Critique partners, vacation, and fun

Yesterday, Maggie Stiefvater posted a critique partner love connection over on her blog. I posted over there, but I figured I'd put my info here as well. I have a wonderful critique partner in Dianne K. Salerni, but I would love to have a second pair of eyes to look over my work. I am currently working on a revision of Spirit World, my ABNA entry from last year. As some of you know, I had queried it, gotten a lot of positive responses, but no offers. My cue to revise. Here's a brief description:

Riesa Adair can hear the dead, but somewhere between her summer in a mental institution and her stepfather’s attempt at an exorcism, she learned to keep quiet about it. But that doesn’t mean the voices have stopped. When her unique talents attract the attention of a powerful Spirit, her daily battles for sanity turn into a war for her soul.

It's YA paranormal romance, and I'm aiming for 75 - 80k in this revision.

Business stuff out of the way, I just got back from vacation. Cruising in the Bahamas with the family, Yay!



Good times were had by all until Small Child and I came home with a stomach virus. Not cool, Royal Caribbean. Not cool.

We also celebrated Small Child's second birthday.



He is wacky fun, and getting wackier every day. Here is his Jaws impression. He even makes the sound effects before he attacks.



Anyway, things are fast and furious here. The writing, the growing, the hijinks -- good times.

How to get free (or cheap) books

There's been a lot of talk lately about book piracy. Instead of wagging my finger and saying, "No, no, no," I've decided to do a post on how I get my books without spending a lot of money. Now, I still buy lots of books (especially if I go to author signings because I want to support the hosting store), but these tips help take a dent out of what I spend.

1. Twitter - Book publishers often have Twitter only contests where all you have to do is retweet. HarperTeen is one of them. Penguin is another.

2. Book blogs - Some require you to follow them. Some don't. Some have lots of extra entries available, but that takes more work if you're willing to do it. Mundie Moms has contests all the time. As does The Story Siren. There are dozens more out there.

3. Publishers websites
Harper Teen - They have Sneak Peaks where you can often read the first 100 pages or so. They also have Full Access where the entire book is on their website for free.
Simon and Schuster - You can even sign up to receive an email when they post new ones.

4. Book giveaway sites
Free Book Friday
Free Book Friday Teens
Kids Buzz
Goodreads - This site is for cataloging and reviewing books you've read or want to read. But if you click on "find books", then "giveaways", you'll find dozens of pre-release books that you can enter to win. You must be a member of the site, but it's free to join.

5. Advanced Reader Copies - I don't request these because I don't review books on my blog. As a writer, I feel it's a conflict of interest. However, The Story Siren has a great post on how to obtain them.

6. Swag Bucks - It only takes 450 points to get a $5 Amazon card. I find that by playing their TV ads whenever I am in the room with a computer, I can get 450 points in a week or so. That means every 6 weeks, I have $25 to spend on Amazon, and can get free shipping. They also have deals where you can get half price gift cards for places like Amazon or BarnesandNoble.com. Plus, you earn swag bucks for making those purchases.
Disclaimer: If you are under 18, please consult your parents first.


7. Any gift giving occasions, ask for book gift cards. Usually you can get better prices online than in the stores, especially for new releases. Although if the gift card is for a local independant bookstore, all the better. That keeps the money in the community.

8. Library - Where I live, you are allowed library cards in not just your county, but in the adjoining ones as well. I live on the corner of 4 counties, and have library cards in 3 of them, so I have a huge database at my disposal. In my county, I can go online, request a book and they mail it to me for free. In the other counties, I request a book and they send it to the nearest library for me to pick up. This is awesome. Use these resources if you can. Plus, the greater their circulation, the greater their funding.

9. Copyright free books - There are many of these databases online where you can read classics for free.
Project Gutenberg

10. Check the e-reader options on Amazon - Sometimes publishers will offer new releases for free downloads in the first few days of release for publicity.

Well, that's a lot of options for free reading. And, if you are lucky enough to obtain a free book through contests or ARCs, and you love it, please tell the world. Because that's what free books are all about, getting the word out to new readers. is another.

Writing Woes (or Embracing the Difficult Ending)

I've been working on my most recent novel, Princess, since May. I'm on version 4.2. Four because I have had 4 completely different endings, and .2 because of rearranged scenes, etc. (Yes, I'm a little bit OCD) And those different endings have been causing me undue amounts of stress. I could never find the right one for my characters and the story. Today, I finally hit on why. I had originally intended it to be a stand alone story. It's not. The characters have choices to make and not a single one of them will lead to an easy resolution - or a hard one - in 60 - 70 thousand words. Their world is changing. They're beginning a journey, and this particular novel is only the first step.

Now, why does this pose a problem? Because I have seen I don't know how many agents say things like they want a stand alone first novel, and if it sells, then they'll talk sequels. So I've been fighting with my story, not telling it as I feel it should be told, and trying to force it into a different shape, like I'm trying to reform a silly band.

Well, no more. I will let the story unfold as it should be. I will give it free reign, and if it's meant to be published, it will happen. If not, I will have one more novel under my belt, 70,000 more words of practice. But the story will be true.

Resolutions

Today I went back and read my New Year's resolutions from last year to see if I came close to completing any of them. And then I laughed. So, instead of rehashing the resolutions I failed to accomplish because they were ridiculous to begin with, let's look at what I did accomplish.

1. I finished a pretty good draft of Spirit World, and I entered it in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel competition. I made it into the top 50 out of 5,000. Top 1%. I even got a pretty good review from someone from Publisher's Weekly via the contest. Not bad at all. Afterwards I did a few tweaks and submitted it to agents. I got 10 requests for either full or partials. And 6 nicely worded rejections. I assume the other 4 are rejections as well since I never heard from them. What did I learn? Spirit World was not ready to query. But I got some positive feedback as well as things to work on if I decide to revise and query again. I haven't made that decision yet because I'm busy at work on...

2. I started work in May on a new novel I tentatively titled Princess. I know that will not be it's final title, but it's what I call it for ease and consistancy. I'm currently on revision 4, and hopefully the last major one before I query. We'll see what my readers have to say about it after I finish revising.

3. I wrote quite a few short stories, trying to improve my writing. I think I succeeded at least a little bit in that capacity. I had a story published last year. Oddly enough, a vampire one. I try to stay away from them as rule because of the oversaturation in the market.

4. I won a contest for a 20 page critique from the amazing Tessa Gratton. (Who else can't wait to read Blood Magic?) I sent her the first 20 pages of Princess. She had some wonderful things to say about it, as well as some very constructive things which I am trying to apply to my entire work, writing and critiquing. I can't tell you how valuable her words were. Especially since her critique appeared in my email box the same day as Treetastophy 2010.

Also that same week, I met one of her critique partners, Maggie Stiefvater. She was doing a stock signing at a bookstore about an hour away and I made the trek out there. That meant the world to me, to be able to talk writing and books with Maggie freaking Stiefvater. OMG!

So, 2010 didn't turn out quite the way I had planned, but it was still good. Instead of making specific resolutions this year, I'm going to vague them up a little. I simply want to try to be the best writer I can be, and hopefully snag an agent along the way. If it's not with Princess or Spirit World, then maybe the next one. Or the next. Regardless, I plan to keep writing.

The Kindness of Strangers

This morning, I took my son into PetSmart to look at the cats and birds. PetSmart is currently selling their holiday stuffed animal, a dog named Chance. 10% of the proceeds go to homeless animals. At some point this morning, a woman purchased Chance and said to give him to a child in the store. The cashier picked my son. To both this woman and the cashier, I say, "Thank you." My son loves the toy, and hopefully I will find a way to pay your kindness forward.

A Florida Christmas Parade

Small Child and I had the pleasure of attending the Christmas parade in lovely Ft. Pierce, FL this past weekend. It was filled with everything you'd expect in a small town parade - Shriners, the 4-H club, dance teams. And then a few things you might not expect.

Here's McGruff the crime dog.


And then on the back of the McGruff float...the crime manatee?


Following that float (boat?) we have...um...McGruff. Again. This one wasn't lucky enough to ride on a float.


Next, we have Rudolph the 4-H horse.


And a bunch of little tiny painted horses. Seriously, there were like a hundred of them. But aren't they cute?


Small Child with his glow bracelet on one hand and a silly band shaped like a bank on the other. He loves those things.


Santa manatee


And the real Santa


And what Christmas parade would be complete without loot? Candy canes, life savers, and oranges.

O Christmas Tree

Despite being a dancer, I've never been particularly graceful. This became proven fact on Saturday while I was attempting to retrieve a stack of books from behind the Christmas tree. I thought, Surely, I can fit between the tree and the book shelf.

Um, no. I could not.

As I wedged myself into the tiny space, the tree tilted. My arms flailed. I grasped at needles, and then at nothing as the fully decorated tree crashed onto the chair. Witness the photographic evidence.



I tried to pick it up, but stopped when I heard the pops and cracks of the tree stand breaking into little pieces. This was when my fail face appeared and did not go away until hubby managed to purchase a new stand at Target. We righted the tree and, and since we tie the ornaments on due to the small things that run around our house, discovered only one ornament casualty. Yes, we have a cat, a dog, and a 19 month old, and I'm the one to knock over the tree. Awesome.

At least it had a happy ending, and I've got a funny story. =)