Who's vote counts?

Lately I've been entering a couple of contests here and there: Write a 250 word piece showing not telling what happens, share the first page of your MS/WIP, show us the first 200 words of your WIP and see if you can hook us. It's been fun and interesting to see what others think...but it's been frustrating as well. Some people seem to be loving what I've got, while others are confused because the opening leaves the reader asking "what's that?" "what's going on?"...which I thought was a good thing. The answers are all there, just a little further down the page/in the first chapter. It bothers me that some totally get that while others don't. I've changed my style a little because people kept telling me I was spelling things out too much. They said I should put faith in my readers that they will understand/be able to figure it out. Perhaps they were wrong?

So the question really is, who do I believe? Do I go with those who are getting it and enjoy it? Or do I believe the others who are struggling? Do I go with people who are just starting out like me? Or do I go with people who have published works? Maybe I should find a happy medium. I could work in some more things since in reality, my first page doesn't have to be 250 words.

I'd post it here and see what you guys think, but my faith followers...you're all kind of quiet ^_^ I guess I'll just wait and see when re-writes come up again and what beta readers think of it.

If nothing else, these contests are helping me grow that thick skin I'll need when the rejections start coming in...

Giving it a chance

Let's say someone has recommended a book to you. They go on and on about how great it is and how much you will love it. It excites you and you put it on your list to read. When the day finally comes and you sit to read the book, you find that you just cannot get into it. Do you slog through and hope it improves? Or do you toss it aside and pick up the next book in the pile?

I've been in this position before. Sometimes I have tossed the book aside and moved onto something better (although, I can really only think of two books that I did this with). More recently, I continued to plod through the book and ended up being wonderfully rewarded with a great story. The book in question was Laini Taylor's FAERIES OF DREAMDARK BLACKBRINGER. I had read LIPS TOUCH THREE TIMES and enjoyed it so I figured I'd get right into this book as well. I don't know if it was that I didn't give it enough of a chance and was only reading in short spurts that was putting me off, or it was the accented language used in the book. I really wanted to like it. The art work is amazing and the story intrigued me, not to mention it had gotten rave reviews from others. Let me assure you it was not due to bad writing in any way, shape or form. Laini Taylor has a wonderful way with words, especially with her descriptions (I bet a lot of that can be attributed to her also being an artist with paints and such). I think perhaps I just wasn't in the right state of mind when I first started reading the book. I am glad that I continued with it because it really is a great and captivating story and I'm excited to read SILKSINGER!

So the moral of this post is to be sure to give each book a good chance before deciding to toss it to the discard pile. Even if you set it aside for a little bit and plan on coming back to it, it may very well be worth it, lest you miss out on a fantastic story.

Followers?!

Oh.My.God. I've got followers?! When did that happen?! Ooh my first four followers! I will hug you and squeeze you and call you George! I hope that's ok because I already had the nametags made up...

Seriously though, it's extremely rewarding to see that I'm interesting enough to some that you are willing to come back and see what new drivel I have to spew forth.

I wish I had something I could give you guys as a prize! Hmm I guess I could email you you each a chapter of either my current work, or my two previous works. They'd all be unedited versions so you'd have to pretend not to see the typos or any grammatical errors (and not to think less of me for such things). Leave me a comment on this post with your email info (of if you don't want to leave your email, say so and I will leave mine instead)and whether you'd prefer the soft sci-fi WIP, the fantasy WIP or the paranormal romance.

I will leave this offer open for the next six followers as well so my lovely top ten will be rewarded. Thanks for reading folks. It seriously means a lot to me and I hope I can keep you entertained and pass along some information that may help you as well!

Teaser Tuesday

Yes it's early, but it's still Tuesday! I was up writing so I figured I'd get it out there now. Here goes!

Natalie kept up a constant stream of chatter and they worked together to get the list of chores completed. She found it wasn’t difficult to act happy and enjoy the conversation as Ryan was witty and seemed to enjoy talking to her. She was having such a good time she almost forgot about her plan to milk him for information. She pinched herself hard to bring herself back to reality. She was on a mission here! She couldn’t let her outfit and preparation go to waste!

“So, I missed the rest of your story the other day,” she started. “Would you be willing to retell it to me?”

“About how I escaped and came here?” he asked while expertly mucking out one of the stalls.

“Yeah…unless, ya know, it’s too painful to talk about. I’d understand,” she told him and found that she meant it. She liked Ryan and didn’t want to hurt him in the process. She’d find another way to get to her brothers if need be.

“I actually had help,” he told her.

“Help? From whom?” she inquired as she handed him the water skin she had filled up earlier. Ryan graciously accepted it and took a big swig. He let out a sound of satisfaction before wiping his mouth and continuing on.

“Do you know what a Felinian is?” Ryan asked her.

“Felinian? Not a clue,” she told him, a puzzled look on her face.

“They’re a species native to this planet. They’re very much like humans except..they have a lot of cat features, hence the name Felinian,” Ryan explained.

“Cat…people?” Natalie asked incredulously, “Like..furries? Those weird people back home that dressed like animals and uhhh..do stuff with each other?” Ryan let out a loud laugh.

“Not exactly,” Ryan said through his laughter, “Besides, how would you know about furries anyhow?” Natalie found herself blushing again. Truth of the matter was that Josh, who was quite into the anime scene had found some furry porn and showed her one day just to see her shocked and horrified expression. She didn’t talk to him for a week.

“I uhh had a friend who told me what it was,” she admitted, not able to look him in the eye.

“Suuuuurrre you did,” he teased, “Ya know, you’d look pretty hot with kitty ears and a tail.” Natalie crouched down and hid her hot face in her lap. Josh had told her the same thing.

Soon to be bald..

I am pulling my hair out over the WIP. I am so close to the end I can practically taste it, but it just won't come out! I think it's because I only have a vague idea of how to end it and it's just taking forever to get things into place for that final climax. GAH! It's just dragging and dragging and dragging.

That muse everyone talks about? Mine must hate me or decided on taking a vacation leaving me high and dry dammit! Next time I'm strapping them down to the chair. Don't they understand I can't work without them?!

*sigh*

Deep breaths. Lots and lots of them. I'm going to continue to push through, but I don't see myself being too happy with what comes out. Maybe if I stopped to bake some cookies I could lure the muse back? Or maybe I should take a shower. *sniff* Maybe I am a little ripe..

*sigh*

Reading Aloud

I recently heard from some other authors about their practices of reading their WIP aloud to an audience of a friend or two for editing and feedback purposes. I had never thought about such an option and didn't know how well it would work for me. Considering my friends are pretty busy people and also possibly too nice to give me honest feedback, I didn't know if I'd have someone to be able to do this with. That's when an idea hit me, why not record it and listen back to it myself? While I understand this novel is my baby and I may be biased about things, I figured if nothing more it would help me hear the character voices and check the flow of the plot. I decided to use my completed MS The Other Side as my guinea pig. I've re-read it several times in the past but never out loud. Let me tell you, with just one chapter, I can already see how many things I need to change and how juvenile some of the writing seems. Maybe I'll re-record it and put it up here for you guys to laugh at (it sounds awful now as I'm sick and losing my voice). I would definitely recommend trying this yourself, even if it's just a passage and not a whole chapter. I'd also suggest reading to others as well if you have a willing participant. I hope it will help you guys better edit your work!

Teaser Tuesday

It's that time again! Time to tease you with another excerpt from the tentatively titled RED DUST. Hope you enjoy! If there are any questions or comments, as usual, feel free to post 'em! (and uhh remember, the editing is minimal as I haven't gotten around to that part yet!)


Xavier had his back to her and was trying to lead the horse-like monster around the paddock, without much success. Natalie stopped and took a good look at the thing. It looked like any old horse from the backside up to the neck; tall and muscular, chestnut in color with a black tail. When you got up to the neck, well, there was more than one. This made the animal’s back a little broader than the typical horse back home, but not much. The two necks were long and the heads looked similar except that one had a white diamond shaped patch of fur above its eyes. Natalie briefly wondered if she’d have to give the thing two names. Lefty and Righty seemed appropriate. She giggled at the thought.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the animal suddenly reared up kicked out at her brother. Xavier fell back to the ground, the wind knocked out of him. Natalie broke into a run and hopped the fence. Before she could get too far, she saw Xavier throw a hand out in her direction.

“Stay back!” he warned her never taking his eyes off the animal. She could see his hand was all cut up and bleeding. She took a step forward only to have him warn her to stay back again. The animal took its eyes off of Xavier and looked in her direction.

“Shit,” muttered Xavier. “Nat, slowly climb back out.” She would have listened to him, but fear had paralyzed her. The animal’s four eyes were locked on her. She was sure it was going to charge her, stepping on her brother in the process. Suddenly she had the craziest feeling that the animal wanted her to approach it. Somehow, she willed herself to move forward. Xavier, hearing her footsteps crunching on the sand, whipped his head around.

“What are you doing?!” he asked, his eyes wide with fear for his sister’s safety.

“Shhh!” she told him, never taking her eyes off the animal. Slowly Natalie approached. When she got close enough she put her arm out with her palm up. One head dipped to sniff at it and the other followed suit. After they both had a chance to get her scent, the one with the white diamond on it, Righty, plopped its head in her hand so she could scratch under its chin. Natalie was familiar with this action from the horses they had had back home and she obliged the animal with a scratch. Not wanting to miss out on the action, the other head swung over and knocked its sibling out of the way so it could get the same treatment. Natalie chuckled at the behavior and murmured soft words to them.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Xavier commented from behind her.