Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Great Re-Write

The journey with my current WIP (work in progress for all of you non-writer types) began one Saturday morning in April as I was washing dishes. I was already working on an adult novel that I was iffy about but was having fun planning out but once this new idea popped into my head, the old book was no longer an option.

I spent the next months writing as much as I could and was thrilled to finish the first rough draft in October. I immediately thought, "Wow! I'm fast! I'll have this book done by the end of the year and start querying and then BAM! I'll have an incredible book deal!"

Luckily, I had the common sense not to send this first draft out without revising it.

Luckily, I took a few months off to really think about where I wanted this story to go.

Luckily, I have some really amazing writing partners and beta readers who have listened to me babble on and on about the story and where it should/could go.

Thanks to them, I am now totally rewriting my WIP. It needed it and I'm happy about it. The only negative thing is that I was about 75% done with revisions to the old version, so I'm essentially starting over. The part stings a little but I am confident that the story will be much better for it.

The lesson I've learned is that as a writer, I need to trust my instincts. I'm glad I did.

Oh, and my writing partners deserve a very large gift when this book is actually finished.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

YA Higheway - Choose your narrator?


Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ from
YA Highway where each week there is a writing- or reading-related question for us to answer. Check out YA Highway to follow along with everyone who participates. :-)

This Week's Topic:
Some audiobooks are read by celebrities. Most recently, Cassandra Clare's CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS was partly read by Ed Westwick of Gossip Girl.

So, if you got to choose a celebrity narrator for the audio book of your WIP or your favorite novel, who would it be and why?

Since I really don't have a clue as to who would have the right voice for my book, I'll go with the names of some of my favorite actors. My current WIP is from the female POV, so my choices would be:

Rachel McAdams (she sort of has the look of my character, too, which is nice):



Kate Beckinsale (in an American accent, of course):


They are both beautiful and have great screen presence so maybe their voice would fit for an audio book, too. 

What do you think?