Know Thy Characters

Recently, I received a very heart-felt email from my MA, Traci. I love her. She is my go-to gal, and supports me and my work, and just rocks out. The whole Omnific Publishing team has been amazing so far. Supporting me though I know I drive them crazy with all my insecurities and fear, and wanting to do things my way lol. Yes. I have control issues. I'm a new author and scared about the upcoming release of DESTINY'S FIRE. I want it to be as painless as possible. But, I know there will be some rough bumps, and I'm bracing myself for them--toughening up my skin.

One of her main concerns was the name of one of my main guys: Jace. *Gasp* Traci and some of my betas have voiced their concern for my Jace sharing a name with a hot lead guy from the TMI series. To be honest, and I know this may shock some of you, when I was working up my character outlines, dreaming my book up, I didn't know about the series. How? you may ask. Because, I'm a writer. Sometimes I get lost in my own world and do not read for a while lol. As I posted here yesterday, I shut down and focus on my book. After it was mentioned that there was a HUGE character out there with this name, of course I ran out and bought a copy. With relief, I realized that my Jace was not at all like CC's Jace. Though I love her Jace, he's just not mine.

I was asked recently, if before DF releases, I'd want to change his name. This is very difficult for me. I've spent the last year with my Jace, Reese, and Dez. To me, these are real people and I love them dearly. I picture Jace in my head, and to me, there's no other name that suits him =( He's my Jace. But, I don't want to be smeared across GR, accused of ripping off a famous author. There's enough of that going on. However, a name is a name. People all over the world share names. There's a poet named Trisha Wolfe. People come to my website thinking they are getting her, and others go to her site thinking they will find me lol. We've had a good laugh about this. Hey, it happens.

So I'm sending this out there. Although I love "my Jace" so so so very much, I wonder what you guys think. Here's my very first teaser featuring a scene with Jace. What do you think? Is the world big enough for two, three, maybe even *sigh* four Jace's? *Hugs*

I'm still Alive

I'm here! Still breathing. I know I've been absent on the blog, Twitter, Facebook, pretty much on all the social network sites, but I promise I'm here lol.

When I get into writer mode, it's difficult for me to stop to tweet or write a blog post. I really have to shut myself down in order to focus on the book. But . . . the good news? After a few weeks of writing I've hit the 40k mark! Yay! My word count goal is at around 80,000 for book number four. So, I'm halfway through the rough draft.

I don't know how to express the joy I feel for getting closer to completing my fourth book. Sure, two of them did not make it. But I'm not one bit sorry I wrote either. I learned so much from those books, and even used some scenes from them in my other stories. I do plan on revisiting book number 2 within the next year. Those characters just won't leave me alone, so at some point, I need to finish the rewrite and see where it goes.

But book number four? I have to admit, I'm in LOVE with it. At dinner, I can't even hold a conversation because all I can hear are the characters in my head telling me to hurry up and chew, swallow, and get back to writing about them. I literally fall asleep dreaming up different aspects of the world, thinking of new ways to add a twist to the realm. I'm that invested in this story.

So writers, how goes the writing? Are your characters whispering in your ear? How do you spend your writing day? Are you much better than me at balancing social media lol? Happy writing!

Interview: YA Author Zoraida Cordova - The Vicious Deep

Hi guys! I'd like to welcome debut YA author and fellow Apocalypsie Zoraida Cordova. Welcome to my humble blog, Zoraida! Congrats on your debut YA THE VICIOUS DEEP. And thanks so much for agreeing to do this interview after my incessant stalking, uh, I mean fangirl-ing.

First question, and one I think your future fans NEED to know. How you do pronounce your name?

Ready, O-kay?! Gimme a ZOR Gimme an EYE Gimme a DUH! What do you spell? ZORAIDA ;) 

I've always wanted to be a cheerleader. 

But seriously? I was named after my paternal grandmother. She was half Spaniard and half Italian. I guess the name is Spanish with an arabic influence since it means "enchanted woman" in arabic. As in, "enchanted to meet you." 

Check out my youtube introductory video to learn more about me.

I think it's a gorgeous name. And it suits your gorgeousness! Are you a vamp girl or a unicorn girl? Explain.

I'm a vamp girl, all the way. Unicorns are pretty in a rainbow kind of way. Nobody wants to be that good all the time. Vampires can go either way. I feel like unicorns are these pretentious rays of sunshine, all clean and sparkly and holier-than-thou. Vampires are the way I like my men, brooding and with a dark side. 

That being said, I grew up with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the vampire books by Amelia Atwater Rhodes. So, I love vampires. 

Awesome! And, heh, have you seen my Buffy shrine? For all those out there that don't know what THE VICIOUS DEEP is about (and you should!) can you tell us about the story and the characters? 

The short: It's about the return of the Sea Court to Coney Island in search for their new king. Enter Tristan Hart, the reluctant hero of this tale. He's everything you want and don't want in a guy, and when he discovers he's the grandson of THE Sea King, the pressure is on. 

The long: Add the book to your Goodreads ;) 

What was your journey to publication like? Was it the longest battle that nearly did you in and you courageously conquered against all odds? Or was it easily mastered, in which you make me ill? (JK! I lurv you).

Don't throw stones at me, but I didn't even go through the query process. I started interning at a lit agency and she was all, "write a book." So I was like, "OK." Eventually, we sold The Vicious Deep + its sequel. 

However, don't be fooled. The first time around, with a non-fantasy book I wrote a few years ago, we got a lot of positive responses. It just wasn't a book for the market. I almost gave up. But then I remembered I was only 22 and in pretty good shape. So I smacked myself, because no one else was going to, and I wrote the book I was meant to write.

This is a blog post about our pub journey.

Okay, so I only hate you a little. ;p NO! I still love you! Congrats! Any advice for writers that are in the process of writing/querying/subbing? What is the one thing you think all writers need to know, your most valuable piece of advice? 

Read and write. 

Read your genre. 

Know the market. 

Writing is a combination of passion  and business. You're going to have to change a lot of things you believe are perfect. But if you're in this to make a career, then you have to out your feelings aside a lot. Get a critique partner that gives it to you straight. Network, but don't stalk.  

The best thing I did while writing my first novel is read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. That book changed the way I looked at my story. 

That is great advice! And so so true. Thanks for stopping by, Zoraida! You guys can find Zoraida in all these places. Go! Check her out: Her blog, Twitter, Goodreads, and YouTube.

**CLOSED* Destiny's Countdown Giveaways! 4 TEASER & The Scorpio Races

**CLOSED* Winner, Natalie, has been contacted via email. Congrats! Stop by soon for the next Destiny's Countdown Giveaway!*

Yay! It's October! My favorite month EVA! Know why? Because of Halloween, my birthday, Halloween, awesome new releases, and . . . now . . . the first time I get to do a TEASER! Yup. It's now only 85 days until the release of DESTINY'S FIRE, and I'm so excited to start giving you guys a little something each month during the giveaways from the book! Woot! And in OCTOBER! That just makes me all kinds of happy and shooting rainbows and unicorns. It's a bundle of goodness and cute babies. And of course, the countdown giveaway ;)

DESTINY'S FIRE TEASER:

I ran for my weapon but he grabbed my ankle, tumbling me on top of him. I straddled either side of him, anchoring him to the floor. “Looks like you lose this time, Jace.”

            I kept him pinned while reaching for my Charge Dagger. My fingertips grazed the bronze hilt, but Jace clutched my thighs, refusing to let me stretch far enough to grasp my weapon fully. With a grunt, he rolled on top of me, securing my arms to the cement floor.

“Why didn’t you go for it when you had me?” he asked, catching me off guard for a moment. I held my breath, staring into his blue eyes. Not blue like the color of water or sky, but electric blue—glowing. “You could of just snapped my neck, you know?” Jace let out an exasperated groan. “Tilt your head back. This time I’m going to teach you a lesson about losing focus.”

Now for the giveaway! Enter for a chance to WIN a copy of THE SCORPIO RACES. RULES: US only. Have to be a follower of this blog. Leave a comment with your name and email, and let me know YOUR favorite thing about October. That's it! Thanks and good luck!

From Goodreads: It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

YA Bound Blog Tours Update

Hi guys! Just a quick post to keep you in the loop with what's going on over at my book blog, YA Bound. We're hosting the ON A DARK WING Blog Tour by Jordan Dane for the months of December and January. Tour sign ups are going on right now. If you're a blogger and interested in joining this tour, please read over the post and sign up!

Also, we're part of a couple blog tours going on now that's giving away books and swag. THE WILLOW'S: HAVEN and BRIDGER. So follow the links and comment to enter to WIN!

There's more blog tours lined up for this fall and winter. I'll try to keep it updated so you won't miss out on the fun!