Adventures in Genre-Hopping: The Short Story Plunge

Okay. I did it. I finished a time travel story. It's short, but it's time travel and it's mine.

My first published short story is out!

Time Killer
by Emily Casey

Detective Dominic is trying to solve a dozen murders--all with the same MO. The catch is, the murders have happened so close together, it would be impossible for one person to commit them all. 
At least, that's what she thought. But everything changes when Dominic finds a time machine in the desk of one of the victims. 
Now, Detective Dominic has to chase down a time-hopping serial killer before he commits one more murder, one much closer to home.

Available at Amazon, Smashwords, and other retailers.

Snow White and Zombies is out!

HAPPY RELEASE DAY!

It's available at Smashwords now! And you can talk about it on Goodreads.

I know some people like to buy directly from Amazon or Barnes & Noble or iTunes, etc... If Snow White and Zombies isn't already available at your preferred site, rest assured it will be there soon. Smashwords says it usually takes a week to show up. With The Fairy Tale Trap it took a couple of days. With Cinderella and Zombies, it took two weeks. I know--I'm frustrated, too.

The Heartache of a Good Book

Merry Christmas, everyone! I love getting books as presents,so leave a comment for a chance to win a free ebook! (Your choice, Fairy Tale Trap or Cinderella & Zombies). Deadline is the end of the year.

Have you ever been in love? Have you ever cared so much about a person, be it a spouse, child, boyfriend/girlfriend, or dear friend that it physically hurts you to think about losing them?

Why is a good book like that? I sometimes call them magical books because of the effect they have on me. Magic is the only way to describe it.

You know what I mean (or at least, I hope you do so I don't feel crazy). While I'm reading a truly awesome book, I sometimes get a tightness in my chest. And that feeling that makes me keep reading. A good book demands that I give up sleep. It plagues my thoughts during the day. I make excuses to sneak of and spend time with that book. It's addicting.

Just like being in love.

But why to good things make us do crazy things? I think we can all agree that love is good. A good book is, by definition, good. Yet, we're talking about chest pain and sleep deprivation. It sounds like torture.

I'm sure there are a lot of really complicated, very different answers to this question, but here's my best guess:

That there's always a balance. High highs come with high risk, but we love it. We seek it. Because the height of emotion is the height of human experience.

What are your thoughts? Why have you chosen the life of a fiction junkie?

Will You Like My Books?

I think it's high-time I answered this question. My books aren't for everyone, so you shouldn't waste your money if you're not going to like them.

My books are all about a spunky sense of fun. If you like strong, smart heroines (or characters that are so dumb, you laugh at them and wish they'd bite the dust already), you'll probably like my books.

If you like fantasy and magic, but done in a new way, you'll like my books.

You'll like Ivy Thorn (The Fairy Tale Trap, The Fairy Tale Twist) if you're looking for a light, fun read that will keep you rooting for a character in an impossible situation. If you like fairy tales, and modern, relatable characters, Ivy's books are for you. The Ivy Thorn series is quick-paced and funny, with a nice helping of fairy tale magic.

You won't like the Ivy Thorn series if you're looking for great literature with complete grammatical perfection. Also, you should know that the series is written in first-person present, which irks some people (though I have converted a few). If you like stories that take their time and explore various aspects of life, this series isn't for you. Also, you should know that these stories (like fairy tales) don't have many subplots.


Fairy Tales and Zombies (Snow White and Zombies, Cinderella and Zombies) are short novels, with a very different style from Ivy. Since everything takes place in the 16th century, the language is a little more adult. But that's okay, because the themes have more of a grown-up feel to them. These stories have death and zombie slaying with a touch of humor and a dash of fairy dust.
These books are for you if you 1) love zombies 2) Want face-paced action and 3) Want to see a fairy tale in a completely different light.

You won't like my Fairy Tales and Zombies books if you're expecting the constant quick, witty reparte that Ivy brings to the table. There's some humor, and the characters will banter, but that's not the focus of the book. If you hate reading about castles and knights and princesses in ballgowns, you probably won't like these books. (Of course, the princesses will often slay zombies, so that might make things more interesting.)

Contest! Design a book cover for THE FAIRY TALE TRAP

My book, THE FAIRY TALE TRAP is due to come out at the end of the year, but it needs a cover! Unfortunately, I have little to no talent for visual art. Lucky thing I have friends who can do amazing things.

Contest time!

What do you get out of it?

Everyone who scores well in the contest will get a copy of THE FAIRY TALE TRAP ebook.

The winner will get a feature on my blog (where you can show off your portfolio, website, etc...), their name and website in the acknowledgements, and of course, the chance to get your art on the cover of THE FAIRY TALE TRAP.

The winner also gets a $25 Amazon gift card.

Rules:
Original art must be submitted as an TFF or JPG file.

Requirements for the size of your cover art:
• Image dimensions of at least 500 by 800 pixels.
• A maximum of 2000 pixels on the longest side is preferred
• Ideal height/width ratio of 1.6
• Save at 72 dots per inch (dpi) for optimal viewing on the web [I don’t know what this means. I pretty much copied this from Amazon's publishing site. I figure they know what they're doing.]

All submission must be received no later than midnight, on December 10th, 2011.

Submitted artwork must be your original creation. You must have full rights to all material used. (Public domain is fine to use.)

Yes, you may submit multiple entries.

Your cover needs to have the title: ‘The Fairy Tale Trap’ plainly visible and large enough to read the title when the image is reduced to a thumbnail. The author's name, ‘Emily Casey’ should also be plainly visible.

Book covers will be judged by Emily Casey and/or a panel selected by Emily Casey and the voting may be opened to the public. All submissions to be sent by email to emilycaseysmusings@gmail.com

Please include your name, age, email address, and website.

Judging Criteria:

Marketability: 35 points

• Is the cover aimed toward the target audience? (Girls age 12-18)
• Does the cover make it clear that this is a young adult fantasy book?
• Is the title largely visible, even when shrunk down to the size of a postage stamp?
• Is the writing legible on the cover?
• Does the cover bring out emotion and/or reflect a mood in the viewer (that relates to the book)?
• Is it clean and professional-looking?

Overall Visual Appeal: 40 points

How it Captures the Essence of the Book: 25 points

Tips:

I’m putting up the first chapters of The Fairy Tale Trap so you can get a feel for the tone, setting, and characters of the book. I highly recommend you read it before you start! Some things to note:

• Ivy’s dad is Asian. Her mom is Anglo/White.
• Ivy’s personality and attitude vs. the setting
• This book is all about Beauty and the Beast, with a twist.

Cover art with white or very light backgrounds can seem to disappear against white background. Adding a very narrow (3-4 pixel) border in medium gray will define the boundaries of the cover.

Although I've never used them, I've heard GIMP and Scribus are good tools for making a book cover. Since this is an ebook, you don't need to worry about designing the spine or back cover. :)

Good luck!

Let me know if you decide to enter so I can cheer for you!

Stuff I have to put on here to avoid headaches and lawsuits:

By entering this Contest, each contestant consents to the use of his/her name, and/or artwork in any merchandise, advertisements, educational materials, publicity, or other related use carried out or produced by Emily Casey and advertising and promotional agencies without further notice or compensation. Emily Casey can publish or decline to publish, or use or decline to use, any submitted artwork at her sole discretion. The winner relinquishes the rights to use and publish the submitted artwork.

Slow Reader, but Not Really

I'm a slow reader. On top of that, I don't set aside much time for reading. My To-Read list crawls at a horrible pace. I'm ashamed to say that I've spent over three weeks on a book that I adore. I could understand if the book wasn't that good, but seriously, this could be in my Top 10 Favorite Books/Series list.

So I've sort of whined to myself about how pathetic this is (blah, blah, blah) until I realized something...

I read other stuff.

I have a great critique group, and I read about a chapter a week from each person that posts. Normally, we have 2-3 people in the writing-and-posting-for-critique stage. I'm also reading non-fiction as research for my next project. (I also research and read articles online and exchange emails with old professors and other pros for the same purpose.) I'm getting into WriteOnCon.com (if you haven't checked out this free online writing conference, go now!) and participate in the critiques in their forums. In addition to all of this, I read a dozen books a week to my little girl. Sure, they're picture books, but it's all fodder for future projects, right?

So what do you read, aside from the TBR pile on your night stand?

This is Just Cool: For Book Worms and Word Nerds

If I ever come across something I think is interesting, but isn't necessarily informative, it goes into a separate folder. Well, for the next week or so, I'm opening that folder and sharing the wealth.

Do you like books? How about free books? Sure, they're a little older, but the Gutenburg Project has made it their mission to gather all books under public domain and put them in once place. You can get all the classics here. This site is utterly amazing. You can download over 30,000 free ebooks to read on your PC, iPhone, Kindle, Sony Reader or other portable device.

If you have too many books to keep track of, try Library Thing. It'll help you catalog everything. If you're like me and you have more trouble keeping track of your to-read list (or you want to find books to add to your to-read list), then Goodreads is the place to go. Another great place to build your list is Flashlight Worthy. It'll help you find books similar to those you already love.

It can be hard to find a good fantasy or sci-fi series (depending on your taste). The Suvudu Free Book Library gathers the first in a series and will let you read it for free to see if you like it.

Do you like oxymorons? Here's an Oxymoron Generator from WritingFix.

Ever wonder where a word or phrase came from? Here's the Online Etymology Dictionary. Etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago.

And the last link for today is Wordle. You can paste a document and it'll create a word cloud for you.

100 Best YA Books

Here's a list of some of the best 100 YA books by Good Books and Wine. There were a few books that I would have included on this list that seem to be missing :) But most of my magical books are on the list. I'd add something by Bruce Coville. But that's my two cents.

100. Hate List by Jennifer Brown

99. Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix

98. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

97. Among The Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

96. Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

95. Forever by Judy Blume

94. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

93. Tithe by Holly Black

92. Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

91. Wings by Aprillynne Pike

90. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

89. Angus, Thongs And Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

88. Marked by PC And Kristin Cast

87. Maximum Ride series by James Patterson

86. The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

85. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

84. I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak

83. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

82. The Mediator series by Meg Cabot

81. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

80. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

79. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

78. Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen
77. Evernight by Claudia Gray

76. If I Stay by Gayle Foreman

75. Life As We Knew It series by Susan Beth Pfeffer

74. Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

73. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

72. Alana: The First Adventure series by Tamora Pierce

71. Stardust by Neil Gaiman

70. Unwind by Neil Shusterman

69. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

68. Paper Towns by John Green

67. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

66. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith

65. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

64. The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time by Mark Haddon

63. The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

62. Blue Bloods series by Melissa De La Cruz

61. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

60. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

59. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

58. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

57. Eragon by Christopher Paoloni

56. Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine

55. The Vampire Diaries by LJ Smith

54. Fallen by Lauren Kate

53. The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (one of my favorites when I was a kid)

52. The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot

51. Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke

50. Number The Stars by Lois Lowry

49. Lord Of The Flies by William Golding

48. The Maze Runner by James Dashner

47. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series by Ann Brashares

46. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

45. The Summoning series by Kelley Armstrong

44. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

43. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

42. Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card

41. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

40. Wake series by Lisa McMann

39. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

38. Are You There God? It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume

37. Looking For Alaska by John Green

36. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

35. A Great And Terrible Beauty series by Libba Bray

34. His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman

33. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

32. Romeo And Juliet by William Shakespeare

31. The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

30. Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr

29. Forest of Hands And Teeth by Carrie Ryan

28. Holes by Louis Sacher

27. The Outsiders by SE Hinton

26. The Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger

25. The Princess Bride by William Goldman (I'm reading this one now, for the second time)

24. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

23. The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank

22.Uglies series by Scott Westerfield

21. Beautiful Creatures by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia

20. Poison Study series by Maria V. Snyder

19. Book Thief by Markus Zusak

18. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carlson Levine

17. Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead

16. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

15. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

14. Anne of Green Gables series by LM Montgomery

13. The Giver by Lois Lowry

12. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
11. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

10. Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis

9. A Wrinkle In Time series by Madeline L'engle

8. Graceling series by Kristin Cashore

7. Percy Jackson And The Olympians by Rick Riordan

6. Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

5. Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen
4. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

3. Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer

2. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

1. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

I'm ashamed to say I've only read 22 of these books, BUT I've read 8 of the top 10, so that's pretty good, right? 17 of these books are on my To Be Read List. A few others need to be added to the list, so I'll keep this around as a reference.

Why Reading is Important for Writers

Thursday's post is a little early this week.

Hundreds of successful authors have told us that reading is the most important thing a writer can do. Stephen King has some pretty great quotes. This is video one of my favorites.

I read on and off, in spurts and right now I'm on a hot streak. I'm on my fourth book this year, which is pretty amazing for a slow reader like me. But I came across something in this latest book that really struck me.

I won't mention which book it is, but basically, the character goes through a change in her life. Simple right? But the delivery of it, or her specific circumstances pricked at something in my brain. Something that would make my book richer.

I don't plan on ripping off the book, it's a pretty simple concept. It just made me realize that my main character isn't really struggling with anything new at the beginning of my book. I saw something similar when I read Twilight. Bella moves to a new place, so it only seems natural that she should notice details about her surroundings. It's natural to describe things. But if you start in the middle of a character's normal life, why should the character describe something that she sees every day?

Yes, it's miniscule (and I'm having a hard time describing exactly why this made such a difference for me), but trust me, reading just made my book better.

Speaking of reading, I found a contest that is giving away the entire Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, which has been on my wishlist for some time. Just thought I'd mention it... ;)

The Big Ten Books

I'm on a mission. I want to find 10 books that are magical. Ten books that I can't put down, that make me a self-proclaimed bookworm. You know the type. We all have them, I think. Some of us don't read as much as we used to, so our "magical books" are from our childhood. (As a side note, I think a lot of kids today don't read. I don't know that they have magical books and that breaks my heart.)

There are a few that were magical for me in my childhood. The one that stands out the most in my mind is Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. That book made me stay up all night, laugh out loud, and sob like a baby. Ms. Levine is the person who encouraged me the most to start writing. So yeah, Ella Enchanted is on my 10 Magical Books List.

What is this list for? Well, as writers, we can learn by reading. But we can learn a TON by reading like writers. I want to find ten books that are amazing, for one reason or another (or several) so I can pick them apart and find out what makes them tick. What about this scene brought out an emotion? Why do I love/hate this character? Why do I root for that character? Why do I feel as if this world is a real place? Why do I care so much about what happens next?

I want books that I wish I had written, books that can help my writing. Right now, I write Young Adult Fantasy. I want some books on my list that are classics, some that are brand-spanking new, and some that are just my personal favorites or hopefuls. I want a wide variety of books with a wide variety of strengths.

So far, here are the books on my list (and the biggest reason why):

1) Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (emotional impact, relatable characters, romance)
2) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (world building, sympathetic protagonist)
3) The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (voice, humor, worldbuilding)
4) The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (creating constant conflict and raising the stakes, romance)

Books I have in my To-Read Pile that I hope will be magical:

1) Graceling by Kristin Cashore
2) Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
3) Gossamer by Lois Lowry
4) Immortal by Gillian Shields

Books on my tentative/maybe list:

1) Twilight (character building/showing but not necessarily the characters themselves)
2) Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
3) Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix (action sequence, emotional development)
4) The Ruby Key by Holly Lisle (fantastic plot and world building, how to create doubt and emotion by showing, best ending ever, but not the most fantastic example of YA fiction, in my opinion. Also, I've learned a lot of Holly's techniques from her course, which may save me some trouble)
5) Something by Madeleine L'Engle
6) Something by Bruce Coville (another childhood favorite)

I have a lot more maybe books, but I want to get through the four to-reads I listed above before I delve into those.

What magical books make your list?

Writing the Perfect Scene

A while back, I read one of the best articles on craft I have ever read. Seriously, you have no idea. I was absolutely blown away. The post is called Writing the Perfect Scene by Randy Ingermanson.
The post is based on Dwight Swain's book Techniques of the Selling Writer. I bought this book based on this post. The book is even more phenomenal than I expected. I'm going to add it to my reading list (bottom of the left sidebar) so you can have a direct link to the Amazon page.

As I read Techniques of the Selling Writer, I'm writing down some basic principles that I've found in other places. I'll make sure to post it when I finish the book.

Read this post. If you find it at all helpful, buy the book.

After the Frenzy

Now that NaNoWriMo is over, we can get back into regular posts.

I have a finished draft right now. I went back and wrote down everything I loved about my story and everything that went wrong, just to help keep things in perspective. I was surprised to find that what I had wasn't all that bad. In fact, with some tweaking, this could be a really great book!

As usual, I'm taking a "two-week" break from my book (working title: Song of the Muse). I think last time I lasted a week before I started cheating. Maybe not even that long.

Today I realized I had a choice. I could wait two weeks, catch up on my reading, and be bored for an hour or two a day, or I can start tearing apart Shadow Bound. Yes, I'm still determined to make something of that story. I love it too much to cast it aside (and usually I have no problem doing that, once a book has been finished, edited, and rejected my every agent in the country). I'm hoping that Shadow Bound will someday reach the shelves. It may not be the book that breaks me in, but I want it to be published.

So, the question: Edit Shadow Bound now, or take a break and then work on Song of the Muse? (I'm not really the kind of person that likes to work on multiple things at once, so both isn't very appealing.)

A Little History Lesson/Keeping Rejection in Perspective

First of all, I'm starting to think that a MWF posting schedule isn't going to work out. Let's try Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, shall we?

I know you're not supposed to post about rejections, but I'd like to share some perspective.

First, some history: The first manuscript I ever wrote was ... how shall I put this?... it was lacking. I sent it out to as many agents as I could find using my limited experience. (Looking back I realize how little I understood about writing and publishing back then.) I got all rejections. All of them form letters.

Shadow Bound is out in the world now. It has a chance, but I realize there's a possibility that it won't be the work that gets me published. And that's okay. I can wait. I can get better in he meantime.

I'm going to focus on how much better it is than my first manuscript. (And it's WAY better.) Some day, (if I don't get an agent for it this time) I'd like to come back to Shadow Bound and tear it apart editing. (Once I'm a better writer and tearing it apart will do it some good.) This novel has a great premise with great plot twists. (Every personalized rejection I've gotten so far has said something to this effect.)

Until then, I'd like to focus on the good. Shadow Bound has received 4 partial requests and 1 full. That's exciting for a new writer! It means that my second novel is that much better than my first. It means I'm a fast learner and it means my third novel should be considerably better still.

Have your rejections made you stronger?

Killing Time Between Projects

I'm itching to get started on my next project: Phantom. But I'm making myself wait until October. As much as I want to buckle down and plan, I feel like I should let my brain rest a little from writing. I'm always amazed by how much good can come from breaks.

My main character is starting to take shape, though. An eighteen-year-old girl with a fiery personality. Not at all like Christine. (I always thought she was a bit of a wuss in the book.)

Waiting is tough. I focus on querying agents instead. And reading. Always lots of reading.

Which reminds me... look me up on Goodreads.com. It's a great website. You can use it to see what I'm currently reading. (Okay, I'll tell you. I'm reading The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan. It's fantastic.) I use Goodreads to keep track of my to-read list (which is constantly growing).

What are you reading?

Great Place to Revise: Bookstores

Revising is exciting. I keep telling myself that anyway. The first thirty minutes or so are enjoyable, but then I get bogged down in a character issue or weak dialog. I can't seem to keep myself editing for more than an hour and a half straight.

Yesterday I went to Barnes & Noble in the mall to do my revisions. The change of scenery was just what I needed! I browsed some books to get myself in the right place mentally, then sat down at a little table and spread my work out in front of me. I worked for an hour and a half straight. There are a couple of fun little things about doing my work in the bookstore, rather than at home:

1) I'm surrounded by people who love books. I love hearing people comment on what they see on the shelves, or watch how they move from subject to subject. This lady came to collect her husband, telling him she was done and they could go, but when she saw the bookshelf next to him, she became interested in some craft books.

2) The music can be inspiring. When I first arrived, some teeny-pop songs I had never heard before were playing. This is great, since I'm writing young adult.
Then, it gradually changed to some very old-fashioned music. An older gentleman who sat nearby hummed quietly along with "You Are My Sunshine". It was so cute! What's particularly wonderful about this is that the guy was right around the age of a couple of characters I was editing. (Talk about coincidence.) I added "You Are My Sunshine" to my book because of this. I think it adds nice detail to the characters.

3) I can test the markets while I work. A girl (maybe 15 years old) came in with her mom and began sifting through some books on display. She said, "I'm so tired of vampire novels."
Seriously. She said that.

Now, I do my share of research. Not a lot of marketing, but I get bits and pieces. Vampires are still (surprisingly) very popular. I've been under the impression that they'll soon be on the decline. (There are SO many vampire books out right now, the market is flooded.) But, hearing it from a potential future customer was so cool! Think of all the things I might pick up on if I go there regularly. I'll definitely hang out in the teen section more often.

By the way, according to my sources, zombies are going to be the next big thing in teen fiction. (Who knew?) I'll probably shy away from this trend, but it's good to know.

Other conveniences:
It's close, there's food and hot chocolate if I need a break but I'm not ready to go home, I have the whole mall at my disposal, and I can pick up a book if I feel so inclined. (That last one may be a little dangerous to my pocketbook.) :)

I'm a Book Junkie

Hi. My name is Emily and I'm a book junkie.

I don't think I ever really had a fighting chance. You see, my mom read when she was pregnant with me.

I started at a young age. I think when I got really hooked though is when my elementary school teachers started pushing book fairs and scholastic order forms. Books were so available to me. I'd go to the library for my next hit. They were always well-stocked. It got to the point where I would read for any reason. I read when I was bored, I read when I wanted a high, I read when I needed a good cry.

Now I'm off the easy readers and go straight for the good stuff--novels!
I didn't think I'd be peddling it myself though. Now I have a list of regulars that I send all my best stuff to. And most of them come back for more.

Now my daughter is hooked. It's an endless spiral.