Words of Wisdom on NaNoWriMo and Star Wars
Are you preparing to take part in NaNoWriMo in November? Striving for 50,000 words in a month is a major undertaking. At the Once and Future Podcast blog, I offer 4 tips to reduce stress during NaNo.
(I’m not taking part in NaNo this year; I wrote a rough draft for Roar of Sky in March and April this year, and I’ll be working on the edits for it this November. I will, however, be doing the Poem-A-Day Challenge.)
In other geeky news, a whole bunch of authors contributed posts to Unbound Worlds on what Star Wars personally means to them. As “Da Wars” was among my first words spoken as a baby, I have very deep thoughts on the subject.
Breath of Earth news
My brain is residing in an alternate 1906 right now. My revision letter arrived for Breath of Earth, so my days are filled with deletions, and tweaks, and fact-checking via Google and scads of books stacked beside my desk. This project will keep me occupied through the next month, even as I do my usual November Poem-A-Day Challenge.
I’m not the only one working on Breath of Earth right now. Harper Voyager is gearing up, too. The cover is in progress (SQUEE!). The release date is online: August 23rd 2016! And oh hey, the full back cover summary popped up on Goodreads, too:
After the Earth’s power is suddenly left unprotected, a young geomancer must rely on her unique magical powers to survive in in this fresh fantasy standalone from the author of acclaimed The Clockwork Dagger.
In an alternate 1906, the United States and Japan have forged a powerful confederation—the Unified Pacific—in an attempt to dominate the world. Their first target is a vulnerable China. In San Francisco, headstrong Ingrid Carmichael is assisting a group of powerful geomancer Wardens who have no idea of the depth of her power—or that she is the only woman to possess such skills.
When assassins kill the Wardens, Ingrid and her mentor are protected by her incredible magic. But the pair is far from safe. Without its full force of guardian geomancers, the city is on the brink of a cataclysmic earthquake that will expose Earth’s powers to masterminds determined to control the energy for their own dark ends. The danger escalates when Chinese refugees, preparing to fight the encroaching American and Japanese, fracture the uneasy alliance between the Pacific allies, transforming the city into a veritable powder keg. And the slightest tremor will set it off. . . .
Forced on the run, Ingrid makes some shocking discoveries about herself. Her powerful magic has grown even more fearsome . . . and she may be the fulcrum on which the balance of world power rests.
I am so excited for this book to come out. And I’m so freaked out about writing the next in the series. So. Normal writer feelings all around.
#SFWAPro
Read MoreLinks and Things
It’s end of the month catch-up-time here. I spent the weekend revising a big batch of poems I wrote during November Poem-A-Day–yes, I’m that behind on things. The next order of business will involve sending out poems (poetry editors: brace yourselves). I have a month until Phoenix Comicon (my panel schedule is online!) followed by the release of Clockwork Crown, so life will soon escalate in craziness.
And hey, there’s a lot of other cool stuff to share, too.
– Have you ever wondered what a literary publicist actually does? One of my fellow Harper Voyager authors interviewed our publicist!
– Author Teresa Frohock invited me to her blog, where I discuss medicine and magic in “The Deepest Poison” and The Clockwork Dagger series. If you want to read about World War I medicine, I list the books I used as sources!
– Editor Rhonda Parrish revealed the cover for B is for Broken. I have a flash story in here for the letter K. There’s also a Goodreads giveaway to win a copy of the book.
I have two new, very different interviews up:
– AFE Smith asks me about the books and goodies I’d bring to a desert island.
– Rhonda Parrish questions me about my story in the FAE anthology over at World Weaver Press.
Tomorrow is the release day for “The Deepest Poison!” Whee!
Read MorePoem-A-Day April
Every April and November I take part in the Poem-A-Day Challenge at Writer’s Digest’s Poetic Asides Blog. It’s when I complete the bulk of my poems for the year.
This April, I’m going to do things differently.
First of all, I’ve been so busy that I 1) haven’t had the chance to edit all of my poems from November, and 2) I haven’t been able to submit as much poetry, either. Therefore, I don’t really need to create more of a backlog.
I do have an immediate need to write certain kinds of poems, though. In May I’m taking part in the #TwitterFiction Festival and I need a large stockpile of tweet-sized stories and poems. I figured, hey, I’m going to be getting poetic prompts every day through April. I can use these for a new purpose.
I already have some works written but I’m depending on these April prompts to push me along every day. I’ll post more about the #TwitterFiction event as it nears so that you can follow along!
Read MoreSo Much Awesome
GUYS. The Clockwork Crown has its first trade review in Publishers Weekly! And its awesome!
“…Cato continues to defy expectations, moving the saga toward an unexpected, heartfelt conclusion, and the revelations about Octavia’s abilities are amply rewarding.”
In other news, I’m contributing to the annual Suvudu Cage Match. This year’s theme is Women Warriors. The full bracket is shown here. Last week I wrote about Johanna Mason (Hunger Games) and Tris (Divergent), and Johanna won in my story and in the votes. The current match is Johanna versus Felurian (Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicles). I anticipate a lot more people to disagree with me this time around. Who do you think would win? Go check out the poll!
The Cage Match has been picked up by the media, too, and an article in Bustle dubbed me as a “big name in the biz” (to which I go o_0) and excerpted my story. Like whoa.
In totally different news, my poem “Mama Gonna Fight” was just published in Apex Magazine. This is one of my favorite poems for all of last year (I wrote it during April Poem-A-Day), so I’m really excited that it’s in such an esteemed magazine.
There’s also my Holy Taco Church recipe for the month: Verde Pork in the Slow Cooker. This is a super-easy way to make a whole pile of meat to use in tacos, burritos, salads, casseroles, or just straight-up.
Three months exactly until The Clockwork Crown comes out and already the pace is frantic. Deadlines galore! Reviews! Promo posts! 2015. This year is crazy.
Read MoreWherein I share a ToC with Neil Gaiman
I LIVE.
I survived World Fantasy Con and had an absolute blast. I managed to complete a Poem-A-Day and make slow progress on my Clockwork Crown copyedits even during the con, which made me feel like a real writer. Fun fact: real writers are also sleep-deprived.
[Me working on copyedits on the flight to DC.]
One of the nifty things about being at a convention is that you get told about good news. I knew I had a reprint story that had been requested for inclusion in Twelfth Planet Press’s Year’s Best YA Speculative Fiction 2013, but the full Table of Contents was announced the day I was mostly offline as I flew cross-country.
So I was pretty gobsmacked to find out I’m sharing the book with Neil Gaiman. And my story follows his. Gulp.
The full ToC:
Selkie Stories Are For Losers – Sofia Samatar
By Bone-Light – Juliet Marillier
The Myriad Dangers – Lavie Tidhar
Carpet – Nnedi Okorafor
I Gave You My Love by the Light of the Moon – Sarah Rees Brennan
57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides – Sam J. Miller
The Minotaur Girls – Tansy Rayner Roberts
Not With You, But With You – Miri Kim
Ghost Town – Malinda Lo
December – Neil Gaiman
An Echo in the Shell – Beth Cato
Dan’s Dreams – Eliza Victoria
As Large As Alone – Alena McNamara
Random Play All and the League of Awesome – Shane Halbach
Mah Song – Joanne Anderton
What We Ourselves Are Not – Leah Cypess
The City of Chrysanthemum – Ken Liu
Megumi’s Quest – Joyce Chng
Persimmon, Teeth, and Boys – Steve Berman
Flight – Angela Slatter
We Have Always Lived on Mars – Cecil Castellucci
—
The book should be out in just a few weeks! Pretty darn good note to end the year on, I think.
Read More
