Monday, June 29, 2015

Half Year Reading Assessment


So last week I didn't even manage a blog. I suck. I want to be interesting and I got nothin... but as tomorrow marks the end of the first half of the year and I had a couple reading goals/projects, I thought I'd share a bit about what I've read and what I recommend YOU read.


The Read Your Friends Project  (aka Blog Buddy Book Review)

Nasty by Bret Wright (Mystery/Thriller)

Nate Jessup is a PI in the Pacific Northwest and as the story begins, Nate is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is held up by a desperate man who really just wants help getting away from the beach where they encounter each other, or more specifically, the MEN on the beach who are trying to kill him. Nate ends up with his car exploded and some people after him who think he has something that he doesn't.

The tone of this has a lot in common with the hard boiled detective stories of old, but I felt like it had a lot more heart. Nate isn't a caricature—he has some demons, sure, but he is also balanced—a good person who has just been through some stuff. I also loved the Pacific Northwest setting, though that may be because I have roots there myself.

Overall I loved the tension, story and the nice sprinkling of humor to keep this balanced. And excellent debut.


Dragon of the Stars by Alex Cavanaugh (Sci Fi—Space Opera)

I enjoyed this space jaunt. The characters were well thought out with complete arcs and Pendar had some very tough choices to make. I particularly loved Tamlin—his weapons leftenent (though I may have that title wrong)--she is his hard working and talented wingman with a gift for sincerity that makes her both a bit awkward and very endearing. I liked the moral dilemma at the core of this story and the character growth shown by Pendar, who is initially so focused on his career that he fails to quite comprehend that there are people around him with worries and lives. It isn't normally my genre, but there was plenty of character stuff to keep me happy.


A Twist of Hate by VR Barkowski (Mystery/Thriller)

This was a fantastic debut. I counted five separate mysteries, beautifully twined together. This story is set in current day, among the elite art community in the San Francisco area, but ties in an escape from Nazi occupied France and the newly contested ownership and theft of an important painting. The characters were compelling, slightly flawed or damaged, their interactions sometimes tense, and the plotting was masterful. I definitely recommend this.


The City of Refuge by Diana Wilder (Historical Fiction/Mystery)

As historical fiction I thought this was fantastic. As a mystery, I had just a few quibbles. I think the characters, backdrop, setting and details were very well done. The perfect level of description to really put me there. I feel though, the author might have made a slightly stronger story had there been something up front that suggested WHY they group was going to the dead city--I mean an official reason was given, but a "why then" would have hinted at the suspected looting--a motive for the second prophet. I mean I get that it is tied to the mystery, so important not to give too much away, and he isn't the PoV, but it would have increased the readers drive forward. As it was, I was about a quarter of the way in before I really grasped what the story was about. It all came through in the end and things fell together well, but it was a little hard to get into because of that.


The Prospect of My Arrival by Dwight Okita (Speculative Fiction)

I loved the premise of this story. An experiment to see if people who have a chance to PREVIEW life before they actually commit are then happier because it was their choice. And Prospect was a wonderful character—his combination of innocence and pre-coded facts made him engaging and much of this tale was very thought provoking and entertaining. I had a few later frustrations that would be too spoilery to share, but that is probably because I was too invested and had a certain way I would have liked it to go. And it's probably good I don't have the power to write my own endings, or I'd never be surprised. I was surprised here.


Strings (In progress--not yet ready for review) by Allison Dickson (Horror)

Pending. But already scary.


So I am starting the 6th rather than finishing, but that isn't so far off. Plenty of time to do my 12.



The Other Books I've read, According to Goodreads and by Genre

Young Adult (because I want to master writing these)

Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (5 Stars)

I really enjoyed this twist on a myth tale. The world felt very real in most ways, pulling me farther into it so the fantastical bit (these "sea horses" if you will) feel real, too. The author really made me care about the characters and it had a perfect mix of darkness, tension, and triumph and hope.


Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner (4 Stars)

Very interesting book. Stylistically it had bits that reminded me of Fahrenheit 451 and bits like The Book Thief, though I liked it much better than the former and it didn't quite catch the magic of the latter. It was an interesting dystopian sort of world and an interesting set of characters. Overall worth the read.


Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith (5 Stars)

I sometimes feel guilty about how stingy I am with five-star reviews. I give them, but a story really needs to be fairly flawless AND suck me in—so both well executed AND my thing… But once in a while a book like this will come along that makes me feel like I need to go back and downgrade 90% of my fives because it is just head and shoulders above sublime.

This book is not for the faint hearted. There is swearing, a bit of sexual violence and a lot of teen deviance. But harder than that, this is very dark emotionally so it is probably not the thing for some people. But for others, it is EXACTLY the thing.

The story set-up reminded me a lot of The Talisman, one of my favorites from two of my favorite scary authors—Stephen King and Peter Straub. In both books there are parallel worlds in which people can exist in both and the MC is pushed into a position of going back and forth, but I felt while The Talisman is a brilliant show to watch externally, The Marbury Lens actually pulls us inside so we feel it. And the REAL world in Marbury Lens is more real and the OTHER world is darker… I just really feel like Smith upped the ante on the type of tale.


Passenger by Andrew Smith (4 Stars)

(Sequel to Marbury Lens) I LIKED this, but I didn't love it quite to the same degree. The premise is good—same parallel world setup as Marbury Lens, but this is a world where the changes you make have ripple effects and everyone else changes, too. My trouble with it was it felt less coherent, like the author was pantsing it more. I suppose the chaos is part of the point—the MC doesn't really know what is going on either, but I sometimes felt like neither did the author. (I have several friends who liked this one even BETTER, so I think this is a totally subjective assessment)


Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (5 Stars)

Blue lives in a house with her mother, a couple relatives and several of her mother's friends. ALL of them are psychic... except Blue. Blue however, has a sort of amplification effect, so she makes all these women more powerful. It begins with attending St. Mark's with her aunt where the people who will die in the following year march in a parade along the lay line... this allows her family to “give notice” to the doomed who might have affairs to set in order (they seem to have a no harm approach—no need to tell anyone if there is no significant benefit). But in watching there is a boy Blue can see, Gansy. Her aunt says she can see him because either she is his true love, or she is going to kill him. (maybe both). Blue becomes acquainted with Gansey and a few friends, these Raven Boys. And they are on a quest—to wake a long dead king and get their wish... and so it begins. I love this series and this first book is an excellent introduction. This cast of boys is each unique, with his own strengths and flaws. And Blue's setup, in that house with that cast of quirky people, is brilliant, both for plot and for a heavy dose of humor in an otherwise sort of grim tale. This series is one I am strongly recommending to people and this is where to start.


The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (5+  I'd rank it higher if I could)

I loved The Raven Boys, but I've been trained that the second in a series is typically a bit weaker. Not so with this one. This one is Ronan's story. Ronan is arguably the darkest Raven Boy, and we finally get to understand why and follow his demons and he wrestles with them, often quite literally. The over all story of the lay line and the quest for Glendower continues, but it becomes clearer why Ronan is such an integral part of this story. I really loved this.


Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (4 Stars)

The third in the Raven Cycle series and maybe weaker than the other two, but still excellent. I feel like any plot would be spoiler for the other two. What I will say is I am VERY eagerly awaiting the fourth.


The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma (4 Stars)

This was such a unique story and telling. It tells a story from two ends--two narrators, two points in time. Amber is in a young women's detention facility. Violet is a ballerina headed to Julliard three years later. And both are telling the story of the character who connects them. To say much more risks giving it away, but it is one of the more unique books I've read stylistically and it mostly works. If I have a complaint it is that the ending strained my suspension of disbelief a bit. Overall though, it was very enjoyable.


Legend by Marie Lu

I loved this one. I just finished Friday, so need some thought, but basically, it is a dystopian future of a split US where part of it decides full futures based on a test we take at 10. The top get good training, the middle get manual jobs, and the bottom get experimented on... The MCs are a girl who scored perfectly and is a prodigy headed to government work and a boy who failed and somehow managed to escape and become a bit of a (legendary) criminal fighting for the little guy. Good stuff.


Mystery/Thriller

Spilled Blood by Brian Freeman (5 Stars)

A tale of two cities. This story is about twin towns, one benefiting from a huge agricultural research firm, the other experiencing a cancer cluster among kids that they blame on that same firm. Tempers are high and violence is escalating, and then the daughter of the CEO winds up dead. The MC is called to town because he is a lawyer and his daughter has been blamed for the death. I found the tensions true to life and the interactions realistic, and I loved the way an outsider with such a huge vested interest inside could dig down to figure out what was going on. I really thought this was an excellent mystery.


Historical Fiction

The White Princess by Phillippa Gregory (3 Stars)

I read this because I watched The White Queen on Starz and loved it and I wanted to see what came next. First person present was a problem for me (it always is except in the very most engaging stories) but for historical fiction it also felt particularly off. And then unlike The White Queen, where stuff HAPPENS, this felt like a lot of “well maybe this is happening” but nothing really ever did. I get that you don't want to change history, but I feel a little like this slice of it might have been more interesting from somebody else's point of view.


So that is 16 books read in 26 weeks... I'd love to be a super fast reader, but I just really am not. A book every two weeks though, is not a pace I am too embarrassed about. And making a point of highly rated YA for a lot of it I think has been a good investment. I am now going to turn to revisions on a couple of my YA drafts, so having a good feel for what works and what doesn't will be critical.

As for BuNoWriMo... I'm not going to win. It is the first time other than one I knew I'd be traveling so I made an alternative goal... I just petered out on plot. But I will get back to it. I need to do some revision and get a feel for how I do this thing first.

And on WEDNESDAY, when we are all here being insecure, I will announce the winner of VR Barkowski's ARC. You still have time to go enter if you want...

Thursday, June 18, 2015

BLOGIVERSARY! Or... A Tart Faces Her Blog


I'm not sure why I am feeling so accusatory toward it at the moment, but it seems to be taunting me. Oh wait... I've got it... I just passed my anniversary and I forgot to throw a party. So why not today? I have a winner to announce for VR's book giveaway. It is summer (if stormy) and I have a four-day weekend on the horizon. So let's have a party!!!


Cheers!
So What Are We Celebrating?

SIX YEARS!!! That is a pretty long time, ne? I've grown in a lot of ways. This blog really helped me find my voice. I think writing as yourself is a different sort of exercise from writing as narrator—you learn what you sound like without the story filter and I think it makes the story voice truer, too.



So CHEERS to perseverance and voice!

I've made a TON of fabulous friends. This is a wonderfully supportive community and surely would have gone insane somewhere between then and now without you. Many many of you have become real friends, not just blog friends, and I will always be grateful.

So CHEERS to FRIENDS!
Time for a group hug...

This blog has also sometimes given me reality checks I totally didn't want but probably needed. I can't really give a toast to that because I really can't endorse reality, but I do comprehend its necessity at times.

And this blog supported me through going from being a writer with a single first draft to my name, to a published author. I've written... I think 18 books now (20 if I count the Shot in the Light as a trilogy) and have traditionally published three and self published the trilogy. I have a lot of work to go here. I'm not convinced I know how to really make a book shine. I want to write hard back best sellers and I'm not there yet. But if any support system can get me there, this one can.

Have a truffle... good for good times and bad...
So CHEERS to author careers! May I yet have one!


So all that said, I am still in my slump... Thought I was coming out of it, but I am struggling like crazy. The fact that I've delayed my first blog of the week until Thursday is never a good sign. Not only could I not get out story words, I couldn't eve seem to get out blog words.

Part of this is the GAP. It was so long that I really didn't write. Inertia is real.

Part of it is my ridiculous Game of Thrones obsession, so what I WANT to write is all my theories about what it going to happen and why. I have been through this with Harry Potter and I am totallya junkie for this stuff—looking at what is written and writing what comes next. If you both watch and read, I posted my Jon season 6 predictions yesterday. I will do all the major characters (Dany next)

I have managed about 21K words on the WiP. I also got EXCELLENT feedback on Also Appearing from Johanna Garth (THANK YOU) that I actually think I know how to address, so that will be my July project.

It is all still just my shaken confidence. But I think that place where we know we need to improve, while painful, is critical to doing the work to grow. When we get confident, and for a while there I think I sort of was, we can stagnate. Let's just hope this doesn't make me physically grow. Writing has already been bad enough where that is concerned...


Thursday, June 11, 2015

VR Barkowski Interview for the Release of Twist of Hate


So HALLO fine friends! Today I have the pleasure of interviewing one of my writing friends, a friendship formed during my first or second ABNA when I knew very few people. I have always been struck by VRs style and gotten along with her well, but as you will glean from the interview, I am impressed as heck with her actual writing.

She is giving away an ARC today and you totally want this, so if you'd like to be considered, please leave a comment with your favorite piece of art or book or movie ABOUT an art mystery. I will use a random number generator to pick a winner.. Sadly, only from within the US, as she has some mailing limitations where she is located.

So without further ado, welcome VR and lets get to the interview!

TART: Let me just start by saying I think you should teach a plotting class. This was so elegantly done—and there are 5 mysteries I spotted within the on story: 1) who stole the painting, 2) who killed the guy? (you know who I mean), 3) How did the original painting change hands? [accusations are flying, throwing doubt on ownership], 4) What the hell happened that left a few of the MCs so scarred (one of them literally)? And 5) who killed victim #2? They are beautifully woven together and I have a few related questions. Oh, right... I should ask a question to YOU!

1)Regarding #4 above, Is this the outcome of a book you previously wrote? Has it been published? (If so, how did I not know this?) or WILL you publish it as a prequel? [note to readers—it is the only one of the five mysteries above that doesn't get answered, though it adds a lot to back story, even unexplained]

VR: Thanks so much for having me and for the kind words, Hart. A Twist of Hate is indeed a sequel. It's a follow-up to my unpublished novel, Blood Under Will. I'd planned to self-publish Blood Under Will prior to A Twist of Hate, but with everything in publishing being in such flux, I was advised to wait. I hope it sees print one day. It's edgier, quirkier, much darker, and in my opinion better written than A Twist of Hate.

TART:  2)This is meticulously done. Are you an outliner? Were all the plots part of the original plan or did some appear during writing or in a later draft?

VR: I don't outline, and I'm not a plotter. I start with premise and character. I'm more concerned with story than plot. By that, I mean the protagonist's transformative arc, the emotional journey he or she will take in pursuit of a goal. Plot without story is just a string of events with no emotional weight. Before I write, I want to know my characters. Not the superficial stuff. I don't care about favorite foods or what a character wears, but rather how the character thinks, what he believes, his inner struggle and how I can show it. Plot naturally follows from internal conflict.

The process is not as vague as I make it sound. In A Twist of Hate, I had an inciting incident and two protagonists. I asked myself what I could do to these two intensely loyal, yet very different, men to challenge their allegiances. Then I just kept throwing situations at them—the situations become the plot.

TART: 3)This rich California Jewish community is one I've stuck my toe into. My college boyfriend's family was part of it (though land development, rather than art) so what you wrote felt very familiar and authentic to me. It is a “small world” in spite of California being so populated and the social structure isn't quite incestuous, but approaches it. Was this the world you grew up in? And can you talk about how it influences your fiction?

VR: Apart from its California location, this story is about as far from the world I grew up in as it is humanly possible to get. I worked in finance and operations at a major museum in Seattle for years. That's the world I tried to capture. While San Francisco is a bit larger, I made an assumption its core community of wealthy philanthropists would be similar to that of Seattle: generous, tight-knit, and somewhat cliquish. I'm thrilled it felt authentic to you!

Weird, but I have no clue how the world I grew up in (a college town north of Sacramento) influenced my fiction, but it must have, right? I can't imagine writing about my hometown or a place like it, so I guess I was influenced to explore other worlds in my writing.

TART: 4)You and I met several years ago through ABNA and our similar backgrounds (social science), ages, and genres led me to believe we had a ton in common, but holy crap are you out of my league!? What extra things have you done to develop yourself as a writer? Classes? Workshops? Mentors?

VR: That is SO not true!!! You have six novels (is that right?) published under two different names, and I'm still working on getting my first book out. Sigh... I know, I know, we're not supposed to compare.

Early on, I took online novel writing classes through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. I'm also a huge fan of writer conferences and retreats. NOT writer/fan conferences or conventions, but writer conferences where the sole focus is writing—no promotion, no pitching agents, no business talk. Whenever pitching is involved, attendees become so focused on selling their work and making a good impression, writing takes a backseat. All that aside, in my opinion, the best way to develop as a writer is to read widely.

TART: 5)Any more books currently on schedule for publication? And what are you working on now?

VR: Nothing on the schedule, though I would like to see Blood Under Will out in the world soon. At present, I'm finishing the draft of a psychological thriller titled Crying for Mercy set in Salem. It's about the obsessive relationship between a teacher at a Catholic high school and an occult shop owner, and how their lives are affected by a series of local murders.

_____________________________________

BIO
VR Barkowski is a recovering sociologist who stumbled into finance by accident. After spending most of her days buried beneath spreadsheets, she is overjoyed to have exchanged bottom lines for storylines. A native Californian, VR now pens dark tales of murder and obsession from a too-small desk in Salem, Massachusetts, where the history, coastline, capricious weather, and melancholy spirit of Hawthorne never fail to provide inspiration.

Website: www.vrbarkowski.com
Blog: www.vrbarkowski.wordpress.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/vrbarkowski
Twitter: www.twitter.com/vrbarkowski
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/6537046.V_R_Barkowski
Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/vrbarkowski


BLURB
When his family’s priceless Cézanne disappears from a local museum, former homicide inspector Del Miller leaves the investigation to the FBI. But that’s before an art dealer alleges that Del’s grandfather, a victim of the Nazi death camps, stole the masterpiece from a Paris gallery seventy years before. After the dealer is found dead, and Del's father is implicated, Del sets out to uncover the truth.

From present-day San Francisco to war-torn France, to the Nazi death camps and betrayal, A TWIST OF HATE is a story of family honor. One man's quest for answers about the grandfather he never knew, the father he idolizes, and the secrets behind a missing painting that lay buried deep within his family's past.


Thanks, VR!!!  And friends, don't forget to leave your favorite work of art or story ABOUT art for a chance to with the ARC!

Monday, June 8, 2015

An Interesting Prospect


So I am currently reading Dwight Okita's The Prospect of My Arrival, and it's good, but I am not far enough in yet for an actual review. What it HAS done though, is cause me some deep philosophical ponderance (which bodes well for the book), and it is those ponderances I actually want to talk about.


The premise of the story is the Pre-Born Project, in which is a a chance for embryos... souls... people who are pre-born, to have a chance to come before they are born, meet some critical people and have some experiences, and then decide whether or not they want to be born. The scientist involved believes this will make for happier people, if everyone is here by their own choice.

But that got me to thinking... what sort of people would and would not decide to be born? Truly?


The Resilience of the Human Spirit

I am going to start with the assumption that most of us would like our chance... that there is an error toward the yes vote because, even pre-born, SOMETHING has to look better than NOTHING.

So I think it is easier to think about maybe who WOULDN'T choose to give it a shot.


People with really horrible people for parents... this seems relatively obvious... Oh, no, I am not stepping into THAT.

People with biological depressive tendencies... though would these have manifested yet? Seems they usually appear in the teen years... But there is an opposite that is thought to be a trait (as opposed to a state caused by circumstances). Hardiness. Hardy people keep on plugging away and tend to be more resilient than more fragile people (who take things personally and are hurt easily and hold those negative feelings longer). Hardy people have better outcomes in terrible circumstances than people lacking in that hardy trait in the same circumstances, so low hardiness might mean those interviews are critical.


Competitive people seem to be MORE likely to choose to give it a try... Not sure how I feel about that. Competitive people make me tired.


Optimists seem more likely than pessimists to want to give it a go. Pretty sure someone like my husband, who sees every single thing that might go wrong and really hates uncertainty would say, “Nope. Not doing that.”


Now lets consider whether all this might be good or bad. Fewer depressed people in the world, fewer nay-sayers, fewer fragile souls all sounds well and good. But don't these personalities offer us some balance? In my personal circumstance, a delusional optimist married to a glum pessimist, he is my reality check. I have a lot of things I would just dive head long into without him pointing out all the things I really need to think about first. Now sometimes I still dive, but at least I dive with my eyes open because I have that balance. What ill-advised things might we dive into as a society without the nay-sayers stepping in?

Then again, what might be possible without all the obstacles?


And SOME pessimists might be born—those who have good circumstances or convincing referrals telling them the help there is to get through the difficulties.


Would it be good if children could opt out of lousy parents? I sort of think yes on this one... some people shouldn't get to be parents and who has more right to decide that than their children? But then who would the world be missing?

There is also the other side: much of what life is is the things and people and experiences we encounter. I mean sure, we bring some personality at the start, but those things that we go through shape us, so how much is honestly predictable before we ever start? How accurate can those decisions BE about whether to be born or not?

What do you think? Can you think of sorts of people more or less likely to opt in or out if they got to interview some people about what their life will be like before deciding to be born? Does the whole idea terrify you, or can you see some promise to it?

[and good on you, Dwight, for really getting us thinking]

Thursday, June 4, 2015

A Game with Chrys Fey

So I am sure you all know Chrys Fey--she has taken this whole social media thing by storm and is doing an amazing job getting to know the blogging community, giving both helpful advice and a helping hand when we have promoting of our own today, so I am pleased today, to host Chrys as she does her blog tour to promote TWO shortish stories she has available (they both look like they are about 35 pages).

So without further ado... Welcome Chrys!!!


Thank you, Hart, for letting me take over your blog today. I have a fun game for your readers. :)


Can you finish these lines of dialogue?


Witch
of Death:

Libby, the detective and witch: “If you roll your eyes
one more time, Detective Sanders, they’re going to fall out of your skull, and
I’m going to _____________.”

Reid, the detective and skeptic: “I know I haven’t been
your partner for long. So I think I should ask. Do you normally kiss all the
female detectives and ____________?”


Ghost
of Death”

Jolie, the ghost:
“Are you kidding? We can’t do that. For one, we’re adults. And two,
_________.”

Avrianna, the cool detective: “Sailors found me in the
ocean when I was a couple of days old. There hadn’t been any shipwrecks or
plane crashes in the area. The fact I was there is a complete mystery. For all
we know, ________.”




I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!


Title: Witch of Death
Author: Chrys Fey
Genre: Supernatural/Suspense
Format: eBook Only

Page Count: 45 (short story)
Release Date: May 20th, 2015
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Blurb:

Detective Reid Sanders doesn’t believe in the
supernatural, but when he’s faced with a crime scene that defies the laws of
nature, he has no other choice but to start believing. And solving a magical
murder involves working with a witch.

Liberty Sawyer embodies the look of your classic evil
witch, so, it’s no surprise when she uncovers the murderer is a witch that she
becomes Reid’s number one suspect. If she can’t convince him otherwise, more
people could lose their lives to dark magic, including her.


BOOK LINKS:



Excerpt:

Liberty Sawyer glided swiftly through the horde of police
officers, reporters, and on- lookers. Black hair fell from a rigid part in the
middle of her scalp to her hips. Her eyes were a soul-stabbing blue and her
lips were blood-red. She towered over the other officers on the scene, and wore
all black, which set off 6 the pallor of her skin.

Showing her badge to the officer, she slipped under the
crime scene tape. A few paces away, she spotted Detective Corbin talking to his
new partner, a man she knew by name but hadn’t had the privilege of meeting
yet.

“I cannot believe you called her,” the new man was saying
when she came up behind them. “We don’t need a damn psychic!”

“Actually, I’m a witch.” She smiled when Reid jolted and
turned to face her. “I’m
Detective Liberty Sawyer.” She stuck out her hand.

“Detective Reid Sanders,” he grunted back and took her
hand.

The feel of his palm against hers sent tingles of lust
from the tips of her fingers to her shoulder blade, and she knew he felt it too
by the way he jerked his hand back. She winked at him playfully, hoping it
would unnerve him even more.

ALSO AVAILABLE:


Blurb:

Jolie Montgomery, a twenty-one-year-old woman, wakes up
in an alley next to her corpse. She has no memories of her murder or the night
she died. She didn’t even see the killer’s face before he or she took her life.
Wanting justice, Jolie seeks answers in the only way a ghost can...by stalking
the lead detective on the case.

Avrianna Heavenborn is determined to find the person
responsible for a young woman’s death. She gets closer to the killer’s identity
with every clue she uncovers, and Jolie is with her every step of the way.

But if they don’t solve her murder soon, Jolie will be an
earth-bound spirit forever.

Book Links:




BIO:

Chrys Fey is the author of Hurricane Crimes and 30
Seconds. She is currently working on the sequel to Hurricane Crimes that’ll
serve as book two in the Disaster Crimes series.

When Fey was six years old, she realized her dream of
being a writer by watching her mother pursue publication. At the age of twelve,
she started writing her first novel, which flourished into a series she later
rewrote at seventeen. Fey lives in Florida where she is waiting for the next
hurricane to come her way.

You can connect with her on Facebook and her blog, Write
with Fey. She loves to get to know her readers! 





Author Links: 
Facebook / Blog / Website / Goodreads 

Thank you all for visiting and hopefully commenting. ;) 

And here is me... (your tartness) playing the game... I am going with:
(highlight to see--I wanted to give you all a chance to answer before you saw)

1) hang them from the mirror of my car...
2) rate them?
3) we lack substance.
4) My mother was a squid


Wednesday, June 3, 2015

And So It Begins: IWSG Post - June



June has arrived, and with it, BuNoWriMo and the starting of a new book. I've been reading young adult books all winter and spring and feel fairly ready to approach this, this time with a bit more of a plan than I typically have. I've never been a total pantser. Well... I have, back before I understood how to finish a books. But for me, if I don't know where I am going, I can write myself into a corner, so I've been what I call a timeliner since I got back to writing. This time around I actually have a much more detailed plan. I have THEMES (gads, are you serious?) and a background mystery to go with the frontground teen tale.

Writing balance: You can't touch this...erm...
Know what? The writing is going pretty well. It is the juggling other stuff I've forgotten how to do. Why do I have to have a job? Why does my family need to eat? Chores? POO! Why can't I be a kept woman who just writes?

Oh, that's right... because at the moment nobody is buying my books so that I can pay for being in such a position and the sugar daddy supply seems to have dried up...

Anyway, at LEAST the writing is flowing. I will be thankful for that. Clean house be damned.



I seem to know several people coming off a large funk. How is everyone doing? Writing flowing? Any tricks to balance you want to remind me of? (maybe my home and family have ALWAYS been neglected?)

So you should go see the OTHER insecure writers now...