by Sarah | Dec 4, 2012 | Books, Hump Day Hook, Masked Hearts, Writing
Time for another Hump Day hook. I’m excited for this week, because I get to use it to announce my latest contract! Once again I’ve signed on with Secret Cravings Publishing, and I couldn’t be more excited!
Masked Hearts is my latest WIP. I finished it a couple of months ago and have been working on edits for it diligently while plotting my upcoming WIP (Into a Mirror Darkly, of which you saw the 1st paragraph HERE).
Masked Hearts didn’t come easy to me. It was my own personal challenge to write something under 50k (I’m super-wordy and writing short isn’t my forte), and I went into it blind with only some horrors of the past to trigger the story. Eventually everything fell into place and after some hefty editing of the first 10 chapters (before I knew Minnie & Roy very well), I felt it was ready. I just got my contract signed, and can look forward to publication in April!!
So without further mucking this up with words, here is my selection for this week:
Minnie turned again, her long black hair shimmering in the colorful glow of sunrise. The sense of perfection shifted the moment she lifted her hair.
Roy couldn’t stop his sharp intake of breath. A patchwork of scars stretched across her back in varying shades of white and pink. From her neck to just above her backside they were a glaring difference to the bronze perfection of the rest of her.
At the same time the scars added so much beauty. Only a strong woman could survive the torture of a fire hot enough to sear itself into her flesh.
Hump Day Hook asks authors to post one paragraph of one of their stories, whether a WIP, one contracted, or already published. Please visit and comment on the participants – you might just stumble on the next great read for your library! To see more participants, click on the HHH banner below:
by Sarah | Aug 3, 2012 | Books, Changing Tracks, Critters, Masked Hearts, Writing, writing tips
Line edits are awesome…
When it’s someone else’s work.
If the paper, book, webpage, word doc, whatever it is that’s in front of me was not written by my own hand I can swoop in and find the errors in an instant.
No problem.
When it’s my piece?
The one that I’ve worked on for X amount of years?
What errors? I don’t see them?
No, there’s a comma there don’t you see it? Oh wait, it’s all in my head isn’t it? Damn.
I miss far too much.
I’ve tried the tricks.
I’ve changed font.
I’ve printed it out on paper.
I’ve put it on my nook.
I still miss those suckers because my brain inputs them where my fingers did not.
But – it’s time for me to line edit.
Thank goodness I’m writing another piece in between. One chapter at a time with the line edits because I get cross-eyed and confused way too easily.
You want to do my line edits? I’ll trade you evenly – I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.
by Sarah | Jun 8, 2012 | Books, Masked Hearts, Writing
[flickr id=”6270890485″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]Sometimes it’s love at first sight. Or, in a writer’s case, it can be love at first thought.
Sometimes there is a ‘getting to know you’ period. You meet them, ask questions – dive into their back-stories and learn what makes them tick – and that helps you see where the love is.
Today, eleven chapters in, I finally fell in love. The moment my characters fell in love – so did I.
Yes, I liked them before. Their back-stories wrenched at my heart and just added to my intense admiration for their existence. They were both strong and resilient and so very lost.
Still with all of that I still felt like I didn’t know them. Like all of our efforts were in vain because I just didn’t get them.
Today they stopped fighting their feelings and fell in love. At that moment we all relaxed and I got it.
Now I’m as in love with them as they are with each other. It’s a beautiful thing to have two characters like this.
I never thought that I’d have a Hero like him…I tend to specialize in the Alpha Male. Roy? Not quite an alpha male…but Minnie needs a lot more than that. He is a good man and perfect for her. I’m liking the not-alpha hero he’s turning out to be.
What’s your favorite ‘falling in love’ story? Was it love at first thought? Or did you have to work for your relationship?
by Sarah | May 30, 2012 | Books, General, Masked Hearts, Writing, writing tips
[flickr id=”6065425471″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]Real Life has has been insane lately. So many things popping up, so many events and activities to keep me and mine busy. It seems impossible that I have all of these stories just waiting for me to write.
Out of all of them, one has stood out. Masked Hearts, even though it is a brand new idea, forced its way to the top. I started writing it just over a week ago. At first the going was incredibly slow. Unlike most of my stories this one had not sat on the ‘drawing board’ as it were. In fact I started writing within a week of getting the idea.
This never happens.
The reason why is because I’m a free-writer. 95% of the time I just sit down and write. I worry about fine tuning and editing later. In order to sit down and write I have to know where the story is going.
For Masked Hearts I only had the most vague of ideas. I didn’t know the characters beyond their initial descriptions. I had an idea of a conflict, but it was far from clear.
The day I started writing I had my first “Aha!” The MMC’s backstory came into clear view as I finished reading the history of an event during the many years of Indian Wars in the US.
Yesterday, six chapters into the story came the biggest ‘Aha!’. The entire story’s plot line became clear. I knew all the moments of conflict, all the climactic moments, and the way the ending would come about.
So I dug in deep and wrote my ass off…
Only to learn in the middle of writing a chapter that two of my characters were gay.
Wait, what? When did that happen? What the hell? Not that I mind, but a heads up a little earlier would have nice.
Oh, and by the way, those three side characters you thought were footnotes? Totally instrumental in the ending of your novel.
Ah, crap.
Now I have all these extra characters with personalities. No, they aren’t becoming MC’s – but they have a bigger part than I ever expected in this thing.
Now to keep it within my word count goal of 50k.
I’m not good with the low word counts. Think I can make this one stick?
