Cover art!

Oh man, I love cover art day! It's like opening up a Christmas present. :D *squee* So here's my cover for: Fire in the Sky and Cursed: A vampire's tale. Yay! What do y'all think?!

There's a new genre in town!

Move over Dystopian YA's. The hot new genre is: CRAP! Yup, not kidding. Go read Pub Rants if you don't believe me.

After reading that I sort of feel both disheartened and encouraged. I basically blogged about this the other day, writers (knowingly or not) following trends. Listen y'all... you may not know me from Adam, or even want to believe a word I say but I've got some ins in this biz and I'm telling you loud and clear... that ship has sailed. Editors are seeming more and more disgusted by it, to the point that even if you come across a REALLY GREAT read they already have a preconceived notion of what they're getting and are 9/10's of the way toward rejecting it before they even read the first word! Can Dystopian/Tweeny glittery vamps still sell? Sure, but with the sheer amount of queries out there yours had better be not only FRESH but also Fan-Freakin-Tastic! That's a very tall order. Which is sad, but unfortunately part and parcel of the business.

We saw the fallout from paranormal romances just a few years ago. What would have sold before in no time flat would now make anyone hestitant to make an offer on simply because the market can't really sustain it. I've always felt like I tried to keep one step ahead of the 'hot' new thing in para (listen, I write paranormals and fantasy... I won't stop simply because I know the market for it sucks eggs now) but no sooner would I get a brilliant idea to write about a new species of demon (nephilim) than I see tons of novels dealing with the Judaeo-Christian version of demons. So what do I do? I submitted that novel to several agents, many of whom requested more and responded favorably before ultimately rejecting it. Why? Because they already had 1 too many authors writing demon books. In fact, 3 of those 4 agents asked me if I had anything else for them to read. That told me one thing, they weren't giving me the pat 'it just wasn't for me' answer. They sincerely liked my voice but just weren't sure they'd be able to sell this book when they already had authors on their roster (and I'd bet my last dollar... they're having a tough time selling those).

I'm not saying don't write the Dystopian or glittery vamp, I'm just saying understand your market and if NY is your ultimate goal then realize you may never sell that book, no matter how good it is. :( As for me, I came to the conclusion that readers tastes don't really change, so while NY has had enough of para and now it seems certain categories of YA... readers still like what they like and will give my little demon a chance. I decided I like writing paras too much to pursue NY any longer. I'll be self pubbing, for me... that's probably my only good option left.

For you... just decide if you're willing to go through the rigors and headaches of being told this is great, but sorry... just can't take you on right now. Who knows, lightening always strikes... maybe it'll strike you. Whatever you decide, just think it through and decide just how much you're willing to put up with to realize your dream.

Happy writing!

Disturbed

So the other day I read a freaky story on aol, straight from the Miami Herald. I can't stop thinking about it, not because I loved it, but because it disturbs me too much. I write fiction, in fiction I've no problem with the concept of zombies eating flesh to survive, why... because in real life it's NEVER supposed to happen. It's safe because its confined to the pages of a book. Just like dinosaurs are fun, NOW... how ever many years ago they walked this Earth in no way would I have wanted to personally know one. Not even the herbivores... I like my dinosaurs in bone form, thank you very much.

I don't even want to relate this story because it's given me bad dreams 2 days running, but I feel I need the catharsis of purging this from my subconscious so here it is, in all its unfiltered macabreness.

A cop was called to a scene of two men fighting under a freeway overpass in Miami this past weekend. When he arrived on scene it was to see a nude man straddling the prone form of the other. Naked was bent over the other, blood was everywhere. The cop got on his loud speaker and at gun point urged the man to back away. Then the cop heard a noise that chilled him to his core... the slurping of naked dude eating on the other man's face. Yes, eating.

He fired a shot into the air, again told the guy to back away. The guy laying down wasn't moving anymore. Naked guy was still eating his face. The cop fired a slug into his shoulder, dude got flung back and on bloody knuckles crawled his way back to the prone body and resumed eating. Cop fired off a total of six rounds, killing the cannibal only to discover when he walked up to the bodies, the dude who'd been eaten on was still alive!!!!

His entire face had been gnawed off. When I read the story last the man was in ICU fighting for his life. By all reports Cannibal was tweaking on coke and I dunno... maybe confused the homeless drifter for food? I don't have any bloody idea and we'll never know since he's dead now..but can you imagine? Even if that poor guy survives he'll never be the same. And I'm not just talking physically, spiritually, emotionally... if he survives he'll probably wish he hadn't. He was attacked and eaten on.. his face is gone. I'm sorry to make you all so sick with this story but it literally has turned my stomach for two days now and I just want to vomit when I think about it. That goes beyond mere mental illness, that act is about as depraved as a human can go. Is he even still considered human? Did the man even own a conscious? Even high as a kite could he really not tell he was chewing on a living man's face? My God that poor man, my heart bleeds for him. No one, no one! should ever have to go through something like that.

Too sad. :(

Six Sentence Sunday #4

Howdy folks! Happy Sunday (almost) and Happy almost Memorial Day! :D Red Rocket's Giants came in second place in the baseball tournament, we're so proud of him! Just a mini-brag before getting down to business. *vbg*

So thinking about what I wanted to post, I decided to go with a story I set aside last year. It's a great story and if it weren't for plot bunnies I'd be done with it already. LOL. Maybe posting some lines will spur me on to finishing.

So without further ado:

"Oh Alistar, what have you done?  Forgive me, dear wolf, my fight is not with you."  His eyes widened.  "Ignis," Memphis cried, energy pulsed from her hands and then she drove the fiery spear through his gut. Alistar fell to his knees, shock and pain scrawled fine lines around eyes that grew glassy and dull.  She held the flame in place until the light died and his soul fled.

;)

Fun Factoid Friday

What a week! Red Rocket finished his last day of fourth grade yesterday, we all went to sleep way too late and are looking forward to exploring more of Hawaii this summer! Dh has learned we've  been granted an extension, so we'll actually be living in Honolulu through 2017 God willing and yeah.. life is good! *vbg*

I'm halfway through Gerard's book and am happy where it's headed, am reading a pretty fantastic book *Retrieval* and so without further ado:

1. Oprah Winfrey makes $10 a second.

(No, I did not say an hour, a second... wow! I'm just... yeah, totally jealous)

2. Jean-Clause Van Damme learned to speak English by watching the cartoon "The Flinstone's".

(That explains so much...)

3. During his lifetime, Herman Melville's Moby Dick sold only 50 copies

(And as a writer, that totally depresses me)

Happy Memorial Day all!

Remember to thank a veteran. :)

Cover Art

LOVE posting cover art. It's like opening a present at Christmas for me! *smiles* So this is for book 2 of the Kingdom Series, currently being written entitled: Gerard's Beauty. Based on the Beauty and the Beast book, but with a twist. Of course. *wink* The beast in question is the hot head Gaston (although for copyright reasons his name has been changed to Gerard and there's actually a really funny story about why Gerard's name was changed to Gaston in the first place... but to find out, you'll have to read the book!) finally meeting his match in the sexy yet nerdy librarian, Betty Hart. I love this cover and feel like it really conveys the fairy tale like quality of the book!

Is too much of a good thing, too much?

You might be wondering what's gotten me to ask that question, well just this... seems like when anything suddenly becomes trendy (IE: Twilight, The Hunger Games) the masses jump ship and start writing nothing but YA. Years ago, Para Rom was all the rage and just about everyone I talked to was writing one. Even writers that traditionally only wrote contemporaries. Which inevitably meant the market got glutted, less and less writers were discovered in that genre and eventually burn out happened. Now you've got agents who are fed up with Para Rom. Which to me is sad, because I still love a good vampire novel. But you even mention the word and well... it ain't pretty.

So a couple years ago a new book kinda went global, Twilight (ever heard of it?) and suddenly vampire romance YA's exploded. Every. Where. Then here comes this bleak, dystopian tale of kids killing kids and now... it's also everywhere.

I'm not harping, because well... I've been very guilty of also following trends. Not thinking I am mind you, but an idea will strike and I'll think... why not? But here's the thing, it's sort of dawning on me.. once a book makes it the trend has actually already been in effect for 2-3 years. Say it takes you a year to write your book, get it all polished up nice and perty like.. well... now you're at 4 years behind the curve. Say, just say, all the stars align and an agent is still cuckoo for cocoa puffs (oh..hmm..sorry, haven't eaten lunch yet*blush*) dystopian society/vampire/erotica a la 50 Shades/insert trend here.. and they snap you up. Well that's just one hurdle amongst many. Now you have to convince NY that you're worth it. Say they do and they buy your book- but you're a newb author, so there's not gonna be much promotion for it and you're not going to get a quick release date *unless they're a start up company, which yeah... hasn't happened in oh... forever* You're looking at a potential release date of a year, maybe even two. Yes, I've seen it happen.

In the end, you followed a trend (knowingly or not) and you're now releasing a book 5 or 6 years after the mega hit came out. At that point the reader is sick of them, the market is glutted, and unfortunately your book gets no love and now the agent is wondering... what did I ever see in that?

(A slightly cynical what-if) But it could happen. I guess my point of this post is this... I love romances/UF and for two years now I've been trying to write a YA. Why? Because I'm a masochist, clearly.

I finished the 'YA', shopped it around, and got soundly rejected. I realize why... A. It doesn't stand out from the crowd, it's pretty much a been there done that type plot, but B. I'm a Fantasy/Adult Romance/UF girl...my YA wasn't really a YA at all. Yes, I had a 16 year old MC but she talked mature, she thought mature, and she got put into mature situations. In my case (and I can only speak for myself) I followed a trend hoping to get some recognition but my 'voice' is pure adult. I just couldn't make it work and I know I'm not the only one.

So write what you love. Forget the trend. Who knows, if you stick to your guns long enough you might be the one to churn out the next mega success. So here's hoping ugly pickle loving IT nerds who fight vampire trolls at night while learning to fox trot during the day will be the start of something amazing!... I can only hope. ;)