Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ Editing

I'm watching you, always watching. Get back to work!
Ugh.
I hate editing. Self editing. My story baby should be perfect the first time I type it out! Agents will clamor for it, it will soar to the #1 spot on any best seller list and the money should be rolling in.

That's what happened to no writer anywhere.

This writing and editing is journey I should try and enjoy and some days I do more than others. Some days I'm stuck and some days I sail. But when I'm stuck, I try a little editing and most times that helps me see the flaws and weaknesses to can fix.
At the ANWA conference, Lisa Mangum touched on how she edits. What to learn from the best? Here's a few tidbits:


1. Change your document to a different font, like Verdana. This will get help your brain turn from the creative writer to the analytical editor.

2. Use Chicago manual of Style to make a list of the small things you need to add, like title page, copy right, dedication page etc.

3. Run spell check

4. Look at the small details like:
     one space between sentences
     double space lines
     Use an asterisk for scene break
     Make sure chapters are numbered
     page break before each chapter opening

5. Read it! Print it out and read it out loud.

6. Test it. Send your manuscript to a critique group and/or beta readers

7. Read it again.


Good advice and ideas!
Do you anything you would add to this list?

Friday, May 15, 2015

Mysteries of Cove book 1: Fires of Invention ~ Cover reveal!!


J. Scott Savage is one of my favorite people and I'll tell you why:

1. He's a fantastic writer/author.
    Read his books and you'll see why he's so good! My favorite was the last one in a series (Shandra Covington Series) that took a few years to finish. I haven't even read the other books in the series, just the last and I loved it.
2. He's genuine and nice and genuinely nice.
    Jeff is a good guy. He really, really is one of the nice guys. He's down-to-earth, humble, funny and easy to talk to. Don't believe me? Go to one of his book signings or catch him at a writer's conference and say hi. Tell him Taffy sent you. I dare you...
3. He's a great teacher. 
    I don't if I already know the subject Jeff is teaching, I'm bound to learn something from him.
4. He loves to give back to the writing community.
    Jeff/Scott gives a lot of time (a lot of it is for free) to the community. He's da boss. 



I'm excited to read this newest book of his. I'm a little put out that it's a series because I will have to WAIT to read all the books. ;)


Keep reading to find out more about Mr. Savage and the book. You can find him at all the places below:


INSTAGRAM: jscottsavage

Author Note:
Like many of my books, the inspiration for my new series Fires of Invention came from the collision of two ideas. The first time the story occurred to me was while I was watching the musical Wicked with my wife. The moment I walked into the theater and saw the huge mechanical dragon above the stage, I thought, Wow! I have to write a story about that! A few weeks later, I was talking with my nephew, who is probably the most creative kid I know, but whose inventiveness often gets him into trouble, and I thought, What if a kid who had the talents of my nephew lived in a world where creativity was against the law? What if the kids were building . . . a steam-powered dragon? Bam! I had my story.

Powered by great feedback from my agent, Michael Bourret, my good friend and author James Dashner, my publisher, Chris Schoebinger, and the song “Warriors” by Imagine Dragons, I wrote the entire first draft of the first volume in the series, Mysteries of Cove in four weeks. This book is unlike anything I have ever written. There are elements of City of Ember, Dragon Riders, and Hugo in it all mashed up together in a world I fell in love with from the moment I started writing.

I think what’s most exciting to me about this book is that it’s about giving yourself the freedom to imagine. To take chances. Too often we limit ourselves by only trying things we’re confident we can succeed at when what we need to do is give ourselves permission to fail. Often it is when we attempt things with no idea of how we can possibly pull them off that we achieve our greatest successes.

Book Description:
STEAMPUNK! Plus Dragons!
Trenton Colman is a creative thirteen-year-old boy with a knack for all things mechanical. But his talents are viewed with suspicion in Cove, a steam-powered city built inside a mountain. In Cove, creativity is a crime and "invention" is a curse word. Kallista Babbage is a repair technician and daughter of the notorious Leo Babbage, whose father died in an explosion-an event the leaders of Cove point to as an example of the danger of creativity.

Working together, Trenton and Kallista learn that Leo Babbage was developing a secret project before he perished. Following clues he left behind, they begin to assemble a strange machine that is unlikely anything they've ever seen before. They soon discover that what they are building may threaten every truth their city is founded on-and quite possibly their very lives.

Author Bio:
J. Scott Savage is the author of the Farworld middle grade fantasy series and the Case File 13 middle grade monster series. He has been writing and publishing books for over ten years. He has visited over 400 elementary schools, dozens of writers conferences, and taught many writing classes. He has four children and lives with his wife Jennifer and their Border Collie, Pepper, in a windy valley of the Rocky Mountains.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ Writing Prompt

Hiding from the humans
Our cats are not always on their best behavior. Fat Cat likes to bite toes, especially bare toes. In the summer he will wait under the deck stairs and grab onto ankles and bite toes. Last winter we had the lid off the toilet trying to figure out if it was broken or frozen. I balanced the lid on top but not fully on. From the other room we heard a loud crash then two frightened cats raced through and up the stairs. Apparently, one of them thought it was a good idea to get on top of the lid to drink out of the toilet tank and unbalanced the lid. Crash. The lid broke into five pieces.





Have you ever read a book told from the bad guy's point of view? Have you ever tried to write one? I think novellas are perfect differing POVs. Maybe you'll want to write one based on your villain.
Here's the writing prompt today:



Rewrite a fairy tale from the bad guy’s point of view.



What would the story be like from Ursulla's point of view? Or President Snow's?

Monday, May 4, 2015

REMAKE by Ilima Todd - Official Trailer - Giveaway!

If you haven't read REMAKE by Ilima Todd yet, you should! Buy it, borrow it, go to the library and find it! I think you'll enjoy it.

 Here is the official book trailer!

(And make sure to scroll down and enter the giveaway for a $25 Amazon card).

 



 GIVEAWAY! a Rafflecopter giveaway

L. Ron Hubbard presents Writers of the Future

I read four different stories out of this anthology. I started all of them but didn't have time to read them all before I had to write this review. I loved them! The first one was a great way to start off the book. a  murder/police story set in the future with an interesting take on a drug that enhances everything in your brain.

There are a lot of talented writers! If you like sci/fi, read this book. Preorder it!





The book, The Writers of the Future, v. 31, comes out on May 4th--Star Wars Day! 

 PreOrder a print copy of The Writers of the Future, v. 31, and invite all your friends to buy one, too! You can find it herehttp://goo.gl/eZhR1G

Join our Thunderclap campaign to help us spread the word! http://goo.gl/YGuE8m
 

Writer Website in A Weekend

Writer Website in A Weekend
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