Upcoming Book

It's not titled yet, but I am writing a book I consider a YA and NA because the protagonist is 16 when the book begins, but closer to 20 when it ends. Right away, readers will find out, Josette Hansen, is battling leukemia. The book follows Jo's life, her ups and downs, and her mistakes.

This book is also a LGBT read because Jo figures out she's bisexual when a young woman comes into her life. It's a drama. Just a drama. Some might say contemporary. It's not set in the future (maybe a year or two). It's not fantasy where faeries come and heal her. Not paranormal where a bite from a vampire will heal her.

It's just drama. I hope that someone out there will read it. I hope someone will enjoy it. It started as a dream and developed into a long novel. I'm not done yet and it's at 108k words. Will that matter at the end? Will people shun the book because it's "too long?" I, personally, don't care how long a book is as long as it's good and holds my attention.

Anyway, I just wanted to update y'all about this book. I hope you will get to know Jo, Maverick, Ellie, Selena, Breeze, and all the supporting characters.

Character Traits

People, especially reviewers, like to tear authors apart for overused traits. For example when we write about our characters biting on their lips or twirling their hair, readers say it’s overdone or boring or whatever. BUT… when I look at myself and other people in real life, what do I see? I bite on my lip when I’m nervous all the time. I see others twirling their hair or biting their nails. So maybe characters are written with those traits because authors themselves have them or know people who have them. If I wrote a character who always hopped up and down on one foot when nervous—just so she would have a more unique trait—would anyone believe that? Or would the character be more believable if they bit on their lip or twirled their hair? 

It's might be overused or overdone, but I'm going to keep writing characters who twirl their hair, bit on their lip, shuffle their weight, or tap their fingers because that's what people do. You don't have to like it, but please think about how odd it would be to read about a character who did absurd things just so readers wouldn't gripe about the same old character traits.

My writing tip? Don't worry about character traits or faults being overdone. Readers should focus on the character overall and the storyline. If it's a good storyline, then who cares if a character twirls her hair or pulls it? Bites on her lip or jumps on her feet? Let the author be and just enjoy the story.

2013

Here it is. A new year. A blank slate. To authors like me, a blank sheet of paper. And yet, it still feels like the same old thing. Maybe it's the gloomy January, maybe it's the lack of sleep, but nothing feels like it's a new year.

I would like nothing better to feel inspired. To feel like anything can happen. Most days I'm just too darn tired to feel much of anything. I'm not a morning person. I'm a night owl. And I'm not someone who falls asleep the minute my head hits the pillow. I toss and turn and toss again. I flip, I flop. I think about things. I think about my life, my family, money... I think about my characters, my books, and what to do next.

And then the baby wakes up. Not once. Not twice. Every 1-2 hours all night long. I love my little guy to pieces, but he's almost 10 months old and needs to sleep. By the time I finally fall asleep at night, he wakes up, and then I only sleep in short spurts until about 7am when I have to get up to get the girls off to school.

I'm exhausted. I can't form enough words to write a page or two in any of my books. Not any that make sense anyway. It's possible this blog post won't make sense. But at least I will have tried.

I'm still here. When I can see straight, I've been editing the second book in the Between Words series. The sequel to Dark Promise cowritten with Julia Crane. Once that is done, I hope to work on a third book in the Gifted Teens series. I'm thinking of writing it from Kassia and Mira's viewpoints like the first book. I also hope to get a book about cutting out this year. I've been working on it when I can, but it's not much yet.

I know readers and fans like to see an author put lots of books out every year, so I hope that my fans can understand that I only released one last year and that I'll be trying to get two out this year, maybe three. I won't be going anywhere. I have so many stories to tell. I'll be around for a long, long time. I hope you will all share in the journey with me.

Writer Wednesday - I Want To Know...

What makes you decide to buy a book?

Is it...

• the cover
• the blurb
• a review
• the author's reputation
• a few pages you read inside
• something else entirely

Please leave a comment and let me know why you buy the books you do.

Questions for Writers

What do you do when you have a bunch of story ideas in your head?

Do you grab one and run with it?

Do you jot all your ideas down?

What happens if you're working on one story and another one is pestering you to be written? Do you stop and write it? Or do you continue on with the current one?

If you write a bunch of them, do you find it hard to keep in character?

I have at least 5 really good ideas in my head right now. But, I can't seem to concentrate on just one. I keep flipping between them, writing whatever is coming to me at the moment. It's exhilarating at times, confusing at other times. I'm excited by all of these new possible books, I find myself wishing I could write faster or that there was more time in the day. Maybe one day, one or the other will happen :)