Shoot!

Arghh!

It's Monday night. And this is my day to blog. And I started this blog...and....I forgot. I got the reminder, I really did. But with the hurricane last week, and subsequent re-re-rescheduling of my life, and finishing the last remaining bits of Grad School (yay!), my brain is a messy mush.

I promise, next month I'll have something really great. In the meantime, here's a new review of the last book in the Library of Athena series, The Sword of Danu.  Enjoy!!

http://www.thegeekgirlproject.com/2012/11/02/book-review-the-sword-of-danu-by-christine-norris/

Happy Halloween

I'm typing this up ahead of time and wondering what kind of mess Hurricane Sandy is going to leave in its wake. Halloween isn't even on my mind at this point, but this is scheduled to post then so I'll do my best.

Halloween is a time when children's imaginations run wild. They can be anyone they want - at least for a few hours. And on top of that - and most important - they get candy.

But it's so important to spark a child's imagination at all times, not just with candy as the incentive. Because it is active imaginations that create stories.

And that's what we do, as authors. We create stories. We don't dress up and go door to door looking for candy (though, you know, there are some times when that is a tempting idea). But we create something and put it out there and hope that people like it.

So, what it comes down to, is that writers get to have their own version of Halloween every day of the year. Except with maybe not as much candy.

Happy Halloween everyone!

My kids from a few years back when they went Trick-or-Treating as Pippi Longstocking and Harry Potter. A perfect merge of Halloween and books!

Skype School Visits

I'm really excited!  Tomorrow I'm doing my first Skype visit with Immaculate Middle and High School in Los Angeles, Ca!

I asked some author friends for some advice on what to do.  Most say Q&A sessions are the way to go.

My YA paranormal CROSSED OUT was the school's book club pick of this month.

I'm excited to see the girls and hear what they have to say about my book.

How did the school find me?

Fab YA/MG author Kate Messner has a list of authors who give Skype visits.  I'm on that list.

 http://www.katemessner.com/authors-who-skype-with-classes-book-clubs-for-free/


Also the email, asking if I could do a Skype visit, came through the contact through my website.  **Another reason to have and maintain a website.

Doing the Skype visit helps verify that yes, I'm an author!  Very cool, huh?

**Will report back on how it goes!

***Also a couple other librarians found me through my website and in March I'm going to be teaming with another YA author to give a writing bootcamp for teens.

Costumes Galore! Another Fun Reason To Go To Convetions

One of the most fun parts of going to all the different types of conventions and things I go to is to wallow in the awesome creativity of fans!

This past weekend found me at the Dallas Comic Con Fan Days. Figured I'd share some of the awesomeness from there, and Animefest from September.

Gimbly's Father. What's supercool about this costume is that the hat and beard are all one piece and made of yarn! Click on it for a bigger version. Too darn cool. 

I loved this one because not only did it not take a lot to look like the character, but she had her pose and attitude correct which added to the whole ensemble to convince us of who she was. (Psst, Madeline from Burn Notice.)

Is this not the most awesome thing ever?! She looked fantastic! And she even had tail feathers out the back.

This wowed me with the super attention to detail. She looked awesome!

Here's another one. From Assassin's Creed. He looked fabulous!

Wished I'd caught his staff on the pic because it glowed. Great Loki and Hawkeye.

They do so make going to these things worthwhile. Woot!

Adventures in Self-Publishing

Some time last spring, I must have become somewhat insane: the idea of self-publishing my most recent manuscript got hold of me and refused to go away. Why? Conventional wisdom advocates finding an agent, or at least shopping my work around to those publishers that accept non-agented submissions.

But there has just been so much scuttlebutt recently about the whole e-publishing phenomenon that I couldn't help growing curious about it. So I started conversations, some by e-mail, some face-to-face, with several writers who have gone this route and are happy with it. They all had their own lists of do's and don't's, some of which contradicted each other, but what I took away from these conversations was very hopeful: there is plenty of room for all of us. Good books will sell. Marketing is not much different than with a traditional publisher, since my name is not J.K. Rowling or Suzanne Collins. Most of all I found that every writer I contacted was more than willing to answer questions and give suggestions--and best of all, to a person they wished me luck. They couldn't have gotten any more generous short of offering me an actual limb or perhaps a first-born child.

So whether delusional or not, I decided to take the plunge and give self-publishing a try. I am no tech-head so luckily I had one or two writers who were willing to correspond with me almost on a daily basis about formatting. Also luckily, my engineering husband isn't afraid to try something outside his own area of technical expertise. After much trial, effort, and panic on my part, the manuscript uploaded, and Haunted is now available for Kindle with a print edition soon to follow.

I don't know if the book will soar or plummet, but at least it's out there. I have a firm belief that a story never really breathes until it has been released to the world for other folks to read. So now comes the next part of my journey: Adventures in E-Marketing!

(By the way, since taking a nearly full-time job at the end of September I barely have time to sleep so I apologize that I haven't been leaving comments on people's posts lately. I have read all of them, though, and was struck again by how diverse and talented this group really is! I'll try to do better as things settle down.)

A Misconception About Research

Recently I've been meeting with many other authors who write in genres other than YA. One misconception that troubled me was "You write YA fantasy, you're so lucky since you don't have to do research." That troubled me since one needs to research for the story to make sense to the readers. I look at the books on my shelf and shake my head. There are books on herbs since healing plays a great part in my stories and many of my young characters use herbs. There are also cooking in these stories and yes, I do make up some of the herbs and spices used in my stories. Gingar is one that is ginger and garlic put in one plant. But I had to know a bit about both of these plants to create the one I use.

Another area of research I frequently use to create animals in my stories are the books I have about animals and snakes. Maybe the animal I chose to use is one that uses the characteristics of several animals that I've read books about. Many of the animals I choose to create are based on animals found in this world.

The biggest part of my research for my fantasies can be found on the number of books I have about ESP since those kind of talents are found in many of my stories. Also Astrology books since I oten use these to develop characters or even talents. The Affinity stories are based on the four major quadrants of astrology Air, Earth, Fire and Water.

How about you. If you're writing fantasy for YA do you research things found in our world to change them to fit the world you have created?

The Poisoned Pencil – new YA mystery imprint

 

Poisoned Pen Press is launching a new imprint The Poisoned Pencil, which will publish YA mysteries. Jessica Tribble was named publisher last year and said the press aims to publish YA mysteries that are "fast-paced and relevant to today's teens--books that adults will also want to read."

Ellen Larson will serve as editor of The Poisoned Pencil. She said she is "particularly keen" to receive submissions from young adult writers, adding, "Anything goes. As long as the protagonist is between the ages of 12 and 18, it's young adult. I'm excited to begin reviewing submissions, seeing what's out there, and building our list."

Now accepting submissions of YA mysteries between 45,000 and 90,000 words. The protagonist must be between the ages of 12 and 18.

The Poisoned Pencil Submission Guidelines

The Poisoned Pencil uses an online submissions manager to review materials from both authors and agents. Please do not query or submit your MS by email or snail mail. No simultaneous submissions; one submission per author at a time. You will be able to check the status of your MS using the submissions manager. Response time is currently 4-6 weeks.

For more news and updates follow Editor Ellen Larson: @poisonedpencil

Peggy Tibbetts

Now available at Amazon
PFC Liberty Stryker
Letters to Juniper – 2012 Colorado Book Award Finalist

Become a Facebook fan