TITLE: Homebody
GENRE: Mystery
I should have taken a vacation. Hell, I needed one. Too bad I had to barrel in and get involved.
"Quit that racket!" I followed Roxie, my howling yellow Labrador, into the gray and maroon two-story Victorian, the nicest house on the block—probably for many square blocks, in fact. Being in the heart of the ghetto of Kansas City, it didn't take much to make my rental property the nicest in the area.
Where was Tyrone? My property manager was nowhere to be seen. I'd waited for him 20 minutes past our 1:30 appointment. Key in hand, I swept through the door to begin the inspection myself.
I glanced through the dim foyer, trying to locate the light switch. Despite the beautiful, spring-like March afternoon outside, the sunshine failed to permeate the dusty windows. Still, things seemed relatively in order. I wondered what I'd find throughout the rest of my inspection.
I glanced towards the stairs. Maybe I'd find Tyrone there. I hadn't seen his Camry on the street outside, but it couldn't hurt to check. Plus, I needed to retrieve my unleashed dog.
"Roxie, come here!" I stepped beyond the foyer, and a metallic stench filled my nostrils. "What is that?"
Roxie's barking led me to the rear of the house.
In the middle of the otherwise orderly dining room, a man lay in a pool of blood.
A scream ripped from my throat and the room twirled. Deep breath, Amanda.
Miss Snark's First Victim
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The Transformation Is Complete
In the spirit of transparency, and to give credence to the saying "never say never", I am here to report that I am officially no longer a pantser.
WAIT, DID I JUST SAY THAT?
Okay, sometimes it makes me panic. As in, have I left behind my roots and moved on--for real? Can the I-was-born-this-way in me have morphed so dramatically?
Really??
Well, let me clarify. If the word "plotter" conjures visions of carefully annotated outlines or neat stacks of numbered notecards, that's not me. But I've spoken before, in glowing terms, of Blake Snyder's "beat sheet" and the marvelous way it translates to novel writing (it's designed for screenplays), which definitely falls into the "plotter" category.
And I'm officially saying that I will never write another novel without a beat sheet.
Yep. I said never!
I've just finished a WIP in 3 months, which is my normal time frame. But THIS time, I've got a story with an arc that isn't broken in twelve places. It WORKS! Now, that doesn't mean the piece doesn't need a whole lot of work. In fact, I'm already super-antsy to dig in. (This, and I promised myself I would tuck this novel away until much later. Hah! You know how it goes.)
But, truly, the difference between THIS first draft and my LAST first draft is astounding. And I don't want to go back to the way things were.
It makes a huge difference to know where you're going. And I don't just mean the ending--I think that, for the most part, even the most hard-core pantsers have at least some idea where the story will end. But "knowing where you're going" is about way more than just "The End." The exhilaration of ALWAYS knowing where I was going next--even if I'd just come up with a new scene or secondary storyline--is indescribable. And so FREEING!
Yes, I've converted. Chortle, applaud, roll your eyes, or lament at will.
On top of the whole I'm-a-plotter-now thing, my WIP is written in first person present. And, yeah. I used to HATE first person present. As in, Hate. Capitalized. But you know how a story often begs to be told a certain way? That's what happened. This story is a fairly intense YA dystopian (I can't stop writing them!), and from the moment I conceived it, I knew it had to be first person present.
Funny how, even three quarters of the way through, I still sometimes reverted to "said" without realizing I'd done it. But for the most part, I found my rhythm and groove quickly, and actually enjoyed writing in this tense.
Who knew!
So there you have it. You know how I continually refer to this writing-toward-publication thing as a journey? This is yet another example. And it feels wonderful!
What about you? Have you morphed into anything lately?
WAIT, DID I JUST SAY THAT?
Okay, sometimes it makes me panic. As in, have I left behind my roots and moved on--for real? Can the I-was-born-this-way in me have morphed so dramatically?
Really??
Well, let me clarify. If the word "plotter" conjures visions of carefully annotated outlines or neat stacks of numbered notecards, that's not me. But I've spoken before, in glowing terms, of Blake Snyder's "beat sheet" and the marvelous way it translates to novel writing (it's designed for screenplays), which definitely falls into the "plotter" category.
And I'm officially saying that I will never write another novel without a beat sheet.
Yep. I said never!
I've just finished a WIP in 3 months, which is my normal time frame. But THIS time, I've got a story with an arc that isn't broken in twelve places. It WORKS! Now, that doesn't mean the piece doesn't need a whole lot of work. In fact, I'm already super-antsy to dig in. (This, and I promised myself I would tuck this novel away until much later. Hah! You know how it goes.)
But, truly, the difference between THIS first draft and my LAST first draft is astounding. And I don't want to go back to the way things were.
It makes a huge difference to know where you're going. And I don't just mean the ending--I think that, for the most part, even the most hard-core pantsers have at least some idea where the story will end. But "knowing where you're going" is about way more than just "The End." The exhilaration of ALWAYS knowing where I was going next--even if I'd just come up with a new scene or secondary storyline--is indescribable. And so FREEING!
Yes, I've converted. Chortle, applaud, roll your eyes, or lament at will.
On top of the whole I'm-a-plotter-now thing, my WIP is written in first person present. And, yeah. I used to HATE first person present. As in, Hate. Capitalized. But you know how a story often begs to be told a certain way? That's what happened. This story is a fairly intense YA dystopian (I can't stop writing them!), and from the moment I conceived it, I knew it had to be first person present.
Funny how, even three quarters of the way through, I still sometimes reverted to "said" without realizing I'd done it. But for the most part, I found my rhythm and groove quickly, and actually enjoyed writing in this tense.
Who knew!
So there you have it. You know how I continually refer to this writing-toward-publication thing as a journey? This is yet another example. And it feels wonderful!
What about you? Have you morphed into anything lately?
Monday, March 5, 2012
Winners for March Secret Agent
Winning numbers have been drawn for March Secret Agent and the owners have all been emailed their entry numbers.
If you didn't get an email, I'm sorry; that means your ticket number wasn't selected.
Here is the complete list, so you may double check:
If you didn't get an email, I'm sorry; that means your ticket number wasn't selected.
Here is the complete list, so you may double check:
- 6D72FZHT as ENTRY #1
- K9OF9X65 as ENTRY #2
- DN0UZO48 as ENTRY #3
- PET87S1T as ENTRY #4
- YOHQCN53 as ENTRY #5
- ULGFSMD2 as ENTRY #6
- WO1I5LKZ as ENTRY #7
- YQQ447KE as ENTRY #8
- G8GV58X1 as ENTRY #9
- 8M7ES82E as ENTRY #10
- XELR0258 as ENTRY #11
- 77L7V8UT as ENTRY #12
- 1UREP6PE as ENTRY #13
- RNZ1ARX2 as ENTRY #14
- JGJEKBD5 as ENTRY #15
- EGRFRC0B as ENTRY #16
- OEJ3OXHQ as ENTRY #17
- I2G2YKI2 as ENTRY #18
- 69LBMU4U as ENTRY #19
- 0AXJ5LSR as ENTRY #20
- 42ZRCT66 as ENTRY #21
- 85PJRO68 as ENTRY #22
- 3SJ4GK25 as ENTRY #23
- ZFMCZ59S as ENTRY #24
- 2YCN2U5L as ENTRY #25
- DTXM98JO as ENTRY #26
- RMZM7KCF as ENTRY #27
- 3IY31RUC as ENTRY #28
- PPENQJEP as ENTRY #29
- EREXC99H as ENTRY #30
- 28WMOL4M as ENTRY #31
- K1ZFVIGO as ENTRY #32
- NZ6NIL1W as ENTRY #33
- DVFZ7H6H as ENTRY #34
- JU6AB3S8 as ENTRY #35
- UY651ZTT as ENTRY #36
- BE1SS4C4 as ENTRY #37
- PEBNKHLX as ENTRY #38
- ZW86FHJP as ENTRY #39
- CU2SRLMY as ENTRY #40
- WXVEDIB7 as ENTRY #41
- C88TFA3K as ENTRY #42
- BKVFXT7S as ENTRY #43
- M9XVEZAW as ENTRY #44
- F1GV2NVO as ENTRY #45
- EUY5Q4NU as ENTRY #46
- FMHLDS4U as ENTRY #47
- G35MZYH5 as ENTRY #48
- 3AOYKJGW as ENTRY #49
- 8GXKZJM6 as ENTRY #50
Friday, March 2, 2012
Friday Fricassee
So, what's the verdict -- more First Line Grabbers or thumbs down?
Seems to me, overall, that it was a positive experience. I was impressed with the bluntness-without-insensitivity that went on in the comment boxes. The Round One yeses and nos were particularly sharp and clear in their reasons, pulling no punches.
What I found most fascinating was the way that adding the next two sentences had the power to completely change my perception of the first sentence. Which points to the probability that, while a strong first sentence is definitely important, it's not stand-alone.
I'm sure we all knew that. But it was interesting to watch it in action.
When I explained the First Line Grabber to Mr. A, he smarmily suggested I enter the original first line of my now-shelved MG fantasy. Because he knows how dumb it was, and he delights in quoting it to me whenever he feels so inspired.
You're dying to read it, aren't you?
*Hem.* Here it is:
“I caaaannffgggghhhh…”
Yes, that's right. My main character was slipping under the water in the opening scene. I thought it would be catchy to, yanno, jump right into that near-drowning and kick things off.
I can imagine the comments I would have gotten in the First Line Grabber.
NO. This means absolutely nothing to me.
NO. Not only do I hate opening novel with dialogue, I don't even understand this.
NO. Utter nonsense.
NO. We don't even know who's talking or what the heck is going on.
NO. Just no.
NO. Who's your agent again?
After several drafts of clinging to my beloved first line (and even taking out a few vowels and consonants to make it a little shorter), I finally backed up my story a little bit and opened it prior to the moment when Kate falls in the water.
To wit:
Kate Raddish lived on an island and could not swim, which made her an anomaly from the start.
You may or may not like it, but you've got to admit it's better than the first one.
At any rate, it's water under the bridge, and I think (I hope!) my more recent first lines are stronger. I enjoyed the First Line Grabber and will happily run more of the same if the majority of you would enjoy that. Today's your day to offer direct feedback, so fire away.
Oh, and one more thing. This contest/crit was one of my spur-of-the-moment ideas, and as such it was only announced a few hours before submissions opened, and by the time the subscriber emails went out, submissions had closed. I did, however, tweet about it a lot that morning. So if you are not following me on Twitter, PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO FOLLOW ME NOW: @AUTHORESSANON You will often get announcements on Twitter before you'll see them here.
Happy first-weekend-of-March!
Seems to me, overall, that it was a positive experience. I was impressed with the bluntness-without-insensitivity that went on in the comment boxes. The Round One yeses and nos were particularly sharp and clear in their reasons, pulling no punches.
What I found most fascinating was the way that adding the next two sentences had the power to completely change my perception of the first sentence. Which points to the probability that, while a strong first sentence is definitely important, it's not stand-alone.
I'm sure we all knew that. But it was interesting to watch it in action.
When I explained the First Line Grabber to Mr. A, he smarmily suggested I enter the original first line of my now-shelved MG fantasy. Because he knows how dumb it was, and he delights in quoting it to me whenever he feels so inspired.
You're dying to read it, aren't you?
*Hem.* Here it is:
“I caaaannffgggghhhh…”
Yes, that's right. My main character was slipping under the water in the opening scene. I thought it would be catchy to, yanno, jump right into that near-drowning and kick things off.
I can imagine the comments I would have gotten in the First Line Grabber.
NO. This means absolutely nothing to me.
NO. Not only do I hate opening novel with dialogue, I don't even understand this.
NO. Utter nonsense.
NO. We don't even know who's talking or what the heck is going on.
NO. Just no.
NO. Who's your agent again?
After several drafts of clinging to my beloved first line (and even taking out a few vowels and consonants to make it a little shorter), I finally backed up my story a little bit and opened it prior to the moment when Kate falls in the water.
To wit:
Kate Raddish lived on an island and could not swim, which made her an anomaly from the start.
You may or may not like it, but you've got to admit it's better than the first one.
At any rate, it's water under the bridge, and I think (I hope!) my more recent first lines are stronger. I enjoyed the First Line Grabber and will happily run more of the same if the majority of you would enjoy that. Today's your day to offer direct feedback, so fire away.
Oh, and one more thing. This contest/crit was one of my spur-of-the-moment ideas, and as such it was only announced a few hours before submissions opened, and by the time the subscriber emails went out, submissions had closed. I did, however, tweet about it a lot that morning. So if you are not following me on Twitter, PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO FOLLOW ME NOW: @AUTHORESSANON You will often get announcements on Twitter before you'll see them here.
Happy first-weekend-of-March!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Our First Line Grabber Winners
CJ Redwine has made her decision! The following entries are our winners:
#2 Gallop
#4 The Alterae
#11 Le Petite Mort and the Heart Table (WIP)
#12 Aligned
#15 The Center of Gravity (WIP)
Congratulations! And applause to ALL FIFTEEN of our Round Two participants.
WINNERS: Please send your first 500 words to me at facelesswords(at)gmail.com. (Yes, I'm doing these by hand. No bot involved.) Your excerpts will be posted for critique on March 13, so please send them by March 12.
Feel free to edit your first three sentences, and make sure your excerpt is in tiptop shape before sending.
Because...THERE WILL BE EYEBALLS. Quite a few eyeballs, actually.
That's all I'm saying.
*grin*
#2 Gallop
#4 The Alterae
#11 Le Petite Mort and the Heart Table (WIP)
#12 Aligned
#15 The Center of Gravity (WIP)
Congratulations! And applause to ALL FIFTEEN of our Round Two participants.
WINNERS: Please send your first 500 words to me at facelesswords(at)gmail.com. (Yes, I'm doing these by hand. No bot involved.) Your excerpts will be posted for critique on March 13, so please send them by March 12.
Feel free to edit your first three sentences, and make sure your excerpt is in tiptop shape before sending.
Because...THERE WILL BE EYEBALLS. Quite a few eyeballs, actually.
That's all I'm saying.
*grin*
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