Writing

Busy, Busy

/ Life, Writing

Copyedits for Polaris Rising are done and turned in! As part of the copyedits, I wrote the dedication and acknowledgements sections. That was fun and only mildly nerve-racking, especially because it came after the copyeditor looked everything over. If there are typos in those sections, you’ll know why. :)

The book-making machinery keeps inching forward. I wrote my author bio and now we’re brainstorming ideas for the title of book two so we can include an announcement in the back of PR.

Titles are hard for me and usually come at the very end, after the book is written. My Scrivener projects are saved as scifi, scifi2, and serial. That’s PR, PR2, and TQG. Authors who can title a story before they start writing are like wizards to me—amazing and possibly imaginary.

I also signed up for the RWA conference yesterday. I’m an introvert, so conferences tend to be exhausting and/or terrifying, but I am looking forward to meeting people and attending the workshops. As a new author, I’ll take all the advice I can get.

Now I must get back to making words happen on book two while I wait for title inspiration to strike, because clearly I am an artiste.

Updates, Polaris Rising Copyedits, and a Snippet!

/ Author News, Snippet, Writing

My dad’s surgery went great and he’s recovering quickly; thanks to everyone who sent well wishes!

I finished the second round of edits on The Queen’s Gambit and sent it off to my agent for review. Thank you once again to the betas who generously volunteered their time!

On Friday, the copyedits for Polaris Rising landed a few days early. This is a very important step in the process of my little story becoming a Real Book™. To celebrate, here’s a new PR snippet. I can’t wait for you to get to know Ada and Loch! :)

We turned down an alley that stank of urine and worse. A lanky man several centimeters shorter than Loch detached himself from the wall and stepped into our path. He was younger than me but old enough to know better. A smirk twisted what would be a moderately handsome face into something cold and cruel.

“See here,” he said, “this is my alley. And I charge a toll for its use.” Another man, bigger, older, and stronger, stepped out behind us. I half-turned so I faced both threats. “A hundred credits each and you can be on your way,” the young man said.

“Move,” Loch said. He seemed completely unconcerned. …

Updates, Polaris Rising Copyedits, and a Snippet!Read More »

Unpack Repack

/ Life, Writing

Yesterday, we got home from our trip to Belfast. We had a great time and I’ll post about it when I’m not running on up-at-5AM-jet-lag brain. Today, I must do all the laundry and then repack. Tomorrow, I’m leaving for St. Louis. My father is having surgery on Thursday, so if you’d like to send any prayers or healing thoughts his way, I’d appreciate them. :)

I’ve heard back from a couple betas on the revised version of The Queen’s Gambit and they liked the changes, so yay! I think the story is better now, but it’s always nice to know that I’m not (entirely) crazy.

This week, I’m finishing up edits on TQG based on beta feedback, then continuing to write PR2. Copy edits for Polaris Rising are supposed to land next week, so it’s busy busy around here.

If you want to keep up with me more casually, I tend to post to Twitter more often than I post here. :)

Voting, Edits, Belfast

/ Life, Travel, Writing

First of all, if you are in Texas, today is election day for the primaries. Go vote! Even if you’ve never voted in a primary before, it’s super easy. Look up a sample ballot on your county’s site or with vote411.org. When you get to the polling place, they’ll ask if you want to vote in the Republican or Democratic primary. You can only choose one, but you don’t need to have pre-registered or anything, and the choice is only for this voting year. The polls are open until 7:00PM.

Other than voting, it’s all edits, all the time. I finished the mini-edit for Polaris Rising and now I’m working on The Queen’s Gambit. There were some issues, so it’s a fairly serious edit. Everything from chapter seven onwards is getting a major overhaul. So, for those of you planning to buy the ebook, you’ll end up with a much stronger story and really get to see how editing shapes a book.

Finally, I’m visiting Belfast soon. It’s my first visit, so if anyone has any suggestions about what I should see or do while I’m there, I would love to hear them! I’ll have a couple days free where I could travel outside the city, but something reachable by bus/train would be best because that whole driving on the other side of the road thing freaks me out. I did it in New Zealand, but I worried the whole time. :)

All the Edits

/ Writing

On Friday, I heard back from my editor about Polaris Rising. She requested a minor edit to a scene, but overall, she liked the new ending, which is a huge relief. Yay!

I also got initial feedback from my agent about The Queen’s Gambit, and it’s going to be a far more substantial edit than one scene, so I did what any self-respecting workaholic would do.

I took the weekend off. …

All the EditsRead More »