Category Archives: About writing

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The Writing Process Blog Tour

Hello gentle reader,

I was invited by the awesome Rhiann Wynn-Nolet to join the Writing Process Blog Tour. Rhiann is one of the co-founders of the Like A Virgin Contest and the CriTiki Lounge, which both help writers in their querying process. She’s represented by Stefanie Lieberman of Janklow & Nesbit, and writes YA/NA fiction with a gothic atmosphere and passionate characters. She blogs here and you can also find her on Twitter here.

What am I currently working on?

I’m working on a YA Historical Fantasy entitled THE BRIGHT AND THE LOST. It takes place in the 1920s during the London Season and it involves flappers in jazz nightclubs, debutantes in Mayfair mansions, dark magic and strange creatures. I like to think it as THE GREAT GATSBY meets DOWNTON ABBEY with magic, because that’s not ambitious or anything 😉


How does my work differ from others of its genre?

YA Historical Fantasy – Fantasy set in a specific historical era – is quite a niche genre. When I researched YA Fantasy books set in the 1920s, I found that most of them were set in the US and I thought it’d be interesting to write a story set in London instead. The Roaring Twenties did cross the ocean after all, and post-WW1 England is a great, dark setting which I wished to explore.

Why do I write what I write?

My answer to this question is always the same: I write the books I want to read. So I write books with clever, strong female characters, with magic and monsters, with darkness and love.

How does my individual writing process work?

I’m not the kind of writers who gets a Shiny New Idea and spends the next three months turning it into a book. I’m quite a slow writer. I get a Shiny New Idea, then I mull it over for months. Once this New Idea is fleshed out with a world, main characters and a loose plot, I outline. Only then do I start writing a first draft, which will need many, many rounds of revisions before it finds its way into the hands of my beta-readers. My CPs are the only one whom I ask to read earlier drafts, and I’m so lucky they’re the most patient people in the world.

And now, to tag some friends!

The wonderful Katie Bucklein who let me read her AMAZING YA Fantasy novel with pirates. She’s the Next Big Thing, you’ve been warned.

The lovely Melody Marshall who writes YA Fantasy and Science Fiction and is always happy to chat on Twitter.

My wonderful CP Jessica Rubinkowski who writes YA Fantasy and who just had a baby! She’s awesome, I’m telling you.

If I haven’t tagged you and you’d like to share your answers to the writing process questions, please feel free to do so in the comments section below!

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The Quest for a Critique Partner

NB: this was originally posted on There And Draft Again in August 2013, but I have tweaked it slightly to share with you again today.

Hello gentle reader,

Today I’d like to share a few tips about finding the right Critique Partner(s).

frodosam

What is a Critique Partner?

A writer working alone always gets to a point where he needs another set of eyes to let him know how he can make his Work In Progress better. Beta readers can help by pointing out what they liked or disliked in the story’s plot, structure and characters. But their advice can only take the writer so far, because they are only readers, as their designation points out. Enter the Critique Partner. A Critique Partner is a writer, who can help another writer with all the aspects of his story, from plot holes to grammar mistakes.

Where can you find a Critique Partner?

If you’re lucky enough to have a local critique group, start there. But if you don’t have anyone in real life you feel can fill this role, look online.

– Social media is a good place to start, especially Twitter.

– Specialised websites also offer to help writers get in touch: Ladies Who Critique, How About We CP, CP Seek, She Writes, PublishingCrawl.

– Online writing conferences and writing contests are also a great way to find people who write your genre: WriteOnCon, PitchMadness, PitchMas, PitchWars, etc.

– For those of you writing MG/YA Fantasy, do check out the SCBWI forums and YA Writers Reddit.

– The National Novel Writing Months (NaNoWriMo, JuNoWriMo and CampNaNo) are also a good way to find writers in your genre.

– And don’t forget forums like Absolutewrite and Agent Query Connect.

How do I know I’ve found the right Critique Partner?

A CP’s feedback needs to be honest, constructive and helpful. But this works both ways: your feedback on your CP’s manuscript also needs to be honest, constructive and helpful. You need to agree on time frames, manuscript length and genre.

Most partnerships start with a casual conversation, then a first chapters swap. If you’re happy with the feedback received/given, you can move on to full manuscripts, and hopefully a long-term friendship!

How can you make it work?

Finding a good match isn’t easy: don’t be afraid to say ‘this isn’t working for me’ if you feel your CP’s feedback isn’t what you expect. Chances are you are going to be reading A LOT of each other’s writing in the next few years, so you need to be happy with each other’s schedules and comments. Balance is key: this is a partnership, and ideally both writers are at the same stage in their writing.

You know you’ve found the right CP if you feel this balance is there, and if you think your partnership works both ways. Hopefully this partnership turns into friendship, and your CP becomes the first person you turn to for anything related to your writing career, whether you’ve jut received a request for your manuscript or hit rock bottom while drafting your Work In Progress.

So tell me: do you have a hard time finding a CP? If you have a CP, where did you find each other? Let me know in the comments below!

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How to plot your Fantasy novel

NB: this was originally posted on There And Draft Again in May 2013, but I have tweaked it slightly to share with you again today.

Hello gentle reader,

Today I’d like to share with you a few tips to plot your Fantasy novel effectively. Whether you use this template for your first draft or your tenth one, I believe it’s always useful to keep in mind your novel’s important milestones. It helps with the pace of the story and it enables you to keep the reader engaged.

one-does-not-simply-write-a-book

There are dozens of templates out there (the most famous being the Save The Cat Beat Sheet by Blake Snyder). I’ve come up with the one below by taking bits and pieces from here and there. I have found it works well for a Fantasy novel. Feel free to reuse and adapt it to your needs…

Plot Point 1 Opening/Protagonist intro (1% in)

Plot Point 2 Inciting Incident (5%)

Plot Point 3 First Turning Point (10%)

Plot Point 4 First Big Twist (40%)

Plot Point 5 Middle Turning Point (50%)

Plot Point 6 Second Big Twist (70%)

Plot Point 7 Climax (85%)

Plot Point 8 Resolution (95%)

Plot Point 9 Finale (100%)

So what do you think? Do you use a plot spreadsheet to outline or revise your novel? Feel free to leave me a comment below!

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A Month In Review – ROW80 Check-In 5 and Wrap-Up

Hello gentle reader,

you may have noticed my last ROW80 Check-In was… 6 weeks ago. I was supposed to check-in every week, but life got hectic in May and I chose to use the little free time I had to read and write instead of checking in. But now we’ve reached the end of this Round and it’s only fair that I let you know how I did.

ROW80 Check-In

ROW80 Logo

My goal for this round was to read or write every day.

This round I read 8 novels, 1 novella and 2 non-fiction books for research. I also beta-read 2 manuscripts. My goal being to read one book per week this year, I’m on target here!

This round, I also added 14K to my Work In Progress. It’s not as high a word count as I wanted it to be, but considering that I’m editing my other manuscript at the same time, it’s a good number, I think.

What I’ve been reading

The City’s Son by Tom Pollock (YA Urban Fantasy)

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch (YA Epic Fantasy)

Murder (Mayhem #2) by Sarah Pinborough (Historical Fantasy)

Debutantes by Cora Harrison (YA Historical)

Curses and Smoke: A Novel of Pompeii by Vicky Alvear Shecter (YA Historical)

Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi (YA Sci-Fi/Dystopian)

Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3) by Tahereh Mafi (YA Sci-Fi/Dystopian)

The Forever Song (Blood of Eden #3) by Julie Kagawa (YA Paranormal/Dystopian)

Born of Corruption: A Born of Illusion Novella by Teri Brown (YA Historical Fantasy)

What I’ve been watching

Penny Dreadful

Penny Dreadful

Places I’ve been

I went to London this week, and walked around Foyles’ new flagship bookstore.

It’s an amazing place, with a huge YA section.

EM Castellan - Foyles 1

EM Castellan - Foyles 3

I also went to Liberty on Regent Street, one of my favourite department stores in London.

I just love its Tudor revival building!

EM Castellan - Liberty

What’s next

In July I’ll be taking part in CampNaNoWriMo, another writing challenge. Feel free to join in!

How was your ROW80 Round? Make sure to share your writing progress and what inspired you in the comment section below! And here is the Linky to check out the other ROW80 posts.

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Victorian Fantasy on TV: Penny Dreadful

Penny Dreadful

Hello gentle reader,

If you’ve been following this blog and if you know of my love for Victorian Fantasy, you might have guessed this post was coming… Indeed, there’s a Victorian Fantasy show on TV!

This spring, Penny Dreadful airs both in the US and in the UK. Set in London in 1891, the show’s main character is a psychic (played by Eva Green), who teams up with an American actor/sharpshooter (played by Josh Hartnett), to investigate supernatural occurences. They soon come in contact with many well-known characters such as Dorian Gray, Jack The Ripper, Victor Frankenstein and his monster, Abraham Van Helsing and Mina Harker (from Dracula), etc. The title of the show refers to the 19th Century cheap, sensational publications one could buy for a penny.

What I like about the show is that it plays the ‘Victorian London’ card very well. Everything you would expect from such a setting/era is there: the aristocratic mansions, the East End slums, the opium dens, the British Museum and its Egyptian collections, the London Zoo, the dissecting tables of the Royal London Hospital, the asylum and the theatre… among others. Familiar themes for the time period are also touched upon: a few characters attend a séance and talk spiritualism, another character is dying of consumption, another has been searching for the source of the Nile in Africa, etc.

Penny Dreadful is visually stunning, with beautiful and gritty sets and amazing costumes. Each character is intriguing so far, and I’m hoping they’ll all be well developed as the story progresses. The plot is a bit scattered until now, and I’m waiting to see which direction it will take.

Whatever happens, the show has already been renewed for a second season which will air in 2015. Who said Victorian Fantasy didn’t appeal to the masses? 😉

Have you watched Penny Dreadful? What did you think? Feel free to leave me a comment below!

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Querying and the request for an exclusive submission

Hello gentle reader,

While querying, you may be faced with the situation of having an agent request “an exclusive”. It’s when you send your manuscript to this agent alone and stop querying other agents until she gives you the green light.

Does this happen often?

According to a completely unscientific Twitter poll of my own doing, it seems to happen more often than you might imagine. Therefore if you’re querying, you might want to think about what you’ll do if/when faced with this situation.

How do you respond?

First, you celebrate, because this is a request!

Then you have three options. Panicking isn’t one of them.

Option 1: Your manuscript is already on the desk of one or several agents, so you can’t actually grant this exclusivity. In this case, you have to inform the agent who requested an exclusive and she’ll decide whether she still wants to read your manuscript or not.

Option 2: You don’t have any material out but you want to keep your options open, i.e. keep querying. This is what’s usually advised. Granting exclusivity means you stop querying for at least a couple of weeks, which many see as a waste of time, especially since there’s no way to predict the exclusivity will result in an offer of representation. In this case, be honest and let the agent know you’re not willing to grant anyone exclusivity. Again, she’ll either choose to request anyway or she’ll step down.

Option 3: You don’t have any material out but you’re willing to grant to the requesting agent the exclusivity she asked for.

Now, why on earth would you do this?

Since the consensus seems to be that granting an agent an exclusive isn’t to your advantage, when and how should you decide to say yes to this request?

  • The agent is your Dream Agent: in this case, you might not want to risk saying no to her. You might decide granting exclusive is worth it, even if the agent ends up rejecting your manuscript.
  • The agent is from a Big Agency: there are agents from big/famous agencies who ALWAYS request exclusives and refuse to read if this exclusivity isn’t granted. On the plus side, it often means they request material they’re really excited about: they believe in it and they want to have the chance to make an offer before anyone else. It’s flattering. On the downside, they might not make an offer in the end and you’ve wasted time. Again, it’s up to you to decide if you think it’s worth it.
  • If you grant exclusivity, make sure you set a deadline of no more than 4 weeks and make sure the agent agrees to it. If you haven’t heard from the agent after 4 weeks, nudge and feel free to start querying again (unless the agent replies and asks for more time… or makes an offer!).

Whichever the case, GRANTING AN EXCLUSIVE SHOULD FEEL LIKE THE RIGHT DECISION AT THE TIME. Dahlia Adler has a great post on querying red flags, and she explains that if it feels like an agent is making an unreasonable request, they most likely are making an unreasonable request.

To finish this post on a personal note, here is my own experience with exclusives:

I had one request for an exclusive in my querying life. I said yes. Here is why:

  • I had no material out at the time. I hadn’t even started querying. I met the agent at a writers’ conference. She read the first 10 pages of my manuscript, and asked for the rest – as an exclusive.
  • She was from a Big Agency, and she was used to requesting exclusives when she loved a project.
  • She was one of my dream agents.
  • I asked for a 4-week deadline. She replied to me within 2 weeks.
  • She didn’t offer representation, but she did give me valuable feedback.

To this day, I don’t regret granting this exclusive. So my advice on this topic is: do what feels right and what you think is best for you and your manuscript at the time of the request.

What do you think? Have you experienced a request for an exclusive while querying? What did you do? Feel free to leave me a comment below!

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A Writer in the Spotlight – Stephanie Diaz

A Writer In The Spotlight Logo

Hello gentle reader,

I’m delighted to share with you another interview with a YA author! This week it’s Stephanie Diaz, whom I’ve been following online for quite some time. Her debut EXTRACTION is a YA Sci-Fi which will be released on 22d July 2014!

Stephanie_Diaz

Author: Stephanie Diaz

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

Website: http://steph-diaz.blogspot.fr/

Book: EXTRACTION trilogy (published by St. Martin’s Griffin, an imprint of Macmillan, in July 2014)

Biography:

Stephanie Diaz is 21. She grew up in sunny San Diego, wishing for rain. She studied film production in college. When she isn’t lost in other worlds, she can be found singing, marveling at the night sky, or fangirling over television shows.

My interview (27th May 2014)

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

I can’t remember a time I didn’t want to be a writer, so yes, I’ve always known.

When and where do you write?

My most common workspace is my bedroom, but I’ll write just about anywhere. The library is one of my favorite places. My favorite time to write is late at night, but that’s been impractical lately, so I have to write during the day.

What do you say to writers who want to be published one day?

To anyone who wants to be published: keep writing, keep reading, and keep living. Don’t give up, and don’t be afraid to set aside a novel, even if you used to think it was amazing. Your next novel will be better.

EXTRACTION FINAL COVER

To write “Extraction”, where did you get your inspiration from?

The inspiration for Extraction came from a random image of an enormous moon looming in the sky. I started wondering what life would be like on a planet where the moon was a big, poisonous threat instead of something beautiful. I hadn’t tried writing sci-fi before, but I’d always been mildly obsessed with space. So I was excited to give the genre a shot. 🙂

Why did you choose to write for young adults?

I was a young adult when I started writing Extraction (I mean, I still am–I’m 21), and it just made sense for me to write for my audience. Plus, I pretty much only read YA, so those are the kind of books I’m most familiar with.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on the second and third books in the Extraction trilogy. And pondering some brand-new projects on the side. 🙂

What are you reading right now?

I just finished WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart. Wow, it was amazing. Highly recommended.

What are your favourite books? Any recommendations?

I’m a huge fan of YA sci-fi books. Some recent ones I’d recommend are THESE BROKEN STARS by Meghan Spooner and Amie Kaufman, and STITCHING SNOW by R.C. Lewis, which will be out later this year. I also love YA contemporary. WANDERLOVE by Kirsten Hubbard is a favorite.

Thanks for the interview, Stephanie!

You can add EXTRACTION on Goodreads here.

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A Writer in the Spotlight – Lori M. Lee

A Writer In The Spotlight Logo

Hello gentle reader,

I’m delighted to share with you another interview with a YA author! This week it’s Lori M. Lee, whom I’ve been following online for quite some time. Her debut GATES OF THREAD AND STONE is a YA Fantasy which will be released on 5th August 2014!

Lori M Lee

Author: Lori M. Lee

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Website: http://www.lorimlee.com/

Book: GATES OF THREAD AND STONE

Biography:

Lori was born in the mountains of Laos where her family relocated to a Thailand refugee camp for a few years and then moved permanently to the United States when she was three. She can’t remember any of it, and uses this excuse to insist she was raised by invisible flying unicorns. Like thestrals but less morbid.

She’s been writing since the third grade although quality has hopefully improved. Her first novel was a Mary Sue fantasy romance she wrote when she was a preteen. It contained many things preteens probably should not have been writing about. She blames her older sisters.

She has a borderline obsessive fascination with unicorns, is fond of talking in capslock, and loves to write about magic, manipulation, and family. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband, kids, and a friendly pitbull.

My interview (9th May 2014)

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

Pretty much 🙂 I’ve wanted to be a writer since the third grade. Other career choices popped up along the way (I’m particularly fond of my brief “become a model” goal, because I’m sure THAT would have worked out haha), but writing has always remained my steadfast dream.

When and where do you write?

I use the spare bedroom as an office. For now. Once my son is old enough, he’ll get the room, and I’ll return to the kitchen table. I write primarily when my son is asleep, because that’s when I can focus best. Otherwise, I’m being constantly distracted even when my husband is watching him (although, partly it’s b/c he’s just so darn cute). The nice thing about the office, though, is I can shut the door!

What do you say to writers who want to be published one day?

Read and write a lot. Be informed. And don’t give up!

Gates-cover-FINAL-sm

To write “Gates of Thread and Stone”, where did you get your inspiration from? (How did you come up with a character who can manipulate the threads of time, ability which sounds beyond cool?!)

Kai, as a character, came to me when a friend said something in passing about time, which I can’t actually tell you because it’s a spoiler for the book lol. But as to her abilities, I wanted the flow of time to be almost a physical entity—thus the threads—and for her magic to have clear limitations based on this.

Why did you choose to write for young adults?

It wasn’t a conscious choice. It’s the category of books that I’ve always been drawn to. Even when I was twelve, well before “young adult” became a legitimate industry category, I was writing characters who were seventeen, although then, it was because those were the heroines I wanted to become. Now, I write about young adults because that period of our lives still resonate the strongest with me. I can’t imagine not writing young adult.

What are you working on now?

I am working on book two, although I’m also pulling together the world building and general plot of a new fantasy project.

Thanks for the interview, Lori!

You can add GATES OF THREAD AND STONE on Goodreads here.

 

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Novel Writing and Themes

Hello gentle reader,

Let’s say you’ve written a novel. You’ve developed its plot, fleshed out its characters, worked hard on its world-building  and polished it for submission. You’ve sent it off to CPs, or agents, or editors. And the feedback you’re getting is something along the lines of “I didn’t care much/enough about the story.” This might mean your manuscript wasn’t this CP’s/agent’s/editor’s cup of tea. Or it might mean there’s an issue with themes in your story.

What are themes?

Every story has a PLOT and a THEME. Your plot is what happens to your characters and the problems they have to resolve. Your theme is what your story means, its relevance to the reader’s life.

For example in The Hunger Games, the plot is about Katniss taking part in the games and surviving them with Peeta. However the themes of the story are social inequalities, and life and death offered as entertainment, among others.

Do you need a theme in your novel?

This is my opinion, but I tend to say: yes, yes you do, very much. Some books focus on plot so much that they forget about themes. The result can be entertaining, but it’s also easily forgettable and quite frankly, hollow. Great books, which stay with the reader long after they’ve read it, offer a balance of plot and theme. They are both entertaining (=with a good plot) and they make the reader question his/her convictions (=with its themes).

How do I choose my themes?

Much like choosing the events that will make up your plot, choosing your themes is up to you, really. You need to ask yourself the question: which topics matter to me in life? You also need to make sure your theme matches the genre you’re writing in. With Historical fiction, I find it’s easy to think of themes just by researching the concerns of the time period I chose for my setting. They usually resonate a lot more with our modern lives than we could expect.

How do I weave my themes into my plot?

That’s the tricky part. You don’t want your themes to be impossible to get, but you don’t want to bang your reader on the head with them either. You need to strike a balance between plot and theme, and never preach or feel the need to make your theme obvious, EVEN IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS. If you manage to do that, then…

Any thoughts on themes? Any advice to mix plot and themes efficiently? Feel free to leave me a comment below!

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A Writer in the Spotlight – Sara Raasch

A Writer In The Spotlight Logo

Hello gentle reader,

I’m delighted to share with you another interview with a YA author! This week it’s Sara Raasch, whose debut SNOW LIKE ASHES is coming out on 14th October 2014. It’s a YA High Fantasy and I was lucky to win an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) and to read it early!

Sara_Author_Pic03

Author: Sara Raasch

Genre: Young Adult, High Fantasy

Website: http://sararaasch.tumblr.com

Book: SNOW LIKE ASHES

Biography: Sara Raasch has known she was destined for bookish things since the age of five, when her friends had a lemonade stand and she tagged along to sell her hand-drawn picture books too. Not much has changed since then — her friends still cock concerned eyebrows when she attempts to draw things and her enthusiasm for the written word still drives her to extreme measures. Her debut YA fantasy, SNOW LIKE ASHES, the first in a trilogy, comes out October 14, 2014 from Balzer + Bray. It does not feature her hand-drawn pictures.

My interview (5th May 2014)

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

Yes! One of my earliest memories is of making Beanie Baby themed picture books, pasted together and drawn with markers and crayons. I’ve been hooked all my life! Not to Beanie Babies, thankfully.

What do you say to writers who want to be published one day?

It’s worth it! It’ll be hard — really hard — a lot of the time, but persistence is key. If you don’t give up on yourself, things WILL happen! Keep moving forward!

Snow Like Ashes

To write SNOW LIKE ASHES, where did you get your inspiration from? How did you come up with the world of Primoria?

A mashup of Pinterest (gotta love Pinterest) and combining some cultural aspects from our world. Pinterest is the best world building tool — it allowed me to throw a bunch of things together that I thought might be cool for a kingdom and see what they looked like side by side. For instance, one of the kingdoms we meet in the next book (Autumn) draws a lot of inspiration from Middle Eastern/Thai cultures. I have a lovely Pinterest board of that kingdom (that is of course secret now, but someday I will get to share it!).

Do you share any similarities with Meira, your main character?

We’re both very stubborn and passionate! Once Meira gets behind a cause, there’s no swaying her away from it, and I’m exactly the same way. Which can be a very useful trait, but is oftentimes detrimental and makes me/her blind to a lot of other things.

One thing you do really well in the book is describing how teenagers feel and act in this moment between childhood and adulthood. Is this why you chose to write for young adults?

Thanks! I love the time between childhood and adulthood — it’s such a time of transition and possibility, and that is mainly why I write YA. Anything can happen, and the characters can become anyone — seeing them grow is amazing!

What are you working on now? (Is it Book 2?!)

It is! Book 2 is currently in edits, and I’m actually already about 100 pages into Book 3. Why yes, I am obsessively early on deadlines, thanks for noticing.

Thanks so much for this interview, Sara!

Thanks for having me, EM! This was fun 😀

You can add SNOW LIKE ASHES on Goodreads here and you can follow Sara on Twitter here.