Starting From Scratch - Again

When I first decided to give writing a book a try, I was terrified. Not that my book would be bad - strangely, I never worried about that, don't know what that says about my ego. No, I was scared at the idea over a hundred pages full of words. As someone who had at most written a 100 page screenplay which has considerably less words on each page, and many short stories, the task seemed impossible. Where would all those words come from? What would they be? How could I possibly find a way to use so many of them to tell just one story??

I decided to make my goal simple. Just write a complete story, and make it to page 100. I thought if I could tell a whole story and reach three digit numbers I would know that I was capable of writing a book, which would be all the reassurance I would need. And so I did it, and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

Ah, whoever coined the phrase "ignorance is bliss" was SO right. I look back now and I can't believe that I thought just finishing a book would be enough to turn me from under-confident writer wannabe to seasoned writer extraordinaire. You know, the one that churns out fabulous books and never has trouble with plots or dialogue or motivation. Ha!

Just like I knew that winning the lottery, or becoming mega-famous, or getting plastic surgery won't actually change who you are, I should've known that neither does writing a book.

Sitting down to write the next book is still hard. It still feels daunting to know I have to come up with 200+ pages of words. In some ways it's more daunting because I know how to spot the bad stuff as it's happening. In other ways, it's exciting, because I know this one will be SO MUCH better. I just also know that it won't be any easier.

Maybe one day I will sit down at the keyboard and gorgeous prose will shoot out of my fingertips like a sprinkler, but for now it's just me, a little bit wiser, trying to make the magic happen on my own.

I have a feeling that each book I write will get a little bit easier and a little bit harder at the same time. But I think that's good, because if it doesn't seem hard, I'm not trying to make it the best it can be. And as long as I learn from each book and make the next one better, I can live with that.

What about you? Do you find each book you write is harder? Easier? The same? How do you deal with it?

Contest Winners! Contest News!

First up, the winners of my Back From Branson Giveaway part 1 are:

Jamie
Victoria Saavedra
Lindsay C

Congrats! I've emailed you. If I don't hear from you by this Friday night (March 11th) I will pick a new winner.

Now, I realize that the info post for the International Part 2 of my giveaway isn't the most informative. I had intended to use a goodreads widget so that you could check out all the books, but for some reason the widget wouldn't display properly so I took a screenshot instead. So, if you're wondering what your choice of books are, here's the list:

Beyond The Sea And Sky by Jaclyn Dolamore
Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton
Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford
The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Hourglass by Myra McEntire
The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
Luminous by Dawn Metcalf
The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
The Revenant by Sonia Gensler
Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready
Supernaturally by Kiersten White
Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
Taking Off by Jenny Moss
The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell
Wanna Go Private by Sarah Darer Littman
XVI by Julia Karr

For The Love Of Boy... Books

I love boy books. For some reason I'm always drawn to books with male narrators. Many of my story ideas come to me with boy as the main character. And even though my current project is a dual narrative, in which one of the narrators is a boy, I never considered it a "boy book" and I've always been a bit hesitant about writing something strictly from a boy's point of view.

Then I read this post by Hannah Moskowitz who has so far written exclusively male 1st person POVs (and they are AWESOME) and I changed my mind. Since then I've written several shorts over at Tangled Fiction that feature boy narrators, and fleshed out some ideas for novels. And I really love it. I have no idea why, but there are several teenage boys living in my head and I think it's only fair they get their shot to appear on paper too.

So today I want to celebrate women writing boys, because there have been some great books lately about boys who are REAL BOYS, not the sweet, fantasized versions girls are supposed to like written by women, and I don't think they get the kind of attention they should.

Here is a list of some of my recent favorite boy books by women who I think totally nailed the voice. If you haven't read them yet, I suggest you get started now.




Break and Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
Candor by Pam Bachorz
The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard
The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea Campbell
Freefall by Mindi Scott

What about you? Do you have a boy book in your head you've been afraid to write? Do you love boy books? What are some of your favorites written by women?

Back From Branson Giveaway - Part 2!

It's time for part two of my Back From Branson Giveaway! This one is INTERNATIONAL! (Open to anywhere The Book Depository ships.) With one winner guaranteed to be outside the US!

This time I'm giving away pre-orders to any of the upcoming (or recently released) books by the authors at the Branson retreat. TWO winners will get their choice of ONE book out of the SEVENTEEN awesome books shown below!



Beyond The Sea And Sky by Jaclyn Dolamore
Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton
Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford
The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Hourglass by Myra McEntire
The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
Luminous by Dawn Metcalf
The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
The Revenant by Sonia Gensler
Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready
Supernaturally by Kiersten White
Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
Taking Off by Jenny Moss
The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell
Wanna Go Private by Sarah Darer Littman
XVI by Julia Karr

RULES:
- There will be TWO winners. One guaranteed to be INTERNATIONAL. (Any country The Book Depository ships to. See list HERE)
- You MUST BE A FOLLOWER to win. I check.
- +2 if you tweet this contest.
- +5 each if you follow my group blogs Tangled Fiction and Sisters in Scribe
- +5 if you link to this contest on your blog.
- Contest ends March 14, 2011 at 11:59pm ET

To enter, FILL OUT THE FORM. (I will delete any comments left with email addresses in them - you don't want spambots getting your email!)

ENTER HERE

Filling In The (Fantasy) Gaps

I'm discovering lately that I seem to have missed out on the fantasy phase in my youth. (I was big on horror, sci-fi, and contemporary as a kid, like Stephen King, Christopher Pike.) There seems to be all these sort of common knowledge things for people who have read a lot of fantasy that I have no idea about and I don't like that. It's like I'm missing a whole layer of experience that could enrich my writing so I've decided I'm going to fix it. Here's what I've come up with so far:



The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper
The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner
The Wrinkle In Time Quintet by Madeline L'Engle (Already read A Wrinkle In Time)
Terrier by Tamora Pierce
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix

I would love some high/alternate world fantasy recs! I've heard good things about Diana Wynne Jones, Shannon Hale, as well as Robin McKinley and Tamora Pierce's other books but they have so many that I have no idea which book to choose. I'm especially attracted to stories based in mythology or folklore, and I love anything with magic, but I'll read anything that's well-written! That includes Middle Grade.

Note: I've already read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Graceling, and Fire is in my TBR pile, I'm up to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the Narnia chronicles. So please, rec away!