It's the most wonderful time..of the year!

Back to school!

Which means hours of time to dedicate to finally finishing this manuscript. (See previous post, New Projects Loom...) I'm about 60% done with the 2nd draft and have already got a handful of edits for that 60%. Finger's crossed, I'm finished the 2nd draft end of September, finishing edits end of October! The good news, however, is that I still really love this manuscript.

That alone is an accomplishment.

And I can easily say I have advanced from Faery-lore 'novice/moron' to Faery-lore 'competent'. Which wasn't exactly on my bucket list but still...

In response to Michelle's post on The spiral Path, asking where we write, I have this to say:

50% of the time, I am here:

with 30 Rock or Arrested Development playing on the TV in the background...

The other 50% to follow...

2010 BOOKS!

...I can't believe its fall. Since the publishing industry moves so...friggin'...slow...I am going to start my list of much anticipated, much hyped SEQUELS...even though we won't get to read them for another year!

1. The Dead-Tossed Waves, Carrie Ryan (sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth which was brilliant!!)

2. The Demon's Covenant, Sarah Rees Brennen (Sequel to The Demon's Lexicon which was also brilliant!)

...disclaimer: I'm pretty much not going to hype a sequel if I didn't find its predecessors brilliant, I just thought I'd throw that out there...

3. City of Fallen Angels, Cassandra Clare (The City of Bones Series - This series was totally not on my radar but I loved every minute of them and am happy to have another book, even though I'm not the biggest Simon fan on the planet...I will be happy to be proven wrong!)

4. The Clockwork Angel, Cassandra Clare (A new series from her, a mortal instruments prequel - looks delishous)

5. Radiant Shadows, Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovley Series - I'm actually kinda pissed off I have to read this book. I thought I had made a commitment to a trilogy, then I got a bait and switch...BUT I have to find out what happens, I won't rest until I do.)

Michelle...did I miss any good ones??

More Chapters FOR YOU!

I've just added through Chapter 25 of the Birthright. Check it out, I'll be adding the rest throughout the week and putting this baby to bed. I feel good about it as a first effort and learned a lot. Not sure if I'll get around to editing the sequel.

Particularly if no one is reading... ;)

The Demon's Lexicon...

...Is still haunting me. When I finished it late last night, I didn't think it would. The twists and turns spun throughout the narrative was very compelling, and then there was, of course, the ending.

But why its still haunting me is because I'm left in awe of what an amazing undertaking it is to make a technically unlikeable character so likeable. And now that we know the playing field, where will she take us and how can we reconcile ourselves to this protagonist? Or is he even a protagonist after all (I think he is, and the very fact that I ask this question, is how this book raises the bar for YA fantasy)?

YA writers everywhere...the game just got interesting.

And check out the author: http://sarahtales.livejournal.com/

The Forest of Hands and Teeth - better than the hype!!

How often does a book measure up to the hype? Seriously, like, never. Mostly because it is far too easy to find people who are willing to say good things about your book. Even if it's crap. Even if it's crappy crap.

There has been a lot of hype about The Forest of Hands and Teeth on the writers blogs and I have to say, it was beautiful. It fuses the notion that while a biological apocalypse has infected the world there are some who remain uninfected and they try to somehow create a future in a world that seems very nearly extinct. They don't know if there are others who have also survived, or if they are the last of humanity. The main character is flawed, it is her end and her beginning. The world in which she lives is complex and believable.

Now bear in mind, this is a story about a post apocalyptic world in which there is the ever present moan of Zombies and from everywhere in the village, you can see them, eyes glazed over, as they press against the chain link fence hungry for the humans they can sense lie just beyond the perimeter...

Creepy and I totally bought it. All of it. It was perfect.

A tribute to BSG...a Sci-Fi Haiku

I loved you, B.G.

You were always smart and hot!

May you rest in peace.



Frak, now what am I gonna watch?

New projects loom...

Well all, (and by all, I mean my husband, the 2 people who have be kind enough to comment on my posts and my one follower (thanks Jenn *XO*), it is time for an update on my project list!

Following a successful NaNoWriMo experience where I wrote 50K crappy words as a sequel to the Birthright, I promptly, closed said file, never to look at it again. I believe pretty whole-heartedly (albeit conveniently) that I need quite a bit of time away from that story and since I've lived in 'that' world for a few years now, it is time to created a new one.

My favorite faery tale of all time is Sleeping Beauty. While the original fable is quite gruesome, and the disney version is a bit too much with the singing animals and all, my affinity for the story lands somewhere in the middle of the two poles of the spectrum. (I would be referring to the faery spectrum, in case you are wondering) I prefer my princess to error more on the side of sappy true love, and I can do with a great deal less of the Prince pillaging her while she sleeps....see historical versions here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Beauty.

YIKES.

When I decided to rewrite Sleeping Beauty as an Urban fantasy, things became a bit dicey since there are a TON of Faery's in this particular fable, and I an a Faery ignoramous. So I am currently and happily reading modern faery tales and plotting a gerat and epic Mortal/Faery war, complete with a halfing Princess and heir to both thrones and her banished Unseely Faery Prince and true soulmate. Don't worry, there will be quite a bit of killing, an evil twin, a best friend with whom she is also in love, and many many dark secrets, twists and turns.

Thanks to Michelle who is my Faery mentor, there to ensure that I commit NO Faery phopahs. Because THAT would be embarrassing...

Oh and soon, I will post more chapters of the Birthright. They are complete (minus one more edit (and by one more edit, I mean one more edit by me before I can no longer look at it with any sense of objectivitey))!!