Writing Journey - Part 3

In the wake of rejection, I decided to get working on another project to distract myself. 

Now, in case you are unaware, I'm a pantser. Terrible pantser. I've tried planning and it did not work out well, so I will continue what seems to work for me.

That said, I tried to go and write in my gender-swapped Cinderella retelling, and got basically a few sentences. Okay, better than nothing, right? But I'm just not feeling it. I don't know how to approach the story, even though I have plot ideas in my head. So I decided to put it on the backburner again.

Now, the shiniest unfinished project I have is Thorn of Dreams. This was what I was writing for Nanowrimo a few years ago. The reason I stopped? I realized I needed to do more research than I can conceivably do at the moment. I could read plenty of books and online articles, but this is a book that's based in Icelandic culture, and I really feel I should take a trip to Iceland to truly experience it. Sadly, this is something I cannot afford currently.

So of course, that one has stayed on the backburner, much as I want to write about creatures that are the living embodiment of nightmares.

This brings me to a conundrum. Do I write something new? I haven't had much time to think about stories lately, so I don't have any new ideas that I've not started floating around yet (oh but I will soon, just not at the moment. They always come, just when I least expect them). So no, I won't start something new since I've got many already started projects.

But what then?

Well, I have three projects that I wrote a while ago that could definitely use some sprucing up. One is particularly bad, but I'm going to ignore it for the foreseeable future, because dystopia. Lol. And so I have decided to do a full rewrite of Iron Curse.

You may remember this as a) the first book I submitted on Swoon Reads and/or b) the second book I ever finished. Once I'm done with this rewrite (and let's face it, there's plenty I'm going to keep. I've just grown as a writer, so I'd like it to be better), I'll likely begin revising Crash Story. 

Oh my gosh, so much to do! Are you working on a big writing project? 

Review: Caraval

Title: Caraval

Author: Stephanie Garber

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Release Date: January 31, 2017

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over.

But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or a dangerous domino effect of consequences will be set off, and her beloved sister will disappear forever.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval…beware of getting swept too far away.

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Cover Reveal: Flirt

Hello all! Today I have for you a cover reveal for Flirt by M.L. Sparrow. This is the second book in the What Happens on Campus series, a NA romance (which duh, I love!). It's out on July 27, and I cannot wait!

~Synopsis~

Flirting never hurt...

Forced to give up her promising gymnastics career due to a devastating injury, Riley Murphy decides to join her twin sister at St Joseph’s University in Texas. Finding a best friend in her roommate, Chloe, she nonetheless finds herself going off the rails as she indulges in drugs, alcohol and boys. However, playing quickly turns into something she can’t control… Too ashamed to confide in her friends or family, and with a boyfriend who does nothing but feed her addictions, the person she turns to is Cameron Lucas, someone she knew as a child. 

Cam’s loved Riley since he used to go to work with his mama at the Murphy estate, but she was always so far out of his liege. Now he’s beginning to realize that he never really knew her in the first place… However, that realization only deepens his feelings. But the question is, how far is he willing to go to help someone who won’t help them self? And can he discover the demons driving her to self-destruct?

Writing Journey Part 2

This seemed like a good time to post, because as I write this, I just received my first ever rejection letter to a query. 

Am I surprised at all to get a rejection letter? Not one bit. But I am surprised one came in so quickly, since I know literary agents have hundreds of queries to go through, and I only sent this one out last week. I'm honestly surprised this agent had even gotten to mine yet. Just shows what I know, right?

And that's fine, because I'm still learning. I did my research, and only sent out a few queries to test the waters. Once I get back at least one more response, I will start looking over my query again and decide what to do from there. 

In the mean time, I haven't done any writing since last week, but I have thought about some stories I've had stewing. And I have some ideas floating around. Here is when I wish I had the money to take a trip to Iceland for research, but alas, I do not. So I shall work on other projects until I can take care of that one (I really want to work on that one, but oh well).

Next up on my writing board, probably my gender-swapped Cinderella?

Review: To Kill A Kingdom

Title: To Kill A Kingdom

Author: Alexandra Christo

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Release Date: March 6, 2018

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

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Writing Journey - Part 1

Hello again! I've decided to start documenting what I'm doing writing-wise.

As many of you might know, I write a lot. What you might not realize is that I haven't written anything since February of this year. Yes, it has been quite a long time. But I've had some ideas stewing now for a while, and I'm almost ready to jump back in to what I had planned.

As for what I had planned already? It's time to start querying Cloak & Dagger. I got really busy, and then I decided if I hardly had time to send an email, I shouldn't be querying. Because if by some miracle I got an agent, I'd need to have time to edit. Which I totally didn't.

But things have changed now. I do have time to edit. I have time to write. Somehow! I need to do a little less reading, but I can do it all. Read, write, make candles, go to my regular job!

So I plan (again) to try and query. Also this is another reminder that my spy fantasy romance story (Cloak & Dagger, duh) is on Swoon Reads. If you're curious, there's a link to it up top in the Extras tab.

That's it for now. Basically an introduction, and a really quick update. Next time, I might share some notes and some of the things I last wrote. Let me know what you think!

Review: The Wicked Deep

Title: The Wicked Deep

Author: Shea Ernshaw

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Release Date: March 6, 2018

Welcome to the cursed town of Sparrow…

Where, two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town.
Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under.

Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into.

Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople turn against one another. Penny and Bo suspect each other of hiding secrets. And death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters.

But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to choose: save Bo, or save herself.

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Review: An Enchantment of Ravens

Title: An Enchantment of Ravens

Author: Margaret Rogerson

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Release Date: September 26, 2017

A skilled painter must stand up to the ancient power of the faerie courts—even as she falls in love with a faerie prince—in this gorgeous debut novel.

Isobel is a prodigy portrait artist with a dangerous set of clients: the sinister fair folk, immortal creatures who cannot bake bread, weave cloth, or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and Isobel’s paintings are highly prized. But when she receives her first royal patron—Rook, the autumn prince—she makes a terrible mistake. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes—a weakness that could cost him his life.

Furious and devastated, Rook spirits her away to the autumnlands to stand trial for her crime. Waylaid by the Wild Hunt’s ghostly hounds, the tainted influence of the Alder King, and hideous monsters risen from barrow mounds, Isobel and Rook depend on one another for survival. Their alliance blossoms into trust, then love—and that love violates the fair folks’ ruthless laws. Now both of their lives are forfeit, unless Isobel can use her skill as an artist to fight the fairy courts. Because secretly, her Craft represents a threat the fair folk have never faced in all the millennia of their unchanging lives: for the first time, her portraits have the power to make them feel.

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An update whoops

Dear Reader,

I apologize profusely for disappearing for... A long time. I feel an explanation is owed.

So for the past ling while, I've felt stagnated with blogging. I write reviews, and pretty much nothing else. Then in late March, things got very hectic at work. As you might be aware, I work the night shift in a lab. 

Well in late March, I was called in to work the day shift instead. I was there to get a new piece of equipment running. Which I happily did in just about a week. And then I was stuck on the day shift, being the only person who could run said equipment. Also because of this, I would work every day straight (no weekends for me). I would get to work at 6:30 in the morning and not leave until 8 in the evening (that's 20:00 for most of you people in the world).

Let's fast forward. Four weeks later, I'm finally back on my regular shift. But I'm crazy burnt out. I may have had a mental breakdown or two while at work. And a week goes by and all I want to do is read. At this point, I still haven't gone grocery shopping. In fact, I haven't been in about two months, so I'm subsisting on such food as McDonald's daily. Whoops.

The point being, I was reading and about nothing else once I finally got my schedule back to normal. My house is a wreck, I'm behind on making candles for my business, I haven't taken Instagram photos in three score days. But tonight I plan to rectify some of this. The important part for here being as follows: I'm writing some reviews tonight. They will slowly be posting over the next couple weeks. 

I'm very sorry I disappeared without a word. But I hope I'm back.