young adult

ARTICLE POST: Writing Convention

article, writing

So I recently went to my first writing convention this past Saturday. It was a one-day affair and about an hour away from my home, so I wasn’t forced to dish out an obscene amount of money to attend it. At the convention, they allowed writers to purchase 10-min pitch times with agents. I decided I would pitch a new trilogy I started writing to two agents, Nephele Tempest and Sara Sciuto.

Before attending, I had no idea what to expect and I was ridiculously nervous about the pitch. I memorized my 1-2 minute blurb and ran it through my head repeatedly the night before, on the drive there, and even during the event. Both my pitches were scheduled early in the day, so I wasn’t pacing throughout the event.

My first pitch was to Sara Sciuto. She represents a variety of works ranging from picture books to young adult books. Which is perfect, because I have a young adult fantasy and a middle grade idea that I’ve been tinkering around with. The beginning of my pitch sounded rehearsed, but it became a more colloquial toward the end (at least I hope it did). She asked me a few questions about it and I answered with more in-depth explanations of the different fantasy concepts woven into it and she said she was intrigued! She handed me her business card and asked me to send the first 50-pgs of my manuscript. I was downright giddy at this point, but I still had about 5 minutes left from my 10 minutes. I didn’t want to just get up and waste half my time, so instead I asked her questions (because from the articles I read about pitches at writing conventions, that’s what you’re supposed to do). I asked her what other fantasy books she’s representing and what style of writing she most particularly enjoyed so I could get to know her better. Overall it was a successful pitch and if she does like my manuscript, I know I would really enjoy working with her!

My second pitch was with Nephele Tempest. By this time, my head was still bobbling from my first pitch, so I was a bit more relaxed and natural. Since I got Sara’s card and interest, I didn’t have all my eggs in one basket. (Of course I wanted it to be a success, who wouldn’t want the interest of two agents instead of one?) My second pitch was more natural and conversational and Nephele made a few ooh’s and ahh’s during it that made me smile. She was also very intrigued by it and gave me her business card to send her the first 50pgs of my manuscript as well. I was ecstatic.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if maybe the agents were just giving their cards to all the authors who pitched to them out of good measure since they went out of their way to pay for those short, precious 10 minutes, but it really didn’t matter to me. I felt that in a way, we skipped the first part of querying agents, the part that has them opening the initial email to read your query to ask for a longer sample. And to me, that’s worth every penny. Plus, now the agents are able to put a face to the query/manuscript, which humanizes the process. There’s no guarantee they’ll like my manuscript. They might have enjoyed the idea of it, but writing style is a whole other beast.

I’ve been working on finishing and refining my manuscript in order to send it to them. (Although, I did learn that an agent’s request for a longer sample has no deadline) Therefore, I’m trying not to rush myself because I really want to send my best work. But I have made a self-induced deadline of October 31 to get the first draft completed and the first 50-pgs refined to send out. I figure that I’ll have another 1-2 months after submitting the first 50-pgs to polish the rest of my manuscript while they read my longer sample.

I’m glad I registered for the Los Angeles Writing Workshop 2015 (#LAWW15). It was a very positive experience and I learned a lot. I think the only thing that I might have enjoyed would have been to connect with other writers more. Because the convention was so short, you didn’t really have much time to get to know that many people. I’m thinking it would be great to attend a writing retreat or even a longer writing convention in the future.

This is the first sentence of my new trilogy!

“A wish made was a price paid, and no power could undo it.”
-Death Life Taken

ARTICLES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN:

ARTICLE POST: Connecting You to the Next Level – Everyone is connected somehow someway…

ARTICLE POST: Constructive Criticism Revisions – Ask for opinions, they matter, despite how much it may hurt…

ARTICLE POST: The Pen vs. the Keyboard – Pick up your pen and paper instead of your phone next time…

BOOK QUOTE: Kalcyon (The Phoenix Ashes Book 2)

The Phoenix Ashes Trilogy

A little excerpt from Kalcyon (The Phoenix Ashes Book 2)

It had been imprinted into me the moment I was born and the silent oath clung to my heart. I wanted everyone to experience this marvel: to help them feel their heartbeat chase the one before; to have life electrified into their nerves that it brought a tingle to their fingers; to show that air was not just meant to be breathed, but absorbed.

Life shouldn’t be a wish. It was a God-given gift we were meant to take hold of.

-Kalcyon

Also, the price of Karnage has been reduced to $9.99 on amazon.com. So grab your copy before the release of Kalcyon!

BOOK REVIEW: Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Book Review

Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Romance
Series: The Grisha Trilogy

Ruin and Rising: ★★★★★

Summary: The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne. Now the nation’s fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army. Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives. Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova’s amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling’s secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for

Review: I love when a series ends exactly how you wanted except like nothing you thought. While some plot twists had me dying and rolling around on my bed, I did see the HUGE plot twist coming. If you read my review on “Siege and Storm” (Book 2), I mentioned a twist that I suspected and I WAS RIGHT. Sometimes I hate my wandering mind when I read because it ruins the omfg moments. But, I still enjoyed it all the same. And I will say though, I didn’t know how everything was going to play out. Bardugo did an amazing job tying all the loose ends and really bringing the whole trilogy back to the beginning. The connections tied from “Shadow and Bone” all the way to the last page of “Ruin and Rising.”

For the record, I finished this book in two days. The first night, I really just meant to read it for an hour or two before I went to bed, but who was I kidding, I ended up reading it for FOUR hours! It was that amazing. You never want to stop reading because the plot is always moving forward. No scene is superfluous and every scene shows growth in one or all of the characters.

The depth behind each character was just right for my taste. You got enough background story to relate with the minor characters, just enough to care about them. It was nice to see the very human development of the relationships in the epic adventure that they risked their lives for. In regards to the romance, it’s sort of a love squarish thing. I thought it was done very tastefully though: a marriage of counterparts, a marriage of young love, or a marriage of power. I do like who she ended up with, and I know there were a lot of 1 star reviews out there because she didn’t get with *cough*cough* but I think I would have still been happy if she ended up with either of the three love interests because I loved the book mostly for it’s plot.

ALINA: In the first book, she was weak and unsure. In the second book, she had a stronger resolve, but was afraid of the powers growing inside of her. In this book, she owns up to the life she was born to live and remains true to herself until the very end. She knows what has to be done even if there were times she wavered (You can’t blame the girl, she had more weight to shoulder than most of us do). What I loved most about Alina was that even though she was the second most “powerful” Grisha, the talents and powers of her companions were much more valuable; she leaned on them and they leaned on her, and that’s what friendship and loyalty are all about.

MAL: Oh my Mal. I love how even though he’s otkazat’sya, he did everything in his power to make up for it and ended being more powerful than some of the Grisha. He is the living proof that hardwork and a strong resolve are all you really need to succeed in an environment that you were meant to fail. At the end, I had a mini heart attack, but I’m glad Bardugo wrote it out the way she did, because I thought it was perfect!

NIKOLAI: I still LOVE all his dialogue. I really want Nikolai all for myself. He’s such a genuine and pure person that even when “darkness” was thrust upon him, he remained somewhat himself still. The fact that he’s not “true” royalty, but instead earned the position as King through his experiences and service is even more admirable and meaningful. Bardugo mentioned that she mightttt write a book dedicated to Nikolai and I really hope she does because he was my FAVORITE character in this entire trilogy.

THE DARKLING: I actually really loved the Darkling. Yes, he’s the bad guy trying to destroy the kingdom, but really he was just a lost child trying to fix things through his own skewed means. I really felt for the Darkling at the end of the book and I’m glad Alina grew to understand him and accept how he had turned so wretched for the generations he’d lived. I think if I lived for so long that I saw the people I love die, kingdoms rise and fall, and retarded kings believing they know better, I would have gone a little crazy too.

Overall, I am definitely a Leigh Bardugo fan. I never thought I would be the type of reader who goes to author meetings (not saying there’s anything wrong with those type of readers, I actually admire their dedication), but I think I would actually want to meet Leigh Bardugo if I had a chance. I love her writing style and her storytelling abilities. There’s a natural flow that doesn’t seem forced and makes the world seem so real. I actually wanted to leave this life and live in that book if I could (despite how messed up it was for most of the time). GAH. Seriously, I recommend the Grisha Trilogy for ALL readers–it’s amazing. (It’s so amazing that even though I own the trilogy in paperback, I’ve begun purchasing it in hardback too hahaha)

They are making this trilogy into a movie and I FREAKING CAN’T WAIT. The last movie adapted from a book that I waited in line for a midnight showing was Twilight (hey don’t laugh. but really that movie was so cringe-worthy…biggest disappointed by far for books adapted to movies). Anyways, you can’t bet that I’m going to buy my tickets on presale or somehow get myself into an advanced showing to go and watch “Shadow and Bone” when it comes out. I cannot wait to see who they cast. EEEK.

Safe to say, THE GRISHA TRILOGY WAS THE BEST READ OF 2015 for me. It was literally EVERYTHING I look for in a book. Please go read it!

BUY IT ON AMAZON!

ARTICLE POST: Constructive Criticism Revisions

article

The writing process can be a very daunting experience. Some writers will be blinded by the bright overbearing blank pages that are waiting to be filled with a string of seemingly common words woven into something profound and meaningful, while other writers wear goggles as they fill pages and pages of content, most of the time all rubbish. But like everything in life, you need to find the happy medium and be willing to make changes in your work. Adaptability means survival.

Recently, a new manuscript idea came to me and I got really excited and scribbled everything about it in my notebook. Upon returning home, I began compiling a complete series outline before starting to write (something I promised myself I would do from now on). I hadn’t thought about the smaller details of the book and as I wrote my outline I began filling them in where I could. What I ended up with was a goldmine! Or so I thought … I was wearing googly goggles. And I didn’t realize it until I went to my family and pitched the idea to them.

First, I pitched the story to my older sister (27 years old). She had questions but was overall interested in the concept and said it was an original idea that she would like to read. I could’ve stopped there, because validation is the only feedback you want to hear. WRONG, writers keep fishing! So, I went to my mother (55 years old) and I pitched the same story to her. However, she said that even though the idea was unique, it wasn’t grabbing her attention. I can argue that it’s because of her age difference, as this book is a young adult book, however she also read my first fantasy romance young adult novel and said it was very interesting, so it’s not really a valid argument. Then finally, I asked my little sister what she thought (19 years old). She’s the closest to my reading audience, so in a way, her opinion matters the most in this situation. She agreed that the idea was interesting, but admitted that it was a bit confusing for her to understand.

One approval. One denial. And one wishy-washy interest. Something was definitely wrong. For a pitch, I need three unquestionable approvals. So, I took a second look at the outline I had written and realized that each of them was right to a certain extent and that I needed to do some heavy duty revising, even if it meant scrapping chunks of my concepts. So this is what I observed:

First, the premise of the story is strong and original and I need to work out a few details, but they’re minor.

Second, I need to develop a more gripping pitch summary. This is really important since I’m planning on pitching this manuscript idea to two agents at a writing conference I’ll be attending in October.

Third, the series is in desperate need of some simplifying. Sometimes, more is not always more, less is. I realized that just because I make a story more complicated by adding more twists and turns, it doesn’t make it any more interesting; it actually takes away from the main idea because it gets lost under all that gunk, no matter how glittery and shiny said gunk may be.

As a writer, whether creative or academic you must be open to constructive criticism. Most of the time you’re so enraptured by your creation that you turn a blind eye to major problems that others see. So you need to ask a variety of people, revise, then ask again, revise, ask, revise, ask, and repeat until the answers are somewhat in the same ball park. Remember, you won’t be able to please everyone, but you shouldn’t be aiming for that as a writer–your job is to write something that remains true to yourself that hopefully others will enjoy as well.

BOOK REVIEW: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Book Review

siegeandstorm

Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/Romance
Series: The Grisha Trilogy (Book 2)

Siege and Storm: ★★★★★!!!

SUMMARY: Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. She can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long. The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her–or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.

Book 2 did not disappoint! Wow. Siege and Storm was an amazing read. There was so much development in the characters and the story that I found myself immersed in its tangled plot from page one. I finished the book in two days and probably would have finished it in one if I hadn’t forced myself to stop reading it because my copy of Ruin and Rising hadn’t been delivered yet.

Bardugo really has a way with weaving her words so seamlessly that you fall into this pace while reading that just flows. It’s a natural rhythm that allows you to completely concentrate on the story and its characters. Her descriptions are stunning and haunting: the representation of darkness, the struggles and humor of characters, and the rising tension. Throughout the book you find yourself expecting, waiting for this one thing to happen and then BAM when you least expect it, it happens.

I’m sure there are some readers who may find that the middle section of the book was lagging, but I think every scene was essential to building the tension and developing Alina and her struggles as well as the building relationship with the other characters. I really felt her fears and concerns as she’s thrust into a high position that her former self never would have even fathomed. She doesn’t have instant success and it is apparent that she is working toward a goal that seems so far away. So in my opinion, the build up, the preparations, the meetings, all made the situation very real and believable. A+ (Plus, I just wanted to keep reading more and when the pages started dwindling at the end, I got more and more anxious heh)

ALINA: The main character. Her inner turmoil had her questioning almost everything she thought and did. In the first book she was tentative and very unsure of herself, but in book 2 she really came out of her shell and did the best she could even when she knew she wasn’t prepared for it. I loved that her flaws were so apparent; it makes her real, because nobody is perfect.

MAL: Oh Mal, Mal, Mal. I still love him and I totally understand why he acted the way he did. I was heartbroken for him and I have my suspicions about how his role in the story is going to unravel in Book 3, but I’ll keep that to myself because if I’m right, then it’s going to be a major spoiler.

NIKOLAI: I love Nikolai too! I’m a fickle girl. Some part of me wants Alina to end up with Nikolai, but I don’t think it’ll happen. Nikolai is a myriad of personalities and I’m still not sure who he really is, but that’s his appeal. Every dialogue that he was a part of brought a smile to my face. The book ends without really saying what happened to him, but knowing him, I’m sure he’ll make a flashy return into the story.

THE DARKLING: Still the evil darkness, but I feel like he’s this tortured soul that actually really cares about Alina and feels the strong connection to her. Like calls to like. I’m really looking forward for the mystery behind him to unravel in the last book.

So, while I was reading this book, I can’t remember at what part it was, but something in my mind just clicked and I think I figured out a huge plot twist that’s going to happen in Book 3. It makes so much sense in my head and I’m like 110% sure that I’m right about it, but I’m not going to say it, because again, I’ll be ruining it for anyone who wants to/is reading right now (And those who ruin endings of books must be excommunicated). However, I still have no idea how the whole story is going to be wrapped up. There are a lot of loose ends that need to be tied. One thing I have no idea about is who Alina is going to end up with, or maybe she doesn’t end up with anyone…DUN DUN DUNNNNN.

I cannot recommend this series enough. It’s definitely a contender for my FAVORITE series to date. I can’t find a flaw that bothers me and I’m literally obsessed with it. I love how complex the characters are and how they’re so consistently portrayed throughout each book. Did I mention this series is going to be made into a movie??? UGHGHGH I’m literally bouncing off the walls just thinking about it. But really, I finished this book at 4 a.m. last night and couldn’t fall asleep because of how good it was. (I almost contemplated on just staying up to write this review). Addiction at its best!

I want to start Book 3 so bad, but I’m going on a retreat this weekend, so I’m forcing myself to wait until I come back. READ THE GRISHA TRILOGY! (And then discuss with me your suspicions!)

Buy it on Amazon!