I haven’t done an update post in a while, so I decided to make a short vlog about the cover reveal for Relapse, scheduled for next Tuesday, October 14!
Tag: fiction writing
Relapse Playlist
Just for fun, here’s a playlist of the songs I was listening to while I was writing Relapse. Links take you to YouTube.
I guess I really like Placebo…
1. “My Sweet Prince” by Placebo
2. “G.U.Y.” by Lady Gaga
3. “Oh! You Pretty Things” by David Bowie
4. “Cars” by Gary Numan
5. “Bad” by U2
6. “Shout” by Tears for Fears
7. “In the Cold Light of Morning” by Placebo
8. “Shady” by Adam Lambert
9. “Meds” by Placebo
10. “Goodness Gracious” by Ellie Goulding
11. “Blind” by Placebo
12. “Pretty When You Cry” by VAST
13. “Devil Inside” by INXS
It’s That Time Again
It’s that time again…time for an update, that is!
Some of you may have caught the Facebook status update a few days ago, but just in case you didn’t…I finally finished my first completish draft of Relapse! Yay! There was a time when I was seriously nervous that this book was never going to happen. Getting over writing Part One was the biggest hump because it set everything else up. It was really hard for me to start writing past that until I was happy with it. But now, suddenly, it’s all out of me. I have a list of things to go back and tweak before I give it to my beta readers. Of course, nothing’s final yet…lots of editing will happen, I’m sure. But it just feels really awesome to have it out of my brain. It’s a lot closer to what I envisioned.
It’s also quite a bit longer than Reborn, which is about 230 pages. I thought that was a decent size for a debut novel, especially since you’re just getting to know the characters. Now that you realize you LOVE my characters (lol), you get to see even more of them. Right now Relapse is about 97K (yikes), which comes out to 300+ pages. Somehow I’ve managed to write so many pages of book and zero pages of dissertation. (Which I’m planning to start writing in August. I swear.) Priorities…..
Relapse has turned out to be pretty dark. So I’m a little nervous for all of the reviewers who were all “Oh, Reborn is such a cool, fun read! Yay!” That they’re going to read Relapse and be like…erm, well, this is dark/depressing. The ending in particular. It’s not a cliffhanger…there are loose ends in the book (because, if all keeps going well, I’m going to write even MORE books!), but it ties things up somewhat at the end since the next book is most likely going to focus on a different set of characters. Now, although I envision a happier ending for the series (because, come on, who doesn’t like those?), the ending of every book isn’t going to be puppies, unicorns and rainbows. Sorry, I’m rambling. Siobhan is going to fall, perhaps more than once, before she gets her happy ending. I guess I’m just curious as to how people feel about darker endings. It’s something I like exploring, especially since most YA/NA books these days seem to have happy-for-now or neat-and-tidy endings. Also, this book is full of most of my characters being very, very naughty (yes, even the ones you probably thought were good).
Some more bad news/good news: The bad news is, someone gets off-ed in Relapse. The good news is…it probably isn’t anyone you were getting horribly attached to (we’ll hope not).
Let’s see, what else can I ramble about? Hmmmmm…I think I’ve mentioned this before in other posts, but Relapse has two major first person POVs: Siobhan and Carly (one of Siobhan’s sorority sisters). This was something else I was worried about going into writing it because it seemed a little risky, and I wasn’t sure if I would end up liking it or not. That being said…I personally think it works really well. (We’ll see what my betas think.) Carly’s story branches off because she gets trapped in the clutches of another sort of dark, mysterious, mischievous character, who’s of course not all that he seems to be (yeah, I know, I’m obsessed, what can I say?). I think it’s a cool subplot because you get to see a little more of Olympus and its culture this way…a little more strictly fantasy, rather than fantasy mixed with modern times, like it is in Siobhan’s world.
Have I confused you yet?
Anyway, I’m getting super excited about Relapse, and I hope you are, too! I’ll try to post a teaser in the upcoming weeks. I think I’m still on track for a fall release date. I did not feel that way about a month ago, haha, but I’m definitely more confident now.
I thought I’d have more to write tonight, but I guess that’s it, so toodles for now! Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments…or comment with your favorite character from Reborn! Just because I’m curious…(And, ladies, pick someone BESIDES Jasper, lol.)
Character Profile: Apate
You may remember Apate as Eric’s other “teaching assistant”/minion of darkness in Reborn. She’s the goddess of trickery/deceit and has a much bigger presence in Relapse. Now that Jasper’s gone for good (…), Apate is next on Gamma Lambda Phi’s list of asses to kick back to Olympus. She also antagonizes Siobhan like it’s her raison d’etre. I’ve been having a blast writing her character, so thought I’d share!
Species: Olympian
Age: In Olympian years, a young adult
Physical Description: Petite; obsidian hair; creamy complexion; wine red lips; cat-like green eyes; often wears black; smells like iron and roses
Relationships: In Relapse, she sets her sights on Jimmy to be her “new toy” (poor Jimmy).
But her most important relationship is with her twin brother, Dolos, who Eric is holding captive to get Apate to do his bidding. Dolos is really the only person Apate would do anything for.
Goal: To free her brother
Obstacles: Being a spirit of deceit, she has trouble getting people to trust her. She also has a hard time trusting other people.
Strengths: Beautiful, confident, independent, doesn’t (usually) care what people think of her, loving (at least when it comes to her family)
Weaknesses: Jealous, suspicious, mischievous
Power: Apate and her brother can produce complex illusions, making others see/hear/taste/feel/smell whatever they want them to.
Who would play her in a movie: Phoebe Tonkin, of The Secret Circle/The Vampire Diaries/The Originals fame
Theme Song: Kesha’s “Cannibal”
“I’m impulsive. I do things for my own amusement, not really thinking through how it affects other people. Sometimes not really caring.”
WIP Wednesday: June 18, 2014
I haven’t done an update post in a while, but I’m sick and bored today, so here we go! First off, Reborn is now available on Smashwords and a few other places! Yay! If you’ve read it and would like to leave a review, you can find it on Smashwords here and Barnes and Noble here.
As you might remember, the purpose of Work-In-Progress (WIP) Wednesdays is so I can set personal writing goals. It also serves as a way to let you all know what I’m working on. I hope you’ll join me and link back to your own or share in the comments!
To play, just fill in the following:
1. What are you currently writing?
2. Inspirations:
3. Plan for the upcoming week:
***
1. What are you currently writing?
I’m still slowly but surely writing Relapse, the sequel to Reborn. Although I’ve made a lot of progress on it, I never seem to get as far with it as I think I will. I thought I’d have a complete draft done by the end of May, but that totally didn’t happen, haha. I think I keep misjudging because I’m learning as I go along, and it takes a long time to write a book. Also, this one is turning out to be longer than the first one, so there’s that.
That all being said…when I checked it out a few days ago, I realized (happily) that I had made a lot more progress on it than I thought! Right now it sits at about 61K! Which is awesome especially compared to the progress I’ve made on my dissertation! So hopefully I’ll have a complete draft for betas to look at soon, because I’m definitely getting to that point where I’m just like…I need someone besides me to read this…
2. Inspirations:
I discovered a new/old(?) group! And I really like this song, although it’s really sinister sounding (but I think that’s why I like it). Also, another warning, the video is kind of creepy…
3. Plan for the upcoming week:
I don’t really have a concrete plan except to just continue chugging along. I do have some book reviews I need to get caught up. I recently re-read The Forbidden Game by L.J. Smith and wanted to write a little bit about that, but I also have some books I need to read/review for fellow authors that I just haven’t gotten around to yet. 😦 So, sorry for being slow, but I’ll get caught up with that!
Update Time!
Below is the video update I posted to my Facebook page last night! It’s my first vlog, so don’t judge. 😉 I used my phone (in retrospect, I should have turned it the other way, horizontally, lol)…so it’s REALLY upclose and personal, ha! But give it a watch for some exciting news and updates about my WIP!
[One correction: Towards the beginning I say it’s Reborn’s half-month birthday…I meant half-birthday.]
Character Profile: Peter
One of my fellow writers (and also my cover artist) Heidi asked me to share a character profile for Peter. Peter is one of my favorite characters in Reborn–probably because he embodies my favorite glam rock artists. He loves to gossip, and in Reborn he functions mostly as comic relief, but you’ll get to find out more about him and his “powers” in Relapse.
Age: Early 20s
Occupation:
- Student at fictional college Thurston University
- Keyboardist for punk rock band Search and Destroy
Physical Description:Tall; lanky; British; short, careless blonde hair; twinkling blue eyes; infectious grin; flamboyant
Species: Demigod
Relationship Status: Single
Love interests: Anna is his ex-girlfriend
Other relationships: Jimmy, his best friend and band mate
Sexual Orientation: He doesn’t like labels
Strengths:
- Outgoing
- Flirtatious/playful
- Funny/silly
- Likes to keep friends in the loop
Weaknesses:
- Impressionable
- Nosey/a gossip
Hobbies:
- Gossiping
- Performing (pianist and singer)
Power: Messenger between humans and the gods/goddesses
Inspiration: David Bowie
Who would play him in a movie: In my Reborn Dream Cast, I cast Revenge’s Gabriel Mann.
WIP Wednesday
The purpose of WIP (Work-In-Progress) Wednesdays is so I can set personal writing goals. It also serves as a way to let you all know what I’m working on. I hope you’ll join me and link back to your own or share in the comments!
To play, just fill in the following:
1. What are you currently writing?
2. Inspirations:
3. Plan for the upcoming week:
*****
1. What are you currently writing?
I finished it! Part One of the Reborn sequel, that is. Teehee. 😉 Part One sits at about 37K, and I’m excited to keep going–I’m on sort of a roll right now (my muse has crappy timing). The sequel will have plenty of twists and turns, juicy college drama and epic romance (or maybe lust is a better word for it…). Some people have asked me about a release date–and I still don’t want to commit to an exact date yet–but it will (hopefully) be in late fall 2014. But I’m excited you’re excited. 🙂 I’ll choose an excerpt to post on here sometime soon.
2. Inspirations:
I really love describing clothes in my stories, especially fancy clothes, and I’m gearing up to write a dance scene. I want my main character Siobhan, who’s normally a pink-loving blonde, to wear a sophisticated, black cocktail dress, so I’ve been looking at dresses on Google Images. A change in her taste in fashion throughout the book is going to mirror her transformation in the book as she gives in more and more to her dark side. (I know, I’m so deep.) I was inspired by this scene in Legend (I also posted this video to the Facebook page last weekend) in which Princess Lily is dancing with this black dress, transforming from a fresh-faced innocent to a gothic princess in three minutes. By the way, 80s fantasy movies are the BEST.
3. Plan for the upcoming week:
Well, this might take me longer than a week, but at some point I really need to get Reborn up on Smashwords so it reaches more distributors. I’ll call it one of my April goals. That, and just to keep on writing…
Here are some possible dresses for Siobhan:
WIP Wednesday
So much for my weekly check in…my last WIP Wednesday post was…hmmmm, let’s see…a little over a month ago! And my last post (that was not a reblog) was on Valentine’s Day. Woopsies. If it’s any consolation, I’ve been trying to concentrate on making the presentation for my PhD comprehensive exam coming up the first week of April (yes, that IS as much fun as it sounds!). Ok, what I’ve actually been doing is binge watching Veronica Mars before the movie comes out. But I’m making up for the lack of activity this week with this post, plus an author interview this Friday! (By the way, if you ever want to be featured on my blog, as a fellow blogger or author, let me know! I love having people on here. Just let me know on here, Facebook or email urge2write@gmail.com.) Now, on with this post.
The purpose of WIP (Work-In-Progress) Wednesdays is so I can set personal writing goals. It also serves as a way to let you all know what I’m working on. I hope you’ll join me and link back to your own or share in the comments! (A few of you have in the past–it’s awesome hearing from you, so thanks!)
To play, just fill in the following:
1. What are you currently writing?
2. Inspirations:
3. Plan for the upcoming week:
*****
1. What are you currently writing?
Despite my impending comprehensive exam and Veronica Mars obsession, I have done some work on Relapse. I have no idea how many words I’ve added to it because really what I’ve done is gutted/reordered what I’ve written so far, haha. Deleted some stuff that I was just like…”Nope!” I don’t know if any fellow authors reading this have ever done this, but I took chunks from here and there and stuck them together into what I think will be a better order in the long run…after I fix the flow, of course. It was weirdly fun. Relapse sits at a little over 26,000 words right now, and I have a feeling it’s going to be a long book…or at least longer than Reborn. But it’s going to be EPIC. (If you need a fix in the meantime and missed it, I posted a special excerpt for Valentine’s Day. Check it out here.)
2. Inspirations:
You know I’m not shy about venting my obsessions on here. Like I said, Veronica Mars is my current one. (Seriously, if you haven’t watched this show, do so, immediately. There are only/sadly three seasons. Tell them Shaina sent you?) This might sound strange, but I’ve also found this show to be very inspirational because I love the writing and the character development. This show leaves me with a lot of feels…feels I hope my readers have after reading Reborn, lol. If you don’t know anything about it, Veronica Mars was a show about a teen detective on the WB and later the CW in the early-ish 2000s. It has a “case of the week” kind of format with an overarching mystery to be solved throughout the season, as well as lots of juicy teen drama, complicated characters and steamy romance. I don’t know why, but I love writing about high school, and this show makes me want to go back to that for a while.
And yes, Neptune High has its very own brooding, complicated rich bad boy, Logan Echolls. Logan and Veronica are now one of my all-time favorite couples. (Also, the actor who plays Logan, Jason Dohring, has grown up nicely! He’s on the right in the second picture below. Although “young” Jason was 21 when he was on the show. I had to look it up, just to make sure…)
Speaking of bad boys, I’m pretty sure the following is the new theme song for Reborn:
3. Plan for the upcoming week:
Watch more Veronica Mars. And then watch the movie. Hey, it’s my spring “break.”
Excerpt for Valentine’s Day: Eros and Psyche’s Wedding
I wanted to post a special romantic excerpt for Valentine’s Day, so here’s one from my current WIP Relapse. (Keep in mind this is from the first draft, and I don’t know if it will even end up in the final version.) It’s a flashback Siobhan has of Psyche’s/her wedding day. I hope to do some more research into actual Greek wedding customs, haha. But anyway it’s cute, and I hope you enjoy it!
****
I study myself in a full-length, gold framed mirror. I’ve grown used to the face staring back at me in these memories—Psyche’s face. The large, deep violet eyes are the same, but she has higher cheekbones and a slightly upturned nose. Hair falls like a white-blonde waterfall down her back. She smooths out pretend wrinkles in her one shoulder, white silk dress and adjusts the gold cord tied at the waist beneath her breasts. Her wings emerge through slits in the back of the dress. The bronze wings of a butterfly-shaped necklace spread across the delicate, pale skin of her chest.
In the mirror, I see an auburn head peek around the door behind me. Nike comes in, a white tunic draped over her tall, thin frame. Her hair is long and plaited into a thick braid down her back.
“You look beautiful,” she says, giving me a quick hug. “It is time to go down.”
Nodding, I follow her out into the corridor, our white slippers whispering over the marble floor.
The next thing I remember is standing on the pale sands of the beach, just out of reach from where the ocean waves slither up the coast. My fingers are curled around a bouquet of unfamiliar white flowers. Nike and, to my surprise, Aphrodite stand on either side of me. Aphrodite, like always, is willowy and golden, her beauty almost as painful to look at as the blinding sun above us.
People stand on either side of a strip of sand leading to my soon-to-be husband. I have a vague memory of what Psyche’s parents looked like, but I don’t see them among the onlookers. Two women with braided blonde hair and hooked noses lurk toward the back of the crowd, scowling at me: Psyche’s biological sisters. Sunlight glints off of Hephaestus’s smooth head somewhere closer to the front. I don’t see Ares.
Aphrodite and Nike walk with me up the aisle. I see a few more faces that look familiar, but I can’t think of their names. One is a tall woman with copper skin, an athletic build and a proud demeanor. Her almond-shaped eyes are as dark as the shiny black hair flowing freely to her waist. As I pass her, she smiles warmly. On the other side of the path is a short but sinewy man with curly dark hair. His pupils are black slits rimmed with reddish irises. Gold wings decorate the backs of his sandals. Beside him stands a girl with bouncing brown curls and watery blue eyes. Her small, pale hands clap excitedly as I walk by. When our eyes meet, her lips pull back into something between a smile and a grimace as she fights to hold back more tears. I return it with a hesitant smile of my own. I look away from the crowd and realize I’m almost at the end. Leaving Aphrodite and Nike behind me, I pick up the skirt of my dress and run the last few feet.
Almost immediately, Eros takes my free hand into his. A breeze ruffles his dark hair away from his golden face. His lips twitch upwards only slightly, but his body is tensed with barely contained excitement. He’s not wearing much except for what looks like a sheet wrapped around his waist, tied with a yellow cord. I resist the sudden urge to run my fingers up and down the rippling muscles of his chest and abdomen.
I hand the bouquet off to Nike and step closer into Eros’s arms, his wings enveloping us in a feathery white curtain. He slides a ring made of an iridescent white metal onto my finger.
“With this ring, I am bound to you, always and forever,” he recites, his breath fresh and sweet against my face.
I slide a similar ring onto his finger and repeat, “With this ring, I am bound to you, always and forever.”
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