Where's Rachel?

I'm blogging today at The Deadline Dames, and will be offline most of the day. But I will be checking in via cell phone to allow comments/contest entries. For details, scroll down. ;-)

Books and bunnies

This contest has now closed. Check back soon for the next one!

As I might have mentioned earlier, on Saturday I finished the first draft of SHIFT. Because the deadline is (still) so tight, I’m pretty proud of myself for getting the manuscript written in short order. And I feel like celebrating with a quick contest.

All you have to do is leave me a comment here telling me what recent accomplishment you’re proud of yourself for. Doesn’t have to be writing related.

One entry per person please, and if you don’t have a blogger account, you must sign your entry, so I have a name to announce if you win.

What you can win:

A copy of Kelley Armstrong’s No Humans Involved (unsigned) and a trio of Godiva chocolate bunnies(milk, dark, and white chocolate). ‘Cause they’re cute and yummy! ;-) See?

The contest closes at 11:59 pm (central) on Friday, April 3. Winners will be chosen by a random number generator.

So, if you’re interested, tell me what you’ve accomplished!

Done!

After 5,681 words yesterday, and another 2,676 today, the rough draft of Shift is complete! Yea!

The numbers (because we all know I'm obsessed with the numbers):

• 11th novel completed
• 5th novel sold
• will be my 7th release
• 116,006 words
• 407 pages
• written in almost 8 weeks (though one of those weeks I took off to do revisions on MSTT)

And... I know you guys are all going to hate me for this, but right now, Shift ends on a massive cliffhanger.

Don't worry, that may change. I know everyone hates those. But really, is it so bad if you know that the next (and last) book will wrap everything up neatly? ;-)

I'm taking time off (except for promo) until April 2, when I'll start rewriting Shift in preparation to turn it in. I won't be online much, except to allow blog comments and tweet from my phone.

But check back in on Monday for a new contest!

Ten

Yesterday I saw a draft of the cover copy (back cover blurb) for Shift, and it feels really, really weird to be working on copy before I've even finished the book. This is the first time that's happened. And the first time I've ever even been close to having a cover before the book is done. This will also be the first time I've ever turned in a book less than a year from its release. My other books have all been due 15 to 18 months before their release dates, so I'm feeling really behind. Even though I'm not really running behind.

In fact, this one's actually been written pretty quickly.

Still, I prefer to be ahead, so I'm glad my YAs are all already written. And I'm dying to see the covers. ;-)

In other news, we downloaded Pearl Jam's album Ten for Rock Band last night, and as it turns out, I can't sing Pearl Jam. Not on expert, any way. Okay, I'm not bad on Alive (which we already had, of course) and can fight my way through Black and Jeremy, but there was really no hope for me on Even Flow and Why Go.

So I switched to guitar. ;-)

Writing progress: The work went better than I expected yesterday and I only stopped writing when I did because of another migraine.

107648 / 115000

93.61%

Chapter 30 ran long and will probably have to be divided into two chapters, which is fine. I like the chapters at the end to be shorter and faster-paced anyway.

So, up for today is chapter 31. Or maybe 32, if I split ch. 30. Make sense?

Almost... There...!

Today's writing will probably be a struggle. I've reached the point in Shift at which Faythe and crew must finally accomplish what they've been working for throughout the story, and Faythe has just discovered that she's on her own for this part. No help from her family or fellow enforcers.

But that's all I know. I believe this part was summarized in the synopsis with something like: Faythe must bring [redacted] to [redacted] and must fight on her own. And in the course of the fight, she will make an ally of [redacted].

But I have no idea how the fight will go, or how she'll make this particular ally.

Well, I do have a slight possibility of an idea, but no clue how to make it work. So today may be slow going, but I hope to finish the rough draft either tomorrow or Saturday.

Writing Progress: Chapter 29 is down!

103148 / 115000

89.69%

Chapter 30 is up for today!

Does it make a difference?

As most of you probably know, I'm a Dame. A Deadline Dame. What that means to the general public is that I'm part of a group blog. What that means to me personally is that I'm part of a great, supportive network of other writers who have become friends, as well as colleagues.

Last night I "listened" to the posts flying back and forth on our loop (I read them all, even if I don't post very often), and I was floored by the support for a fellow Dame who has a release this week. Her fellow Dames were frantically checking her pre-order numbers, and announcing each time they dropped (like in golf, the lower the number, the better the sales), and expressing hope and selfless excitement for the book's success.

My first thought was how grateful I am to have such a positive-minded group of friends at my back. I'll admit it: I was feeling a bit mushy, in a soft-and-sweet kind of way. (Hey, I only write blood and guts. I don't actually spill them. ;-))

But my second thought was a bit more practical. This fellow Dame has a great online presence, and a very large readership, and is one of the sweetest people I know. I'm sure her latest release will be a huge success, regardless of her pre-orders. But thinking about onlin pre-orders got me wondering about the results of online promotion.

If you don't count traveling to conferences and conventions, I do all of my self-promotion online. I have a blog, an LJ, a MySpace account, a Facebook account, a Twitter account, and a discussion board, and I'm active on every last one of them. I give things away on my various online haunts. I do lots of internet interviews and guest blogs. And I truly love it all. But I have no way of knowing whether or not it makes any difference in sales.

For all I know, the number of people who will run across me and my books online may represent only a small fraction of my total sales. My suspicion is that the vast majority of the people who buy a book will never have seen it on the internet, and will never go online after reading it to look up the author and future releases, or to leave a review.

And for the record, I have no problem with that. I'm just curious.

So my question is this: those of you who are internet regulars in publishing (readers who read author blogs, join discussion groups, and enter online contests), do your friends-who-read-for-pleasure participate in things like that online? Or do they simply see an interesting-looking book in the store and buy it cold? Or based on personal recommendations? Or some combination of the three?

I'm not sure how clearly that question came out, but I guess the responses (or lack thereof) will tell... ;-)

Writing progress: 99,004/115,000 words. 349 pages.

Yesterday was a very long day, but I wound up with another 4,000+ words and wrote all of chapter 28 and started chapter 29. Today I will pass 100,000 words, which means the book is officially Long Enough. But it's not done.

I'm almost there. All I have left for Faythe and crew is:

• getting where they're going
• fighting the final fight/climax
• the last, wrap-it-up chapter. The denouement.

This could be three more chapters, but will probably be four. Because it usually is. I'm tired and I'm ready to be done. So this is where I dig in my heels. ;-)

Lagging

Yesterday was a great writing day. I wrote a fight scene, and while those usually take a lot of thought and time, this one flew by. I wound up exceeding my daily goal by more than a thousand words. Good words! (94,729/115,000 words)

Today's another story. I had a couple of real-life obligations this morning, so half the day is gone already, and I'm sleepy. And I have a bunch of small tasks nagging at me today, and I'm sure that when taken together, they'll manage to take up most of the afternoon. Time for more coffee and some serious concentration.

Oh, and I must apologize, because I owe several people email/MySpace/Facebook replies, and I still have to ship 3 cover flats, so if you fall into either of these categories, I'm sorry. I hope to get caught up with everything this week. ;-)

YA Love

I haven’t had much time for reading yet this calendar year, because my deadlines are running back to back at the moment. In fact, I’ve only read six books since the start of the new year, and I just realized that five of those six were YA. I have tons of adult fiction in my to be read ASAP pile, including the latest by both Kim Harrison and Patricia Briggs. But I wanted to take a moment to talk about three of the YAs I’ve read recently, because they were truly amazing.

The first (though not the first I read) was Fade, by Lisa McMann. Fade is the sequel to last year’s Wake, which I loved. Both books are about a teenage dreamwalker: a girl who gets sucked into other people’s dreams. She can help the dreamers alter a nightmare and face their fears, or she can use her peek into the subconscious mind to help her fellow classmates in their waking lives. But the cost for this is severe.

McMann’s style is so different from anything else I’ve read. Her words are sparse, her chapters short, her impact immeasurable. Wake and Fade are both very quick reads (a single afternoon), and both beautifully written, though I think Wake is still my favorite of the pair.

Next is Fragile Eternity, by Melissa Marr. FE is the sequel to Wicked Lovely (2007), but follows Ink Exchange, a companion novel set in the same world and featuring characters from both books. Marr’s writing is fluid and feels effortless, and her world is both beautiful and terrible at the same time. Her characters face conflicting emotions and duties, to both their loved ones and to the mostly-cruel Faerie courts they must lead, defend, or uphold allegiance to. I never finish one of Marr’s novels without feeling both desperate for the next such experience, and completely humbled and inadequate by the writing.

And finally, this weekend I read The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan. And I truly have no words to express how much I loved this book. The best I can come is: Most beautiful zombie novel. Ever.

Sounds weird, huh? A beautiful zombie novel? But it’s not the zombies that were beautiful (they’re quite the opposite), but the novel itself.

Ryan writes in first person present tense, and I think this was a brilliant choice for this particular story, because it puts the reader not only in Mary’s world, but in that particular moment of Mary’s life. And those moments—every last one of them—are both terrifying, heartbreaking, and gorgeous, for the skill of the writing alone. And for the story-telling. And no, those are not the same thing.

Ryan’s true gift—the thing I think she did so much better than the zombie movies I’ve seen (and I love a zombie movie)—is that she shows us the characters before they fall prey and die, only to rise again. Not just a brief glimpse of who that person used to be, but a true understanding. And this makes the transition to mindless, starving, walking undead even more tragic. Especially for those who must then kill a former loved one.

She’s taken a simple horror movie staple and humanized it. Ironic, huh?

There was more than a bit of this in I Am Legend (the book, not the movie), and The Forest of Hands and Teeth broke my heart just as thoroughly.

In the beginning, The Forest of Hands and Teeth feels a bit like The Village, except that the monsters are real, and Mary’s both seen and heard them every day of her life, surrounding the fence protecting her village, breaking their own hands over and over in repeated attempts to breach the wall and feast on the living.

Then it feels kind of historical, when you get a better glimpse of the structure of Mary’s society, and the influence and absolute authority of the Sisters, a twisted and devolved cult-like version of Catholic nuns.

Then it’s full-on post-apocalyptic goodness, a struggle to stay alive and to find the better life Mary’s sure is out there somewhere, all while battling zombies, massive fire, near-starvation, and the conflicted desires of her own heart.

If you’ve never read a YA (paranormal/horror/romance) and were looking for a good place to start, this is it. Go. Read. Now.

Writing Progress:

On Friday I finished chapter 26 of Shift and topped 90,000 words with a chapter in which Faythe got to take out her frustration and latent rage on a couple of bad guys who truly deserved it. Now I have eight days to finish the rough draft. 90,593/115,000 words.

If I can do it in six, I get two days off before I have to start revising. I’d like a longer break than that, but that’s just not in the cards this time. Or this year. After I finish Shift, there will be revisions on My Soul to Save, then the rough draft of Shifters book 6, as well as revisions on my third YA and Shift, and edits on My Soul to Save, all before the end of the year.

Plus traveling.

So, it may be a bit before I stick my head out of the sand for much more than a quit tweet. ;-)

Gone too deep

Faythe is hurting today. Odd, because as her body heals, her heart is breaking. She wants to either cry or hit someone, and there's no one around to hit. No one she wants to hit, anyway. Yet. That will change.

I'm with Faythe today. I've gone too deep. I'm upset because she's upset, and I find that kind of scary. I don't want to have to make the decision she's facing, or carry out the last one she made. (Though the alternative was no better.) Today I wish she could write herself.

Chapter 25 ended badly (for the characters; not the readers). She wants me to rewrite it, not to make it a better book, but to give her a little break. I can't do that. If she complained about grammar, or consistency, or even plot holes, I could oblige. Would oblige. But I can't fix this. She'll have to do it herself.

Unfortunately, that also involves me.

But on the bright side, therapy in the form of an a**-kicking is coming. It won't be easy, though. Gone are the days when Faythe and crew had the advantage. They no longer out-number the bad-guys. These bad guys are not ill-trained. And Faythe is hurt, exhausted, almost out of time, and emotionally drained.

This is gonna be a rough one.

(Chapter 25 down. 86,911/115000 words. 308 pages.)

Random bits

Keri Arthur is talking about first lines today at the Deadline Dames. That's one of my favorite writing topics, and she's given some great examples. She's also encouraging readers to post their favorite first lines, from their own work, or from books they've loved.

In honor of the topic, another tiny sneak peek...

So far(because this is just the first draft, and it could change), the opening line to Shift reads:

"My father’s head is going to explode. That day was inevitable, really, but somehow, I’d always assumed I’d be the one raising his blood pressure to such critical levels."

Ah. That felt good.

I'm truly having fun with Shift, which is a bit of a surprise, because it's not a light book. But as I've mentioned recently, the humor in this one is falling into place pretty well, and I think that helps balance out all the dark. Because if you can't laugh at yourself (or your characters) who can you laugh at?

Speaking of which, after we get our taxes out of the way, there's a possibility that #1 may have time to splice together some of the bloopers from the video I made recently for the Mira UK sales department. It's just me messing up my lines over and over, but I love bloopers!

Oh! Yesterday, my copy of The Forest of Hands and Teeth arrived! I only got to read a few chapters before I had to go to sleep, but that was enough to make me want to take today off and read. And that doesn't happen very often.

Unfortunately, I can't. The deadline for Shift is looming, and I must finish. But I plan to devour the new arrival this weekend!

Writing progress: Chapter twenty-four is done! It was tough, but I'm pleased with it, at least for now. 83,554/115,000 words.

I'm kind of in uncharted territory for Faythe, so at this point in the story, each new chapter is like looking out my own living room window without ever seeing the same front yard twice. Exciting! But also kind of stressful. I desperately want to do the story justice.

Surprise!

First, a little bit of excitement. At least, it's exciting to me. ;-) I just posted a very small excerpt of My Soul to Take in my post today at the Deadline Dames. This is the very first little bit of the book to ever hit the Internet, and even though it's only two paragraphs, I'm nervous about how it will be received.

Because I'm neurotic.

In other minor-but-good news, the Prey cover has gone up at Amazon, and hopefully other online sellers will soon follow! Unfortunately, it looks lemon-yellow and garish at Amazon, and I swear it's not in person. It's beautiful. My favorite one yet. ;-)

And, yesterday I got confirmation for my hotel room for RWA National. So, unless something goes drastically wrong, I won't be bedless while I'm in D.C. this summer. ;-)

Incidentally, I'll also be at RT in Orlando next month, and at BEA in NYC in May. I can't remember whether or not I've mentioned those here, and I haven't yet updated the appearances page on my website. I'll post panel and signing details soon. I promise.

Writing Progress: 80,129/115,000 words. Chapter 23 is done!

Yesterday was a very long day, but I absolutely love chapter 23. It's tense, and emotional, and hopefully kind of clever. And at the end, it's kind of funny, which should help break up all the heavy stuff.

Also, a surprise popped up! (See?! This is why pre-plotting does not make actually writing the book boring!) A very big (and less-than-pleasant) surprise for Faythe, and all involved. And this one changes everything for several of the main characters. I mean, everything.

Emotional and logistical chaos. Among my favorite things to write. ;-)

Also, I passed the 80,000 word mark! Yea! If I were writing another young adult book, I'd be done. Alas, I still need 20,000 -35,000 more words. But it should go very quickly from here on out (and I suspect this one will run a little short in the first draft) as all the various plot threads begin to weave together for the conclusion. Which is really more like a frantic race than a weaving...circle. Or whatever.

Of course, there will be a couple of threads left to tie up in the final book. If you've read the first three Shifters books, you'll be expecting that.

Balance [Edited]

[Edit: I forgot to mention that I am now Twitting. Or Twittering. Or whatever. Not sure if this is a good venue for me, since I tend to write more than 140 characters at a time. But we'll see...]

I had a bit of a writing rough patch this weekend, due for the most part to the break I took on Friday. When I don't finish a chapter (or scene) the day I start it, I tend to "lose" it. I have trouble getting back into that "place." The fact that this was a particularly difficult scene only made that worse.

So it took me three days to write chapter 22 of Shift, which is barely 3,000 words, as it currently stands. This is a pretty big disappointment, because I'm rapidly running out of time to finish this first draft. Which now stands at 76,521 of a projected 115,000 words.

To my credit, none of those three days were actual work days, which means I had to fit writing in between the other real-life stuff I had going on. Still, I'm kind of discouraged. But I'm looking forward to today's chapter.

Fortunately, to balance that out, I have a little good news:

I just got permission to post a sort of mini-excerpt from My Soul to Take! My publisher has put a few paragraphs of it on the very first page of the book, and I have the all clear to share that. It's just a tiny taste, but it'll be the first time I've shared anything from Kaylee's world in public, so I'm pretty excited.

Look for the mini-excerpt tomorrow, in my Deadline Dames post. I'll post a longer excerpt in a couple of months, and it'll go first to my discussion group members and newsletter readers. Because membership has privileges, you know. ;-)

The same goes for the Prey excerpt, which is coming very, very soon. Probably this week... ;-)

Stray Cat Strut!

Jez's interview with Marc is live! Sorry for the delay. My fault. Marc wasn't exactly forthcoming with some of his answers, so I was late handing it in. ;-)

I wrote chapter twenty-one of Shift yesterday, and it was soooo much fun! Faythe's hurt pretty badly (that wasn't the fun part), and this chapter is full of sexual tension. And kind of funny, too! I hope. ;-)

Yesterday, I also got to see the front matter for My Soul to Take, all formatted and typeset. It looks great! They're putting a short excerpt from the text (a great one!) on the very first page, with the ego stuff (past reviews for my other books).

By the time My Soul to Take comes out in August, I'll already have four of my adult books out, but for some reason, this one feels like starting all over again. Maybe because it's the first in a new series. Maybe because it's my first YA. But for whatever reason, I'm as nervous about this one as I was about Stray. Fortunately, no matter how it feels, MSTT isn't my first published novel, and I've learned a lot since Stray, both about the writing itself, and about the business of publishing.

Still, I'm seriously on pins and needles, hoping everything works out well. ;-)

I won't get to write anything today, because I have to deal with some real-life errands and bill paying (plus lunch out with #1), but I'll try to write chapter twenty-two this weekend. Here's how it stands so far:

73435 / 115000 words. 64% done!

(I really miss the Zokutou word meter, but that site is down. ;-( )

My favorite part

If everything goes well, Jez's interview with Marc should to up today at Cat and Muse. And if it's not up yet when you check, read the interview with Gil, from Roadtrip of the Damned, which just came out. Then check back later for Marc, of course. ;-)

I got a good (I hope!) idea in the middle of chapter 20 of Shift yesterday, and it took my scene in an unexpected direction. Faythe's situation is now even more dire, and that new part gave me the catalyst I needed for a planned bit of conflict in today's chapter.

Yea!

I wish I could say more, but I hate accidental spoilers. But I've been looking forward to this part of the story--this delicious conflict--and I hope I can do it justice. If not now, at least in the rewrites. I swear, I'll write an entire book just to get to the fights and arguments. My favorite parts. ;-)

Writing progress:

70,320 / 115,000 words. 61% done!

Yesterday I actually made up for what I missed the day before! I finished 19, wrote all of 20, and wrote a couple hundred words of ch. 21. Up for today: the rest of chapter 21!

Stumbling

[Today, Dame Rinda launched the first Readers on Deadline contest at the Deadline Dames. There are two books up for grabs, so head on over if you're feeling creative!]

I'm a little disappointed this morning. I came up 400 words short on my goal yesterday. This is only the second (or maybe the first?) time I've missed my goal during this rough draft, but I hate it when that happens. Especially this time, because I wasn't busy with any family obligations, or non-writing business.

I simply spent too much of the day trying to figure out what needed to be written.

This is why I love pre-plotting.

Don't get me wrong, I hate pre-plotting when I'm doing it. Because it's hard. But it never fails to make the rough draft go much faster for me. Without my trusty synopsis, I'd spend every day like yesterday, struggling with what-comes-next, instead of actually writing what comes next.

I think I have it sorted out now. Mostly. See, the problem was a vague bit of summary in my synopsis, which left me with a couple of choices for how to proceed. Both present problems (one regarding logistics and timelines, the other believability), but both offer dramatic possibilities too.

I've almost completely decided to go with them both. That's right--both of them. But of course, I may change my mind when the time comes.

So, here's where it stands now:

66,312 / 115,000 (57.7%)

Chapter nineteen is not finished. I hope to make up for yesterday's lack by finishing 19 and writing 20. Wish me luck. This time I'm gonna need it. ;-)

The Devil is in the Details

Okay, for the signed Pride cover flats, I took the first three requests from Blogger, and the first each from LJ and Facebook, where I consistently get fewer comments. So, the names are:

Josh G., Cyndi F., and Geri from Blogger. Wyrdkat on LJ, and Shelby Carrier from Facebook.

Guys, email me (rachelATrachelvincentDOTcom) with your full names and addresses, and I'll put your cover flats in the mail.

This morning I've been searching through my files and published books on a quest for a minor piece of information I was sure I'd mentioned in one of the earlier Shifters books. But I can't find it anywhere, so I must be imagining that. What am I looking for?

The name of Jace's hometown. I know he's from Kentucky, but I can't remember the town specifically, and was positive I'd actually mentioned it somewhere. It wasn't important before, but now Faythe has to go there...and I don't know where to send her. Which means I don't know which airport to send her to (Louisville, or Lexington, KY), and these details matter. As do travel times.

Generally, I know much more about stuff like this than I ever use in the actual novel, because I have to keep the timelines straight, even if the specifics don't get printed.

I've looked in all my character spreadsheets (for each of the previous four novels), my brainstorming files, and the manuscripts themselves. And I found nothing. However, I did get a bit of a laugh when I (re-) discovered that in the Prey spreadsheet, I have Des's drink of choice listed as breastmilk.

You get one guess who Des is. ;-)

Writing progress:

63,708 / 115,000 (55.4%)

Chapter eighteen was a tense one for Faythe, but for personal reasons, rather than professional/political ones. Chapter ninteen is up for today, and I expect to struggle with it, because this is the point at which my synopsis becomes pretty vague. I believe it says something like, "Faythe and crew search for undisclosed proof."

Considering that I don't know where I'm sending them, or what this proof might be... It's gonna be a long day. And night... ;-)

Humor! At last!

I finished chapter seventeen of Shift on Friday (then touched it up a bit this weekend), and to my complete surprise and delight, Faythe was funny! I can’t even begin to explain how relieved I am about that. Prey is a very dark book. It was difficult to write, and I’m expecting a very… interesting reader reaction about that one.

Well, as expected, the series only gets darker with each book, as the political situation grows more dire and Faythe’s personal life brings new meaning to the word “conflicted.” So you can imagine what Shift is like so far. So when Faythe snapped back with sarcasm and one-liners right where I really needed a break from all the tension, I was so proud of myself!

And of her, of course. ;-)

And that showed me that humor is one of the things I’ll have to work hardest on in the rewrites. It needs to be sprinkled in earlier, to break up the tension. Dark humor, of course. But who wants to read about someone who can’t make fun of herself and her situation, especially when everything around her is falling apart?

So, here’s where it stands:

60,372 / 115,000 (52.5%)

Chapter 17 is done, and chapter 18 is up for today. I’m on the down-hill side, and really hoping it’ll be more of a slide than a careful hike to the end of the trail. If that even makes sense.

Chapter 18 brings a different kind of tension. Faythe’s life is no longer in danger (for the moment) but someone else’s is, and the quest to remedy that (and it is a quest, of sorts) comes with some very touchy personal conflict for her. ;-)

Oh, and I got some extra cover flats of Pride in the mail the other day. If you’re interested, leave me a comment telling me so. The first five people who express interest will get one. (I can’t remember how many I got, so I may do this again. ;-))

A winner!

Okay, the random number generator has spoken, and the winner is:

Chris, who said: Hmm, does Simon know that you're giving him away? ;) Great contest - I'm in!

Chris, email me (rachelATrachelvincentDOTcom) with your full name and address, and I'll pass your information to Anton, who will then sign and ship your book!

Yesterday, I got busy with some stuff in the non-writing side of the business, and therefore got a very late start on actually writing. But the words eventually began to flow, and I finished up in time to watch a movie from Netflix.

Too bad I'm not sure I actually liked the movie. I'm not sure I didn't like it, but usually if I can't tell whether or not I liked a movie, it ends up going in the "didn't like" category by default. Not so for books. For books, I have a wide range of opinions between loved and didn't like.

I've never truly hated a book, though, because if I dislike it terribly, I don't finish it.

But back to yesterday's writing progress:

56,967 / 115,000 (49.5%)

Chapter sixteen is finished, and I stand poised to cross the 60,000 word mark today. Everything is flowing well for the moment, and I hope that can continue!

Wordcount

Today I'm answering wordcount questions at the Deadline Dames!

Writing Progress:

Chapter fifteen is done! Another cliffhanger ending. Fortunately, it's resolved in the next chapter. ;-)

Faythe's in a very tough position, through no fault of her own, and must make a difficult decision. Because this time, there's no talking herself out of trouble... ;-(

53,519 / 115,000 (46.5%)

Makin' it up.

[If you haven't already, be sure to check out the current contest, here.]

I got a late start yesterday, but when I finally really got into chapter 14 (of Shift), it flowed pretty quickly. Faythe's in a place she's never been before, dealing with characters she doesn't know, and whose motives she doesn't truly understand. In short, she's out of her element.

But I'm in mine. ;-)

Chapter 14 was one of those chapters (rare, in my Shifters world) in which I get to make it all up, almost from scratch. Most of the laws of nature still apply (Well, gravity, at least. But I'm writing about shapeshifters, so I'm obviously taking some liberties), but that's about it. Everything else is fair game for my imagination, and knowing that really fuels my creativity.

That was the case with fully half of both my second and third young adult novels, and I can't even begin to explain how well they flowed for me. Not that they're perfect, but my vision is there, intact. It just needs to be polished now. ;-)

My first YA, My Soul to Take, is a bit a different from its sequels, because for half the book, Kaylee has no idea what she is, so the world looks and feels almost normal to her. Except for that whole knowing-when-someone's-going-to-die thing. So you'll get a taste of how weird things can be in MSTT, but in the second and third Soul Screamers books, you'll be thrown head first into the deep end .

You guys can swim, right? ;-)

Anyway, back to Shift...

Writing Progress:

Chapter 14 is basically done. Up for today is ch. 15. More weirdness for Faythe, and some tough choices. Yea!

50,326 / 115,000 (43.8%)

As you can see, I passed the 50,000 word mark yesterday, and while that's not quite half the number of words I need, I'm counting it as the half-way point, because I'm half-way through the plot, and I don't think this rough draft is actually going to hit my goal wordcount. Which is good, because that leaves me room to add a bit as I strengthen and polish.

Simon, up for grabs!

This contest has now closed. Please check back soon for the next one.

Okay, as promised, I have a new giveaway this week. Anton Strout has been kind enough to offer a signed copy of both of his currently available books. I haven't read Deader Still yet, but I read Undead to Me last year, and loved the zombie office workers, man-eating bookshelf, and homeless oracle.

So, if you're interested, here's what's up for grabs:

Psychometry-the power to touch an object and divine information about its history-has meant a life of petty crime for Simon Canderous, but now he's gone over to the good side. At New York's underfunded and (mostly) secret Department of Extraordinary Affairs, he's learning about red tape, office politics, and the basics of paranormal investigation. But it's not the paperwork that has him breathless.

After Simon spills his coffee on (okay, through) the ghost of a beautiful woman- who doesn't know she's dead-he and his mentor plan to find her killers. But Simon's not prepared for the nefarious plot that unfolds before him, involving politically correct cultists, a large wooden fish, a homicidal bookcase, and the forces of Darkness, which kind of have a crush on him.

It’s been 737 days since the Department of Extraordinary Affairs’ last vampire incursion, but that streak appears to have ended when a boat full of dead lawyers is found in the Hudson River. Using the power of psychometry—the ability to divine the history of an object by touching it—agent Simon Canderous discovers that the booze cruise was crashed by something that sucked all the blood out of the litigators. Now, his workday may never end—until his life does.

How to enter: leave a comment in this post.

Rules:

• One entry per person
• Posts must be made by 11:59 p.m. (central) on Thursday, March 5.
• If you don't have a Blogger account, you must sign your entry so I have a name (or online name) to announce as the winner.
• The winner must contact me to claim his/her prizes. I will not track you down! (Seriously. Did that sound firm? I was going for firm there.)

Okay, start commenting!