On Writing

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    And the title is …

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    Spider’s Bite: An Elemental Assassin Book.

    Pretty cool, huh? At this point, we’re thinking all the titles will have the word Spider’s in them. Spider’s Web is another title my agent, editor, and I all like – it will probably be used for Book 2 or 3. Anyway, more to come.

    I’m just glad I have a title now! :ww:

    Also, the first chapter of Spider’s Bite has been up on the Web site for a while now, but I thought I would also share it here. Please excuse the formatting. For some reason, the blog doesn’t like me to copy and paste stuff in. So I had to take all the code out. I think I cleaned up everything, but at the very least, you’ll get a sense of what the book is about. Warning: Violence and language follow. The book is about an assassin after all. Happy reading!

    Read More “And the title is …”

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    Done … for now …

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    So I’m back at the day job this week. But I actually did get a few things done while I was off last week. Namely, I finished revising the Spy book and sent that to my agent. Huzzah! Now, let’s just hope she thinks it has some potential. Fingers crossed on that one.

    And, yes, I got my house clean too. We’ll see how long that lasts, though. 😈

    And I finally decided on how I want to proceed with Quiver, the young-adult fantasy that I’m writing. My heroine is going to be a Robin Hood-type outlaw who gets mixed up in a plot to kill a queen. It’s very much going to be a fairy tale, action fantasy with lots of battles. Swords, sorcery, a cute prince. All the things I love about the genre, with a hefty dose of girl power thrown in. :ww:

    I’m not sure if this is necessarily the right direction to go with the book, but I’m having fun writing it so far, which is always important. Because if I’m not having fun, it pretty much means that what I’m writing sucks out loud. At least, that’s my general rule of thumb. Anyway, I’ll keep you guys posted on how it’s going. If I can figure out how to do it without screwing up the blog format, I’ll post the first chapter here on the blog for you to read.

    What about you guys? Anyone working on anything interesting? Share in the comments.

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    Title update …

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    So the latest on the titles is that everyone seems to think using Spider or Spider’s in the titles is the best way to go (since my character goes by the moniker the Spider). Everyone think that gives off the appropriate cool, gritty, urban fantasy vibe. Here are some titles we’re now considering:

    Spider’s Bite (or Spider Bite)

    Spider’s Web (or Spider Web)

    Kiss of the Spider

    Too bad Along Came a Spider is already taken by James Patterson. 😎

    Also, we’re thinking either calling it the Elemental Assassin series or a Gin Blanco book for the overall series title.

    So which Spider titles do you guys like? What do you like for the series title? Share in the comments.

    What’s that old adage about making sausage? Nobody wants to see you actually do it. This is kind of like that … 😉

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    ‘Tis done … for now …

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    Well, I got one of my to-do things accomplished this week. I finally finished revising the Spy book and sent that off to my agent. Huzzah! Now, I can focus on writing Quiver, my young-adult fantasy.

    Not sure if I’ve mentioned it or not, but the Spy book focuses on Abby Tomb, a bookstore owner and paramortal (someone with a special talent/gift/power). In Abby’s case, she happens to be immune to magic. When Abby witnesses a shooting, she’s recruited by PACT — the Paramortal Counter Terrorism Agency — to go undercover as a spy. But there’s more to the mission than meets the eye — especially Alex Raikkonen, the sexy mercenary who seems to be interested in keeping Abby very, very close …

    The book, appropriately enough, is called Live & Let Spy. Because you guys know how much I love all things James Bond. 😎

    It’s an urban fantasy, but not quite as gritty as the Assassin series (I don’t think I could write grittier than those books). Spy is a little lighter, a little more fun. Think Alias with magic. If my agent likes it, it would be the start of a series.

    But honestly, I’m not holding my breath about the book selling. Editors aren’t buying much right now, given the crappy economy, although urban fantasy seems to be selling better than most things. So do young-adult novels. Who knows? I may have more luck selling Quiver, if I can ever finish writing the darn thing …

    We shall see what happens …

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    Appearances …

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    So I have some tentative events coming up I thought I’d share:

    April 13: 7 p.m., Bristol Public Library, Bristol, Va. I’ll be at the library to kick off National Library Week (I believe the library is hosting authors every night that week). I’ll be doing a Q&A about writing and signing books. The program should run 60-90 minutes. More details coming soon.

    July 15-18: I’ll be appearing at RWA Nationals this year. I should be at the literacy signing and the Berkley authors signing. And I’ll be wandering around attending the various workshops and panels. I’m excited that it’s in Washington, D.C. this year. It’s one of the cities I’ve always wanted to visit. Can you say national monuments? 😎

    These events are a little more nebulous right now:

    May?: A couple of women in my critique group are trying to put together a group book signing. Some authors who might appear are yours truly, Lora Leigh, and Shirley Damsgaard. If it pans out, I’ll let you know.

    June 5-7: I’m thinking about going to Lori Foster’s reader/author get-together near Cincinatti. Has anyone been to this? It looks like a good time …

    That’s it for now. When I get more details, I’ll post them.