On Writing

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    One year to go …

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    One year from today, Feb. 3, 2010, the first book in the Assassin urban fantasy series will be released. At least, that’s the plan right now. I know it’s a long wait, but I really think it will be worth it.

    Since there’s a year to go now, things will start gearing up soon (finally!). My editor, agent, and I will be talking official titles for the first book and the series as a whole. That’s the first thing that will get nailed down and finalized, probably by April or so.

    I should get some preliminary cover art by June/July, and I’ll have to do copy/edits revisions probably around September or so. Advanced reading copies will start going out in November/December for reviews.

    Anyway, more to come, so stay tuned! :ww:

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    Quiver samples …

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    To give you guys an idea of what I’m talking about, here are the opening paragraphs for both the new and old versions of Quiver. (A caveat: The formatting is probably going to be wonky. For some reason, WordPress doesn’t like me posting in info from other programs, like Word. Ah, well): 

    NEW VERSION

     I never set out to be an outlaw.

    As Gwendolyn Frost, my days and nights were filled with the duties and responsibilities of any young duchess of my wealth and station.

    I never meant to become a vigilante, a ruffian, a fiend. Cheered by some, cursed by others, hunted by many. I never meant to rescue a hero, take down a tyrant, save a kingdom.

    It just sort of . . . happened.

    And it all started, innocently enough, deep in the forest with a simple bow and a quiver full of arrows . . .

    OLD VERSION“You’re going to miss.”

    The gruff voice sounded close to my left ear. Footsteps smacked on the cobblestones behind me, and a body leaned forward, brushing against my own.

    “And miss badly,” the flat tone continued in my right ear.

    I blocked out the voice. Blocked out the constant scuff of footsteps circling around me, the gloomy words of doom, the warm breath tickling my ears and nose with its sharp flavor of liver and onions. I blocked it all out until there was nothing left but the smooth bow in my hands and the small red smear of the target in the distance.

    I lifted the bow to my shoulder, notched the arrow, and drew back the string with one fluid movement. A comforting motion, as familiar to me as a waltz or reel might be to any other young lady of my station.

    “You’re going to miss,” the voice repeated, but it was a mere murmur now, a buzzing bee in the background of my mind.

    My green eyes narrowed as I studied the target, using the faint cool spark of magic that I possessed to pull it into focus, until the red smear filled my vision with crystal clarity. A breeze gusted through the stone courtyard, barely a whisper against my cheek, but I adjusted my aim accordingly. My fingers rested on the bowstring the way a musician’s might on a cherished violin.

    “You’re going to miss—”

    I let go.

    The arrow sliced through the air, a flashing silver blur, before hitting the target a hundred yards in front of me. Dead center.

    So what do you think? Good, bad, indifferent? Craptastic all the way around? Share in the comments.

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    Slogging through …

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    So I cranked out 15,781 words on my young adult fantasy Quiver this weekend (I’m now up to 33,000 and change). Keep in mind that these aren’t good words or final words, just words that are making up my rough draft. There is little artistry to them at this point. It’s more like a really, really detailed outline right now than anything else.

    I’ve never written a YA before, and I’m a little unsure about things — the voice, the violence level, if the plot is too hokey. I got about 25,000 words into Quiver and thought it was utter crap — so I started all over again, weaving in some scenes from the old version. And yes, I’m still thinking that the new version is crap, although perhaps not quite as smelly as what I wrote before. 

    Everything was going fine on the new version … until Wheezley told me that he liked the old version better. Argh! And then, of course, I started second-guessing myself. Was the first version better? Is the new version the really craptastic one? What should I doooo?

    In case you haven’t guessed by now, us writers are a crazy, paranoid, neurotic lot. Seriously. We should all be wearing straightjackets. 😈

    But I’ve decided to keep going on the new version and finish the rough draft. It’s always easier to fix things if you have something to work with — no matter how craptastic the words may be. So I’ll be slogging through the rest of the rough draft over the next few weeks and probably tearing my hair out in the process …

    What about you guys? What are you working on, writing-related or otherwise?

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    And did I mention …

    That you don’t get that $10,000 advance in one lump sum? This ain’t the lottery. You don’t get to select the payout you prefer. You’ll be getting that $10,000 over the course of a year — or maybe longer, depending on when your book is finally published.

    You get a little bit of money when you sign the contract, a little more when you turn in the book, a little more when you turn in the revisions … you get the idea.

    And, of course, just because you sell one book is no guarantee that you’ll sell another. None at all. Especially with publishers cutting staff and authors left and right these days.

    So if you are looking to get rich quick, I say start drilling for oil in Texas. Because you probably have a better chance of making it big doing that than writing books for a living.

    But if you love writing and love telling stories, then sit down in front of your computer and write. Because there is one thing in all this that’s priceless — seeing your name in print. It really does make it all worthwhile.