Third Draft

I finished my third draft of TBW, yesterday morning, and then delivered a hardcopy to Krista*, in Mesquite. This draft was less comprehensive than my second, mostly typos and clarification. It's still in chronological order. I know I'll have to change the beginning though; both of the male readers who picked it up put it back down and made polite noises about why they didn't connect with it.

While I'm waiting for feedback, it's great to be back in Star Swans. :o)

*If you're at the querying stage, Krista's taking entries for "An Agent's Inbox" on Monday, and this month's agent will be Kate Schafer Testerman.

MMGM: THE SON OF NEPTUNE

Okay. I'm probably preaching to the choir with this post, but I just have to say that Rick Riordan did it again. THE SON OF NEPTUNE is as Marvelous as they get. Killer action sequences. Laugh-out-loud humor. He's even getting better at writing love stories, though I don't read his novels for the romantic bits. This is the tenth book I've read of Riordan's, and I'm still not sure how he keeps all of his mythology clear without bogging down the pacing. His stories fly.

Isn't that an awesome cover? It's even better after you've read the story.

If you haven't read his PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS series, you should really start there.  You can read my recommendation here. If you have read the first series and liked it but haven't picked up THE LOST HERO, again, I'd recommend you read it first. But I loved the second book in his HEROES OF OLYMPUS series even more. Percy makes a comeback in this novel, though he doesn't know who he is for most of it (like Jason in the first one), and I really connected with the other two main characters. I didn't want it to end. And now, I have to refrain from quoting funnies until Ben and Robyn have read it. *sigh*

If you'd like to read about more Marvelous Middle Grades, the following people would love to oblige you: 

Shannon Whitney Messenger (our founding mother)

Joanne Fritz

Brooke Favero 

Shannon O'Donnell 

Barbara Watson

Michael Gettel-Gilmartin

Natalie Aguirre

Have a Marvelous Monday! 

Writing Update: Second Draft Finished!

I love finishing a draft, especially one that's been a lot of work. My second draft of The Binder's Web is finally complete at 64,352 words or 234 pages (for those of you who don't work with word counts). One of my sisters has been reading it, and I'll incorporate her notes into my third draft, which ought to be a quickie (since I'm about halfway through it). Then I'll let it sit while I figure out a better beginning and work on Star Swans.

I haven't opened Star Swans in almost a year, and writing another novel has changed the way I look at some things. So, I'm excited to see how what I've learned will affect this revision.

If you'd like to recommend books that give great advice on pacing, I'm all ears. Have a great weekend! 

MMGM: THE EMERALD ATLAS

THE EMERALD ATLAS, by John Stephens, reminded me of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA and of A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS.

Goodreads:
John Stephens' aptly-titled new fantasy trilogy begins auspiciously with a nimble, fast-paced tale of three siblings. Kate, Michael, and Emma have suffered through ten years of odious orphanage "care"; now they have slipped into the care of the eccentric, disturbingly mysterious Dr. Pym. While exploring their new home, the children discover a magical green book. With that discovery, a decade of tedium dissolves into cascades of dangerous time travel adventures and struggles with a beautiful witch and decidedly less attractive zombielike Screechers. High early reader marks for strong characterization and battle scenes.


This is a great adventure story, and Emma is hilarious. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys fat fantasies. It's the first in a series, but wraps up the first part of the story well enough. At least, I thought so.

Also, have any of you read an ARC for LIESL AND PO? It comes out on October 4th. I haven't read the book, but this trailer for it is gorgeous.

If you'd like to read about more Marvelous Middle Grades, the following people would love to oblige you: 

Shannon Whitney Messenger (our founding mother)

Joanne Fritz

Brooke Favero 

Shannon O'Donnell 

Barbara Watson

Michael Gettel-Gilmartin

My computer may be going on a road trip without me, and if so, I won't have internet when this posts. But if you have any questions, I'll answer them when it comes home. Have a Marvelous Monday! 

Eavesdropping

Enna Isilee announced the winners to her birthday bash. If you follow this link, you can watch her video and wish her a happy birthday.

She's actually the first blogging friend I met in real life, which is pretty funny, considering the fact that she blogs under a pseudonym and never posts pictures of herself. My sisters, two of my nieces and I went up to Salt Lake for a Shannon Hale signing. So, we were waiting in line, when I noticed a girl with a copy of Laini Taylor's SILKSINGER. Technically, it wasn't even supposed to be out yet, but sometimes Amazon ships early. I'd just picked up mine at the post office the day before and hadn't had a chance to read it. The Girl with the Book was there with a friend, and, being the eavesdropper that I am, I overheard them discussing online-type stuff. The Girl with the Book went back to reading, and I introduced myself to her friend, confessed to eavesdropping, and asked her which book blogger she was. Sure enough, I'd been reading both of their blogs. That was two years ago. The three of us got together again for lunch in April.

The moral to this story is: freely confess your faults to strangers. They like it. ;)

Have a great weekend!

I'm hosting a contest as part of
Enna Isilee's Birthday Bash 2011
Presented by Squeaky Books

From August 22nd until September 22nd Enna Isilee at Squeaky Books is having a HUGE bash to celebrate her birthday! There’s a giveaway nearly EVERY DAY, tons of author interviews, and guest posts from a bunch different YA book bloggers. And I get to host a contest!

I get to give away a copy of Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George! Entering is simple, just fill out the form (with optional bonus entries). You have until September 21st at 11:59 MST to enter. All winners will be announced on Enna Isilee's birthday (September 22nd) on Enna Isilee's blog (Squeaky Books). Giveaway is open to US only.


Want to know more about Princess of the Midnight Ball? Click here!

Without further ado, enter to win! Click below.



Click here to enter

Something Funny

Okay. This may be even better than his "I'm Reading a Book" video. If you've never seen a Julian Smith video, you should. Really. Let me distract you. ;)



The revising went well today. If I could make this kind of progress every day, I'd be finished with this draft by the end of the week. If only.