L.E. DeLano's Blog, page 40
February 23, 2017
Social Media & Mayhem -Trying To Keep Focus Is Hard
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One of the biggest plusses you have as an author is the advent of social media.
Unfortunately, it’s also one of an author’s biggest minuses.
Here’s the thing: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and my blog enable me to interact with readers and would-be readers from all over, to extend my reach beyond my friends, family and neighbors, and most of it without spending much (or any) money.
What it does cost me is time, and when you’re a single working mother, that time is oh-so-precious. Every hour I have to spend scheduling tweets and posts, or taking pretty pictures of books, or coming up with blog content is time I’m not spending on my writing. Which is not ideal.
Unfortunately, it’s the nature of the beast, and in today’s market, a presence in social media, particularly when you write YA, is critical.
So I spend six hours, one day a week front-loading a bunch of this stuff. I take my phone into the bathroom with me to retweet authors I know and “Like” the everloving hell out of Facebook and Instagram posts. I scour Reddit before bed at night and on lunchbreaks at my day job for interesting articles or really cool pictures to share, so I’m not always talking about my book. Everytime somebody posts a hilarious meme anywhere, it gets copied and re-used. I have posts set to duplicate out from the blog to Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr and from Instagram to Twitter, as well. I am a one-woman social media machine.
It’s the price of admission, if you want to stay on the ride.
February 21, 2017
Tidbit Tuesday: Jessa Asks Finn About His Past
In my YA novel, TRAVELER, Jessa has just learned she has the ability to travel through mirrors into other realities, where she steps into other versions of herself. In this scene, Finn – a fellow Traveler – has taken her through the mirror to an excessively sparkling reality for her first taste of Glitter Mousse. Jessa does her best to pry into his mysterious past . . .
“So you’re not from here?”
“Here?” Finn glances around at the shining chrome and sparkling chandeliers of glittery Mugsy’s.
“There,” I qualify. “Back where I’m from. You’re not from my reality.”
“No.” He looks uncomfortable.
“Do you know me, where you’re from?”
“I did.”
I let that hang in the air for a minute before I bite my lip and ask.
“Did I move away?”
He holds my eyes.
“No.”
“When—” I clear my throat. “When did it happen?” I can’t bring myself to ask how it happened. I get the feeling he was there.
“Three years ago.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, and I really am. I can see the hurt in his eyes. Whoever we were to each other, we were obviously close.
“It’s okay,” he says. “Not like I really lost you, after all. We’re Travelers. We’re always around somewhere.”
He gives me a stiff shrug, but it doesn’t quite cover the pain in his voice. I can’t help myself. I reach across the table for his hand. He rubs his thumb across the back of my knuckles, and the feel of his hand on mine is incredibly familiar.
“That’s got to be weird, though. Seeing a different me every time.”
“You get used to it.”
He says it, but something in his voice tells me you don’t, really.
TRAVELER is available now! Grab a copy and step through a mirror into adventure!
February 20, 2017
Check Out The Beth’s Bookcase Podcast Interview Of Yours Truly
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A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be interviewed by the charming Beth Ashley, who’s a podcaster, publisher, and writer in her own right in the U.K. for her podcast on “Beth’s Bookshelf.”
We had a fun and in-depth discussion on the things that make a writer, the issues of diversity and disability in literature, and all the things that make TRAVELER a really adventurous read (that brings in all the feels).
And thank you, Beth Ashley – let’s do this again sometime!
February 17, 2017
Guest Blog: How My “Useless” Theatre Degree Made Me A Better Writer
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Even though I haven’t landed on Broadway (yet!), I’ve never regretted my Theatre degree. As a writer, it’s become even more invaluable. I cannot tell you how many scenes I’ve blocked out for logistics, acted out for emotions and beats, and recited aloud for pacing and inflection. If you’re holding my book in your hand, you’re holding a performance piece – a very carefully rehearsed performance piece.
And if you’ve never had an acting class and you’re a writer, you might want to consider it.
February 16, 2017
New Review Up At Tales of the Ravenous Reader
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Many thanks to Christy at Tales of the Ravenous Reader for her glowing review of TRAVELER. Much appreciated! And I had to laugh a little at this:
“This is one of the first books I left HUNGRY because the author did such a fabulous job of describing glitter mousse, a dessert from an alternative reality. Lucky for us, the author included the recipe to make it in THIS reality and I am SO down!”
Ah, Glitter Mousse. Food of the gods. My mouth was watering every time I wrote about it – so much so that I called my nephew – he’s a chef – and demanded that he find a way to make it for me, and he did! And it is utterly TO DIE FOR.
The recipe is just an added plus when you buy the book! And that’s on top of flirty Irish pirates, daring adventures, sadder but wiser souls and great nerdy snark!
February 15, 2017
When You Make A Book Boo-Boo, They Always Find It
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A lot of work went into my book. A lot.
Writing. Rewriting. Editing. Rewriting again. Lather, rinse repeat. Then on to my editors, and more rewriting. Spellchecking, of course. Grammar, of course. Continuity – oh, you betcha!
Then on to proofing for a fresh set of eyes to catch every typo or slip in tense. They got nearly everything. (One little typo came through but it’s barely noticeable).
And then a reader pointed out my big ole idiot of a boo-boo.
Ugh.
Here’s the thing: I’m a single mom who can’t afford a ton of cutting edge technology for my kids. And I’m not a gamer. Neither is my daughter, really – she plays games on her phone but never got into gaming consoles much.
The gamer of the house is my son, and he is absolutely nuts about Mario Kart. So I wrote the character of Danny (who is based on my son, also a person with autism) and had him playing Mario Kart.
Here’s where I screwed up. Our gaming system is a Wii. Not a Wii U. A Wii. It’s seven years old – which is antique by technology standards – and we can barely find games for it anymore, but it still works and my kid uses it all the time. At his Dad’s house, he has an X-Box. But with me, it’s the Wii.
When I started working on edits for the book, I was afraid that having a character gaming on a Wii would make it seem dated, since the Wii is pretty much a dinosaur in gaming technology now. So I did a find and replace and subbed in “X-Box” everywhere it said “Wii.”
Easy-peasy. And now the character of Danny plays Mario Kart on his X-Box! Yay!
Yeah, I’m an idiot.
Mario Kart is, of course, exclusively Nintendo property. You can’t play it on X-Box. I should have inserted Playstation or PS2 or something. It didn’t even occur to me, even though I know that. With all the other edits going on, it wasn’t even a thought because it’s really not integral to the story in any way.
But it sure does irk a reader (who’s also a gamer) to read it, and understandably so.
Mea culpa, my readers. I promise, I’ll do better next time.
February 13, 2017
Check Out My Author Interview With Adventures In YA Publishing!
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If you haven’t yet discovered Adventures in YA Publishing, you seriously need to check them out! Not only do they have great giveaways and promos, they have terrific author and want-to-be-author content, as well as mentors, workshops and insider tidbits that are well worth your time to read.
And this week, they interviewed me about TRAVELER! Read it here!
February 10, 2017
New Review For TRAVELER Up At The Windy Pages
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A great big thank you to Kimberly at The Windy Pages for her recent review of TRAVELER! I’m so glad you enjoyed it – and thanks so much for not spoiling the ending (even if it threw you for a loop)!
Here’s a little bit of what Kimberly had to say:
“There is something so right about this book…The book is very creative, carefully explaining how they can jump and what repercussions the characters have on the other timelines. I really liked how different Jessa was in each dimension and how the worlds were vastly different. I really liked Finn and Ben, and especially pirate Finn.
February 9, 2017
Check Out The Swoon Blog For A Little About My Book Journey
I’m guest posting on Swoon Reads today since this is my pub week. Learn a little about my journey (and my book’s journey) in
Oh How Far We’ve Come, My Book And Me
And get a glimpse of my newest aesthetic – featuring tidbits from the book!
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February 8, 2017
Scavenger Hunt #Giveaway Going On For TRAVELER At YABC!
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Whew! What a pub day, huh? Thank you all so much for your good wishes and shout-outs yesterday. I felt like Cinderella in a sparkly dress and killer glass stilettos all day!
And that’s only the beginning – lots of stuff still going on this week!
Today got a guest blog up at YA Book Central – so hop on over and check out my 5 Reasons Why My Story Had to Be YA.
And while you’re there, be sure and sign up for the Scavenger Hunt giveaway for Traveler!
