviting me to post on your blog! I’ll see you on mine in the fall! (And don’t forget to send me the sequel to Nightshade!)

Kirsten

Thanks, Kirsten. And thanks also for answering all my questions - which will be posted on tomorrow's blog :)

Still Going

More answers!

Let's say there was a big battle and you and one other person was left on the planet, who out of all your characters would that be and why?

Logan Bane. He'd figure out a way to save himself - he's cunning, particularly when it comes to self preservation.

My question: what's the biggest misconception of being an author/writer?

That you have to know someone to get an agent/get published. I was really naive going into this process. I did research on the internet to find my agent, but knew absolutely nothing about the industry. My wonderful agent, Charlie, pulled my manuscript out of the slush pile.

I was just wondering what inspiration brought about Nightshade. Some author's say that they had a dream of a certain scene or one of the characters just really spoke to them. So, for you, what was your inspiration in writing this story, and were there any scenes that really stood out to you?

Nightshade is Calla's story and she was the inspiration for the book. I tend to write from characters and Calla was floating around in my head for a week or two before I started putting her story onto the page. I knew she was a girl who was also a wolf. I knew she was strong, but also in serious trouble. I couldn't figure out how someone so powerful could be in that sort of a fix. That's where Nightshade's world emerged, it was all about building a history and society that explained Calla's predicament.

Was there any part of your publishing journey from original manuscript to final, sold product, that changed your life? And if so, how do you feel about where you are now?

Great question. It's a little odd but I'd say everything has changed and nothing has changed. Here's what I mean: Everything has changed in that the dream I wanted more than anything has come true, I have a multi-book deal, I have amazing new writing and publishing colleagues, and I get to travel to meet fantastic readers. Nothing has changed in that I still have my day job, I still live in Minnesota, and I still spend most days doing the same things I always did - except now when I write without feeling guilty for neglecting other parts of my life - it's what I'm supposed to be doing, it just took me 30 years to figure that out!!

My question: when did you realize you wanted to become a writer (and a potential author)? Was it a lightbulb moment or was it one of those slow realizations over many years? Did you ever at some point think, "This may not be for me"?

I'd spent my whole life writing, but I never pursued publication. Then two summers ago I was in a horseback riding accident where I ended up with a broken foot. I couldn't walk for eight weeks, so I decided to finally go after my dream of writing a novel. I was hooked instantly and knew there was no going back. I wrote two "practice" novels that will live forever in my desk drawers and then I wrote Nightshade. I knew from the beginning it was "the one," and I began querying agents. Charlie Olsen, my phenomenal agent at InkWell, requested the full manuscript and called me to say he loved it in March 2009. I did more revisions with Charlie and we went on submission in the summer of 2009, receiving a pre-empt from Michael Green at Philomel shortly thereafter. It was amazing - and in the publishing world, it happened at record speed.

I didn't know anything about publishing going into the process and I am so grateful for the positive (and fast!!!) experience I've had. My publisher and editor and the whole Penguin team are wonderful people who I consider my friends now. They love Nightshade just like I do and we make a great team! Having said that, when I began querying it was one of the scariest things I've ever done. I knew I wanted to pursue a writing career more than anything else, but I felt like I was jumping into the deep end of a pool without knowing how to swim. At times I was sure I'd never see my dream of being a novelist materialize. Fortunately I have a wonderful husband, family, and friends who were always cheering me on.

Reviews

With BEA and ALA past, Nightshade ARCs have been getting reviews. I want to send a HUGE thanks to readers for taking the time to offer your kind, thoughtful reviews - they make me so happy.

Here's a round-up of what I've seen out there. If I missed your review I apologize - I know I probably haven't found all of them!

Super Reader Girl's Reviews

Karen's Addictions

The Publication Follies of Alexandra Shostak

YA Addict

Fire and Ice

Wicked Walker

Shut Up I'm Reading

Ellz Reads

Woo hoo!!

If you'd like to win a pre-ordered Nightshade of your very own - there's a chance to win a copy as part of A Book Lovers' Review "Guess Who Q&A?" Contest; check it out :)