Otherworld Inspiration, Tribute for $0.99, and Interview Tomorrow

The Magic Tree

I occasionally just sit and stare at this beauty. This tree features heavily in the fourth Children of the Sidhe novella, which I will write in 2012.

Photo manipulation by the darling Kate Bateman, a good friend of mine. Photo by my dear husband, many years ago in Northern California. 

Along the Otherworld Inspiration theme...If you need inspiration, especially of the romantic variety, go grab a copy of my paranormal romance novella, Tribute for $0.99 on Smashwords. Use coupon code WA46H at checkout. (Please note, this novella is intended for an adult audience ages 18 and over.)

On another note entirely, I was interviewed for Alexia Chamberlynn's Raven Moon Urban Fantasy Newsletter. The interview will appear in the November edition, out tomorrow. Please stop by and sign up for Alexia's newsletter! 

Vessel Revised!

Yesterday, I completed revisions to Vessel, the second paranormal romance novella in my Children of the Sidhe series. I will get it in the hands of several betas today. That puts me on track to publish around December 1.

I have decided to roll out a new cover for the first novella, Tribute, around the same time I release Vessel. Tishia at Paragraphic Designs is designing both covers for me. She'll also design a banner for my blog, to spice this place up a little! Tishia's covers are really fun, and gorgeous. You should check them out at her blog! I'll also be showing off new covers when I see them, of course. Can't wait!

In the coming week, I need to knuckle down on my WIP and get words on the page. I set this aside for the past two weeks so I wouldn't have any excuse for stalling on those revisions. No more of that! So my goal is 4,000 words per week on the urban fantasy until it's done. If I make that goal this week, it'll mean busting through the 30,000 mark.

Still Revising, No New Writing

Ah. That's such a sad and lonely title. But it's true. No writing. I've been very busy at work, which means I have less energy and focus left for writing. I'm also pushing myself to finish revisions on Vessel before I get back to my writing WIP. I decided on some major changes to the last few chapters, including completely scrapping and rewriting two scenes. Kind of late in my process to make a major change like that. It happened that way with Tribute, too. As soon as I knew I needed to give it to betas, I decided to make more changes. Both books are better for the additional revisions. And the thing is, I know they'll be out there forever, so I want them to be as good as I can make them. Within reason. That's no excuse to hold onto it until the end of time, getting every word, sentence, paragraph, scene, and chapter "right." :)

Hope all my ROW80 buddies are making tons of progress. I'm gonna go blog hop around and get inspired. You guys do that to me. :)

Indie Book Review: J.A. Konrath's Exposed

Exposed - A Thriller Novella by Jack Kilborn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Exposed was non-stop action. It is a thriller, which isn't what I usually read. Lots of violence, at times gratuitous. Gritty characters -- and a really badass point of view character in Chandler. This novella definitely got me interested in the other Chandler books. The close calls and plot developments really kept the book moving straight through. It was also a good book to share with my husband. Our reading tastes don't often overlap, but we had fun racing each other through this one.

View all my reviews

Wrapping Up Revisions on Vessel

In terms of word count this week, I have a big zero to report. Actually I think I snuck in 150 words one night before one of my kids needed something, and then I never got back to it.

However, I squeezed in tons of time with the paranormal romance novella I plan to publish this round, and made great progress! The past few weeks I've been taking the edits I made on paper and revising my manuscript. I decided this week to devote every block of time I could get to Vessel. I have three chapters to go! Of course I've thought of a couple of things I'd like to add, so I'll take another run through just for fun. That means I'll be getting it out to beta readers in the next few days.

I also need to carve out some time to focus on details of the release, which will be around December 1. I'm considering a blog tour either in December or January, and trying to decide how to handle that. I also have some changes I'd like to make to my blog -- the first step was adding a domain name. Blogger makes this really simple, but I didn't know that until I tried. So as you can see my url is now www.jrpearsenelson.com, instead of www.jrpearsenelson.blogspot.com. The old url still works, so it didn't mess up any of my previously established links. I was hoping to do that before ordering business cards, and now it's done. Another check on the to-do list. :)

Indie Book Review: Secrets of the Wolf

Secrets of the Wolf by Lauralynn Elliott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The second book in the Libby Fox trilogy delivers on the promise developed in the first book. The book moves quickly from progress with the developing romance to the introduction of yet another hot male on Libby's hands, one who threatens to compete with Adam for alpha status in Libby's life. Libby continues to dive into perilous situations with half-cocked plans; her sheer tenacity kept me on her side, waiting to see what challenge was next around the corner. Secrets of the Wolf is a great sequel, and while there was closure, the ending left me wanting more. I know Libby does, too. So we'll have to see how she handles that in the third book.

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Plotter Gone Wild

Whether you're a pantser, or a plotter, sometimes you just don't see what's coming for your characters. I made a connection a couple of nights ago relating to a character whose role has worried me for some time.  Building on it, I realized it called for expanding one existing scene in my WIP and writing two new scenes. These additions propel the story forward and solve a couple of issues relating to the second book.

That work inspired me to go through the first half of the book, getting my swirling ideas for filling out the story onto paper. So that was the 850 words I wrote Thursday, just getting new scenes outlined. (Check it out: I don't know what everyone else means by outlining, but all I mean is that I have a paragraph or two written about a scene. I set down everything I know, and usually more stuff hits me as I work through it. Snippets of dialogue, something intriguing about the setting, what the reader needs to get from the scene. When I start outlining a book, I start with the scenes clearest in my mind, and set them down in the best order I can determine. Then I try to decide where to begin telling the story. Where does the conflict begin? What road blocks are my characters facing? What will they learn that changes everything? So I start filling it in...anyway, that was a tangent on process.)

Back to my WIP. Friday I had twenty minutes while prepping dinner and decided to tackle one scene that had been bugging me. I wrote 500 words in that twenty minutes! It still needs clean up, but it's on the page. So that's 1,350 on the WIP this week.

Today I got to some editing and complete formatting of the novella I'll publish in December, Vessel. It's paranormal romance, and the sequel to my first book, Tribute. Quite different from the urban fantasy I'm currently writing. I was formatting and kept getting distracted by lovemaking...on the page, not in person. LOL. I do love a good steamy romance. Both to read, and to write. So much fun!

I guess this brings me to a goals update...I have serious issues with shooting too high. I don't consider that a bad thing, because I believe I accomplish more that way than I otherwise would. But I've felt a little suffocated by everything I'm trying to do right now, and taking the pressure off will help.

My initial goal was to do a NaNo word count (50,000) over the course of this round of ROW80, but split between two projects . I really wanted to draft the third Children of the Sidhe novella before the end of the year. But it just isn't going to happen, especially as I expand my vision for the urban fantasy I'm writing now. That means I'll release Vessel in December, and probably not get another book out until May 2012. That's not terrible, just not as amazing as I'd hoped. I also want to do a better job on the release side of things, so I'm planning a blog tour for December. (Advice welcome!!) I need to make room for that -- and it's a whole new ball game that makes me feel quite out of my depth. So, I will stick with finishing the urban fantasy I'm currently writing (goal 4,000 words a week until it's done), and publishing Vessel, along with the marketing component that makes me so uncomfortable. I'll set a specific goal about that soon. I'm thinking a ten blog tour during December. Or something.

The Break Pays Off With Breakthroughs

It took me a while to decide on a title for this post, but I think this one does it justice. The ten day break between rounds paid off for me this week. I didn't write at all during the week, but did complete revisions on the first three chapters of Vessel. I also managed a ton of plot breakthroughs on the whole Children of the Sidhe series. The overarching conflict for the series came together in my mind and I worked through some of that in the individual stories as well, especially what it meant for the third novella in the series, Flight, which I'll draft later this fall.

Yesterday, I wrote 650 words on my urban fantasy work in progress. Today my husband was amazing (as usual, I assure you!) and took the kids to my parents' for breakfast. Three hours with the house to myself. I wrote 2,350 words, worked out some plot kinks, and cleaned up my manuscript. I also took a long luxurious shower in a quiet, empty house, because I proved this week that breaks pay off. :)

Hope you other writers and ROWers are blessed with an active muse this week. Happy writing!