Super Sargasso now available!

That's right, my new collection of stories, Super Sargasso, is now available to purchase at Smashwords. Links to purchase at Amazon coming soon!

And if you're at Marcon this weekend, be sure to attend my release party. I'll be reading my favorite story from the collection, Purse Dog Apocalypse. You can also purchase a signed copy of Slideways, and enter to win a free copy of Super Sargasso. Plus, free snacks and wine (wine only for those over 21, of course).

The party will take place Saturday evening, 8 to 10 p.m. More details as soon as I have them!

Blog post and NEWS!

Two bits of news today.

First: The lovely Laura Bickle is hosting me today over at her blog, Salamander's Tales. Please stop by and share your thoughts on the relationship between reading and writing.

Second: As some of you know, my YA fantasy novel Slideways is *now available for sale*. You can purchase the print book at Amazon, B&N, and my publisher's website. You can also purchase the ebook via Smashwords.

Billy Mays Mode: In addition, I have a limited number of copies that you can purchase directly from me! I'll autograph a copy for you, your dog, Ebay, whoever you want. All for the low, low cost of $10 (plus $2 S&H). For details, shoot me an email (listed in my profile) or comment here. Note: supplies are limited, so act fast.

/Billy Mays

Cover Love!

I can finally share the preliminary cover art for Slideways! Here we go:

I love this cover! It illustrates one of my favorite scenes from the book, when Reva first connects with Darlene and discovers the truth about slideways travel. I am totally excited!

Slideways coming out soon!

I've been sitting on this news forever. My first novel, Slideways, will be released with Samsdot Publishing next month. I'll be posting cover art soon. So excited!

The soul-crushing synopsis

I just finished the first draft of my synopsis for Slideways. So far I've sent two query letters, both to agents who did not request synopses. Unfortunately, almost all the agents on my list require the dread document, so I've been forced to write one.

For those unaware, a synopsis is a mini-encapsulation of your book. But it's not enough to simply recap the major events; it should be dynamic, interesting, and capture the essence of your novel. All in (depending on novel length and agent preference) one to eight pages.

My current synopsis is about 2 1/2 pages, single-spaced. That feels about the right length to me, and fits with the preferences I've been reading on some agents' blog. It still needs work, though. Right now I need to step away, and I'll look at it fresh tomorrow.

The importance of saving OR: How I almost had a nervous breakdown

When one creates a long word processing document, such as a novel, saving multiple versions is vital to ensure one's sanity.

Case in point: today I realized that the version I had been polishing was NOT my final version. I knew that the final version had existed somewhere, in some format; I simply could not find it. The later version contained my re-write of the climax and epilogue chapters, and brought the draft together in a satisfying way.

The version I had been editing, 25 pages from the end, had the words STOP POINT written in large red letters. This was followed by my earlier, crappy ending.

Naturally I began to hyperventilate. I'd made a grave error: in working back and forth between my desktop and laptop, I had somehow saved over my rewritten draft. I had just polished the first 190 pages of the draft with the crappy ending (though the versions up until the last two chapters were identical).

Thankfully, after searching every damned writing file on both machines, I discovered that I had been smart enough to email the corrected version to myself. After a few hours of thinking I'd have to go over my notes and do a re-rewrite of the ending, I discovered I didn't have to. I copied the 190+ pages of my polished draft and pasted on the corrected ending, creating a new Frankenstein file.

I'll finish polishing the last two chapters tomorrow. Right now I need to roll with this emotional comedown.

So, remember kids: always keep track of your drafts!

IT IS DONE!

The third draft of Slideways is now complete. I've filled in the plot holes and fixed what I didn't like. It has yet to go through my crack team of beta readers; but, for the most part, THE NOVEL IS FINISHED.

I have two possible goals for February: 1) Write 3 short stories; 2) Get started on novel #2. I'm still high on self-congratulatory praise right now, so I guess I'll decide in the morning.

It is done!

After numerous trails that led nowhere, false starts and delays, the second draft of Slideways is now complete. There is still much work to be done; I have to clean up references I made to a subplot that ended up not working out, I have to delete a little, add a little, and polish, but for the most part I love it!

There are several other projects I'm impatient to begin work on, but for now I'm going to bask in the completion. As a reward, I'm going to go out and buy myself a nice USB microphone and headset so I can finally start volunteering for LibriVox. But that's all in the future. Now is for the basking.

Many thanks to all my friends and family who shared support, ideas, and an ear for me to whine at. Hopefully soon the fruit of my labors will find a firm to mass produce it, and everyone can enjoy.

Starbucks is for old people

At least, the one near my house is.

I occasionally like to take the laptop and write in a different location; I find I usually get more done with fewer distractions. Usually I'll head to the Caribou Coffee at the end of my street or the library down the road. Caribou is usually hopping with students and folks of all ages, talking and getting work done. The only drawback is, they play the music a bit loud, and the conversation decibel level has to exceed the music. So, for a change of pace, I biked over to the Starbucks down the road.

Noise was definitely not a problem there; you could barely hear the music. Also, the place was near-dead, both figuratively and literally. Of the 3 or 4 customers that cycled through while I worked there, I don't think one was under sixty-five. The difference in age distribution between the 2 coffee shops is bizarre; they're about a block apart. Perhaps self-segregation is at work, or maybe the kids just don't like Starbucks.

In other news, I passed the 2/3 mark on "Slideways" yesterday. I'm happy with the progress I'm making; I've solved a number of plot holes and filled in some explanatory background, all while working to maintain heightened tension. This writing stuff isn't for weaklings!

The Second Draft

Right now I'm slogging through the second draft of my novel, tentatively retitled "Slideways". I've been tinkering along the way, making each chapter as captivating as I am able before moving along to the next one. I've gotten up to Chapter Five; however, my husband (my first reader) pointed out some glaring problems with Chapter Three. So, now it's time to go back and revise again.

Moving ever forward...

Exciting new ideas

I came up with an entirely new direction for the middle portion of my novel, and it also gives my antagonist something more interesting to do. Actually, it's based on a concept I've been wanting to work into a story for some time, but couldn't find the appropriate venue for it. Well, now I have it. My current draft will require a fair amount of rewriting; the change will, in fact, affect the whole tone and direction of the book. But it will make it far stronger as well. Now I've got that rush of excitement that comes with a new idea. So much to do!