Come What May

It's coming. The day when dreams will be crushed under the weight of...Hold up. No. That's wrong. Forgive my flair for the dramatic.

Mentee announcements are just around the corner, the PitchWars Live Event is tomorrow night and the next morning...well, some of us will be heading into a whirlwind of work, work, work that is the PitchWars editing round. The greater portion of us won't be be in that group, but that's okay. We're going to be moving on down our personal writing journey with best wishes to those working toward the Agent Round.

What will I be doing? Well, if I get selected, come the 25th, I'll be working on my book in hopes of getting published under the tutelage of one of the mentor's I pitched to. If I don't, I'll be working on my book in hopes of getting published with the help of a few amazing CP's, with a much stronger query letter, pitch, and synopsis to show for my time spent.

The query process for said book will begin again, and I'll keep working on book two while I'm at it.

And of course, there's the yearly prep for Nanowrimo, Halloween, my day job and a giant TBR pile to keep me busy (plus, you know, art. I need to be painting). My life will not be over if I don't get in. Plus, I'll be allowed to compete in a few other pitch competitions I wouldn't be able to if I do get in. There are opportunities galore.

I know there are going to be disappointments coming out of this, but try to keep your disappointment where it belongs. Your friends and family, private messages, etc. Let's be gracious. Writers are artists, we can be prone to...colorful expressions of irritation. We also have long memories.

(I am literally watching a My Little Pony episode on sportsmanship as I am writing this so...take from that what you will.)

Whatever happens Thursday, I am so happy to be a part of this community. I can't thank Brenda and the mentors, who have all donated their time and expertise to this even, enough. I have met so many amazing people and I cannot wait to see if they make to the next round.

Pitchwars and New Directions

It's kind of funny, since starting the PitchWars prep, I've been doing a lot of peripheral creation. Mostly with imagery. Which has been fun. I've gotten a much firmer handle on GIF usage, image curation and the like. I've created traditional art for Liadan in the past, utilizing illustration skills and testing out some different styles, but I'd never really toyed with cultivating a mixed media presentation of sorts. It's sort of fascinating actually, this mesh of words and images and tiny video clips that helps sell the story you're trying to explain.

 I've done a couple portraits of Liadan. One in a more illustrative style and one with more realism. The one on the left is a version of her that's older (around 14) while the one on the right I conceived closer to her age in A Matter of Mummies. I like both of them for different reasons and more importantly they helped me sort out her appearance and personality.

 Novel aesthetics are this sort of phenomenon that's emerged from the digital age of stock photos, screenshots and the millions of images available via search engines combined with free, easy to use image editing software. I've used one of them, but I prefer using Gimp. It's also free but it has a more Photoshop like feel.
 It's actually been really helpful for me, much in the way the portraits were. It made me focus on the atmosphere of my book and I even ended up adding in some descriptions I'd glossed over because I had a more definite idea of certain buildings.

I even learned about a new painter, which always makes me happy, and started working on Liadan's aesthetic for potential future books. In historical fiction, clothes can be everything. Liadan's disdain for hats I knew, but getting to look at extant garments for the era gave me ideas about what Liadan would look like a little older. What she'd wear, how she'd walk and sit and exist in space.

Images can be incredibly powerful and when you can combine art and words together it can spark new ideas and new creative venues. It certainly helped breathe new life into my creative process. So if I get nothing else out of PitchWars (and I've already made some new friends!) it's definitely been worth it.

Good luck to the mentee hopefuls and happy reading to the mentors!

Pitchwars? Apparently so.

Indeed, I have decided to jump into the fray this year. While I can't say my novel writing was compressed into a tidy Disney montage (no matter how much I would have liked that) I can say I'm happy to be making the attempt. 

So, as the man says, let's get down to business. Brass tacks. 




The Book: A Matter of Mummies takes a leaf out of Penny Dreadfuls for a middle grade audience. Mummy murders terrorize Victorian Dublin and it's going to take a kid genius, her police inspector sidekick and a few werewolves to solve it. 

 
 Follow twelve-year-old Liadan Foley as she evades electrotherapy, tries to recover missing memories and solve the murders--all while trying to figure out how to handle having an overprotective guardian. 

It's the kind of book I wanted to read when I was a kid, with a super smart girl who's brave and vulnerable, set in one of my favorite cities and showcasing some interesting historical facts. Plus, you know, I'm a sucker for alt. history because Diana Wynne Jones is my hero.





Who shall follow me on this journey of woe? 
I'm looking for someone who can help me catch plot holes, see things I've overlooked. I usually need some help fleshing things out a bit. I like my stories lean and I can be a bit sparser than necessary. I can take critique and I like doing the work. I mean, sure, line edits aren't the most fun thing ever, but the results always make me happy.

The Author: I take my tea with sugar and honey and milk (because I'm a heathen) and spend my free time perfecting my baking techniques, reading about murder and pretending my internet search history is perfectly normal. I can't drink (because I'm allergic) so instead I eat chocolate. I'm not sure if that's better or not.

My cat bites (and drools), I have a book related tattoo and I've spent much of the summer trying to find the best strawberry ice cream (It's a toss up right now between Jeni's and Graeter's).

I know, he doesn't look evil.

I grew up on Queen, Evanescence and Garth Brooks. These days, I'm still a Queen fan, but country music and I have parted ways--though my recent obsession with the Decemberists tells me that folk music and I aren't done. 

I love historical TV shows so yes I rewatch Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Murdoch Mysteries, Penny Dreadful... There's a theme there. If it's fantasy, I've probably watched it, no matter how bad and I have a secret terrible addiction for Disney channel movies.

I can't pick a favorite book, but if asked what book shaped me as a writer? Well, that's probably a tie between Bram Stoker's Dracula and The Time City by Diana Wynne Jones.

You can find me on Twitter and Facebook!

I don't smile in photos. It's a thing.

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