March 31, 2013 by EM Castellan

My Week In Review

Hello gentle reader,

Happy Easter! I hope you had a wonderful week… Mine was eventful!

Picture of the Week

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know I was in Paris this week, where I attended the SCBWI Europlitan Conference. It was incredibly inspiring and interesting. If you write Picture Books, Middle Grade or Young Adult Books, I stronly suggest you attend such a conference.

Word Count of the Week

This week I added 8500 words to my Work In Progress!

Links of the Week

On my blog this week I shared a snippet from my Work In Progress. I also guest posted on Sydney Aaliyah’s blog.

On There And Draft Again this week, Kate gave tips to research your Fantasy novel and Rachel explained How to write villains.

TV Show of the Week

Tonight Game of Thrones is back on TV. I. Can’t. Wait.

Next week

Next week on my blog I will post a recap of the SCBWI Con and share with you the most helpful tips I heard during the two-day conference.

How was your week? Make sure to share your writing progress and what inspired you this week in the comment section below!

March 27, 2013 by EM Castellan

The 7 Line WIP Game & WIPpet Wednesday

Hello gentle reader,

A few weeks ago I was tagged by the lovely Rachel Horwitz in the 7 Line WIP Game meme (thanks Rachel for thinking of me!). I have also wanted to take part in the WIPpet Wednesday Blog Hop hosted by K.L. Schwengel for a while, so I thought today was a good day as any to share with you an excerpt from my Work In Progress LILY IN THE SHADOWS.

LILY IN THE SHADOWS is a YA Historical Fantasy. Here is the pitch:

When all the flowers die in Victorian London, a streetwise flower girl with a love for books and a gift for getting into trouble investigates before the city descends into chaos and she loses everything.

In the following scene, Lily is coming home after a somewhat exciting day in London, but she is not made to feel as welcome as she was expecting…

Excerpt (unedited):

“So listen to this…”

Wes’s face darkened dangerously and my smile died on my lips. I realised his anger might be directed at me after all, and I didn’t finish my sentence, turning around to reconsider Elsie’s behaviour. Motionless, she was looking at us with wide eyes. In fact, the flat was so quiet I could hear the coal sputtering in the stove, the rain splattering against the tin roof and the neighbours having an argument next door.

I took a tiny step back from Wes, still unsure of what was wrong. His jaw was clenched and his lean body tensed. He scowled, his dark eyes fixed on me. My heartbeat quickened slightly, but my brain still refused to process the obvious: he was angry at me.

This is a blog hop! Visit the other participating blogs here.

March 24, 2013 by EM Castellan

My Week In Review – ROW80 Check-In 11

Hello gentle reader,

It is time for the last ROW80 check-in for this round! Where did the time go?… I hope you had a more productive week than I did…

Quote of the Week

“We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”

J.K. Rowling, 2008 Harvard Alumni Association Commencement Address.

Picture of the Week

I was in Paris this week (for my day job).

ROW80 Check-In

My goal for this round is to write every day. This week, the day job was crazy, and I only managed to write

2 days out of 7.

Word Count of the Week

This week I added 3000 words to my Work In Progress.

Book of the Week

Skylark by Meagan Spooner

This one had been sitting on my TBR pile forever. I won a copy a few months ago thanks to a giveaway organised by the lovely Ayesha Schroeder.

Good News of the Week

This week I entered my YA Epic Fantasy THE LAST QUEEN in the Write On Con Pitch Fest and got a nice comment from an agent. It is also a contest, and results should be announced this week…

Links of the Week

On my blog this week I celebrated my birthday with a book giveaway (still accepting entries!) and I explained the genre of my Work In Progress: Gaslamp Fantasy.

On There And Draft Again this week, Kathi discussed first drafts and Raewyn explained tropes in Fantasy.

On her blog, YA writer Amanda Foody wrote a hilarious post about her Perceptions About Writing.

And Thirty Seconds To Mars (did I mention I adore them?) have a new single out and you can listen to it here.

Next week

Next week on my blog I shall share a snippet from my Work In Progress… if you’re interested.

How was your week? Make sure to share your writing progress and what inspired you this week in the comment section below!

March 17, 2013 by EM Castellan

My Week In Review – ROW80 Check-In 10

Hello gentle reader,

It is time for another weekly check-in! I hope you had a great and productive week…

Quote of the Week

“Richard had noticed that events were cowards: they didn’t occur singly, but instead they would run in packs and leap out at him all at once.”

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

This week was indeed very eventful in my corner of England…

Picture of the Week

Light by my friend M.LIN

ROW80 Check-In

My goal for this round is to write every day. This week, the day job was crazy, but I still managed to write

5 days out of 7.

Word Count of the Week

This week I added 2800 words to my Work In Progress.

TV Show/Movie of the Week

Veronica Mars

Thanks to an incredible 24-hour Kickstarter campaign, the once cancelled TV show Veronica Mars is to become a movie in 2014. And this is awesome news!

Good News of the Week

This week the amazing Kat Ellis organised a pitch contest on her blog. I entered my Work In Progress Lily In The Shadows and won not one but TWO first-pages critiques, by Jani Grey and Bridget Shepherd.

Links of the Week

On my blog this week I finally revealed the title and plot of my Work In Progress.

On There And Draft Again this week, new member Rachel explained how to draw inspiration from other genres when writing fantasy.

On the Corsets, Cutlasses and Candlesticks blog, YA Author Jennifer McGowan explained How and Why She Fired Her Writing Process (an got published).

On the YAvengers blog, Amanda Foody wrote a great article on how to show, and not tell.

Finally I also recommend YA writer Carissa Taylor’s blog, full of writing tips and books recommendations.

Next week

Next week on my blog I will celebrate my birthday with a book giveaway! Come back on Tuesday to see which books you’ll be able to win…

How was your week? Make sure to share your writing progress and what inspired you this week in the comment section below!

March 14, 2013 by EM Castellan

New Project Reveal – Part 4: Title and Plot!

Hello gentle reader,

this week again I’m taking part in the Tursday’s Children meme hosted by Rhiann Wynn-Nolet and Kristina Perez. It is “a weekly blog hop where writers come together to talk about whatever inspires them.”

In these posts, I share a little bit more about what I’ve been working on, a YA Historical Fantasy nicknamed Secret WIP. Three weeks ago the first part of this “Project Reveal” was all about Setting. Two weeks ago I talked about films that inspired me to write this story. And last week I introduced you to my Main Character.

Today’s theme is : TITLE, PLOT and HOW I GOT THE IDEA FOR THIS STORY.

So withour further ado…

My Secret WIP’s title is LILY IN THE SHADOWS.

Here is the pitch I have come up with for it so far:

I got the inspiration for this story from a song by Delain (a Dutch symphonic metal band I’m fond of) entitled Mother Machine.

Here are some of the lyrics:

Little girl in a concrete world
artificial hurt
in your eyes
You won’t see any living trees
any flower fields in my time

Round and round and round
the wheels come down
Dreaming of the steam
the pounding sounds
Round and round and round
the wheels come down
Won’t you electrify my soul
intensify it all

(…)
I’ll fold you paper flowers little girl
for you’ll never see a real one

So are you ever inspired by a song? Feel free to leave me a comment below, and to visit the other Thursday’s Children posts here.

March 10, 2013 by EM Castellan

My Week In Review and ROW80 Check-In 9

Hello gentle reader,

It is time for another weekly check-in! I hope you had a great and productive week…

Quote of the Week

“Once again…welcome to my house. Come freely. Go safely; and leave something of the happiness you bring.”

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Basically my blogging philosophy.

Picture of the Week

Lights in London by my friend M.LIN

ROW80 Check-In

My goal for this round is to write every day. This week again I managed to write

6 days out of 7.

Word Count of the Week

This week I added 2680 words to my Work In Progress. I also edited it a lot, and wrote a synopsis for it.

TV Show of the Week

Vikings (History Channel)

Honestly, I watched this show because of its title. I LOVE Vikings stories. The first two episodes aired this week and they were quite enjoyable, if you don’t mind a slow start and ridiculous hairstyle. I know I don’t, as long as there are, you know, VIKINGS.

Good News of the Week

I had again a lot of good news this week! First a fellow member of There And Draft Again, Kathi, awarded me the Very Inspiring Blog Award. If you recall, I have already received it twice (!) so you can read my acceptance post here. Then the awesome Veronica Park offered (!!) to critique my synopsis and she gave me some amazing feedback to improve it. And finally after 4 months of silence, my wonderful CP Jessica Montgomery started blogging again! Go and follow her here! She’s awesome, I promise.

Links of the Week

On my blog this week I celebrated World Book Day and I introduced you to the main character of my YA Historical Fantasy novel set in Victorian London.

On There And Draft Again this week, Mara shared tips on finding the perfect Critique Partners and Jessica reviewed her favourite Fantasy book.

Also YA author Laura Lam blogged about How To Help Debut Authors.

Susan and Tyler Rose over at The Feather And The Rose celebrated their 200^th post with a Mysterious Giveaway.

Finally you should check out Serena Lawless’s awesome Tumblr. And while you’re at it, you may want to follow her on Twitter. You won’t regret it.

Next week

Next week on my blog I will (finally) reveal the title and plot of my Work In Progress!

How was your week? Make sure to share your writing progress and what inspired you this week in the comment section below!

March 7, 2013 by EM Castellan

New Project Reveal – Part 3: The Main Character

Hello gentle reader,

In these posts, I share a little bit more about what I’ve been working on, a YA Historical Fantasy nicknamed Secret WIP. Two weeks ago the first part of this “Project Reveal” was all about Setting. Last week I talked about films that inspired me to write this story.

Today’s theme is : MAIN CHARACTER.

My novel takes place in London in 1862. The main character is Lily, a sixteen-year-old flower girl who lives in Whitechapel, likes books and tends to get into trouble.

Augustus Edwin Mulready – A street flower seller (oil on canvas, 1882)

In Victorian London, flower girls were a very common sight. Instead of having to go to the market or a nursery garden, people who wanted to buy flowers simply had to go to any street corner in London and find the nearest flower girl.

Lily has honey blond hair and for various reasons, she dresses well above her social status. I’m having fun researching Victorian clothing for this novel!

You may know I like to base my characters off actors to help me describe them physically. When it comes to Lily, I’ve been keeping Emily Browning in mind: not to tall, not too strong-looking, halfway between innocence and sadness…

The last important detail to know about Lily is that within the first pages of the story, she becomes almost deaf. I find writing a character with a disability very interesting and challenging. Here I thought writing a novel in the first person from the point of view of someone who can’t hear would be challenging enough…

So what inspires you to create characters out of thin air and flesh them out? Feel free to leave me a comment below, and to visit the other Thursday’s Children posts here. And come back next week for the 4th and last post in this New Project Reveal series, in which I will tell you all about the Plot and the Title of my Secret WIP…!

March 3, 2013 by EM Castellan

My Week In Review – ROW80 Check-In 8

Hello gentle reader,

It is time for another weekly check-in! I hope you had a great and productive week…

Quote of the Week

“I’m not running away. But this is one corner in one country in one continent in one planet that’s a corner of a galaxy that is a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond. And this is so much, SO MUCH, to see, Amy. Because it goes so fast. I’m not running away from things. I’m running to them before they flare and fade forever.”

Doctor Who, The Power of Three written by Chris Chibnall

Picture of the Week

Gordon Square, London by my friend Lea

ROW80 Check-In

My goal for this round is to write every day. This week again I managed to write

6 days out of 7.

Word Count of the Week

This week I added 2250 words to my Work In Progress. I don’t know… it was a slow week.

Book of the Week

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (YA Historical Fantasy/Steampunk)

This week I finally started to read the first book in The Infernal Devices series. And so far I like it!

Good News of the Week

I had a lot of good news this week! First I won not one but TWO query critiques, one by The Writer Diaries ladies and one by Lit Agency Intern Lauren Spieller. I also celebrated the first anniversary of my blog with a book giveaway. Finally the lovely Vikki Thompson gave me the Very Inspiring Blog Award. I had already received it back in November 2012 and you can read my post here.

Links of the Week

On my blog I posted about which movies inspired me to write a YA Historical Fantasy novel set in Victorian London.

On There And Draft Again this week, Kathi talked about characters in fantasy and I shared the list of SFWA awards’ nominations.

The ever awesome Rachel O’Laughlin is self-publishing her Epic Fantasy Coldness of Marek and its sequel Knights of Rilch and she explained when you will be able to buy them here.

Finally The Evolution of Mara Dyer is now out in the UK and if you haven’t read it GO AND BUY IT NOW!

Next week

Next week on my blog I will celebrate World Book Day!

How was your week? Make sure to share your writing progress and what inspired you this week in the comment section below!

February 28, 2013 by EM Castellan

New Project Reveal – Part 2: The Inspiration

Hello gentle reader,

In these posts, I share a little bit more about what I’ve been working on, a YA Historical Fantasy nicknamed Secret WIP. Last week the first part of this “Project Reveal” was all about Setting.

Today’s theme is : INSPIRATION.

My novel takes place in London, during the Victorian era. I had the idea for it years ago, and since then I’ve watched many films and TV shows which have helped me get a clearer idea of what story I wanted to write. Here are a few…

The Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

The Crimson Petal and the White (2011)

Jane Eyre (2011)

Great Expectations (2012)

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

Ripper Street (2013)

Peter Pan (2033)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

The Sally Lockhart Mysteries (2006-2007)

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking (2004)

Sherlock Holmes 1 & 2 (2009-2011)

So this is what inspired me! I hope this gives you a taste of what’s to come in my Secret WIP…

What inspired you to write your Work In Progress? Do you find inspiration in the films or TV shows you watch? Feel free to leave me a comment below, and to visit the other Thursday’s Children posts here.

February 24, 2013 by EM Castellan

My Week In Review – ROW80 Check-In 7

Hello gentle reader,

It is time for another weekly check-in! I hope you had a great and productive week…

Quote of the Week

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

As a writer obsessed with her books, I find this quote reassuring.

Picture of the Week

Nature, by my friend M.LIN

Is it springtime yet?

Word Count of the Week

This week I added 4000 words to my Work In Progress, but because I also deleted 2000 words of backstory, it is now at 20,000 words. Considering I had a crazy week at work, I see this good progress.

TV Show of the Week

The Vampire Diaries (CW)

This week on The Vampire Diaries, a major character died and the episode was about grief. It wasn’t as good as the Buffy episode on the same topic (The Body, S5E16) but it did make me cry.

Film of the Week

Lincoln

I was disappointed with this movie. Not with the quality of it (it’s undeniably a great movie) but because of how boring it was. I just felt it was a very, very long lecture. Maybe it’s because I know the topic so well. But still.

Good News of the Week

This week, I won something! I won a first-page critique via the YAvengers blog and the lovely Stephanie Diaz commented on the first page of my Secret WIP. And it was positive feedback! *Cue happy dance*

ROW80 Check-In

My goal for this round is to write every day. This week again I managed to write

4 days out of 7. Again.

Links of the Week

On my blog I posted about what inspired me to write a novel set in London.

On There And Draft Again this week, Mara shared some Editing Tips and Rachel gave advice on How to design a book cover.

If you haven’t watched Kelsey Macke’s vlog series on writing you’re missing out. Her weekly videos are both funny and informative, and always inspiring.

Have you heard about a YA Sword and Sorcery debut called Poison by Bridget Zinn (coming out on March 12th 2013 from Disney Hyperion)? Bridget died in 2011 and her friends, agent and publisher are trying to spread the word about her novel. If you’re interested in joining the effort, check out this blog post by YA author Inara Scott.

Finally, Game of Thrones Season 3 has a trailer and OH MY IS IT MARCH 31 YET?

Next week

Next week on my blog there will be a book giveaway! Stop by on Thursday to enter!

How was your week? Make sure to share your writing progress and what inspired you this week in the comment section below!

EM Castellan

YA author, worlds builder and insatiable reader

Tag Archives: writing

My Week In Review

The 7 Line WIP Game & WIPpet Wednesday

My Week In Review – ROW80 Check-In 11

My Week In Review – ROW80 Check-In 10

New Project Reveal – Part 4: Title and Plot!

My Week In Review and ROW80 Check-In 9

New Project Reveal – Part 3: The Main Character

My Week In Review – ROW80 Check-In 8

New Project Reveal – Part 2: The Inspiration

My Week In Review – ROW80 Check-In 7

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