Backup Plans

Earlier today I finished my twelfth draft (103,718 words) of TBW.

And I would just like to remind you to make sure you have some kind of plan in place to retrieve backup files on your computer. The Mac I'm working from is less than a year old, and I didn't realize that I needed to activate Time Machine if I wanted to be able to access older files. Lesson learned. But I lost my eleventh draft.

There are worse horror stories out there. I still had the tenth draft to work from, and my youngest arranged her Totoro figurines on my desk to cheer me up.

But make sure you have a safety net in place. If you don't mind sharing, I'd love to hear what you use. 

Music and Writing

At 103,644 words, my tenth draft of TBW is finished. Reward: my favorite chocolate and Laini Taylor's latest offering, NIGHT OF CAKE AND PUPPETS, await.

But today, I want to discuss finding inspiration in music. There are a lot of people who listen to music while they write. I am not one of those people. However, over the course of writing TBW, I'd occasionally hear a song that would remind me of a character and flood me with insight into who she was, and it was always the same character. She isn't the POV character. In fact, she started out with a minor role, but over the course of many drafts, she's become my favorite of the three main characters.

As I hadn't experienced this musical phenomena while writing any of my other stories, I'd attributed it to the character and let it go at that. Having access to music that drops me into the story has been great for revision.

But then, yesterday, I heard a song and thought, "That's HIM. He doesn't have a name yet, and I'm going to kill him off, but THAT is my character." This character had a minor role in my first draft of Nightingale (so minor that I didn't bother to name him), but now I'm excited to see how his story evolves. :o)

And now I'm curious. Does music play a role in your creative process?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm one picture book idea away from completing PiBoIdMo, and I'm excited to explore my new ideas with Ann Whitford Paul's WRITING PICTURE BOOKS. I've only read the first chapter (which was excellent), but I've been excited to work my way through it since reading this review by Harold Underdown (though maybe not quite as excited as I am for this week's pie and cheesecake).

May your week be delicious!

Picture Book Idea Month

I'm not participating in NaNoWriMo this year, but I did jump on the PiBoIdMo wagon. I just finished a rough draft last month and should should have TBW (a much older manuscript) ready to query this month. I don't need that kind of push in the novel department right now.

I'm having so much fun coming up with picture book ideas that I'm ahead. It doesn't demand anywhere near the time commitment that NaNoWriMo does. If you're interested, you have until November 7th to register. Clicking on the icon will take you where you need to go.

Mostly, I'm revising TBW. But where I live, it's also time to put in a winter garden, and I'd like to do a better job of that this year.

What are you working on this month?

Queries and Loglines

For the last couple of weeks I've been trying to come up with a better query for TBW. I loathe writing queries, especially queries for fantasy. I've lost track of how many queries I've written for this story.

Like many other blogging writers, I subscribe to Miss Snark's First Victim, and I noticed last week that she was holding another logline critique this week. So, I condensed TBW into a couple of sentences and submitted it. If any of you want to advise me, it'll be up for critique tomorrow as Entry #35.

Working on a logline helped me come up with a new (and hopefully better) query. We'll see.

Do you have any tips on writing queries?

First Draft Finished!

I just finished the first draft I've been working on since August 26th, so YAY! And I wrote the whole draft in a notebook, which is a first for me. Usually I start out in a notebook and transition to the computer after the first chapter or so. The Unusual Nightingale won't look the same when I type it into the computer, especially when I've researched everything that I want to, but now I'll always have a record of those first ideas to draw on.

I'm unreasonably smitten with these characters and their story, but I need to research the time period and geography better, so they're sitting for a bit.

I've been neglecting my other projects for the shiny new idea, so it's past time for me to get serious about revising TBW and its query. And I might have a couple of new PB manuscripts that need revising as well.

In other happy news, my husband is home from working in California for the last five weeks! I'm really hoping that means I'll be able to sleep again. My writing is SO much better when I sleep more than three hours at night. And with that goal in mind, I'm going to bid you all a happy week. :o)

KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES: EXILE Giveaway

If you loved Shannon Messenger's KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES and have been worried about whether or not the sequel will live up to your expectations, EXILE is even better than the first book. This is not a floppy sort of sequel or even an EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (if you know what I mean) kind of sequel. I love it.

I especially love the friendship that develops between Sophie and Keefe and the alicorn. But for me, the most brilliant part of the novel is the way guilt cripples elves. I can't say more without spoiling.

If you haven't read KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES, it's a series that would appeal to fans of FABLEHAVEN, HARRY POTTER, and PERCY JACKSON, a world within our world. It's fabulous.

And now, if you'd like to win a brand new hardcover copy of EXILE, tell me which character from the first book was your favorite (animals count). Or if you haven't read it, tell me which character most interests you. This contest is open internationally (as long as Book Depository ships to your address), but it closes tomorrow night, 10:00 PM (PDT).

There are a lot of great books coming out next month. Which ones are you most excited about?