A New WIP and #writemotivation July wrap-up

So, yes, it is official.  I am working on a new WIP. I've approached this one differently than the first one, but that's ok. Each story is its own. The first story (which I'm waiting for feedback from before I rip it apart) was a YA fantasy story. The new one is a upper-level YA contemporary. It's a pretty harsh story so far, but I'm not as intimidated by it as I was. It will be difficult to write, but I know I can do it. If you see me whining on Twitter about it, just smile, nod your head, and firmly smack me.

Now onto my final #writemotivation post for July.  Next month isn't a checkup month, but I'm still setting goals. Goals give us direction.

Now on to the #writemotivation update

1. Finish draft of WIP: DONE! YAY! HAPPY DANCE!
2. Figure out what I'm writing next: YUP! I also wrote down nine other story ideas that I want to write at some point
3. Do character sketching/world building for new WIP: Done and I've already written 2 chapters.
4. Blog once a week: Yup.
5. Cheer everyone else on: Yes. This is the part I love about #writemotivation (besides the writing part!). I love cheering people on. I'll even cheer people on who aren't in #writemotivation. Why? Because I can. :D

August Goals:

1. Write 15K new words on my new WIP.
2. Blog at least once a week (with maybe the occasional vlog thrown in there)
3. Continue to cheer my #writemotivation tweeps
4. Start saving to attend the RT Booklovers convention in May 2013. It's in Kansas city, so I'll only need to save for the conference fee of $469 and maybe parking...unless I find someone to carpool with...maybe I should do a kickstarter project on this? Ok, that wouldn't work, but you can't blame a guy for trying.

'Till next time.

I'm a Mascot and #writemotivaiton update

Ok. A little late on this post, but I've been busy.  For those of you who haven't heard, I'm already most of the way through chapter 1 of my new WIP. Also, for those who haven't heard, I've been made the defacto #writemotivation mascot. I do so under duress.

I'm not sure how it started, but I know how it ends. I think it started with an innocent comment about my hair being on the long side in my recent vlog (see this post). This then became a "hey look, Andrew, you should cut your hair like this!" I don't have a picture anymore, but suffice it to say, it was not "age appropriate". Not to mention the odd piercings (eyebrow, lip, and huge gauges in the ears). Then there was mention of a cape, a tattoo (which turned into eyeball tattoos..I didn't know that you could do until then). Anyway, there was a long (and weird) discussion on Twitter about it. The end result was made by the very strange, yet fun, Jamie Dement (yes, she is demented). Be forewarned, what is seen, cannot be unseen.

Yes, that is a dinosaur with a flaming chocolate chip cookie

With friends like mine...who needs enemas...er...enemies. :D


Now on to the #writemotivation update (no real changes from last one)

1. Finish draft of WIP: DONE! YAY! HAPPY DANCE!
2. Figure out what I'm writing next: YUP! I also wrote down nine other story ideas that I want to write at some point
3. Do character sketching/world building for new WIP: Almost done with chapter 1. I have several characters developed (at least partially).
4. Blog once a week: So far so good!
5. Cheer everyone else on: Yes! Although I could do some more cheering (IMHO).

'Till next time!

Tag! You're it or I answer some questions!

My first attempt at a vlog where I try to answer 12 very strange questions. You'll notice I talk with my eyes closed on occasion. I apologize, but that's just the way I am.

The questions if you want to do your own post:

1. What are your five favorite movies?
2. Would you rather go without makeup for a year, or without shaving your legs for a year?
3. What book have you read recently that you really loved?
4. What book have you read recently that you really hated?
5. If you had to eat one food for one meal every day for a year, which would you choose?
6. What was the best part of your senior year of high school?
7. What piece of electronic equipment do you think you could easily live without?
8. Do you prefer your beverages through a straw, from a bottle or from another container?
9. Would you rather have glow in the dark skin or squishy teeth?
10. Who would win in a fight between Gandalf and Dumbledore?
11. Do you consider pushup bras to be a form of dishonesty?

Links to people I mentioned:

• Tessa Gratton
• S. M. Boyce
• KT Hanna
• Valerie R Lawson 

Changing Gears and #writemotivation update

I almost called this post "Grind 'em till ya find 'em and call me toothless". Not only is that an insanely long title, but I also wondered what kind of perverted freaks would find my blog through it. You never know. The internet is full of crazy people. I should know, I'm one of them.

Anyway...were was I? Oh yeah, changing gears.

*GRIND* *GRIND* *THUNK*

I said, "CLUTCH! THE SMALL PEDAL ON THE LEFT! USE IT!"

Ok, much better.

For those of you who are crazy enough to follow me, you probably heard that I finished my first draft of my first WIP. It is now sitting quietly waiting for a couple people to finish reading it before I go and tear it to pieces. I'm looking forward to it. I have some awesome ideas and if I pull them off right, it won't suck. Big "if" there. :D

Being a writer means that you have lots of words in your head waiting to come out. Just because you "finish" a draft, doesn't mean you can stop. However, there is some down time where you have to let it sit before you go back and do evil things to the words on the page (and not to mention the characters contained therein).

So, I put the thing down and promptly stopped sleeping for two days. It may have been the 5,000 words I pushed out last Sunday, it may have been too much caffeine. I think it is because my brain need to get words out and I wasn't.

A couple days later, I was talking to one of my tweeps, Adrien-Luc Sanders (he's the managing senior editor at Entangled Publishing he has some very interesting writing, editing, and publishing tips that he tweets about). He was talking about a melodramatic 17-year old. It was a funny post. I had to comment. Anyway, we ended up talking about being angsty teenagers and then a character started talking...really loudly in my head.

Yes, writers are schizophrenic...It's worse if you are a librarian...scary, I know.

So, this character was talking loudly enough that I couldn't ignore him. So, I'm now working on his story. It isn't mine, it's his. I tried to tell him off. He cussed me out, flipped me the bird, and kept talking. Yeah, he's that kind of character. I tweeted several times about him being an a-hole...because he is. It's not going to be a pretty story to write. It's going to have a lot of emotion in it. It will also not have robots, monsters, vampires, magic, swords, or spaceships. It will be a human story about a trouble teenager who has to deal with some pretty heavy things. I'm actually looking forward to writing it...provided I don't punch him first!

Now on to the #writemotivation update

1. Finish draft of WIP: DONE! YAY! HAPPY DANCE!
2. Figure out what I'm writing next: YUP! I also wrote down nine other story ideas that I want to write at some point
3. Do character sketching/world building for new WIP: In process. I have about 5 characters developed. Still need a location and a few more characters before I can start writing.
4. Blog once a week: So far so good!
5. Cheer everyone else on: Yes! Although I could do some more cheering (IMHO).

'Till next time!

Did I Just Do That? and July #writemotivation update

Let me start you off with a picture. Take a good look. Let your eyes glaze over as you comprehend the truth behind it.

There are two things you should notice about this picture.

1. The manuscript target:  60,485 of 57,000 words.  Yeah, you're not reading that backwards.
2. The big "THE END"

See it? Yep, you do. That wasn't so hard.

This is what I saw when I wrote the last few words of my WIP, still titled "The Stone of Unity".  I can't remember exactly when I started officially writing it. I think I started seriously writing around February-ish.  So, four to five months, give or take a few weeks or so. Yes, the session target is blank. That is because I had already shut down the program before I decided to take the screen shot. You can whine, but I'm not going to listen. I originally wanted 60K for the first draft, but revised it down when I plotted then end. Then I got to the end and decided to add another chapter and an epilogue. So, I ended up over shooting the 57K by 3,500 words...I'm not complaining.

Now, as you writers out there will know, this is only the beginning. Yes, I finished (cue dancing, flailing, and various party affects). I finished the first draft. For those of you out there who are not writers, this means that I have a long way to go before this story is ready to be submitted. I have a lot of plot holes, character inconsistencies, stilted dialogue, tensing issues, and overall crap to clean up before people read it and are all like "Wow! Where did get that?" or "Man, he's such an awesome writer! I bet he wrote this in one sitting, he's that good."

Ok, fantasy moment over.

There are a lot of people who helped me get to this point and will help me get further. To them, I offer my heartfelt gratitude. I seriously couldn't have done this without you all (I would list names, but there are a LOT of you).  For the moment, though, I will take the advice of my friends. I will take a break from this story, wait a while, think of something else, and then come back to it with a fresh mind. I also have to wait for my wife to finish reading the first draft before I change everything.

So, here is my #writemotivation goal update.

1. Finish first draft of WIP#1: DONE!!!! WOOOOOT!!!!! *happy dance*
2. Choose which story I want to work on next: Now that WIP is done, I can start this...so many choices.
3. Do Character sketches and basic world building for chosen story: See #2 above
4. Blog once a week: Yep!
5. Cheer everybody on!: Yes!

'Till next time

ReAwakened Cover Reveal

Hey there blog-fans! If you have read Ada Adams debut novel, ReVamped, then you've probably been anxiously awaiting the reveal of her second novel, ReAwakened, for some time. I know I have. I really enjoyed ReVamped and am really excited about reading her next novel.

So without further ado...here it is:

Release date is set for Fall 2012. I'm sure there will be an announcement when that date gets finalized.

It makes a nice compliment to her first book, ReVamped...

 

I love both these covers. Both are gorgeous and the artist did a really good job connecting the themes.

Anyway, the lovely and talented Ada Adams will be having a hour-long live Tweet-chat about anything and everything related to her writing, Angel Creek, characters, non-spoilery parts of the story, etc. on July 5th @ 5 p.m. EST, so hopefully you will come by and hang out! Use the hashtag #ReVampedChat to participate. If you live in a different time-zone and/or are not able to participate, you can still leave questions/comments using the #ReVampedChat and she'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Here are some links:

• ReVamped website: http://www.revampedbook.com/
• ReVamped Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/revampedbook
• Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13495198-revamped
• Ada Adam's Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Ada_Adams
• ReVamped on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/ReVamped-Ada-Adams/dp/1470068982/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1?tag=vglnk-c498-20
• ReVamped on B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/revamped-ada-adams/1109594714?ean=9781620953105
• Cover Designer: Juliana Kolesova @ www.julianakolesova.com

Thanks for stopping by!

One last thing: I've been told that one lucky commenter on my blog post will be selected for the chance to win an ARC of the upcoming ReAwakened.

Yes, you heard me.

Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win an ARC of ReAwakened. So, what are you waiting for? Comment already!

'Till next time

Wedding, Birthday, and July #writemotivation

July 3rd, 1998:  The day I married my wife, Susan. It was an insanely hot day. As with any wedding, it had it's own weirdness. Amazingly, I was able to take it in stride when my brother called me, hours before the wedding, to say he couldn't find his shoes.  My brain quickly clicked into gear. No problem, the tux rental place started an hour before the wedding. It was only a few blocks away. It wouldn't be a problem.  Five minutes later, he called to say that he found the shoes. That morning, we had a huge thunderstorm. This was a problem because my wife had to go outside the church to get from the changing room to the front door. Luckily, it stopped raining after about an hour.

The wedding started less than 5 minutes after it was scheduled. Nobody fell. Nobody fainted. And nobody forgot their lines, the rings, or anything else. Had some issues with the bustle on my wife's dress, but we survived and made it to the reception.

July 3rd, 2001: I am woken up from a dead sleep with the words...

Andrew! My water just broke!

Now, I don't know about you, but being woken up in that fashion is NOT conducive to coherent thought. After a brief moment of half-awake panic, I was able to collect enough neurons that I was able to find out what was going on. I stumbled out of the bedroom and, after some coaxing from my wife, managed to call the doctor and let them know what was going on. I then hurriedly got dressed (I don't even remember if I shaved). The bags for the hospital had been packed for weeks and then my brain caught up and shut down. I spent about five minutes pacing in a circle before my wife, from the bathroom, called.

Andrew! Go. Make. Coffee!

*click*

Although she didn't drink, she knew I did. And frankly she was tired of me walking in a circle trying to figure out what to do next. I brewed a pot, poured it into a travel mug, gathered up my wife, and ran us all to the hospital.

NINETEEN HOURS LATER...

Our oldest son is born, 11 minutes to midnight. My wife and I were planning on going to Red Lobster, obviously we didn't make it. However, the greatest anniversary present of all was the birth of our first child.

Ok. So that one was a little early yet...

This one is much better.

Today, July 3rd, 2012: Alex turns 11 and my wife and I will forget, once again, to celebrate our anniversary. It's been 14 years now, and she still hasn't thrown me from a tall building...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALEX

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, SUSAN

Ok. Finally, July's #writemotivation goal list

1. Finish first draft of WIP#1
2. Choose which story I want to work on next
3. Do Character sketches and basic world building for chosen story
4. Blog once a week
5. Cheer everybody on! 

I think these are all doable. I am currently within words of finishing chapter 22 of 24 and probably, by the time this blog goes live, I will be done and on to chapter 23.

On last thing, I have the cover reveal for Ada Adams new novel ReAwakened coming up on July 5th, so keep an eye out.

Till next time!