I'm Afraid My Novel's Title Implies There Are Vampires, Of Which There Are Actually None

Have you ever run into the problem where you've got an awesome title for your novel, but later realize other people might think it means something entirely different than what it's really all about?

You see, I'm currently revising a Science Fiction book. It has ships and planets and galaxies and races and government and the usual SF stuff. (Although I'm striving to make sure it's original in other ways.) The issue is that there's the word "blood" in the title.

It just recently occurred to me that might be a bad idea. Nowadays, with the advent of vampires and werewolves and faeries and other creatures, I think a lot of shelf-passersby might categorize it as a Paranormal/vampire novel.

Oops. My novel has no connection to the genre, and I wouldn't want people to mistakenly think it's related to vampires. So I've decided to re-title it with something blood-free and SF-ish.

But it's just that I liked the old title.

*sigh*

Has this kind of thing ever happened to you?


-----The Golden Eagle

A Conversation With My Inner Editor

I'm in a room. The only other things present, besides two chairs and a desk, are my MS and my Inner Editor. The former is sitting in a corner talking with my MCs and the latter is looking at me, arms crossed, toes tapping on the floor.
   "Look, would it be so hard to go over this part--" my Inner Editor starts to say, but I interrupt.
   "I want to WRITE."
   "So? Edit! You need to edit!"
   "But then I'll lose the flow of the writing and'll get bogged down in editing and revisions. You've never written a novel! You don't know what it's like!"
   "No, I've never written a novel. I'm an Editor, Ms. Author. And I say you should start editing! That sentence is horrible. Look at all the atrocious cliches and stereotypes and plotholes you could drive a tanker through!"
   "They'll get fixed later, I promise! Just let me write--"
   "No."
   "Please!"
   "NO."
   "I need to get this part down . . . if I don't, I'll lose all my inspiration."
   "I don't care. You need to fix things. I'm telling you to edit. That's an order."
   I stare. I sit down. I call my MS over from the corner of the room because my IE is so insistent. My MS gets up and tucks the characters aside while I start looking it over, from the beginning.
   But moments later, while my IE is gloating over my shoulder while I start to fix what I've written, I slam shut the computer.
   My IE stares at me.
   "I don't need you looking over my shoulder."
   "It's my job as your Inner Editor--"
   "I'm tired of this. I'm going to write, and you're not going to stop me."
   I open the laptop again and start typing away, ignoring my IE's gasps and call for me to stop adding junk to a horrible manuscript and get back to editing.
   Because I'm exasperated and I decide enough is enough. The constant nattering by my IE is too much.
   "Just sit down!" I snap finally, glaring at my IE. My IE looks back at me, face blank.
   Seconds later, my IE speaks. I think it's because I've gone against the editing, but then I realize it's because of something else altogether.
   "You know, just 'sit down' would have been better. More concise, and you wouldn't have needed that adverb in the dialogue tag. Not to mention--"
   "QUIET!"
   I turn away. My IE, unknown to me, smiles with satisfaction and leans back in the chair.
   Well, my IE thinks, she certainly didn't mince words in that dialogue. And no dialogue tag. Progress!


-----The Golden Eagle

I Finished My Novel!

Well, I finished the first draft, anyway. But still, I got it down, beginning to end, all the way through!

YES!

But it's strange. I'd been working on that story since September 19th, 2009, and even though I finished it on Tuesday I don't feel like I have really and truly finished it, despite the fact I had planned for it to end there for a while now.

And when I opened up the computer the next day, I felt like "Ah yes. Time to start working on--wait. Hang on. I don't have to do that anymore. I finished it."

I'm actually rather morose. Before, while I was working on the story I had Shiny, Sparkly, Come-Write-Me! ideas clamoring about in my head, but now?

Nothing.

I tried starting a Fantasy story I had wanted to get started on for some time, but it flopped. I'm not inspired; not in the mood to go chasing after it. There's another idea, too: a Science Fiction/Dystopian story I had a really clear-cut dream about (there was even music playing in the background, which I remembered after I woke up). I might try working on it, or just try something random and see if I get any ideas that really hook me.

But anyway. As for the story I just FINISHED (I'm telling myself that as often as I can) I think I'm going to break it up into a trilogy. It's made up of nine parts, so that's pretty easy division.

And no, I won't end up with three novellas. I've been working on that story for over a year, so I've got a lot happening before the end, hundreds of thousands of words, which will not do for a single novel.

It's not that I feel like it's unfinished or anything; I know it's done, but another part of my mind is rebelling and telling me I should keep going. I feel like I could jump right in again and start writing where I left off, and I really miss the world and the characters and the ideas I have been wrapped up in for so long. Sigh. I don't know why I my writing mind is doing this, since I'll be back with it when I start revisions/edits after a couple weeks or so.

Maybe I just have to get moving with another story.

Have you ever felt lost after you finished something (writing or otherwise) you'd been working hard on for a long time?


-----The Golden Eagle

Aspiring Author Interview, Awards, Ninja Writing, A-Z Blogging Challenge, and Snow

BREAKING NEWS:

The post in which I am interviewed at Perfecting the Craft--by the awesome Michelle Merrill--is up for you all to read!

Well? What are you waiting for? Go read it! And then come back to read the rest of this post, of course. ;)

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I was awarded the the Versatile Blogger Award by Hannah Marie at Distant Hoofbeats:

And the Stylish Blogger Award by Lisa Galek at Read. Write. Repeat.:

Many thanks to both of them!

(Again, because I've already been awarded before, and listed seven facts, I'm going to bypass that part of accepting the awards.)

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Ali Cross, at the blog of the same name, has declared February Ninja Novel Writing Month.

What does that mean? It means you sign up HERE and join in with the other Ninja's as you sharpen those writing skills.

I'm going to finish my novel this month. I am. I said that over a year ago, but I know more about my writing limits and what I can do in a month now--not to mention I have the ending set up in my head and I am getting close to the point where I can actually start writing it.

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Don't forget! You can still sign up for the  A to Z Blogging Challenge hosted by Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out.

What's the challenge part? Blogging every day except Sundays, with the theme of your post focused on something different each day--starting at A and going all the way down to Z, of course.

There are already 175 people who've linked up--are you going to help bring it all the way up to 300?

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It's a little icy around here, but nothing like the massive snowfall some places are got as the storm passed over North America. In fact, the sun's shining right now and everything seems to be dripping--hope the rest of you are safe and warm and that there's no more bad weather, wherever you are.

Have a great weekend, everyone!


-----The Golden Eagle

Teaser Tuesday (24) and What's Your Writing Process? Blogfest

I thought it would be easier for the rest of you if I just put everything into one post, so here goes Teaser Tuesday and the What's Your Writing Process? Blogfest.

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Teaser Tuesday is a fun, book-based weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

Rules for participating:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser is from The Curse of the Wendigo, the sequel to the Michael L. Printz Award-winning The Monstrumologist.

   The gray land was deceptively still. It kept its secrets.

   Something was following us.

-p. 115

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The What's Your Process? Blogfest is hosted by Shallee McArthur at Life, the Universe, and Writing. Here's some information:

On Tuesday, January 18th, blog about ANY part of your writing process-- how you create characters, how you plot your novel, how you organize your rewrites, your whole writing process from start to finish, anything. Even if you're a complete pantser, tell us your pantsing process. Do you write chronologically? Jump around? Edit as you go, or just dump it all on the page? Let us know!

I have decided to talk about how I write a first draft.

Doing anything out of order makes me frustrated. If I don't write the first draft chronologically, then I get confused and jumbled up and ideas spring all over the place and the story feels to me like it's going to fall apart unless I do something about the whole mess. Chapters that don't connect smoothly drive me up the wall.

One of the main reasons I don't like writing out of order is because I hate going back and filling things in, when I've already written a scene that's based on that information. Sure, it's frustrating sometimes when I want to slam myself down in one of the major plot points and type furiously from there, but I always find that getting out the first draft in order pays off in the long run.

What about you? Do you write in order, out of order, or both?

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If you have at teaser to share, feel free to share it in the comments! If you're part of the blogfest, go ahead and mention it so that I know to get around to your entry. :)

(And don't forget: you can ask me questions of all kinds HERE, or on any post since then, which I will answer on Friday.)


-----The Golden Eagle

New Creation Blogfest

The New Creation Blogfest is hosted by Summer Ross at My Inner Fairy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SUMMER!

Here is my sentence from a MG novel I currently call The Kings of Time Trilogy: Book 1 (please don't ask me how many books there are--whenever I start writing anything it gets longer . . . and longer . . . and longer):

I hopped into the boat and Axe slid in next to me.

And here is a sentence straight off the top of my head about a girl who lands in a marketing office due to a rip in spacetime (I always wanted to write a book on rips in spacetime--so much possibility!):

When my feet hit the carpet and I heard astonished gasps, I knew something had happened--and I knew immediately that it was going to be strange.

I'm afraid I will not be around to your blogs today, so I won't be coming up in the comment threads--Wednesdays are a mess for me. So I won't be visiting the other blogfesters, either, until tomorrow. (I still have to check out the Show Me Yours blogfest people . . .)

But anyways, if you're part of the New Creation, do comment and tell me so I can get around to your entry! :)


-----The Golden Eagle

Midwinter Blogfest: Winter Celebrations

This post is part of Marieke's Midwinter Blogfest!

Here's some information from her blog:

What does your MC do for Midwinter? Any special celebrations? Yule, Christmas? Celebrations for a midwinter solstice? A Festival of Light? A Wild Hunt? Perhaps something else completely? Christmas on the beach or winter in June? Maybe your MC has good memories of a winter’s day past when life was easier before the story you as Evil Writer wrote?

You’ve plenty of time to think about it, because the blogfest will take place in, you guessed it, December. Specifically Saturday, the 11th. The blogfest will remain open for three days when everybody has a chance to read the entries and comment. The more you comment, the better the response will be on your own entry!

During that time the judges will select a the top entries and the following week everybody will have a chance to vote on their favorite. The only requirement is that you link back to the blogfest and keep your entry under under 500 words.

So of course there’s also a special prize… A special Midwinter themed How To interview on my blog on December 21st. A chance to tell us about your story, your blog and everything it takes to write a great seasonal scene!

My story--as many of you know--is Science Fiction. I also have a lot of characters, and the ones I focus on the most are either not the celebratory type, or there is no room for celebrating in their world (it can get pretty rough, and many are focused on just surviving). But some of my characters do engage in the Winter Celebrations, and here is a piece on what some of my characters who live in the city might find during this part of the season:


The government might be oppressive. They might confine their citizens to saying only what they want them to say. They might be the strictest regime in the history of the galaxy, but that doesn’t stop the people from having a good time when the cold weather rolls in and the snow begins to fall.
   Each planet hosts their winter celebrations at a different time, since all have their winter weather at different moments in planet orbits and tilts. There are a variety of holidays—religious days, days to honor people, days just for fun. Cultures merge into a mishmash of all kinds of ways of celebrating the season, from elaborate food to elegant rituals.
   All of the planets have one thing in common, though—a white tree.
   Not green, not red, not any other color—it’s always a brilliant snowy white. Sparkling lights and snowflakes dance on the tree in every capital when the winter celebrations come around; usually the tree is tall, over 50 feet high, and there are often events held beneath its branches. In the cities, it almost rivals the skyscrapers and corporate offices in height and grandeur. It glows in the night, all white and gleaming, like a spire of what the time of year means to everyone.
   For the buildings in the cities and the towns, it’s tradition for them to light up in the winter, their storefronts decorated in twinkly tinsel, red and blue lights, and snowflakes. Snowmen to spring up on street corners, and reindeer and other symbols of the season appear on billboards. The houses deck themselves out in lights and figurines, and some of the parks and public places turn into a shining dance of lights and snow.
   One year, one of the regimes even decided to decorate their buildings. It was an uncommonly festive move for them—and when the large ribbons appeared, criss-crossing the windows to make it look like one giant present, the people temporarily forgot their troubles with the regime and laughed.
   Laughter is everyone’s favorite part of the season. Jokes, gift-giving, visiting families, and surprises abound in this time of year, like a massive April Fools’ Day, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and  Thanksgiving rolled into a span of time of only two months. It’s a time of goodwill and hope—and not just a little craziness—for there are few other holiday times.
   And there’s the music. It ranges from the heavy metal to the classical, but it all follows the same tunes, all over the galaxy—if you enter a subway station during the celebrations, they’ll be playing Snow Is Falling. If you go into a department store, a singer is singing Peace Be With You. If you walk into a park, chances are they’ve got their speakers up and the lyrics to White Is My Dream seem to dance around through the lights.
   It’s a glorious time of the year, when people can put away their troubles and have some fun, even for just a little while. The cheerful mood is infectious. Everyone smiles—at least once.


If you are participating in this blogfest, do leave a comment and tell me! I'd love to visit and read your entry.


-----The Golden Eagle