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Monday, November 19, 2012

Updates and More!

There's not a whole lot to update on you on, other than to say I am still not sleeping well, am running around like a chicken with my head cut off preparing for the T-word this Thursday (shhh, don't say it or I will break out in hives), and finishing the house.

We're basically unpacked, thanks to the help from my family, and I've basically gotten back into the swing of things, but time is still at a high premium.

I am not writing nearly as much as I want to, but I am glad I am doing NaNo all the same. I am making time and forcing myself to write words here and there, when normally I would say I didn't have enough time and move on to a chore.

The end result is I am not making as much progress as I would have wanted to before the month started (and I was still harboring delusions that I would have more time), but I am making progress. 

Progress counts. 

It's a good lesson that even when you're busy and life gets in the way, you can still make time for writing.

So how are you all doing? Have the holidays gotten you yet, or are you holed up indoors with a shotgun at the ready?

PS: I have no idea what I was thinking when I said "and More!" in the title. I have no "and More!". 

Except this picture:

Free Digital Pictures


PPS: And this Tumblr. It's hilarious.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Birth of a Novel: The Way Behind from Being Sick and Moving Edition

It's time to post about my writing progress! A day late! Did I mention I moved last week? Are you tired of hearing about that yet?

Progress: 0 words written

Okay, end of post.

....

Just kidding. Hahaha, aren't I funny? 

This last week has been super duper busy. I could go into the gory details, but essentially moving took a lot longer than I thought, and I am still unpacking vital rooms like the bathroom. Most of the other rooms are finished, or close enough, but between unpacking, feeling like death warmed over, and having an extremely needy baby who hasn't adjusted to his new house yet, I haven't gotten a single word written. 

I'd considered writing one word before I wrote this post, but that just felt more pathetic than no words, for some reason.

Instead of talking about my lack of progress, I am instead going to do the Next Big Thing bloghop. The lovely Rena tagged all of us in the Birth of a Novel blog chain.  So here it goes!
 

1. What is the working title of your book?
 
It was "When Zombies Attack" way back when I first had the idea, but it's currently "Zombie Road Trip". The title pretty much says it all. It's a road trip, and there's zombies. 
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
I honestly dreamed it. 

I had a dream that my friends and I were at Dragon*Con when zombies started to attack. We made witty banter while fighting our way through hordes of undead. Obviously the characters aren't fill ins for my friends and I, but the opening scenes are pretty much the same.

Of course, the dream didn't hand me much else. It took a long time, and a lot of false starts, to come up with a solid plot. That's the thing about book ideas that come to you via dreams. You still have to do a lot of leg work.
  
3. What genre does your book fall under?
Oh genre, you fickle mistress. I would say dark urban fantasy. I've struggled with genre because normally zombies land you straight into horror, but this book is not horror. However, it doesn't really resemble most of what is current in urban fantasy, but it's the closest thing.
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?


Hmmm...for the main character Lilah I would say Anne Hathaway. She does plucky, slightly clumsy girl really well without making herself seem like a total idiot.

For the love interest Rowan, Sung Kang is a really good fit.

For the villain, Donald Trump. Yes. I said it. Bad hair piece and all. 
5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When a zombie outbreak starts chewing on the population, Lilah Reynolds travels to quirky road side attractions to set up anti-zombie ritual sites, but discovers along the way her best friend is in league with the evil necromancers. 

The sentence isn't polished yet, because it's changed since I've started writing, but that's the general idea. 
6. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The first draft of the first incarnation only took about a month to write. I'd had the dream, and sat down to write out the first few scenes so I wouldn't forget it. 30,000 words later I realized I had a book on my hands. I plotted it out, and wrote the rest. 
 
It was terrible. I revised and started rewriting it about a year ago. That draft didn't work either. Early this year I started the current version of the book. I'm about halfway through the  "first" draft, and things are moving along nicely. Finally.
7. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I haven't read it yet, but I did notice that Nancy Holzner's Deadtown has zombies and undead creatures front and center. There's also a ton of zombies in other supernatural books, too many to list here. There's also a ton of general zombie apocalypse books.
 
The movie Zombieland is pretty close to describing the book's tone and feel, so we're going with that. 
8. Who or What inspired you to write this book?
My love for apocalypse novels coupled with my interest in all things geeky.
9. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Let's see...the characters travel to awesome places like World's Largest Ball of Twine, there's lots of references to geeky things like Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons, and last but not least, House Buffaloes are mentioned. A lot.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Birth of a Novel Returns!

Okay, so anyone who follows both Charity Bradford and I already know this, but we're bringing back Birth of a Novel. For those followers who aren't familiar with the bloghop, basically we write about writing a novel in November.

I almost didn't do it this year, because I am knee deep in a rewrite (no exaggeration--I am just past 50K in a book that will probably run me 100k). The official NaNo rules state you can't confirm your victory if you're working on a book already. Which honestly, is a little silly. I feel like you should still win if you write 50,000 new words, starting a novel or in the middle of the book not with standing. But I don't make the rules.

But, as my friend Liz pointed out, I can be a NaNo rebel, and I can still post about what it's like being in the middle of a rewrite.

AND then I was supposed to post about this on Thursday, but hey, guess what? We moved Thursday, and it took a lot longer than we thought it would. Basically, I've spent every day since unpacking and taking care of the baby (who is teething something fierce, by the way, and not sleeping through the night at all). 

So it's late, but better late than never, right?

Here's the post that Charity made up. I hope you'll join!

Charity and I are bringing back the Birth of a Novel Blog Chain! I'm so excited! We both felt that a little extra motivation might do all of us good during this busy holiday season. Some of you may be starting Nano today. Others of you might be in the middle of your WIP. Wait! What about those who are revising and editing? Everyone can play! It doesn't matter what stage you are in your writing journey, we want to know how you're doing and what we can do to help you keep moving forward.  Every Thursday post a progress report, then visit the other participants and encourage them to keep working toward their goals. Everyone is welcome to grab a button and join the blog chain by signing into the linky below. So for today, just share with us what your goals are. It can be your goal for the week, month, or rest of 2012.  

The Button  

The Link List