L.E. DeLano's Blog, page 38

Breaking Out The Focus Words – My Writing Strategy For Staying On Track

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I’m hammering away at my next manuscript, and I’ve started using post-it notes as a way to keep myself on track as I’m getting through a scene or a chapter.

You see, I have a bad habit of knowing where I want something to build and then meandering off a bit, which only creates stuff I have to slice later, or rearrange once I’m into my edits. I’ve found that if I pick a word – just one word – it helps me focus.

Sometimes the word is for the overall tone of the scene. Something like “Unsure” or “Walls” or “Chaos.” Sometimes I’ll put up a few notes – color coded (this works great) to remind me of what the major players in that scene are bringing to the table or fighting against or fighting for. Those are words like “Empty” or “Futile,”  “Exhausted” or “Denial” or “Winning.”

I stick them right up on my monitor, so they’re staring me in the face as I work the scene, reminding me to keep that momentum going and focus on that word. Books are made of words, it’s true. But the driving word behind the words your characters are saying, or enacting, is the essence of your story.

Oh, Decisions, Decisions . . .

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Oh, you guys . . .

The three new stories I have percolating are now down to two – mostly because story 3 just doesn’t have all the elements together yet and stories 1 and 2 are more fully-formed in my head. Now I have to decide which I move forward with.

Do I give you Mateo, who’s trapped in a world of endless night? Sophie is the key to freeing him, but it’s going to take a lot of cunning and more than a little help from her friends. Most of all, it’s going to take courage – for Sophie only sees Mateo when her night terrors drag her into the darkness . . .

Or do I give you Aidan, the reluctant remnant of a fallen kingdom, a land that once held magic and a place where the gods of ancient Ireland once ruled. Into this land stomps a foul-mouthed girl named Grace, who’s as far from that namesake as a girl can be. Together they have to find a way to rebuild a kingdom, and bring magic back to the land of their ancestors.

Help me out! Which book would you like to read first?

Lots Of TRAVELER Stuffage Going On!

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I want to apologize for Tuesday’s post falling off the map – I had a tidbit from TRAVELER posted that WordPress decided to eat for some reason, leaving me only a title and a blank page. It took me four tries to restore it, as it kept eating parts of the post every time I updated. I’m hoping they fix the glitch soon because that was seriously annoying.

Anyway, here’s a few more shoutouts on TRAVELER from last week’s blog tour:

TRAVELER book review at The Avid Reader

TRAVELER book review at BibliobibuliYA

TRAVELER book review at The Page Unbound

Here’s a TRAVELER excerpt courtesy of Captivated Reading

And here’s my interview with Hopeful Reads

I want to say thank you to all of you who read – and review! So far my reviews have been predominately good and for a debut author (in this genre), that’s just gold. It really is.

Tidbit Tuesday: Finn’s Story

Today, A Story In Honor Of Mr. Rogers’ Birthday

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Today is Mr. Rogers’ birthday, and I do my best every year to make it a day of kindness. I write a check or go online to make a donation to a charity. I let people cut in front of me in traffic. I pick at least ten random people I interact with in a day and tell them how good they look or how good they are at their job or just how much I admire them.

And you know the funny thing? I feel so good after doing all this, I find myself doing a lot more of it the rest of the year, too.

I was recently going through some old blog posts on my parenting blog, and I came across one entry, written on the very day I received my book contract in the mail to sign. This was a moment I had been waiting for for years. A high point in my life. And just a few minutes after I opening that envelope, I came across someone who was experiencing one of her lowest points.

I did something nice for her, but I’m not telling this story to toot my own horn. I’m telling it because we all need to remember that for every great day out there, someone else is having a not-so-great day. Or a run of those days. And they may  not even be exhibiting any outward signs to let anyone know that. A smile, a kind word, a kind gesture, can be a balm to that hurting soul, a boost for their step, or even just a reminder that people can be kind.

So be kind today, for Mr. Rogers, and for yourself. And then do it again tomorrow, and the days after that.

Announcing My 2nd B&N Booksigning!

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That’s right! In addition to my signing at Barnes & Noble in Plymouth Meeting, PA (suburban Philadelphia) on April 1st, I’ll also be appearing at Barnes & Noble in Wyomissing, PA on April 8th at 1pm!

Stop by and see me and drop your name in my drop box for a chance to win a  goody pack that includes a $25 Amazon gift card, a signed copy of TRAVELER, and some other fun stuffage!

 

 

Time For A Little TRAVELER Trivia!

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Now that TRAVELER is out and hopefully being read at a steady rate, I thought it might be fun to share some behind-the-scenes trivia. Some of this stuff will be familiar if you were among the early beta readers at SwoonReads.com, but at least one of these tidbits will surprise you:

In the original draft of the story, Ben was revealed at the end of book one to be a Time Traveler. In the climactic scene at the end, instead of reaching for a rock, Jessa was directed to a chisel hidden in the rock wall – placed there by Ben who had just shifted back through time.
Another change from the original draft: originally when Jessa traveled to the Steampunk reality and met pirate Finn, she discovered to her surprise that she was soon to be a teen mother. That’s right – steampunk Jessa was pregnant. Which makes for a much more poignant and hard-hitting scene later in the book.
In one discarded reality, Jessa had a younger half-sister named Julia.
In another reality, Finn and Jessa were canoeing down the Amazon.

And now for the final tidbit, one that even the early readers couldn’t know.

5. In my original plan for the full story arc, Dreamers weren’t confined only to the dreamscape. They were more like Travelers who’d gotten a promotion and could access both reality and dreams. In the original plan for the final installment of the series, Mario was going to give Jessa his Dreamer powers so that she could do something very important. It was going to be equally important that she give the powers back to him at the end – but in order to do so, she’d have to find him in the real world.

“How do we know who he is in real life?” she was going to fret to Finn and Ben. “He’s got to be an Einstein or a Stephen Hawking! He’s got to have a mind that doesn’t work like everyone else’s!” And that would be when she realizes the truth: Mario is really her brother, Danny.

Of course, this ending won’t work now so it’s been discarded, and Danny is Danny and Mario is Mario and never the twain shall meet.

Oh, wait. That’s not entirely true. But you’ll have to wait for DREAMER to get the scoop on that scene.

Stay tuned . . .

Reviews! Reviews! Reviews!

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I got a whole slew of recent reviews, so rather than shout them out daily and look like I’m totally full of myself, I’ll link them all here.

Thanks so all these great bloggers for reading! And reviewing!

Adventures in Writing’s Review of TRAVELER

Betwixt These Pages’ Review of TRAVELER

The Lit Buzz’s Review of TRAVELER

And an excerpt featuring the real star of the book: Glitter Mousse!!

Loves Great Reads Features An Excerpt From TRAVELER

“You won’t easily be forgotten, Jessa.”

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He reaches for my hand, bringing it to his lips. I stare at him a moment, trying hard not to like him so much. He’s entirely too charming, this Finn. And he knows it, too.

#LoveLines

From: TRAVELER

Topic: “Charming”

My Author Interview Is Up At Adventures In YA Publishing

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I had the pleasure of being interviewed over at Adventures in YA Publishing! Tune in to hear me talk about book inspiration, the publishing process, my ‘other’ self, and what’s coming next!

Catch the whole interview here.