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Short Story Plotting

  • May. 12th, 2008 at 7:37 PM
vampire, Jocelynn, graveyard, nightwalker

I've finally got the novella/short story piece for the upcoming anthology plotted out. I had a rough outline for it, but I still wasn't excited about it. I had an old idea that I liked better and it was sucking all my enthusiasm out of the current project. However, while I was taking my lunch break today, I had a mental break through! Yes, I now know the plot for the short story and I LOVE IT! I can't wait to jump and get this thing written.

There are still some holes in the plot that will get worked out as I get through the story. There's a number of characters that I haven't met yet and one character that I met in Nightwalker that I now get to spend some more time with. So, tonight is a short and sweet entry. I am hoping to pound out a couple thousand words before collapsing in bed tonight.

However, I don't want my loyal readers to feel neglected. I have a video for you. A friend of mine sent this over today. Growing up, one of my favorite cartoons was Tiny Toons and the best from that series were the Baby Plucky cartoons. I have pasted below one of my favorites. It doesn't make me laugh until I cry any longer, but I still chuckle at it. Good times.


Widgets and Fae

  • May. 11th, 2008 at 7:24 PM
vampire, Jocelynn, graveyard, nightwalker

I’ve just got a couple random updates today. Book 2 has been handed in to my editor and I’ve started working on the anthology short story that I’ve got due in a couple of months. Yes, I am actually updating the word counter again (on Blogger). It’s slow going at the moment, but I am always slow to get into a book or story.

As you also may have noticed, I HAVE A WIDGET! Whoo-hoo! HarperCollins rocks! They created a widget for me and it’s positively lovely. So, now we all know how long we have until Nightwalker is finally released. Feel free to add it to your own site if you want. The release is still a long time away, but it’s quickly getting closer.  (To see the widget, you will have to go to my Blogger account.  I tried to post it over here, but I can't get LiveJournal to accept the coding.)

Finally, I have also located a new quiz. I know I haven’t posted one in a really long time. Below is my result. Be sure to check it out. It’s only 11 questions.





What type of Fae are you?

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Field Trip

  • May. 10th, 2008 at 5:57 PM
vampire, Jocelynn, graveyard, nightwalker
As the air gets warmer and summer slowly approaches, I find myself wandering more. During the late spring through fall, I like to travel. I need to be out seeing either the city I live in or other cities. All those experiences of seeing amazing places and meeting interesting people serves to refill the well of ideas.

Today, I went to one of my favorites places in the world. We're talking in the top 10. Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati, Ohio. I've been going to the Conservatory to see its collection of amazing flora since I was very young. It was a Christmas tradition in my family. When I got my driver's license, I started visiting on a quarterly basis to see its different seasonal exhibits. Now I visit whenever I need to wash out the bad vibes and enjoy a little peace and beauty. (Come on, it can't all be about blood, violence, and vampires.)

So, today, I would like to take you on a quick walk through the Conservatory. As a brief history lesson, the Conservatory was constructed 1933 and has become as much an icon of the beauty and history of the city as Fountain Square and the Suspension Bridge. The conservatory has 4 main rooms: the exhibit room, the desert house, the palm house, and the tropical house. Beside that, there is smaller orchid display and a bonsai display. If you are currently in the Cincinnati area, please stop in and see their annual Butterfly Show. The show this year as the theme of China: The Silk Road as most of the butterflies come from Asia.

I'm going to start in the exhibit room, which changes on a quarterly basis to match the season. The annual butterfly show is during the spring. This was my first year of attendance and it was worth the price of admission ($6). The butterflies were everywhere and every color of the rainbow. I tried to snap pictures of as many as possible with my little digital camera, but there was one type that I couldn't get. It was a large butterfly with bright blue wings edged in black. They flocked together and swooped around the room, never seeming to land. They're called Morpho (Morpho peleides), but I simply called them the elusive blue. I couldn't get butterflies to land on my hand, but they liked my brown shirt. Don't worry, all the butterflies were quite tame and friendly. I didn't hear of anyone getting bitten, though I did get charged by some aggressive butterflies a couple times. However, I think they were just begin playful.

The next room is the Desert House. I like this room because I honestly think that this is the closest I will ever come to actually being in the desert. I could be wrong, but I don't imagine there will be many times in my life where I will find the excuse to go wandering through the desert. I've got this irrational fear of scorpions and poisonous snakes. I like the exotic plants here. They have this amazing mix of delicate blooms surrounded by three-inch needle-like thorns. Reminds me of some people I know. It's also amazing that these strange plants with their blooms and thorns can survive in such harsh, arid conditions. Again, reminds me of some people I know.

The Desert House leads into the Orchid Display, which is a tiny, moist room dripping orchids. I love orchids. They are the perfect, delicate flower. Orchids are like the ideal Victorian woman; delicate, fragile, beautiful, with no harsh edges or nasty thorns like roses. I love orchids, but I know better than to try to raise them myself. I don't have a green thumb. I'd be lucky to keep a cactus alive.

The Orchid Display leads into the Bonsai Display. This is another plant that I would never try to raise. Sure, you're only supposed to trim it once every year or so, but that doesn't make it low maintenance. What if it catches a disease? Or if a limb you were training suddenly dies or breaks? All those years of work.... I am happy just admiring another person's hard work and dedication to something so beautiful. The Bonsai Display is quite impressive as it has several plants in its collection that are older than me. Heck, I'm impressed with any plant that has lived longer than me. That's a lot of time to weather. The grove in the center of the picture is 20 years old. They have one that is nearly 100 years old, but I didn't see it this time.

From the Bonsai Display, we head into the Palm House. This room always makes me think of wandering through the rainforest. Have I been to the rainforest? No, but I like to imagine this is what it's like without the jaguars and the mosquitoes the size of VW Bugs. The center of the room has a little, meandering stream that leads to a two-story waterfall. A wooden bridge crosses the stream. There are exotic palms, banana trees, and beautiful blooms with their extravagant colors. I've written a few scenes set in this room including one fight scene. (No, these scenes are not for Nightwalker since my book is not set in Cincinnati.) This room just seems to ooze exotic inspiration.

The final room is the Tropical House, which is similar to the Palm House -- just with less palms. However, this room does have a cocoa plant as well as some massive koi. There are more flowering trees and plants in this room along with a pair of small ponds.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this brief tour. If you live in the Cincinnati area, please stop in and visit the Conservatory. And if you're ever passing through the city on vacation, put it on your itinerary. You can walk through the entire place in less than 30 minutes, but it's time well spent.

Video Games and Silly Dreams

  • May. 6th, 2008 at 9:46 PM
vampire, Jocelynn, graveyard, nightwalker

It's back to the grind tomorrow. I gave myself one more night off and tonight was video game night. So, as a treat, I pulled out all my various copies Guitar Hero as well as my PlayStation 2, and played until my fingers screamed in pain ... then I played two more songs. Ahh... I love those games.

It's perfect for me. I have no musical talent. No rhythm, no timing. But with a little practice, I can rip through some of my absolute favorite songs like an expert. I haven't bought my copy of Rock Band yet simply because I have a short story and book 3 to writer before October. I can't afford the potential distraction.

If you've played either Rock Band or Guitar Hero, you get to name your own band and play through a career that takes you through different venues, from your friend's backyard to the ultimate outdoor summer concert festival. Naturally, the songs become more difficult as you go through the game.

The names of my bands have been:

Guitar Hero 1: Suicide Sleepover
Guitar Hero 2: The Cids
Guitar Hero 3: Sugar Monkeys
Guitar Hero- '80s Version: The Ravens

I do have two bands started over on Rock Band, but I can't think of both names. One is called Stinky Cheese.

If I could be in a band, I can't decide whether I would want to play the lead guitar or the drums. Maybe I could be a maverick like Foo Fighters Dave Grohl and do both. But not sing. I can't sing.

My bands sound would be an aggressive alternative rock, but still produce the occasional fun song. A Puddle of Mudd, Three Days Grace, Korn mix with some Nine Inch Nails anger thrown in for good measure.

So my question to you, dear readers and bloggers, is:
What would you name your band?
What would you play?
What would you sound like?

A Night Off

  • May. 5th, 2008 at 8:27 PM
vampire, Jocelynn, graveyard, nightwalker

The contest for my cover flats has officially closed. I put all the names in a hat. (Actually, I couldn’t find a hat so I put the names in my colander. Heck, it’s not like I use it for cooking.) And the two names I pulled out are:

Starseeker   and   OrdinaryWhirled

Winners: please email me at JocelynnDOTDrakeATgmailDOTcom. (replace DOT and AT with the corresponding symbols) Tell me your real name and the address where I can ship the cover flat.

Thank you to everyone that entered and I've so glad you liked the cover. I was very pleased with the response. And don’t be downhearted if you didn’t win. I will be holding other contests as the release date (of July 29) approaches. I will be giving away at least two more cover flats and two of my ARCs.

In other news, Book 2 has been officially shipped off to my editor, who is looking forward to reading it. She also told me that Nightwalker is currently being featured as one of May’s First Look books. Very cool.

In the meantime, I am taking the night off. After working hard all weekend, I’ve earned a short break. Tomorrow or Wednesday, I jump back in and start working on the anthology short story.

Finally .. Fresh Refrigerator Poetry

  • May. 4th, 2008 at 6:34 PM
vampire, Jocelynn, graveyard, nightwalker

Just a quick reminder: my first contest for cover art flats closes tonight at 11:59 p.m. If you've not entered your name yet, please scroll down and leave a comment on the Cover Art entry.

Today has been a beautiful day. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, it's nice and mildly warm outside ... and I've spent the entire day inside editing Book 2. Yes, this monster is scheduled to hit the U.S. Postal service tomorrow and then on to my editor. I've got around a hundred pages left. I haven't been making any major changes. The slowness can largely be attributed to me staring off into space, thinking about the long-term implications of certain decisions that are being made now. (The result being me going "ewww... I'm gonna have to deal with that eventually.")

However, I'm due for a break. I would really like a strawberry sundae, but I don't have any ice cream or strawberries in the house and I'm not allowed to leave until my edits are done.

So, my break tonight is a little refrigerator poetry. It's been a while since I posted any poetry ... I mean the non-haunted kind.


In case you can't read the image clearly, it says:
"Lather me in chocolate
Spray me with honey
Say you like our love sweet
A delicate dream on your tongue." 

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COVER ART!!!

  • May. 1st, 2008 at 9:03 PM
vampire, Jocelynn, graveyard, nightwalker
I had this great post planned. I was going to talking about the sad conclusion of the great Russian mystery and then finally throw up my latest refrigerator poetry, but something happened to trump all my plans. And I'm not complaining. Not one bit.

During the past few weeks, I have been obsessively haunting Amazon.com, waiting for them to post my cover. And they did it! They finally did it! They posted my cover at long last.

So, with a drum roll.....

Come on, drum roll.....

Here is the cover for Nightwalker: The First Dark Days Novel.

Isn't it lovely? This isn't the clearest copy. Here is another version that might be a little clearer.

I love my cover. I love my editor. I love HarperCollins. I think my cover is positively to die for. I've had it since September and it's been killing me that I haven't been able to share it with the world. But now, everyone can see it.

And because I'm in such a good mood, I'm going to run my very first contest. I am going to give away 2 cover flats. If you are interested in getting your hands on one of my few cover flats, please leave a comment. After the contest closes, I'll drop all the names in a hat, close my eyes, and pick out 2 names.
  • You're eligible if you're not related to me
  • One entry per person
  • Please sign your entry
  • Please don't leave your email address in your comment. If you do, you will get spammed. (Not by me. I'm just saying that's a very real risk.)
  • The giveaway closes at 11:59 pm eastern time on Sunday, May 4th. At that time, I will close the comment thread. A winner will be announced the following day.
 

A Look Back at the Beginning: Part 2

  • Apr. 30th, 2008 at 9:42 PM
vampire, Jocelynn, graveyard, nightwalker

I recently received a reader question about how many manuscripts I wrote before I sold and how I got my agent. Last night, I discussed how many books I wrote and when I got started writing. Tonight, I am going to talk about finding my agent.

There are stories of writers who managed to snag an agent within a few weeks of sending out their first query letters. I’m not one of those writers. Actually, it took me roughly two years and a stack of rejection letters to win over my agent.

I tried the usual route of the Writer’s Digest Guide to Literary Agents. I searched the Internet and I had a few connections that were kind enough to recommend me to their agents. No luck. Of all my rejection letters, I will say that I had a very strong response overall. About 30% were just plain old rejection letters. No name, no signature. Another 10% were rejection letters with a handwritten note. Another 30% asked for the first 3 chapters. And another 30% not only asked for the first 3 chapters, but they went on to ask for the whole book.

The rejection letters were mounting and I will admit that I got discouraged. It’s hard not to. I was getting a lot of positive responses; the most popular being that I had a great voice. But for some reason no one could quite pin down, no one wanted me.

A good friend once told me that I wanted to find an agent who loved my book as much as I did. I understood what she was saying, but I can’t say that I necessarily believed her.

It had been 2 years of rejections. I was getting worried. Was urban fantasy getting too saturated?

I had just received an issue of the RWA magazine, which listed several agents that were looking to take on new clients. I copied down 5 names, all that I could contact via email. I drew a line in the sand. I needed a serious bite from someone in this group of 5 or I was going to pack away the manuscript and start on something new. If I was lucky, I thought I would be able to sell the new project and maybe be able to sell my urban fantasy at a later date when I was an established author.

From the group of 5, I got some very serious bites. Out of the 5, only 1 rejected me outright and 3 immediately asked for samples. One I don’t think I ever heard from. From the 3 that asked for samples, 2 asked to see the whole book.

However, one asked faster than the other. I couldn’t give her an exclusive look, because the book was actually with another agent and an editor who had yet to give me a final decision. I did promise not to send the book to anyone else. She asked to me hold off for only a week. I was willing to give her more time. That weekend was Mother’s Day. I didn’t expect her to read my book over Mother’s Day.

The following Monday, I was prepared to email her and tell her that I was willing to give her more time to review the book. Instead, she called me. She wanted to represent me. What really awed me was when she started talking about my characters. I could hear it in her voice. It was the same tone of love and excitement I used when I talked about them. And the clincher: she hadn’t finished reading the book yet. She still had about 100 pages left. She saw something in that book she couldn’t pass up. She saw something in my ability that she didn’t want to pass up. I was honored, flattered, and humbled in that moment.

My friend was right. I had found someone who loved my book as much as I did.

A couple days later I signed some paperwork making it all official. After a week of quick revisions, my agent had my book in the hands of several editors in all the big publishing houses. We got several serious nibbles.

My same friend warned me that it might take a while to land an offer.

We had an offer before Father’s Day.

So my advice… it’s not anything new. Stick with it. You’re going to get lots of rejections letters. Lots of rejections letters. No matter what I say, you’re going to take it personally. Just don’t let it stop you. If your writing is important to you, if you feel like this book MUST be shared with the world, then don’t let a few “no”s stop you. In the meantime, this process involves a lot of waiting. While you’re waiting, be working on that next project. You might not sell your first book first. Your third book might sell first and then you get back to your first one.

Jennifer Schober of Spencerhill Associates is my agent. She’s amazing. She believes in me. I’d be completely lost without her.

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A Look Back at the Beginning

  • Apr. 29th, 2008 at 9:40 PM
vampire, Jocelynn, graveyard, nightwalker
 

A kind reader has provided me with today’s writing prompt:

“Maybe when you get the chance you could write a post about how you found your agent/how many manuscripts you wrote before you got picked up... Us pre-repped writers love to hear that stuff! :)”

Let’s see… I started writing stories when I was 12. I spent one entire summer seated on my bed with a battered notebook in my lap, re-writing the story of Robin Hood. Weeks prior, I had finished a great re-telling of the story by a wonderful author, but I was left feeling like something was missing. For me, the tale needed a strong female figure. So, I rewrote it. It came out to be about 50+ pages handwritten and I still have it buried somewhere under an enormous pile of unfinished manuscripts.

For the next couple years, I wrote stories about girls in high school, silly romance stories that will never ever see the light of day. Around my freshman or sophomore year in high school, a friend introduced me to fantasy fiction and I found my home. I have never gotten around to reading as much fantasy fiction as I would like. I was given Raymond Feist’s Midkemia series and I was in heaven. This was the kind of stuff I wanted to write. It sang to my creative heart in so many ways. Feist is an amazing storyteller and that is what I want to be.

So, in my freshman or sophomore year, I started my great fantasy series. I still have the map I designed of the world. I actually finished writing the first book and I’ve got the second book half done. But I’ve never finished it. Somewhere along the way, I decided that what I was saying wasn’t fresh or new enough. I needed a new angle to the fantasy genre, something different to say. So, the series has been put aside. However, it is one of my long-term goals to return to it one day. The idea, the heart of the story, is a good one. I think the world building and some of the main characters need to be completely revamped.

Over the years, the writing has never stopped. I hopped through genres with the same frequency that some people change their hair color. For me, it’s about following what the story demands and not worrying about what genre the story will fit in. I’ve written fantasy, science-fiction, horror, romance, historical romance, paranormal historical romance, dark fantasy, and action/adventure. And a few things that I haven’t found a description for just yet.

How many manuscripts did I write before I was picked up? I actually completed only a few books. Many stories were just practice, or an effort to get a story out of my head finally. And a part of me misses those days of just writing with no goal, no need to actually reach the ending.

Nightwalker is the first book I’ve ever tried to sell. I’ve written a lot of things that I love and have enjoyed, but Nightwalker was the first one that I felt like I needed to share with the world. I couldn’t keep Mira and Danaus to myself. They deserved better than that, I owed them that.

Okay, so I’ve rambled way too much already, so I will save the other half of the question for tomorrow night.

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Back to Edits

  • Apr. 26th, 2008 at 9:43 PM
vampire, Jocelynn, graveyard, nightwalker

Hi-ho. Hi-ho. It’s off to work we go.
Yep, it’s time to get back to the whole writing thing. The conference was fun and the cold that I managed to catch is mostly gone. I’ve nearly caught up on the mountain of wash and I finally got around to cleaning the kitty litter box. (yes, the life of a writer really is this glamorous.) In other words, it’s time to stop procrastinating and get back to editing.

I did hear back from my agent and she enjoyed reading Book 2, which is a plus. I think I’m just struggling from the second-book blues. For me, it’s the idea of “sure, your editor liked your first book, but can you really do it again?” My agent seems to think so (god bless her vampire-lovin’ heart).

After completing the first round of edits, I discovered that there are several words and/or phrases that I now absolutely hate. Mostly because I use them way too much. I’m sure it happens to you. You’re locked in an intense scene, you’re plunging through, oblivious to the world around, just trying to get everything out as fast as possible. Then you look back and you realize that you used the word “still” four times in a single paragraph. Yuck.

So, here is my list of top 5 words/phrases that I used too much in Book 2:

  1. for the moment/at the moment
  2. still
  3. only
  4. just
  5. quickly

Most of these have been words have been stripped out, leaving me feeling quite annoyed. I am now going back through to make sure all the motivations are clear within the book and to weave in a few more details here and there. Then, it’s off to my editor next week.

In the meantime, I’ve got another video. Are you sick of these yet? Sorry, it’s not a kitty video. I’m out of the cool animated ones. However, this one is really old, but it’s one of my all-time favorites. I remembered it following this past week’s Earth Day. Enjoy.