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Monday, November 26, 2012

Structure

I like to think of myself as a creative person. (I hope that would be fairly obvious, what with the whole writing fiction thing.) I've found unconventional solutions to problems in a think-outside-the-box way, I can visualize the way I'd like things to be and make it happen, and I am unstoppable with a hot glue gun. 

It seems as though there's a stereotype that goes along with artists of any kind - while they're always brimming with ideas, they constantly appear distracted, they fly by the seat of their pants with any sort of commitment, and a cloud of disarray follows them wherever they go. That's not me at all. 

I'm the child of two Type-A personalities. Clearly, there was no hope for me. I enjoy lists and spreadsheets. I've never been late for anything in my life, barring unforeseen circumstances (and ever since the advent of cell phones, I call if I even think I'm going to be late for anything). Bills are paid on time, phone calls and emails are returned promptly, and I keep an organized calendar. Somehow, those traits almost seem incongruous with my "creative", "artistic" side. 

I've always been a person who needs routine and structure. When I got laid off from my job in June 2010, I spiraled into a pretty bad depression for the first time in my life. It wasn't necessarily the joblessness - I was substitute teaching, and the pay wasn't terrible - but more the not knowing ahead of time what each day would have in store for me. It took a bad toll on my physical health as well, which turned right around as soon as I decided to go back to school and had that new routine set in place for me. (Interestingly, though, it was during that time that I rediscovered writing. Silver linings, right?)

So what does this have to do with writing? I forget if I mentioned this, but about two months ago, I picked up a small, steady writing gig for an indie game company. Nothing earth-shattering, but it's fun. While the pay isn't that high, they pay regularly and it's good to have a steady flow of "fun money" into my Paypal account for knitting patterns, Etsy purchases, and all the other little things. Not long after I started, I discovered an additional bonus: when I had an assignment with a set due date that I had to complete, I found it easier to get into good writing habits with my personal writings. 

This was verified last week, when we all had the week off from working on the game. I figured it would be a good chance to get a chunk of writing done on my current project (the first of the Disintegration mini-prequels). Yeah, I was wrong. I pissed around on the internet and played a lot of online card games instead. I did get *some* writing done, but not as much as I wanted, and it was sort of a slog. We're back to the assignments this week, and guess what? My first prequel is into its last scene already. 

(And yes, I do make outlines and schedules for myself with the gaming assignments. I get way too happy when I finish ahead of my schedule....)

Saturday, November 17, 2012

The Waiting Game

Disintegration (aka RoboCock) has been formatted and shipped off. Now it's time for my least favorite part: waiting for confirmation that it's been accepted. 

Even after doing this a couple times, I still get antsy, and I'm terrified of jinxing anything. I truly, honestly believe it's on par with, if not better than, what I've had published already. (Always on the quest for improvement, right?) In my cockier moments, I think, "Why wouldn't it be accepted?" Either way, my pulse races as soon as I see I have a new email. 

Rejections sting, plain and simple. I know. I've been there. Yes, it's good to always put yourself out there, they can lead to learning experiences, it's awesome when the people respond to you with personal constructive criticism....

They still suck. 

I'm resisting the urge to go back to all my other confirmation emails and record how much time passed between me sending and them accepting. I'm also resisting the urge to go make sure I spelled everything correctly in my submission, as my brain's been derping a lot lately and insisting that it's spelled "Disintigration", and I know that it is not. (Though my editor's cool and [probably] wouldn't hold it against me.) Bleh.

Fingers crossed!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

The Next Big Thing

K.E. Skedgell was kind enough to tag me for this blog hop, and I'm still marveling at the fact that  my internet was finally fixed, so let's answer some questions about the book I've been working on!


What is your working title of your book?
Disintegration. (Though I've been jokingly referring to it as "RoboCock" whenever I talk about it elsewhere.)

Where did the idea come from for the book?
Originally, this was going to be a Phantasy Star Online fanfic that wasn't going to go more than a few chapters. In the game, you meet Kireek, a battle android, right off the bat in your first quest (the tutorial). Depending on certain events you can trigger, he wants to kill you and you have to fight him a number of times. I was going to write about him originally being a human back on the home planet everyone in the game escaped from, which is an idea completely from my own imagination and there's nothing suggesting anything like that in the actual game. As it was going to be largely an original idea anyway, I decided to turn it into a book, incorporating a couple similar elements.

What genre does your book fall under?
Sci-fi/erotica. Or erotic sci-fi. I don't know which element is stronger.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Oooh, this is tough. In a perfect world, I'd have a young Dolph Lundgren as Callum, my MC. I don't really pay too much attention to TV and movies, so I'm having difficulty coming up with a more current pick. (I'm open to suggestions for who resembles a young Dolph Lundgren, though!).

I'm leaning towards Mila Kunis for Ro - she's sassy, outspoken, and confident, but there's still a sweet side to her...somewhere. ;) 

I'm still thinking about my minor characters. This is harder than I thought it would be!

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
"RoboCop meets 50 Shades". Oh wait, that's going to be my advertising campaign. ;) Let's try this again. 

*ahem*

An injured soldier and family man transforms into a cybernetically-enhanced stone cold assassin under the guidance of a team of mercenaries, including his flirtatious handler who has an appetite for rough sex. 

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Neither, really. My previous books have been published by Double Dragon Publishing / Carnal Desires Publishing. They've always been great to work with, and I hope I can continue our relationship. 

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I wrote the last word of the epilogue yesterday, woo! According to my file manager, I started it on August 26th, so about 2.5 months? Seems longer. Also, as I've mentioned before, I commit the grievous sin of editing as I go. :P

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
To be perfectly honest, while I know there are books about robot sex out there, I have not read them. Maybe it's bad research, maybe I didn't want to be influenced by too many outside sources. (Same reason I haven't watched RoboCop yet. But now that I'm done, I will!)

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Isn't that the same as the second question? (I'm nitpicky, I know.) One of the reasons the idea appealed to me is that robot sex doesn't seem to be your run-of-the-mill erotic romance, and I wanted to see if I could 1) do it, and 2) make it convincing.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I like to think that one of the book's themes is the concept of humanity and what makes people who they are (and how sex figures into both those things). Also, it contains some of the steamiest scenes I've ever written. *blushes*

And now, the tagging. I was looking through my blog list, and I could only find three fellow writers that don't seem to have done this yet, so I'm going to break the rules and only ping three!
Jennifer R. Donahue
Kelly
Anne Glynn

Rules you shouldn't break:

Rules of the Next Big Thing
Use this format for your post
Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (work in progress)
Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.


Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:
What is your working title of your book?
Where did the idea come from for the book?
What genre does your book fall under?
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The Winners of Autumn!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Autumn's Harvest blog hop! I loved reading everyone's comments. (Maybe autumn should be my favorite season now! ;) )

Congratulations to Kaci, who will be receiving her signed copy of The Edge of the Sphere in the mail sometime soon! More congratulations go to Tina, Sarah, and Lynn, who were the hop's grand prize winners! 

Don't forget to keep checking back for more book information and giveaways!

(This post has been brought to you by the flagrant overuse of the exclamation point.)

Friday, November 9, 2012

Autumn's Harvest Blog Hop!



When people ask what my favorite season is, I never have a good answer for them. Truthfully, I love all the seasons for different reasons, and the hyperactive part of my brain is always ready for a change. I love the colors of autumn, the crisp, cool air, and the fun of digging out my handknit sweaters and getting all cozy. Oh, and boots. I love boots, and probably have more pairs than is justified. 

In the beginning of The Edge of the Sphere, summer is drawing to a close. The change of seasons is just another reminder to Stephen of how his life has stagnated. While he's not unhappy, he can't really claim happiness either. He takes enjoyment from very little, and not much excites him. (Obviously, that all changes.)

I've written some racy, red-hot romance/erotica that got right to the point, but EotS is more of a slow burn. I like to think it's perfect autumn reading - the type of book you pull out when you're curled up in front of the fireplace with your mug of tea, waiting for the steamy parts. (Maybe the anticipation alone is enough to get you to shed a layer of clothing or forgo a blanket!)

Okay, now the part you've all been waiting for: the STUFF! For my part in this blog hop, I'm giving away a signed paperback copy of The Edge of the Sphere. Leave a comment, follow me on facebook and twitter to get your extra entries, and if you win, I'll email you for your mailing address! I even ship internationally! 

The grand prizes for the hop are listed below. Be sure to comment on each post (with your email address!) in the hop to enter as many times as possible! Good luck!


1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
2nd Grand Prize: A $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains 10+ paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more! (US only)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Getting to the Happy Ending

First things first: get thee over to Footsteps of a Writer, where I have a guest post about happy endings (or lack thereof). Be sure to leave a comment with your opinions!

Nextly: the power is back on at my house, and it was good to sleep in my own bed last night. However, the phone/cable/internet is still out, and it might be our house's connection (rather than the general signal). Someone from the company is coming out tomorrow afternoon. Fingers crossed that it can be fixed quickly and easily so I can stop coming up to my parents' house to borrow their wi-fi!

Last but not leastly: though I could, I'm not going to get on my soapbox and rant about politics today. (One would think that people reading the blog of an erotica writer would skew a certain way, but one can never be too sure!) I was always firmly decided on which candidate(s) would get my vote. There are a ton of different issues, and I don't always agree with my registered party on 100% of them. It becomes a matter of which issues are most important.

Ultimately, I think I vote based on who I am, or what makes me who I am. That's about as open-ended of a question as the one about issues, but I can summarize: I like to think I'm a strong, confident, compassionate woman. I like to write about strong, confident, compassionate women, and hope that strong, confident, compassionate women (and men!) will read about them. Without getting into the nitty gritty details, one party clearly values and respects that more than the other. I just hope that there are enough strong, confident, compassionate people who feel the same way. 

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Back in the Land of Heat and Electricity

Long story short, we got spanked by Hurricane Sandy. And not a fun kind of spanking. I've been without power since about 7:30 on Monday. My parents (who were trying to fly back from Europe) found out they had power, so they offered us their house. Unfortunately, our driveway looked like this:

My windshield (on the red car) didn't make it. The hood's a little dinged, too. 

We had gas and hot water, which was nice, but the house was getting rather chilly. Our awesome neighbors (who own the tree that fell) whipped out their chainsaws to help cut us out, but "Captain John" (retired from FDNY) only made one cut in the main trunk before he decided that it wasn't wise for him to deal with this mess:
The fire chief declared this "non-urgent". 
We agreed with his assessment and decided to stick it out. A hot shower did wonders for me, and I loaded up on shirts and socks and gloves. Rest assured, I also managed to work on the book-in-progress after it got too dark to knit.
Going old-school. In my pajamas and a "Buy More" sweatshirt. 
This morning, we decided we'd had enough. My parents had landed in New York, and the neighbor told us to just drive our intact car down our side lawn to his driveway. We'll be back and forth for a while checking on the tree situation, but I estimate we'll be camped out up here at least through Sunday. Oh well. Things aren't super, but as a walk around our neighborhood showed us, they could be a whole lot worse!

Also! To lift your spirits, check out my guest blog post over at Romance With a Bite. If you haven't read The Edge of the Sphere yet, you can try to win an e-copy!