Winner!

And the winner of my ARC giveaway of Legend by Marie Lu is Fatal Hellbent..., er Cynthia Lee!

Get me your mailing address and I'll send it out as soon as possible!

Congrats, and let the rebellion begin! ;)

It was a dark and stormy night...

Believe it or not, that's the first line to a much loved children's classic, and one of my all-time favorites, tired as it sounds. Major karma if you loved it as much as I did. It's amazing what you can do with a supposedly tired idea if you interpret it in a different way...


Which is just in time for this month's Blog Chain. :) 


Last to post was Michelle, and Shaun will post next, but Christine got to choose the topic:

Since we are all writers, I thought it was about time for us to stretch our creative muscles and do a little writing. So, take the following topic and go crazy! Show us what you've got. Your story can be as long or as short as you choice.


T he topic: A dark and stormy night:

Just as soon as I think it's safe to de-reg and bunk down for the next few hours of starless space, the prox-sensors buzz me back into awareness. Farging asteroid cluster wasn't on my map. Hard to see them in the depths of the black like this. My time card says I've been on too long to handle this sitch, but poor Karla's been twelve-on/six-off for so long, I don't want to disturb the last precious hour she's got left. And I know the protocol like I know the ceiling above my bunk, I've run so many sims. And maybe I want to show corporate that I can handle a little more responsibility.


Maybe I should just wake Karla.


No. I shoot a little more O2 into my reg and prime the manual override. Just like the sim. Of course, in the sim, it's not the lives of thousands of pleasure cruise passengers in stasis for the long haul. A trip that takes us all away from our home planets for the better part of four years. Not that they'll age at all during the voyage to Griphon Eta. Not like Karla and I will. Another reason to let her have her beauty sleep. I snicker to myself--there's no one else to hear me--and file the joke away for the few minutes of contact we'll have next hour.


The nearest asteroid is the size of a cargo loader, easier to see on my O-scope than with my naked eye. Barely have to push the thrusters to maneuver out of its trajectory. There's a tight cluster of them at to my right that move slow as a loader, and I swerve back the way I came to avoid them. Only to come face to face with a faster moving asteroid half the size of the ship. 


There's something wrong. Asteroids never crowd this close together in a field, headed in a similar direction. Why didn't I wake Karla? There's another big one just below me. Instead of heading doggedly in a single trajectory until it hit something else, like a normal meteor, it starts rising up toward my belly. I thrust away, back toward the slow-moving cluster. My O-scope is full of huge asteroids angling toward me. Are they magnetized? Is the ship attracting them? The whole screen fills with red. I can't trust it anymore. I need to use my eyes. I raise the ultra-shield from the view-screen and flick on the flood lights.


The lights glint on what at first looks to my eye like ice or some exposed metallic ore. But the cluster sparkles all over, loader-sized balls of diamond. With what look like... tails? The closest one to me rolls, the flood lights almost blinding as they reflect off its shining surface. Until I see eyes looking back at me. Eyes like emeralds, the size of human skulls, over a scaly snout. There are a dozen of them, smaller versions of the ship-sized not-asteroids filling my O-scope screen. In my ten years piloting stasis-cruisers, I've never seen anything like them, but there's only one thing they can be. 


Dragons.


I should have woken Karla. 

Review of LEGEND by Marie Lu

LEGEND, by Marie Lu, get four out of five pentacles.

I was worried when I first started this book. Worried that the dystopian world wouldn't be convincingly built. Worried that the dual first person narrative wouldn't allow for enough characterization of both pov characters. Hell, I was worried I wouldn't be able to read the gold font the ARC used for Day's narration.

But I needn't have been. LEGEND was not only a fun adventure, but I could see the world clearly and more or less comprehend out how it got that way, which matters a lot to me for suspension of disbelief.

Most importantly, unlike some books that employ alternating first person povs, I was never unsure of whose head I was in, gold font or no. Though June and Day are very similar in their characterization, it was revealed to us in very different ways. Both characters, June in particular, grow and change through the book, which always helps me empathize with a character.

While I don't think LEGEND will be the next Hunger Games, I think it will satisfy fans of that series, and Divergent. Day is a hero worthy of every girl's affection (Day is his awesome street rebel name, of course), and June is a tough yet fragile heroine whose flaws only make her more likable.

So here's the real question:

If you were an outlaw from the Republic, what would your outlaw name be? Enter it below until Saturday the 17th to win an ARC copy of LEGEND! (US only at this time, sorry, Jade!) Winner will be drawn randomly and announced Monday the 19th.

You don't have to follow or tweet, just play along. Hmm, I'm going to need some time to think of a good handle (I just accidentally type "hzndle" and thought about keeping it. Time for some strong breakfast tea).

Good luck!

Blog for a Dog—Because their paws don't fit on the keys.

Earlier I was trolling through the blogs I follow and saw this post on Books at Midnight.

I've always loved dogs. Especially old, mean, ornery, cantankerous ones. And they seem to love me back (because I'm quiet and move slowly and smell like food, I'm sure) My husband loves them even more than I do. Our dog is a 15 year old terrier/chihuahua mix, and she's about as cantankerous as it gets. Though you'd never get my husband to admit that. He's blind to her many, many, many faults. In our house, the dog is treated like a human who just happens to eat off the floor and have the ability to lick her own butt.

So. You can imagine how eager I was to share my love for dogs via a blog post—particluarly senior dogs—and at the same time do something to help dogs in need. Well, so can you! Sign up and post the information below in a post on your blog (along with a bit about your own love for dogs, if you like), and Pedigree will donate 20 pounds of dogfood to shelter animals. Only a few more days to participate! Check out the details below:


The following info is copied from Books at Midnight:

Details:

Pedigree is resurrecting is insanely successful Write a Post, Help a Dog program. In 2010, 391 bloggers wrote about the program and with each post, Pedigree donated 20 pounds of its Healthy Longevity dog food to shelter animals. In all, 7,820 pounds of food was donated to two shelters renowned for their care of senior dogs: Muttville Senior Dog Rescue in San Francisco and Castaway Critters in Harrisburg, Pa.

How you can help in 2011

Simply spread the word about Write a Post, Help a Dog 2011 and once again Pedigree will donate 20 pounds of food for each blogger's post. Here's all you need to include in your post:

• The Write a Post, Help a Dog program is aimed at raising awareness and food for the more than four million dogs that wind up in shelters and breed rescues each year.
• For each blog post mentioning the Pedigree Foundation from now until midnight ET on September 3, Pedigree will donate 20 pounds of its new dry Pedigree recipe food for dogs -- its best recipe ever -- to a shelter, because every dog deserves leading nutrition. 
• The Pedigree Foundation -- a 501 (C)(3) nonprofit organization is committed to helping dogs by providing grants to shelters and rescues and encouraging dog adoption. This year the Foundation has already raised more than $376,570 against its goal of $1.5 million to carry out its work to fund grants that not only help shelters operate, but to further shelter innovations.

The Pedigree Foundation depends on charitable contributions from individuals to carry out its mission to help dogs find loving homes. In addition to writing a blog post, here's how you can help:

• Donate online at http://pedigreefoundation.org/donate.aspx
• Apply for a shelter grant from the Pedigree Foundation by completing a form atwww.pedigreefoundation.org
• Purchase Dogs Rule Gear at www.dogsrulegear.com where the proceeds go to the Pedigree Foundation to help loving dogs find a home. SPECIAL OFFER: Get 10 percent off Dogs Rule Gear by using the promo code BlogPaws10 from August 22 - September 30.

Then, link up to the Blog Hop, hosted by the Pedigree BlogPaws bloggers to help spread the word about Write a Post, Help a Dog.

10 Random Facts: Tag, I'm It!

Been a while since I had a "just for fun" post, so since it's Friday, I thought I'd play along! I was tagged by Rebecca Knight (of Legacy of the Empress fame) to list 10 Random Facts about me, and tag four others to play. Here we go...

1. I've always wanted to rewrite my author bio to make myself sound more mysterious: "An international woman of mystery, Tere Kirkland was born in Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall. She now calls the Crescent City home." Or something like that. 

2. I have a huge issue with controversial food items... veal, goose liver, sweetbreads. My issue is that they're so DELICIOUS!!

3. Food in general is my biggest weakness. I really should exercise more, but then I'd probably become one of those people eating out of the Ben and Jerry's pint while walking on the treadmill. Maybe I just need to find a house to buy with a second floor so I'll be in better shape. ;)

4. You may not know this about me but I've been house-hunting since spring and it has consumed my every waking moment. I used to spend my lonely hours writing or reading, but lately it's all real estate listings and hgtv shows. Room Crashers? Yes, please! (sidenote, but will someone please convince hgtv to play actual renovation/decorating shows instead of one episode of House Hunters after another, interspersed with the random House Hunters International and the occasional Property Virgins. Not even My First House is about the house as much as the hunt. Boring!)

5. Also, since we've been seriously house-hunting, I have curtailed almost all of my bad shopping habits. I haven't stepped into Urban Outfitters for over a month and I haven't even bought a new lipstick at the drugstore or anything. Necessities only! Like Snickers Ice Cream bars. What? Snickers Ice Cream bars aren't a necessity? O_o

6. Speaking of guilty pleasures... I shouldn't admit this, but I have been recording far too much MTV programming this year. My Life as Liz season 2, Teen Wolf (did they ever clarify what was going on in Jackson's neck with the wolf's bane, or did I miss that?!!), and now Awkward. RE: Awkward, this show is hilarious, touching, and yes, oh so very awkward. Just like high school. What? It's called research, people. MTV scripted television is how I keep current, okay?

7. I'm loving True Blood this season. Every storyline except Sookie's. She's kind of boring, and seriously, the worst problem she has is that she's in love with two vampires and can't choose? WTF? They really ought to change it to the Lafayette Chronicles. That storyline with the ghost and the baby totally made me cry! Witches FTW!

8. I tend not to read adult paranormal romances because they should really be called adult paranormal sexcapades. All the sexual tension in YA is so much more satisfying. Nothing against writers like Charlaine Harris, but it starts to get old after a while...

9. So my Evangeline revisions are finally done and turned in, but just as I was finishing, I inadvertently came across an old photo (Bayou Saint John, 1878) of one of the locations in the novel, which revealed that the area was quite a bit more developed than I thought. A frantic scene rewrite ensued. Here's the pic:

10. Now that I'm done with Evie, I'm back to work on my alternate-reality aetherpunk-western. Wahoo. Except that I've left it alone for so long, I fear I may have lost my way. A re-read, and a total immersion day of writing is definitely in order. Wish me luck for Saturday's writing binge!


Okay, these were not random so much as loosely associated, but still, I came up with ten, which should count for something. Now, on to the lucky taggees! (Not sure why, but "Taggees" sounds like a line of baby clothes to me, lol)


Krispy!
Susan Mills!
Karen Denise!
Caroline Starr Rose!

Tag! Y'all are it! Have a great weekend!

Surviving Submission—Blog Chain Post

Last night I was in that weird half-awake, half-asleep state, the kind that usually provides a drowsy sort of contentment with myself, the world and everything.

Then I felt a tickling near my head. Thinking it was just the dog's tail, or her foot, about to kick me in the head as usual, I brushed at it. Only to have my fingers catch on the jagged spurs of a palmetto bug's leg. *eep!*

Frantic sheet swiping ensued, which woke the husband and the dog, and still, the little bastard got away. I spent most of the rest of the night feeling phantom insect legs crawling on my skin, so I got almost no sleep. It gave me a lot of time to lie awake and worry about the revisions for Evangeline I just finished...

Oh, wait, I forgot! Welcome to my very first post as a member of a blog chain. :) Don't forget to scroll through the blogroll in my sidebar, and be sure to check out Michelle's post here, and  Margie's post here.

Sandra asked us to blog on this topic: How have the recent changes in the publishing industry affected your career/writing plans?

This question was also in my thoughts last night. A lot. While others have posted to applaud the increasing respectability of self-publishing, or to lament the closing of so many brick and mortar bookstores, those changes haven't had much of an impact on my career or career decisions at this point. What I'm the most affected by right now is the increasingly selective submission process at publishing houses, and the rate at which trends keep changing in young adult literature.

I'm an agented author who's been trying to sell a paranormal romance since late 2010, when the genre had pretty much already peaked. While my manuscript has improved substantially (or at least, I like to think so) since I first sought representation, now the market is much tighter. Too many YA paranormal romances are being submitted to editors. If a publishing house recently acquired a paranormal romance and they only buy a certain number of them per year, it's unlikely my manuscript will find a home there. The same holds true for dystopian right now. The popularity of books like The Hunger Games has led to an increasing amount of futuristic and post-apocalyptic submissions.

So, it's become bigger than just writing the best novel I possibly can. My manuscript has to do more than just stand out from the pack. It has to have luck and timing on its side, too.

Now, I'm not trying to sound defeatist, or say that someone just got a book contract because they're lucky. It's a combination of so many factors, and luck is the least of it. Which means that we wannabe authors are just going to have to strive even harder to make our manuscripts shine, to work with what we CAN control. And that as tempting as it may be to drop your paranormal romance and start writing a suspenseful thriller, the best thing you can do is right [was just about to change this typo, but it just proves how tired I am today. Blerg.] the story that you love. The story that calls to you and demands you share it with the world.

But you're also going to have to be tough—palmetto bug tough!—enough to withstand more than your share of rejections. And just like that palmetto bug, you're going to have to be persistent. (Well, my imagination sure thought he was persistent, even though in reality, he probably scuttled off into the kitchen once the light went on, in search of the trash can under the sink. Goal oriented, those palmetto bugs are.)

So I guess I'll close by saying, that as gross as a palmetto bug's legs are, they did give me a lot to think about last night. I need to be as tenacious and impervious to rejection as my winged friend to achieve my goals. If only they were as simple as finding some garbage under the sink. ;)

Reading like a Writer: Nook Style

Some of my newest minions may not know this about me, but I can't stop talking up my Nook.

It's no secret that I love being able to scroll to change pages, read for hours without my hands cramping, to sideload library books, and—most importantly—my manuscript. (On an unrelated note, I vacillated like a mofo on whether to use an Oxford comma there, or leave it out. I think it adds a much needed dramatic pause, so I kept it in. Viva la comma d'Oxford!)

Though I'm a big advocate of printing out my manuscript, or reading it aloud, I think transferring it to another device, like an e-reader, does the same job. Just by shifting the format of the words I've been staring at for months (years?), editing suddenly becomes a whole lot more interesting. I don't know about y'all, but after a while, I stop *seeing* the words. It's more like I'm aware of them. They don't have the impact they should. And if my words have no impact on me, how am I supposed to tell if they'll have an impact on anyone else?

So here's where the e-reader comes in. When I read my manuscript on an e-reader, it feels more like a real book. (Same goes for printing, but I know ink and paper are of the essence for some folk) So when I read, I'm—hopefully—being pulled into the world I've created with my words. Usually, glaring style issues I've unwittingly been ignoring make themselves apparent: too much repetition of sentence structure, weak transitions from one sentence to another, and even pacing problems.

Mostly what I've noticed is that I can let myself enjoy the words, the way they sound, the images they conjure, much more when it feels much more like a real story. I mean, who hasn't been reading a great book, when suddenly, you're thrown out of the story by a strange turn of phrase, or repetitive sentence structure? It's those little things that can help make or break your novel when it comes to finding an agent, or later, an editor. These are craft issues, which I took fairly seriously before, but only because I was still learning. Now, even though I feel more comfortable with my style, I put even more emphasis on the way the words come together.

Anyone can "tell" a story. I want my readers to smell the mildew in the Louisiana air, sense the chill of witch magic, and feel along with my characters.

How do you get yourself out of the editing rut? Read aloud? Print? Write everything on Post-its? I'd love to hear it!