L.E. DeLano's Blog, page 43

Another Version Of My Traveler Aesthetic

[image error]

I did a slightly different version of this on a red background (to symbolize the red door – you’ll get the significance of that once you read the book) but I love the blue version here, as well. It highlights a few of the components (and hearthrobs!) of the story, with the lines of text calling out to a couple of soft and heart-tugging moments.

I’m really digging on the aesthetic thing. I’ve put together a few more that I’ll be unveiling in the weeks surrounding the launch – which is less than a month away!

[image error]

Yeah, baby!

It’s All There Inside You. Trust That.

[image error]

The Things That Haunt Us

[image error]

“Every love story is a ghost story.”

~ David Foster Wallace

A friend of mine posted that quote over the weekend, and it’s been haunting my mind ever since because it is sheer perfection.

Think about it. Every story boils down, in its essence, to the things that are haunting those characters, or that world you’ve built. What scarred them? What keeps them awake at night (good or bad)? What did they have to overcome – or still need to overcome? What question has been left unanswered that drives them on? What face do they see when they close their eyes?

You can’t really know someone until  you know what haunts them.

Food for thought, as build these characters and the lives they’ll lead.

 

Shout-Out Monday: Swoon Reads Wants Your Manuscript!

[image error]

Yes, they do! And you only have until January 31st to submit for this round of vetting. Here’s a breakdown of how the process works.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that Traveler started as a NaNoWriMo project (that I didn’t finish at the time), then finally got completed and I spent a good long time shouting into the void, querying and workshopping and querying again to not much avail. I was only one unknown voice among thousands vying for the ear of that editor or agent.

I needed a platform. I needed to get my novel read by readers, real readers, who could give me feedback and write solid reviews that might get me noticed. So I took a leap of faith (and believe me, I agonized over it at the time) and entered the Swoon Reads YA contest.

The rest is history. Here I sit, working on book 2 of that series, and Traveler will be out in bookstores in a little over a month!

What have you got to lose? Even if you’re not chosen this round, you may be on the next. And you gain valuable (I really mean it!) feedback from a host of dedicated YA beta readers. You can’t put a price on that.

Do it.

Just do it.

 

2016 – My Year In Review

[image error]

2016 was a year of work.

I may have landed my book deal at the end of July in 2015, but I got an agent involved so it was September before it was finalized. In the fall, I traveled to NYC for a brainstorming session over rewrites of some of the book’s more critical components, and just before the holidays, I got my edit letter.

I made a conscious decision not to even read it until after the New Year (knowing it would torture the crap out of me and eat my life through the holidays if I did), and on January 5th, I finally gave it my full attention.

*Gulp*

I started writing. And writing. And rewriting. And writing some more. I can give you better detail of the next 6 months in my blog post for Swoon Reads – editing is a process, and involves leaps of faith tempered by sacrifice. Ultimately, it is very, very worth it.

And as we were putting the finishing touches on Traveler, my friends discovered before I did that it was already up for pre-order on Amazon. That was an awesome, awesome, day. But not nearly as awesome as the day I opened the mail and held my advanced reader copy in my hot, sweaty, shaking hand:

[image error]

Okay, so I wasn’t hallucinating. . .

Now I have a publicist setting up blog tours and book signings, and the countdown clock is ticking, and Traveler is out in just over 30 days. It still feels surreal, guys. It really does.

And I am so incredibly grateful for all of it. Here’s to a stellar 2017!

I know how I’m going to turn this bit of a dream into an idea. . .

[image error]

It’s a story outline with plot points and a clear beginning, and I know how I want it to end. I’m just missing the middle.

The story of my life.

#1lineWed

Topic: Begin/End

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

[image error]
Wishing you the brightest and the best of the season!

Bowled Over By Bones

[image error]

So I’ve been binge-watching Bones on Netflix for awhile now, and even though some of the episodes ride the ragged edge of credulity (and really, what TV drama doesn’t?) and the entire cast seems to have all slept with each other at some point, I generally love the writing on this show.

And with the episode, Spark in the Park, I went from love to “OMG I’m loving the writing SO very very very very much.“

The episode deals with a mathematician whose daughter was found murdered. She was a champion gymnast, and Bones (the female lead, if you’re not familiar with the show) and her FBI partner, Booth, pay the man a visit to try to get to the answers. The girl’s father is cold to the point of being unfeeling, but something about him resonates with Bones (Bones is on the autism spectrum, so she herself struggles with empathy and communicating that empathy).

At the end of the episode, they solve the girl’s murder and Bones returns to the father’s office to tell him so. He’s working on another complex formula, and he manages to convey his regret for being so involved with his work his entire life that he missed valuable time with his daughter. He feels tremendous guilt for not having gone to many of her gymnastic tournaments or spent much time just getting to know her. Bones (who has a genius-level IQ) realizes that the formula the man is working on is all about his daughter, described in equations dealing with arcs and motion and momentum, and finally, at rest.

“Her life in movement,” Bones says. “This is the most beautiful thing that I’ve ever seen. Better than any speech, old photographs, this is absolutely, perfectly beautiful.”

“She was. . . beautiful,” he answers, in a quiet voice.

Now, that is a perfect piece of writing. I have never had a chalkboard full of mathematical equations sucker punch me in the gut before. Kudos to the actors, as well – the scene was beautifully played. It speaks volumes that the writers found a way to convey the endless grief of a parent for a child through numbers and lines and one (seemingly) unfeeling man. They end the episode in silence, just staring at the board full of beautiful movement.

Amazing.

There’s a  clip on YouTube, but due to copyright, they’ve had to embed it and alter the sound a bit (their voices are higher pitched). Still worth a watch, though.

 

How Would You Like A Free ARC Of TRAVELER? #amreading #goodreads #YA

[image error]

That’s right! This gorgeous, swirly-blue, heart-clenching adventure can be yours!

[image error]

But you have to act quick! Head on over to Goodreads and sign up for the giveaway by Friday, December 16th!

Fifteen readers will be holding this stunning cover and leafing through the pages searching for pirates and overly-muscular nerdguys, laughing, gasping, and clutching their poor little shipper hearts – a lot!

What are you waiting for? Don’t put it off to the last minute!

[image error]

Get it now and nearly two months ahead of all the others!

I wrinkle my nose as he shows me. . .

[image error]

 

“Christmas was a month ago,” I remind him. “Why keep a moldy piece of mistletoe?”

He gives me a shrug and a grin as he closes his locker. “Maybe I’m waiting for just the right girl.”

#LoveLines

From: WIP

Topic: Mistletoe