Another Side of Star Wars

For intergalatic giggles:

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Mindless

If I'm posting less often of late it's because I'm consumed by BLOODROSE (Nightshade #3). This story has captured my heart and mind, leaving me useless for pretty much all other tasks.

An example: when I took a shower the other day, amid musings about the plot, I got into the shower and pretty much just got out again. It wasn't until I was dressed and writing again that I realized hadn't done ANYTHING. My hair wasn't washed, I really hadn't gotten clean. I had just stepped in, stood in the water for a minute, and stepped out again. No conscious thinking here - it just happened.

This point at writing is when I throw dirty clothes into the trash, pour orange juice on my cereal, lose track of everything that isn't the story.

But it's hands down my favorite part of writing. I step out of this world to sojourn in another.

It may be frustrating to everyone around me (sorry hubby, I love you!), but for me it's utter bliss. Even if I have to munch on orange juice flavored cereal once in a while.

Since I'm in and out with the posts till the first draft is done, here's the BLOODROSE theme song that kicks off this novel's playlist.

Surprise!

My awesome editor, Jill, sent me a surprise package in the mail. The REAL ACTUAL WILL-BE-ON-THE-HARDCOVER jackets for NIGHTSHADE!

Here is the front:
Here is the jacket on a real (though not NIGHTSHADE, obviously) hardcover book. I hadn't given much thought to all the different shapes and sizes books come in until I tried to find a book that was the right size for this jacket. It took at least half a dozen tries 'til I got the right fit!!
Here is the back jacket on a real book:I'm so thrilled! They are beautiful. I keep holding them up to different light to see the way the colors change.

Can't wait until October!!!!

Remember still two days left to enter the Paranormal Haiku contest and win a signed ARC!

Can't Wait Contest!

My ARCs arrived and I couldn't share them...


I thought I would have to wait until April to start giving away ARCs in blog contests.

It will be spring, I thought.

It's a new month, I thought.
But the fabulous reaction to Nightshade's cover and book trailer have pushed my already impatient self over the edge.
So the first contest begins NOW.
You can win the first signed Nightshade ARC giveaway by entering my first Annual PARANORMAL HAIKU CONTEST!

What is a paranormal haiku?

Haiku is a Japanese poem form which follows a 5 syllable, 7 syllable, 5 syllable format
Making it paranormal is just a matter of adding the appropriate content.

For example:

Vampire angst erodes
the moment love trumps bloodlust;
how long can it last?

OR

Can mummies find love?
Passion knows no bounds, but still
dust is a turnoff.

Entries accepted until Wednesday, March 31! And to answer Dani's question - yes, I will accept multiple entries - send all the haiku your heart desires!

Competition

There's no sporting event I anticipate like the annual NCAA tournament. March Madness baby! Woo-hoo!
Not only does liven up what is generally a drab month in Minnesota, but it is simply awesome competition. My family always fills out brackets and enjoys trash talking each other as our respective standings shift.

If you haven't been following it, this year's tournament has been off the wall. So many upsets. My bracket was pretty much ruined when Georgetown and Louisville were knocked out. But then the entire world's bracket was ruined when Northern Iowa took down Goliath Kansas, a team which even President Obama had picked to win the entire tourney!

This post is actually about writing.

Wha???

Yep. Writing.

There are two key lessons for writers to be learn from the phenomenon that is the NCAA tournament.

1) Pacing

March Madness has unbelievable pace. It's heart in throat, pulse pounding action from the first buzzer. The pace is swift and unrelenting. In the space of 100th of a sec, fates are sealed. Teams go on, teams go home.

While I love college ball, I'm not a fan of the NBA. Why? Pacing. The NBA is bogged down. It's slow. It's boring. Come on - 7 game series? 7 games? In July??

The NBA playoffs are akin to an editor saying, hey just tack on another 100 pages or so - that way we can jack up the cover price of your book.

Yuck. No editor would ever say that. There's a reason writing advice is always telling you to cut, cut, cut and kill your darlings. Spareness of word count is mostly about pace. To succeed in your writing you need a killer pace.

2) Upsets

March Madness draws so many fans because it is full of surprises. Every year an underdog manages to take down one of the big teams. This year, with Northern Iowa's victory over Kansas, may have been the biggest upset for a long, long time. And it was thrilling.



Readers must be kept on their toes. If they think they know what's coming, and it does, they might have a smug sense of satisfaction, but they won't be screaming or breathless.

Always have the potential for upsest - big "I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT JUST HAPPENED!" upsets - in your story. Call them twists, surprises, whatever. If your characters and plot are predictable, you've already lost the battle.

AAW: Fantasy

Thanks to everyone for all the cover and trailer love. I'm over the moon about it!Now to continue from Monday's thread - it's still Author Appreciation Week. On Monday I talked about honesty in Laurie Halse Anderson's novels. Today I'd like to talk about fantasy. Fantasy is my favorite genre. High, urban, paranormal, epic - all of it I love. There have been many fantasy authors whose work profoundly influenced my own writing: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, David Eddings, Susan Cooper, Piers Anthony, J.K. Rowling...these names are only the beginning of a long, long list.

But one writer stands out in turn of the mark she left on my life: Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Bradley's novels highlight two key features that are important to me: 1) Strong female protagonists 2)Weaving fantasy into history

History has a long, er, history of letting women down. Or more often beating them down with a stick (know where the phrase 'rule of thumb' comes from? Look it up. I dare you.) - Marion Zimmer Bradley rights such wrongs with unbelievable skill.

Wondering what Morgan Le Fay really thought about King Arthur? Check out:(When I saw this cover on the shelf as a tween, it was love at first sight.)

Think Achilles was just a big jerk? Yeah, pretty much.

Bradley also wrote wonderful high fantasy and science fiction.
My appreciation for this brilliant author's work runs deep and I am thankful for the lasting legacy she's offered to a new generation of writers.

Reveal!

The Nightshade cover:
And you can view the trailer on the official book web site!