ABNA, other & Inspiring Sounds #1

ABNA & other

• I entered ABNA with SUNDOWN II (latest revision), but with new title. The story was set during the Sundown Music Festival, a fictional festival, but now the setting has changed, so I need a new title. But a permanent title is a dilemma for another day.
• Next project (decided on a slight whim) = revise DAPHNE II. It's NA, but I'm not sure what else. Not romance, but with romantic elements. Women's fiction? It seems more like...general contemp. "General" though feels like a bit of a cop-out.
• I always struggle with genre labelling. Is this because I don't know my stories well enough? I thought so, but maybe I just don't understand genres. Do I need to attend genre school?
• The is a year of revision (I hope). I'm already committed to BuNo and NaNo for writing new stuff (though possibly I will do rewrites). The ludicrous thought of working on RAGEWATER has occurred to me. But...I dunno. Daunting. But I do love this vast realm of possibility!

Inspiring Sounds

In other news, here is the first bit of music I want to share this year:


Kauan is a band I found on Last.fm. Of unknown origin (except that I'm pretty sure they're from Earth), they are currently Anton Belov (guitar, vocals, keys and programming) and Lyubov Mushnikova (violin). Somebody on Last.fm asked, "Are they Russians that sing Finnish?" You can download "Föhn" for free, courtesy of the band. So what is it that I love about this music? Well, I guess it makes me think of some magical land where all sorts of haunting things are happening. I also saw someone on YouTube mention they were listening to it while watching a snowfall outside (jealous! we never have snow where I live!). It's interesting, too, because I don't understand the lyrics, so I can't dwell on them. Usually for me, meaningful lyrics are a must, so this is a different experience.

My FIRE proof (no pun intended) arrived

It arrived!! And before anyone gets the wrong idea (again) (like last time), I'm not being published. This was a free proof copy that I got as a result of participating in ABNA this year. I highly recommend that everyone participate in ABNA every year, so you can get your free proof copy too! I don't know that they do this every year, of course, but it's worth the shot! It's also worth participating in NaNoWriMo, as they usually give you a free proof copy too. For more information, you can check out this post I did a while back answering people's questions.




FYI, this was the last proof copy I got. You may notice that I stuck with the same cover design template. Both pieces of art are mine, but the template was a free one available from CreateSpace. I was pretty excited when I realised you could change the colour scheme. I figure I'll get all of the SUNDOWN novels proofed up, and all with the same template...just in different colours. And then they shall all sit on my shelf and they shall all look pretty together!

In other news...I've been kind of slack with the blogging, and that is probably because I've been kind of very slack with everything else writing-related. I'm supposed to be posting my Chrysalis story this week over at the Chrysalis blog, but I haven't quite finished it yet. I only started it last night. One excuse is that the prompt went up late. The main excuse though is no excuse at all - just a slacker's pathetic reason for why she didn't get her act together sooner. However, I have to say I'm quite enjoying my life right now, so I guess I'm okay with slacking just a little.

Still, there are two major goals I have yet to meet this year: Preparing SUNDOWN for beta readers (including actually sending it out to them), and completing a preliminary read-through/edit of NAUSICAA. I know I've got 5 months to get those two things done in, and that's plenty of time. But I do feel the days ticking away, slowly but surely. ;)

I just finished reading L.K. Madigan's FLASH BURNOUT, and absolutely adored it. You can read my review at GoodReads.

And in other news, I have a rooster in my back yard. I'm not sure if I mentioned him before, but my cat likes to chase him. Even at risk to himself (roosters have sharp beaks!).

CreateSpace proof copies...answering questions

A few people have asked me about the proof copies I've ordered, and what they're even for. Below are the questions I got on my last entry, and my answers to said questions!

"Charity Bradford ordered her proof copy too, and seeing her book in the print motivated me to order mine. But I got a little scared at the ISBN spot. If an ISBN is applied to the book, even if its not published, does that mean it cannot be assigned another if an actual publishing company picks it up?

I saved what I had up to that point and buzzed on out of it. I really want to see my first novel in print, but am skittish about submitting even that much until I'm sure it will never be picked up by an agent or publisher. Eeeek! Did you have these jitters yourself Trisha?" - Donna Hole

I had similar concerns when I got my free proof copy for winning NaNoWriMo last year, but I checked out the thread on the NaNo forums and was reassured that it didn't matter if my book got an ISBN. I wasn't actually publishing it, I was just preparing it for publishing if that makes sense? I would get a proof copy to "review", and then once I was happy with it I'd activate it and put it up for sale. However, the "activation" part never happened, and I was still able to get my free proof. My book is still sitting there, unactivated, although yes it has an ISBN. But as many people have mentioned, books have many ISBNs anyway according to which publisher puts them out in which country, what format they're in, etc. Anyway, to see others asking the question and getting answers, check out page 2 of this thread on the NaNo forums, and do a search for "ISBN" (you will find quotes from Toadychan). Last year's thread had more discussion, but this one has some too.

"I'm confused. Well that's often the case (hee hee). How come you've got a paper-back of your pre-edited novel, Trisha? That sounds like a good wheeze. Have you somehow pre-published it?" - Deborah Walker

Every time you win NaNoWriMo, you get a free proof copy of your novel from CreateSpace. At least, that has been the case for a fair few years now. I used my free proof voucher last year for the first time, but I didn't use it on last year's novel. I used it on a novel I'd already been editing a fair bit, and so was in better shape. That's the first proof I ever got. The novel has gone through serious edits since then, so has changed shape in many ways. But it's still nice to have my book on a bookshelf, looking pretty (I highly recommend choosing the "cream" coloured pages if you ever use CreateSpace, it looks awesome).

This year I entered ABNA, and to my surprise even though I didn't get past round one, they gave me another code to use at CreateSpace for a free proof. I figured this was the perfect chance to get another of my novels on my bookshelf. So I prepared one for printing, even though I know it's way too long and needs serious editing. It's still in first draft form for the most part, that novel. The whole point though is that it's free, so I may as well make use of it just so I can see my book looking all pretty in print. And maybe it's way better to do it with a pre-edited version, since the end version I wind up querying will be completely unrecognisable. ;)

So no, I'm not being published, I'm not represented by an agent or anything. But nor is my book being self-published. Because I'm not going that final step and activating it on CreateSpace. I hope this answers everyone's questions, but if there are more, please let me know!

ABNA proof...goals update

"Thank you for ordering a proof of Fire, Title #3645196. Your order has shipped."

My ABNA code has been used, and I am excited! Yes, FIRE needs serious editing, but I figure by reading the book in paperback form I can make notes as I go on what needs editing. Hehe. It's going to be a pretty large book, but then so was my proof copy of SUNDOWN (I've since shaved off about 40k from that one...hehe).

Can't wait to see it!!

In other news, I still haven't finished reading my 25th book of the year, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. I blame a weekend in which I got no reading done. But for only good reasons. ;) As for other goals, I've decided that in getting back to my revisions of SUNDOWN I may print out the whole manuscript...despite not being done with my previous goal of getting through the revision I abandoned at the end of May before doing a print-out. I just think I need to read stuff on paper instead of on the computer.

In Chrysalis news, we've reached the halfway mark!! I've written 26 short stories in 26 weeks. I reported on my stats here, but suffice it to say that because of Chrysalis, I've written 69,007 words this year. Not counting all the other stuff I wrote during BuNo, etc.

Ooh, I forgot, I get to cross BuNoWriMo off my goals list! Yay!

It's been difficult to keep up on blog reading lately, but I've done my best to get bits and pieces of reading/commenting in. I really appreciate all the visits I get at this blog though, and I do try my best to reciprocate!

Hope you're all going well!

Jenni Merritt, BuNo, ABNA...and Helmet

Gotta love the acronyms! But "Jenni Merritt" is not an acronym of course. ;) It's a person! Or rather, she is a person. Okay, now that we've sorted that out, I want to mention Jenni Merrit's Race to 100 Followers. She's sooo close, and just needs a few more followers before the fun begins. Not that it's not fun already! Hehe. Anyway, just so you know, prizes are involved. And Jenni is worth following!

BuNoWriMo - I wrote a bit more last night. Today is the last day, and while I've already won in terms of getting past 50k, I have more work I can do on JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE. Yeah, it's a working title, and I'm okay with that. Hehe. I'm really loving the story. You can see some excerpts on my Lovin' the Language Blogfest entry, and also you can read the whole first bit (which may or may not have since been edited/expanded upon) over at the Chrysalis Experiment blog.

ABNA - I've decided (I think) to work a little bit on getting FIRE ready, and using that to order my free proof copy from CreateSpace. I did think about doing some kind of compilation thing so I could include some of my BuNo stories, Chrysalis stories, etc. But then I thought nahhh, I'd rather do a full novel. I contemplated doing DAPHNE, but I have a plan for how to completely revise that, so there's no point in ordering a proof copy of it yet. And speaking of DAPHNE, I'm really excited about my plan for that one!! So anyway...that's the plan!

And finally, I went to a gig on Tuesday night - yes, in my city even the big artists/bands tend to play on "school nights". It makes me maaaad! Anyway, I saw Helmet, who I've been wanting to see since I was 14 or 15 years old (I'm almost 31 now). You can read my rather lengthy review of that show here, if you are bored with nothing else to do. Hehe. But suffice it to say, it was one of the most amazing gigs I've ever been to! I met Page Hamilton, had a chat with him, and got his autograph. Very, very stoked over here.

And that's all I have to say for now! Gonna go check out some blogs, which I've been kind of slack at lately due to being overwhelmed by life's demands on my time.

How are you?? What have you been up to?

ABNA rears it's...err...pretty head again

No really, it's a pretty head! *Pats the pretty ABNA head* But I just got an email saying that since I entered ABNA this year (regardless of how far I did not get. hehe), I get a coupon for a free proof copy of my novel (any novel) at CreateSpace! Another one!!

I'm sure anyone else who entered has got the same email. I think it's kind of cool!

Now the only trick is to decide what novel to use my code on!! I have so many choices!

I could get a new copy of SUNDOWN, which has changed to a ridiculous degree since I got that original proof copy of it. Or I could go for something entirely new.

I'm leaning towards entirely new...

Apparently I write like Stephen King

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

Which is ironic, since I pasted the first scene in my contemporary romance novel in to find out who I wrote like. ;) Oh well. Maybe there's something new in Stephen King's future. :D My critiquing buddy and I did have a bit of a running joke about my Jared turning out to be a zombie, so maybe I have more in common with King than I thought. And that reminds me of this b-grade horror movie I saw once, about a metal band that was made up of zombies. Or maybe the lead singer guy was the only zombie. I can't remember.

Speaking of Jared and co., though - today's word count is 109,183. Woo! So close to the 108,000s. Hehe.

Oh, I should update on ABNA - I am not a winner. Well, I am, but just not in ABNA's eyes. In my own eyes I am very full of win. :D

For Chrysalis this week, I wrote about a few characters, but one in particular I absolutely hated with every fibre of my being. Have you written characters that you really just want to reach out and strangle? I did this week.

P.S.

SUNDOWN
109,183 / 100,000
(109.2%)

Back in business!

Yesterday I finally made it home after a looong series of flights that took me in this direction:

Spokane - Las Vegas - Los Angeles - San Francisco - Sydney - Melbourne - Perth.

And that was all so I could save $1,100 on flight costs. I guess it was worth it in the end, but it sure felt like a trial as I staggered through various airports of the world (including two in Sydney, international and domestic). Then I had a taxi driver who insisted on driving 10kph below the speed limit! That irritated me just a little.

But anyway, here is a picture of me as a bridesmaid!

Anyway, I've finished this week's Chrysalis story, and while I think it won't go very far, and I may never edit it again, it was fun to write. I wrote about a pair of ghosts who get stuck in purgatory, or what they call "the After".

I did indeed submit to the ABNA competition, and thankfully my query was in relatively good shape (compared to former shapes it's known) so I felt pretty good about submitting that.

In other news, I'm still slowly working on editing SUNDOWN, and am nearing the end of the first draft of STORM. But I'm looking most forward to NaNoEdMo when I can sink my claws into FIRE and get it shredded to bits. Yay!!

Sorry I have been out of touch with everyone! You have not been out of mind, only out of sight, for the last two weeks. :) I will work on getting caught up on everyone's blogs, and more importantly their adventures in writing. Hope everyone has been safe and happy!

ABNA...why not?

Has anyone else entered this yet? I know the deadline's not till Feb. 6, but I've already put mine in. I've gone with SUNDOWN. Every now and then I go back and edit what's there, i.e. the pitch.

It's exciting!

In the critiquing circle I'm participating in via AW, I'm the next up for having my chapters ripped apart. Should be fun, and hopefully helpful too!

Meanwhile, I have written a bit more of STORM in the last few days, and I am currently halfway through the 2nd-last chapter. I'm pretty sure there'll only be one more after this one, to tie things up. But who knows what'll happen during revisions.

I've really been looking forward to NaNoEdMo, when I can really get stuck into editing FIRE. I can't wait to see the words slough away under my iron editing thumb. Er, yes, my thumb is iron. Or it will be.

And that's about it for updates. Except I wrote a story this week for Chrysalis which involves my idea of the most pathetic girl on the planet. I feel sorry for her, because her entire life is her jerk-faced boyfriend. And guess what happens? He dumps her.

As my critiquing buddy Jenn put it after reading... "Ouch."

Speaking of both Jenn AND Chrysalis, Jenn's story is up for this week. And I must say that after reading it, I was in a state of shock and awe. It's pretty AWESOME.