Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Insecure Writers Support Group: January


Welcome to another year of monthly posts with Insecure Writer's Support Group! If you're new to writing or blogging, this is a great community to network with which spans across writing genres. Check out the IWSG Facebook group and IWSG website. Today the site is announcing the winners of their anthology contest.

I posted about last year's and this year's writing goals on Monday. Today, another new development I'll be a part of is the Writing With Mentors group blog started by writers involved with Pitch Wars. The blog debuts today and will feature twice weekly posts on writing and the publishing business. I hope you stop by and take a look!

Which brings me to this quote:



Any success I've had so far in my writing career, I owe in part to those who've offered help and support. I somewhat blindly navigated my way through query writing and pitch contests and found an agent fairly quickly. But what to do then? Each step forward in publishing leads to more questions and uncertainty. Sometimes I wonder, how did I get here? People are asking ME for writing advice? When does it feel real, like I actually know what I'm doing?

Maybe never?

I'm so thankful for the many blogs and twitter chats and Facebook groups I've read through and joined where writers shared whatever scrap of knowledge they knew. Even linking to a website of writing articles for me was a huge deal when I knew nothing. Now I look back and think, well I might know a *few* things. :)

What's a step you've taken with your writing that you're proud of?

Make sure to visit the blog hop list and check out a selection of participating blogs to meet new writers!

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Thief of Lies: Library Jumpers Release Day!

Thief of Lies_BannerFinal_RGB

I'm pumped to be taking part in Brenda Drake's Release Day Launch (hosted by Jen Halligan PR) for THIEF OF LIES (Library Jumpers #1)! 

Brenda Drake is the person behind writer pitch events Pitch Madness, Pitch Wars and the twitter pitch party #PitMad. She's helped dozens of aspiring authors connect with literary agents and publishers. Let's show her some love today with her long-awaited Library Jumpers series.

Check out the book and excerpt below, and be sure to enter the giveaways!


Thief of Lies by Brenda Drake
Thief of Lies: Library Jumpers #1
by Brenda Drake 
Publisher: Entangled Teen 
Pub Date: January 5, 2016
Gia Kearns would rather fight with boys than kiss them. That is, until Arik, a leather-clad hottie in the Boston Athenaeum suddenly disappears. While examining the book of world libraries he abandoned, Gia unwittingly speaks the key that sucks her and her friends into a photograph and transports them into a Paris library, where Arik and his Sentinels—magical knights charged with protecting humans from the creatures traveling across the gateway books—rescue them from a demonic hound. Jumping into some of the world’s most beautiful libraries would be a dream come true for Gia, if she weren’t busy resisting her heart or dodging an exiled wizard seeking revenge on both the Mystik and human worlds. Add a French flirt obsessed with Arik and a fling with a young wizard, and Gia must choose between her heart and her head, between Arik’s world and her own, before both are destroyed. Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Excerpt from THIEF OF LIES

We stepped into the Children’s Library and stopped in the center of the room. A massive light fixture designed to resemble the solar system dominated the ceiling. The hushed rumble of two male voices came from one of the reading nooks. I crossed the room, paused at the built-in aquarium, and inspected the fish. Afton halted beside me.
“This is great,” I whispered, not wanting to disturb whoever was in there with us. “Fish and books. What’s not to love?” Spotting a sign referencing classic books, I searched the shelves for my all-time favorite novel.
The male voices stopped and there was movement on the other side of the bookcase. I paused to listen, and when the voices started up again, I continued my hunt.
Warmth rushed over me when I found The Secret Garden. With its aged green cover, it was the same edition I remembered reading as a young girl. The illustrations inside were beautiful, and I just had to show them to Afton. Coming around the corner of the case, a little too fast for being in a library, I bumped into a guy dressed in leather biker gear. My book and notebook fell and slapped against the floor.
“Oh, I’m so sorry—” I lost all train of thought at the sight of him. He was gorgeous with tousled brown hair and dark eyes. Tall. He flashed me a crooked smile, a hint of dimples forming in his cheeks, before bending over and picking up my forgotten book.
He held the book out to me. “Mistress Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?” He’d quoted a verse from The Secret Garden with a sexy accent that tickled my ears.
I stood there like an idiot, my heart pounding hard against my chest, unable to think of a response. The fact that he had read the book and could recite a line from it stunned me. And impressed me.
Say something. Anything.
“Good read there,” he said when it was obvious I wasn’t going to speak. He winked and nodded to a guy behind him before ambling off. When he reached the end of the row, he paused and glanced back at me, flashing me another killer smile, and then he disappeared around the bookcase.
Tingles rose in my stomach. He looked back at me. The guy following his Royal Hotness gave me a final appraisal before departing. His stringy blond hair hung over his large forehead. It looked like he hadn’t washed it in weeks, and there was probably an acne breeding ground under it. He grinned, and I broke eye contact with him, making for the nearest window.
Oh God, you’re so lame, Gia. You could have finished the quote or anything less tragic than not speaking at all. The response I would have said played in my head. With silver bells, and cockleshells, and marigolds all in a row. Why? Why hadn’t I said that?

About the Author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Instagram
Brenda DrakeBrenda Drake grew up the youngest of three children, an Air Force brat, and the continual new kid at school. Her fondest memories growing up are of her eccentric, Irish grandmother’s animated tales, which gave her a strong love for storytelling. So it was only fitting that she would choose to write stories with a bend toward the fantastical. When she’s not writing or hanging out with her family, she haunts libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops, or reads someplace quiet and not at all exotic (much to her disappointment).

Thief of Lies by Brenda Drake

Giveaways!

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Follow Entangled Teen's THIEF OF LIES Blog Tour for more chances to win the prizes below!

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Monday, January 4, 2016

2015 Goals Wrap-up, 2016 Goals


Welcome to 2016! No flying cars yet, and hoverboards only sort of made it. Meanwhile, I'm planning my writing and reading goals for the year.



First, here's a peek at a fun thing I tried out this year. A jar where I wrote and collected accomplishments or promising moments. I first heard of this through writer Jaime Morrow. Sometimes we get so impatient with where we want to be, we blur past all the points that brought us where we are. It was fun to look through my collected moments, which I kept all related to writing. I added a few moments at the end, and I'm looking forward to adding more!


As for goals, I'm going through last year's goals to see how I did:

2015 Goals:

Writing:
  1. Finish rewrite of contemporary YA from Nano 2013.
  2. Edit and develop Nano 2014 manuscript.
  3. Potentially revisit historical YA MS, and/or develop new idea
  4. On the freelance front: starting tomorrow, I'll be posting a joint chat-review of Downton Abbey season 5 over at pop culture site The Stake. Please go visit their site and follow on twitter!
Updates:
  1. I did finish that rewrite! The story, SUNSET SUMMER, took first place in Toronto Romance Writers Catherine contest in the YA category and netted an editor request!
  2. I did not do anything with my Nano 2014 project and instead wrote a new MS which I'm editing now (and SUPER excited about), and I did Nano 2015 with another new contemporary YA story.
  3. Speaking of the Downton Abbey recaps, I will be joining my writer friend Catherine for the final season of Downton and our recaps will go up on The Stake once again! We also recapped Outlander last year and are planning to do so again when the series starts up.
Blog:
  1. Keep an active blog.
  2. Continue to host book tours and cover reveals.
  3. Feature a guest post.
  4. Potentially find a group blog to contribute to.
Updates:

For the most part, I kept an active blog. I plan to keep this blog running when I upgrade to my new website, though I may be blogging less frequently. You can find more consistent posting on twitter and Instagram, both places I'm @StephScottYA I love the visual aspect of Instagram and the very fun book community there. 

As for a group blog, I joined The Sweet Sixteens group of 2016 debut YA and Middle Grade authors! They have a lot of great content, so please check them out! I'll make sure to share any posts related to my own 2016 release! 

Plus, another group blog I'll be contributing to will launch this week. Details coming on Wednesday!

Professional (writing):
  1. Expand YARWA's online presence through my VP Communications role.
  2. Attend local RWA chapter retreat craft workshop feat. agent and author Donald Maass (March)
  3. Plan & attend Day of YA at RWA Nationals in New York City (July)
  4. Attend and network at Lady Jane Reading Salon (Naperville, every other month). Also network and attend author signings at Anderson's Bookshop.
  5. Attend a Chicago North RWA meeting.
  6. Submit to contests with editor final judges, including the Golden Heart.
Updates:


I was voted in for a second term on the YARWA board! We started hosting twitter chats and we'll see where those go in the coming year. The Donald Maass workshop was awesome, and I had such a great time at RWA Nationals in NYC including Day of YA. I attended probably half or more of the Lady Jane Salons in my area featuring local romance writers, went to a few signings, and also met a totally different cadre of writers at Chicago Writers Conference. I did not go to Chicago North's chapter at all, but a number of their members joined our chapter and I know more of the group. 

I subbed to the Golden Heart and a couple other RWA chapter contests, including the one where I placed first :)

Reading:

2015 Reading Challenge

2015 Reading Challenge
Stephanie has read 1 book toward her goal of 50 books.

2016 Goals:

Writing:

  1. Revise current YA manuscript and get it to agent and editors this spring!
  2. Revise a NaNoWriMo project (2 to choose from)
  3. Write a short story for a secret project!
  4. Possibly craft an older Nano novel for a serial release on Wattpad (novella length)
  5. Nano 2016 because I can't help but draft something new! 

Reading:

  1. Goodreads standard goal: 50 books
  2. Read 5 classics
  3. I'm joining a book club! It's with in-person friends of mine including a spouses & significant others. All of our choices will be authors who are women or persons of color. We're starting with my choice, Mindy Kaling's new memoir!
Professional (Writing-related):
  1. A goal I thought I'd written was to be on a panel at a conference. I'm slated for two this year: RWA Spring Fling in Chicago suburbs in May, and RT Booklover's Con in April in Las Vegas (!!). The first is YA Publishing panel with 3 other authors, and the RT is Pitch Wars Road Show to help writers prep for an RT pitch event. Related goal is to book more panels based on networking from these events.
  2. Go to Book Expo America which will be in Chicago this spring!
  3. Continue to finish manuscripts to send out for editor submission.
  4. Support other 2016 debut authors by reading and reviewing their books, and promoting them online and personally.
  5. Possibly mentor again in 2016 Pitch Wars.
  6. Develop quality programs for my home RWA chapter (program committee) and promote the chapter and YARWA on social media.
  7. MY OWN BOOK DEBUT! A million related items fall under this, but my main goal is to plan ahead where I can and enjoy the ride. Many updates to come!
What are your goals for 2016?


Thursday, December 31, 2015

Goodbye 2015!

Hi everyone!

I'm seeing a lot of year-end posts and thought I'd send out a quick post with a few of my favorite discoveries from the year. More to come in 2016 with my debut book (!!) and likely a new website. Next week, some friends of mine have book releases, so stay tuned for posts on their books!

Podcasts

The boom mic strikes again! Photo: Previously.TV

I wrote a post about podcasts earlier this year, and I have a bunch of favorites. But one major fave is Previously.TV's Again With This: 90210 edition. That's the original Beverly Hills, 90210 dissected in discussion WITH VISUAL AIDS. Thanks to NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour for pointing this one out. A friend of mine and I are hooked. I never knew Brandon Walsh was such a kooz.







Instagram!
Photo: @StephScottYA

I've had this app for years, but only recently connected with the wonderful book and reader community there. On work breaks, I love to scroll through pretty book pics or fashion and photography. I did a December photo challenge hosted by a few bloggers that gave me all sorts of photo ideas. It's such a fun way to connect.


Check out a few favorite accounts below! @thereaderbee  @halfbl00dprincess  @kindredvintage  @bookvibes
I'm @StephScottYA come follow me!


Cheese Plates

I feel super fancy when I bring these to parties. This one is Star Wars themed. You know, all those actual Star Wars cheeses ... or cheeses I made up names for to match Star Wars like Han's Havarti and BB-8s Black Pepper Bellavitano.



Fargo

This the year I sort of gave up being on top of everything. Too many movies, TV shows, streaming options, not to mention books and OH YEAH WRITING BOOKS TOO. Yeah, I can't keep up. One show I totally loved was season two of Fargo on FX. It's dark, moodly, pitch black in humor, and so well casted and acted. Each episode is like a short film.

And for as many people who die (it's about Midwest gangsters), there is a sweetness threaded through each season with a few good people to root for.


That's my very short list! Just short enough so you can all get on your merry way to celebrate an event we have no control over--time passing. May your time pass with loved ones and good food. See you in 2016!

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Thief of Lies by Brenda Drake


Thief of Lies is coming! I'm so happy to be part of this tour to support author Brenda Drake! She's given so much to the writing community with her blog contests like Pitch Madness and Pitch Wars. The twitter pitch event #PitMad was her idea!

Check out the excerpt below and details on the book.  

Thief of Lies (Library Jumpers, #1)
Release date:  1/5/16
Author: Brenda Drake

About the book:

Gia Kearns would rather fight with boys than kiss them. That is, until Arik, a leather clad hottie in the Boston Athenaeum, suddenly disappears. While examining the book of world libraries he abandoned, Gia unwittingly speaks the key that sucks her and her friends into a photograph and transports them into a Paris library, where Arik and his Sentinels—magical knights charged with protecting humans from the creatures traveling across the gateway books—rescue them from a demonic hound.

Jumping into some of the world's most beautiful libraries would be a dream come true for Gia, if she weren’t busy resisting her heart or dodging an exiled wizard seeking revenge on both the Mystik and human worlds. Add a French flirt obsessed with Arik and a fling with a young wizard, and Gia must choose between her heart and her head, between Arik's world and her own, before both are destroyed.

Where to Pre-Order:




Excerpt:

I pressed the screen, and it went dark. “How do we know he’s not being forced to say this?”
                “The password, May Agnes guide you,” Lei replied. “She’s the patron saint of Asile.”
                Agnes? That was the silver woman’s name that formed from my globe. Did the saints have something to do with the Chiavi?
                I faced Ricardo. “How did you know I was here?”
                “The werehounds tracked your scent from a shirt Katy…excuse me, your nana…gave us.”
                “Can your pack help us save Couve?” Arik asked him.
                “They will, but Gia must go with me.” He noticed the protest forming on my lips. “Merlin said no exceptions. I’m to get you to the shelter.”
                From the corridor came yells, scuffles, and the continual wail of the warning siren.
                “I can’t go with you,” I said. “I have to fight with them.”
                “She can’t fight with us,” Lei said, glancing at the door. “She almost killed Kale.”
                I turned to Sinead. “You know what I can do.”
                Sinead gave me a pity smile. “Yes, but you have no control over it. Let Ricardo take you to your father and friends.”
                I thought of Kale lying motionless, near death, and I hated that she was right. As much as I wanted to stay, I might be more hindrance than help. I caved. “Okay,” I said, defeated. Lei flew out of the room with the Laniars on her heels.
                Sinead hugged me, then rushed after them. Arik moved over to me and cupped my face gently in his hands. His eyes held the intensity that always drew me to him.
                I swallowed my breath in anticipation. All the sounds around us went silent.
                He bent and lightly brushed my lips with a kiss. His lips were soft and oh, so tender. Butterflies swooped and curled inside me, and it felt like the ground disappeared from beneath my feet. He pulled back a little and said, “Regardless of the fact that you’re a royal pain in the arse, I fancy you. Listen to Ricardo and don’t do anything rash.”
                He gave me another kiss and rushed out the door. My heart twisted in my chest as he disappeared. I touched my mouth and exhaled. He liked me. It was against the laws, but he told me he fancied me. Maybe we had no future, but we had now.
                “What a sweet display,” Ricardo said, dragging me out of my haze. “I’m not one for rules or laws, but I’d be careful there. The punishment would be much worse for him than you.”
                “Why?” I stared at the door as if I’d see Arik there.
                “He’s a leader. He knows better.” Ricardo headed to the window. “Are you ready to fly?”
                “Did you say fly?”

Brenda Drake, the youngest of three children, grew up an Air Force brat and the continual new kid at school. Her fondest memories growing up is of her eccentric, Irish grandmother’s animated tales, which gave her a strong love for storytelling. So it was only fitting that she would choose to write stories with a bend toward the fantastical. When Brenda’s not writing or doing the social media thing, she’s haunting libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops or reading someplace quiet and not at all exotic (much to her disappointment).


Friday, December 11, 2015

Fall Reading Challenge Wrap-Up!

Technically, it's still fall for a few more days, so I'm going to wrap up my personal fall reading challenge! Here are some mini reviews of what I read November and December:


21893566Author I know:

Dating Down by Stefanie Lyons. I met Stefanie when we sat next to each other in a Story Studio Chicago class. She had just finished her MFA and had written this very book, but it was not yet published. This is a book told in verse, which stretched me a little since I don't read a lot of poetry. I liked the variety of poems, and how each word mattered to the tone of the page.

Book by a Favorite Author

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Indecent Proposal by Molly O'Keefe. This author writes consistently deep and engaging characters. The heat level in her books (meaning the degree of explicit sexy-times) is about my max, which is probably tame for some, but just a word there if you're new to her or romance books. She is an author who uses the romance wholly in the development and conflict with her characters. Her characters are always interesting and never one-note. Every book of hers I read seems better than the last. She takes a trope and destroys it. Or jumps on board and makes it work. This is a marriage of convenience book, and it's contemporary. And it works. Molly O'Keefe is awesome, ya'll.


Something New

22875451The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. These are the authors behind the Fug Girls fashion blog, where the snark is focused on the outfit and not the wearer (take that, junky tabloids!). I've been following their blog for close to ten*cough* years,which seems crazy, but yeah. I trekked to Chicago's Printers' Row Lit Fest this summer to see them! The signing line was verrrry long, so I bought my copy later and now finally read it. Imagine Wills and Kate in England are Nick and Bex and Bex is American. This is a saga-of-sorts that follows their relationship from college, where Rebecca "Bex" Porter is an exchange student, through their royal wedding. The same feeling I had when I read Lauren Weisbergers' books (The Devil Wears Prada, and Everyone Worth Knowing) cropped up when reading this. Call it chick lit with pop culture savvy. I want these ladies to keep writing books. They also wrote two YAs which are fantastic!)

A Holiday or Seasonal Book

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Unwrapping Her Perfect Match by Kat Latham. I sneaked in this freebie by a writer at my same lit agency. This is set in England and part of her rugby romance series, but it's a stand-alone novella that doesn't require reading the rest of the books. But you should, obviously! I remember when she was putting this book together, she asked readers to vote on her blog between different covers. I love feeling a part of things!






These next two don't fit any of my reading challenge categories, but I read them so they count! 

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Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older. I listened to the audiobook version, which I highly recommend. the narrator is fantastic and brought the characters to life. This is urban fantasy YA with beautiful imagery of shadowy spirits using New York City's art and murals and music to communicate. It's a super cool concept told through the eyes of teen Sierra and her group of friends in Brooklyn. And it's a series! I am so on board. It's funny, creepy, haunting, and a lot of fun.





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Magnolia by Kristi Cook. I've had this on my To Read list for awhile and found it on a library trip (where I was supposed to be returning books, but you get how that goes). A sweet but not shallow YA romance that's like reverse Romeo & Juliet--two southern families bound by generations are ecstatic to join up a son and daughter who are "meant to be" ... to everyone but the two who are pressured to get together. When a hurricane rolls through their small town, the two must rely on each other to stay safe and take care of the family farm.




A few more: How to Lose a Bachelor by Anna Banks, a sweeter and funny romance from Entangled related to a reality show competition, and What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick, a YA contemporary about a sleepy beach town and the help vs. the wealthy. This took me awhile to get through (I think I started it over the summer), but it's a lovely book with some beautiful characterization.

That sounds like a lot of books! A few I started months ago and only now finished, and I also had ten whole days off in November to get caught up with reading and writing projects.


What have you read lately? Are you planning any reading challenges for 2016?

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Insecure Writers Support Group IWSG December

Welcome to the last IWSG post of 2015! The purpose of Insecure Writers Support Group is to share and encourage. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! 

Head here to Insecure Writers Support Group and visit a few new blogs. Pick your favorite number, click on the corresponding blog, and make sure to leave a comment. This is a great, supportive community for writers. There's also a Facebook group!




Today I want to talk about the opposite of writer's block. The reverse of procrastination, when you're so fueled to write you kept going, and going, and going. Maybe you have deadlines and projects other people are counting on. Maybe writing is your job and it pays your bills. Sometimes writing takes over, but after awhile, that constant mining for creativity can take its toll.

I'm taking an online course about organizing life to enhance creativity, which brought up how our creative minds need a break. The same way we need to get up from the chair and physically stretch, our writer brains need to defrag and do something else. Or? Burn out. Nobody wants that.

And then the instructor went ahead and listed some alternate activities. Including....

VIDEO GAMES. 

I did a double take. Right there with scrapbooking and gardening and going for a walk was the suggestion to play video games.

My Writing Instructor Told Me Video Games Enhance Creativity!

Do you know how long I've been waiting for someone to say this? It's especially timely for me since my favorite game franchise released a new edition: Fallout 4 last month. I may or may not have coordinated time off work with my husband over the release of this game. (Hey, us adults can do that and not just call in to work for a "sick day.") Fallout has everything; epic world-building, hundreds of quests, excellent writing (bonus!), great voice acting, doses of humor. It's so, so fun. 

And I felt like I needed permission to play. I've drilled it in my consciousness that I won't be a multi-published author if I don't multi-finish books (true). I also know, my brain gets fried if I don't take breaks.

We writers are hard on ourselves. I wrote two rough drafts in four months. I have projects in the works. I love it, but I also need to give my story-crafting brain some downtime.

And I need to build a not-up-to-code shanty in the irradiated wastelands for my settlements. Yup.

poorly constructed settelment Fallout 4


Have you ever had a time where you felt like you needed permission to take a break? What's your outlet from writing? 

Make sure to stop by the IWSG blogs!