Snow, snow go away

Who thought this whole snow thing was a good idea? I was happy to see that first snow fall in December. But now it's nearly February, and there's been some kind of storm every few days. Wednesday, it's some kind of wintry mix that turns into a snow dump. Thursday, it's a it's a Nor'easter. Saturday, it's a clipper system from Canada. Does that make it a Canadian Clipper? Maybe the Los Angeles Clippers should move to Winnipeg?

Every day, the early morning hours turn into a mess of automated phone calls from the kids' schools telling us about a closing, delayed opening or early dismissal (if they didn't call us the nigth before). Then, there I go, out onto the driveway blowing snow every which way, but invariably back into my face, before clearing the sidewalks and the accursed six metric ton packed mound of ice and snow the plow drivers so graciously crammed into the end of my driveway.

I'm ready for summer - no matter how hot it gets.

Did I mention the large swath of lawn I shovel out so that the little black pug should have a place to leave her business? Oh, yes, that's key, because pugs are not long legged, nor do they have much fur on their paws. All my efforts are wasted, though, because Tink turns out to be a mountain pug. She prefers to climb atop the 24 inches of packed snow, her toes/claws spread out wide like eagle talons as she maneuvers her way across the arctic tundra. Whereas it would be quite easy for me to clean up after her in the dug out area, she leaves me a steamy pile sitting atop a distant peak of the Himalayas. I am NOT getting my jeans soaked for that.

Which brings me to my writing.

Hey - don't judge the quality of my segue.

There hasn't been a whole lot of time for my writing because of my current work load. I entered Urban Mythos into ABNA, finished a chapter of Ghost Fishing, and am spending quality time helping out Alex Lidell (ah, the pen name) by critiquing her editor-driven revisions of Service of the Crown. As much as I might be helping her, I'm learning an awful lot about the editing process for an honest to goodness soon-to-be-published novel. It's amazing to experience the transformation of this book's story, which I read and reread along with a select group of other wonderful writers in our writing group. This is going to be a terrific novel. Okay, it already was, but it's going to be, as they say, awesome-sauce.

Wait a minute. Did somebody say more snow this weekend? 

ABNA - The Final Pitch

Thank you all so much for you excellent feedback. I think I've got what I'm looking for in my ABNA pitch. For some reason, I had it in my head that ABNA started this coming week. Fortunately, it's not for another week. Or maybe that's unfortunately? I don't know. It depends on how my Jets do today against the evil empire. It's always appropriate to be in a good frame of mind when entering a contest.

Here's the pitch after all the wonderful critiques.

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Sixteen-year-old Zydeco Hill uncovers a plot to capture former mythological creatures and expel them to a barren world filled with hungry beasts. Two years since his own transformation from griffin to human, he’s been attending clandestine meetings of the city’s ex-mythological creatures. When the police raid one such meeting, he discovers the conspiracy goes all the way up to the mayor’s office.

As other mythos vanish from the city’s streets, the deputy mayor demands Zydeco turn in Octavio, the missing leader of their kind. His initial resistance causes the disappearance of both his stepmother and best friend, and it won’t be long before they’re served up as chimera-chow. While trying to keep the mythological truth from the girl he adores, Zydeco must rescue his friends and step-mom. Along the way, he unearths critical information about an even larger conspiracy to rid the world of his brethren, but he needs Octavio’s help to put it to use. The only problem is he has no idea where the guy is hiding.

At 80,000 words, Urban Mythos is a young adult urban fantasy novel that blends action and romance while dealing with issues of trust and assimilation. It will appeal to readers who enjoy the distinctive voice and humor of S.G. Browne’s Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament and Catherine Jinks’ The Reformed Vampire Support Group.

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ABNA 2011 - Going for it

I have made up my mind. I'm going to submit Urban Mythos to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest next week (or the week thereafter). So now, I've got to tune up my pitch. I've queried it a few times, but the pitch is a little different - not much, but a bit. What do I have to lose, right?

Without further ado, I present to you the first iteration of the ABNA pitch for Urban Mythos. I would love to get your opinions, advice, critiques, comments, or jokes, so please, please, please, let me know what you think. What's the comment box for anyway?

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Sixteen-year-old Zydeco Hill discovers a plot to capture former mythological creatures and expel them to a barren world filled with hungry beasts. You wouldn’t think a city kid like Zydeco would care about their plight, except he’s one of them. Two years removed from his own transformation from griffin to human, he’s been attending meetings of a clandestine support group for the city’s ex-mythological creatures. When the police raid one such meeting, he discovers that the conspiracy goes all the way up to the mayor’s office.

As other mythos vanish from the city’s streets, the deputy mayor demands that Zydeco turn in Octavio, the missing leader of their local support group. His initial resistance results in the disappearance of both his stepmother and best friend, and it won’t be long before they’re served up as chimera-chow. Still trying to keep the mythological truth from the girl he adores, Zydeco decides to rescue his friends and step-mom rather than betray Octavio. Along the way, he unearths critical information about an even larger conspiracy to rid the world of his brethren, but he needs Octavio's help to put it to use. The only problem is he has no idea where the guy is hiding.

Urban Mythos, an 80,000 word young adult urban fantasy novel, blends action and romance while dealing with issues of trust and fitting in with mainstream society. It will appeal to readers who enjoy the distinctive voice and humor of S.G. Browne’s Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament and Catherine Jinks’ The Reformed Vampire Support Group.

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A Surprising Direction

I finally got my butt back into gear over the last few days of the holidays and worked on the alternate chapter one of Ghost Fishing. On a recent post, I ruminated over the style and voice of my Middle Grade WIP. This is the curse of voraciously reading the genre. I set out to write it one way because I was enchanted by the fairy-tale-ish style and voice of Frank Beddor's, Looking Glass Wars. So I wrote.

And then I set my WIP aside to pay some heed to Urban Mythos, which needed some revising based on agent feedback. While I was away from my MG-that-could, I read a few Rick Riordan books whose attitude made me smile and laugh. This gave me pause, and I wondered if my new story would be better served in a slightly more active/snarky/1st person-ish style. I'd had some success with this style before.

Therefore, I crafted a new opening, told in 1st person and with a very different style from the original. Now, I'd also spent some time outlining the plot and character throughlines before I set to work. As a result, the opening chapter had a very different opening scene than the original. Regardless of my style choice, I planned on keeping this new scene. I had a hunch - not so much a preference - just a very strong feeling that if I put the two chapter ones in front of my eleven-year-old daughter, she'd go for the newer version.

It was time to put them to the test. I sat her in front of the computer, with both versions open, and awaited her reaction.

Boy (or should I say girl?) was I surprised. Hands down - the original won. My daughter, Rachel, is not partial to this style of book. In fact, she's as comfortable with Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and the Hunger Games, as she is with the Sisters' Grimm and the Mysterious Benedict Society.  Like I said, it's not that I felt strongly about one style versus the other, I just had a feeling. I was wrong.

As a result, I took that new first scene and rewrote it into the original version's style. In the process of doing so, I think I've arrived at a third style - which is mostly the fairy-tale feel, with a bit more attitude. This style lent itself extremely well to the scene I wrote last night. So far, I agree with Rachel's opinion. That little girl (okay - she's pretty much 5' 5" or 5' 6" so not so little, but she's still 11 yrs old) knows her stuff!

And now, fueled on some Starbucks, I'm off to write some more!