Jacob Devlin's Blog, page 6

New Short Story Coming Soon!

Hello warriors!

I’m excited to announce that at the end of this month, I’ll be releasing a very special story from the Florindale universe!

This story will be exclusive only to my newsletter subscribers with no current plans to release it beyond the December newsletter, and that’s what makes it so special! It’s one that’s been on my mind for years, and it’s near and dear to my heart. So I’ll give you just two hints on what to expect:

Chronologically, it takes place before the events of The Carver, but can be read at any point in the canon whether you’re brand new to the series or salivating for The Hummingbird. It is truly a standalone story.
The focus will be on young Pinocchio and his puppet days. But you’ll see a few other characters you might know and love as well

Taming the Dragon (Or: The Art of Revision)

Happy December!

In Jacob news, I saw Coco recently and I wanted to recommend it to anybody who’s down to cry. I have this theory that Pixar uses our tears to water their gardens and that’s why Disneyland is so green and beautiful. But we love them for it, right?

In all seriousness, it’s a beautiful movie. The story, the themes and messaging, the graphics, and the representation of the Latino culture made me happy even if I walked out a little red-eyed! I couldn’t help but wonder about the writers and the process they took to develop the story. How many times did they go back to the storyboard? Did they write somebody out? Did those twists come to them naturally? How many lines were deleted and added after the initial draft?

We have to remember that writing is a fluid and ongoing process and not a one-and-done deal. Recently, we talked about Stephen King and how he nearly destroyed the original manuscript for Carrie. But what happened between the time his wife dug it out of the trash and the first time it was bound into a book? I can’t profess to know much time passed for him, but I can imagine there was quite a bit of work in between, just as the screenplay for Coco probably had to undergo its own share of narrative revisions.

I love when people ask me what my own revision process looks like, because it’s honestly my favorite part of the cycle. Everybody does it differently. Some swear by a three-draft method where it should only take three major revisions to get your manuscript market-ready. I’ve seen a checklist that goes through somewhere around 30 passes. I see merit in both, because you have to use what works for you! For what it’s worth, here’s what I do:

After I type “THE END”, I put the manuscript into a different font than what I wrote in and then format it to my own liking, usually double-space and Garamond or Times New Roman. Then I save a PDF and pay to have it printed, spiral-bound, and shipped to me. Seeing it bound and spanning a thick stack of paper gives me that happy boost–a tangible sense that I’ve accomplished a major step already. Plus, I really recommend paper as opposed to the machine for that first revision (call me a Luddite if you must!) There’s something almost cathartic and valuable in taking an actual red pen, post-its, highlighters, and marking that bad boy up!
The first pass is just me reading for glaring big-picture issues: plot holes, continuity errors, major lapses in characterization, and pace issues. When I see something that needs a change, I slap a post-it on the page. In fact, I slapped one on page one of my current WIP: “rewrite in 1st person POV.” Naturally, this means the first revision takes the longest and requires the biggest changes!
Once I make these major changes, I feel ready to show it to betas who can help me assess the big picture. It’s crucial to get outside feedback. Have you ever played Cranium, where it asks you to do something like sing a simple and well-known song using only the syllable “doo”, and suddenly you’re frustrated that your buddy can’t tell you’re “dooing” Happy Birthday? “How can you not know this?” you ask. Of course he’s heard the song a million times, but he’s hearing it in a brand new context and all the info you need is at the forefront of your mind. When you reread your own work, you’re listening to yourself “dooing” Happy Birthday, so of course it makes sense. But other people have to understand you, too. So you ask for feedback. I usually get a couple friends I trust, plus an equal amount of people I’ve never met before, like a professional beta reader who is not invested in my emotional well-being or obligated to be nice to me. When the feedback comes in, I start taking notes and figure out where it all converges. That’s where my attention needs to go in the next draft. I always have to remember to take it with a grain of salt, because it’s not going to come back perfect!

On starting new adventures . . .

I’m full.

Like, still full. There are still leftovers in my fridge, and I’m desperate to scarf them down before they go bad.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It was hard to go back to work today, but I’m still basking in that family time and the opportunity to reflect on things I’m grateful for: my first year of unclehood, my career, my health, my family, and all of you who have taken part of my storyteller journey!

It’s hard to believe I first signed with Blaze Publishing almost two years ago. THE HUMMINGBIRD is hovering in those terrifying proofing stages that scream “Last chance to find typos!” It’s always a little scary, because I’m reaching that point of no return where I’ll have a full trilogy in the world and there will be no more revisions! My thoughts are a beautiful jumble right now, but I’ll share more with you when February 20 gets closer

Sandcastles

Forgive me in advance for getting rambly. It’s 11:30pm, I’ve just written so many words, I’m craving midnight snacks, and I’m very red-eyed right now.

I want to tell you about an alternate reality and a universe parallel to the one we’re in right now. The difference is so minor that you probably wouldn’t even notice anything is different about it, but this alternate reality is just a little more boring than the one we’re in right now. And in this alternate reality, I would have zero reason to write this blog post!

Like so many writers in the world right now, I made the commitment to dive into NaNoWriMo and celebrate National Novel Writing Month. For those who don’t know, this happens every November, and writers make a commitment to get as close as they can to writing a full novel between November 1 and November 30. The ultimate goal is 50,000 words, and the preference is to do something fresh in between. Well, I’m here to tell you that I’m also a rebel. While I’m fully immersed in NaNoWriMo, I use the month as motivation to complete an unfinished novel, regardless of how many words I have left, and usually get a new project rolling while I let the first one cool off. So this month, I’m writing all about a train crash, a reality TV star, and a dragon. I’ve been writing about them in short little bursts for about a year now. In fact, I started this during the last NaNoWriMo after I finished the first draft of The Hummingbird!

So, with NaNoWriMo as my saddle, I took this dragon project by the horns and I wrestled it into submission and slapped the last remaining 20,000 words on the end with the enthusiasm of a five-year-old in a Disney park! Right?

Wrong!

Yes, I’ve made progress in the first week. Yes, I’m proud of that progress. But when you come close to the end of a project, there’s a slump where you feel like A) you might not ever finish the manuscript and/or B) you shouldn’t finish the manuscript. It’s garbage. Why did you even start? Hack up every single word and burn the letters! I had that day yesterday. I started to identify all the inconsistencies, plot holes, pacing issues, and absurdities that I don’t want in my book. And the idea of going back to clean them out and fix it right now was all too daunting. I can’t even look at this anymore! I thought. Oh, the horror!!!

And then I took a deep breath, put on my Spotify, and said, “Just finish the damn book, Jacob.”

And then I wrote 491 words.

I’m no math wizard, but I do know that’s less than 1% of the target goal for NaNoWriMo. But I also know that it’s 491 words more than I had on November 4th. Progress!

Today, I came home and wrote 1200 more. That’s 2.4% of the target goal, and so much more than I had on November 4th or 5th! PROGRESS!

I’m gonna pat myself on the back for that one, especially because there was something I remembered. First drafts always suck. It’s a shapeless blob of molten iron, still too hot to play around with while you’re still pumping it out, but once you have it all in one place and give it a few minutes to cool, it’s yours to hammer and forge into a sword. The first draft is all sand. The third is a sandcastle–or at least, something closer to it than it used to be.

My Creepiest Moment

In honor of Halloween and the premiere of Stranger Things 2, I’m going to tell you the creepiest thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m no Stephen King–I don’t write horror and I’m kind of a chicken–so let’s build a campfire and roast some marshmallows and keep it chill.

Okay, maybe not that chill. Can we ditch the instruments please?

Ok go.

It hadn’t been so long ago that I had started college, so I was probably eighteen years old? That means this happened almost ten years ago, and still it’s burned into my brain as if it just happened last night. I was pretty grounded in reality by then–well, as grounded as I’ll ever be. After all, I am a writer! It’s my job to keep my head in the clouds at least part of the time. But I also have a degree in psychology and make every effort to poke holes and explain the illogical when it happens right in front of me. With that said, everything I’m about to describe happened exactly the way I perceived and continue to remember it. The most logical thing I can come up with is that it was a night terror, but even that doesn’t quite add up because I hadn’t fallen asleep yet.

All I know is I was ready for bed. It was an ordinary night. It wasn’t stormy, cold, blizzarding, or ominous in any traditional way. C’mon, this is Tucson. The only thing we have to fear is heatstroke.

The first thing I remember was being settled into bed but not quite ready to drift off yet when I felt a tap on my foot. That’s what started it all. I always kept my bedroom door locked, and nobody was in the room with me, but something tapped me on the edge of the bed. Sure, I was a little spooked. I turned the light back on, sat up for a while, and watched some TV. I got over it a few minutes later, shut everything off, and made a second attempt to sleep.

My eyes hadn’t been shut for long when I heard a sound on the roof. Onomatopoeia isn’t going to cut it here, so stay with me:

For the most part, it sounded like somebody was running, but so much faster than any human could run. Think about a helicopter and the individual beats you sometimes hear when the blades are spinning. You might also imagine a woodpecker, or a jackhammer, and that’s how little space there was between each footstep.

“It was a cat!” you say. “Or a dog jumped up on your roof and got startled!”

No. Not unless this cat or dog weighs about three-hundred pounds. I’d heard my stepdad walking around on the roof before, and not even he was as loud as the sound I’m trying to describe to you. So imagine these LOUD, extremely rapid footsteps starting in one corner of your room and zipping all the way to the other corner until it’s just above your head. Now imagine that whatever the source of the noise was, it tripped and fell when it was over your bed. BAM!

All of this happens in less than two seconds. So I snap my eyes open, my heart going at least the same speed as that jackhammer I described to you, and just like that, everything’s quiet again. My fan’s still going, but that’s it. There’s nothing on the roof, there’s nothing outside my window, and Scrappy the family boxer puppy isn’t barking.

But there is a shadow in my room. It doesn’t have any particular shape, but it seems to be oozing in like water in the very corner, and it’s a different corner than the sound came from. Mind you, my room was already dark, but if you can imagine a hole growing in the darkness, or a sort of “negative space” that makes shadows even darker, that was pouring into my room and expanding like a cloud.

I’d had enough crap for the night, so I jumped out of bed, punched the power button on my TV, and let that glorious static glow fill the room. The shadow was gone.

*cue Stranger Things music*

I can’t say anything like that ever happened again, but to be fair, I usually have the TV on now . . .

What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you? And do I really want to know? Comment if you have something!

Watch for The Hummingbird

“To aid you in your quest,” Violet added, “I offer you these powers. Peter Pan, the young at heart, may your spirit forever maintain its levity. I offer you the gift of the hummingbird . . . . Do not be angry when your shadow eludes you. After all, shadows are born from the light.” THE CARVER, p. 65.

Is it all starting to make sense now, why I titled these books the way I did? It all started with these three kids who decided they were tired of not being taken seriously, tired of being looked at as “the scruffian”, or tired of being told what to do. When I wrote those words about three years ago, I already knew how the story was going to end for Peter, Pinocchio, and Alice, but I didn’t know everything that was going to happen to them along the way . . . and to me. They had lifetimes of adventure, love, family, and a little bit of danger. Me? I had a wish granted. I got to see their stories come to life, and one of the most magical parts of the process is dreaming up the cover–the door that the characters get to live behind for your enjoyment.

[image error]

I’ll save the sap for release day! You’re here because you wanna see what goes in that blank space, don’t you? Your wish is granted! However, I’m going to ask you to do just a little bit of work by clicking the link below. Don’t worry. It only took me seventeen seconds to figure it out! You’ll probably beat me

YA Scavenger Hunt (RED Team)

Hello World!

And welcome to the 2017 Fall YA Scavenger Hunt. Jacob Devlin at your service–a YA fantasy author who has been accused (rightfully, mind you) of writing the ORDER OF THE BELL TRILOGY, soon to be complete in February of next year! Three quick facts about me:

When I was a kid I wanted to be either a detective or a magician. I suppose writers are sort of like both!
You can usually find me wandering at a Comic Con.
My first real job was at a movie theater, where I watched the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie five times during my first few weeks on the job!

But enough about me!

You, my friend, are hunting for the RED team of the YA Scavenger Hunt, in which you have the chance to win many books and prizes and discover best-selling authors who can feed your head with tons of fun stories! Here’s how this goes. Somewhere on this blog post, I have hidden a secret number. While you learn about my friend E. Katherine Kottaras, keep your eyes peeled for that number, write it down, and I’ll direct you to the next stop! Repeat, add up your numbers, and once you’ve met all of us on the Red Team, be ready to plug all those numbers into the ENTRY PAGE for a chance to win all the things!

Now let’s meet E Katherine Kottaras!

E. Katherine Kottaras is originally from Chicago, and now she writes and teaches in the Los Angeles area. She holds an M.A. in English from the University of California, Irvine and teaches writing and literature at Pasadena City College. Katherine is interested in the stories we tell, the stories we are given, and the ways we can redefine our worlds by discovering which stories are true.

Let’s learn more about her newest book, THE BEST POSSIBLE ANSWER:

ADVENTURELAND meets SAY ANYTHING (as though from Diane Court’s POV), THE BEST POSSIBLE ANSWER is the story of Viviana who is a driven honors student and the daughter of a Russian-Jewish immigrant mom and an American engineer dad who have extremely high academic expectations for her. As a result of both these expectations and an exposing mistake Viviana made in sharing a nude photo with her boyfriend (who proceeded to send it to the entire school), Viviana suffers from severe anxiety and panic attacks. She knows that she didn’t do anything wrong in sending the photo to him – she trusted and loved him at the time – but world still blames and shames her for it. 

Set at her summer job in the middle of Chicago, Viviana is finally able to escape the judgmental eyes of her school, but she soon becomes the odd vertex of a love triangle; her childhood best friend, Sammie, has a crush on the outgoing, college-aged lifeguard, Evan, but he seems to be more interested in Viviana. Against her better judgment, Viviana falls for him, thereby damaging yet another important relationship in her life and disappointing herself. Soon after, when her father finally returns from his mysterious six-month long business trip, Viviana discovers some deep, dark truths about him that force her to question all of her ideas about love and trust and the control she has over her life.

I was such a fan of Adventureland! Intrigued yet?

I’m excited to give you a peak at E Katherine’s vision board while you’re here. Here’s a series of images that relate to her story:

[image error]

She also wanted to share this printed poster for her first book! Send this puppy to the printer and display it proudly! Then, be sure to pick up her book on Amazon.

[image error]

Side note: Speaking of the best possible answer, isn’t there a number that’s supposed to be the answer to everything? The meaning of life and all that? Is it 32 or 42? I can never remember!

But I digress.

I have one more thing for you before you go: a chance to score some prizes! I’m giving away a paperback, some eBooks, and some Amazon credit while the hunt is on. Just click the link below:

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

When you’re ready, jump on over to visit ROSALYN EVES for your next clue! Thanks for hanging out today. Happy hunting, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

YASH is Coming!

For all of you who love finding new reads, I have just the thing for you. The YA Scavenger Hunt is coming back! I had a blast being a part of this last fall, and I’m so excited to jump back in as a featured author on the RED team. If you’ve never heard of this, the hunt runs twice a year in the spring and in the fall. During the hunt we showcase new and upcoming YA releases, give out tons of prizes, and release special bonus material. Sound interesting?

This spring we will have one hundred forty authors split into seven teams of twenty. Each team is assigned a color. The blog hop begins Oct 3rd and runs through Sunday, Oct 8th. It’s easy to play. All you have to do is either start on my blog or head directly over to the YASH website. There you’ll find a list of all the authors participating as well as an answer sheet you can print off to gather the info you’re hunting for and to keep track of any bonus contests you may have entered.

Are you ready to see all the books featured this season? Here they are!

Which books look the most interesting to you?

UNITY TOUR: Interview with McCallum J. Morgan!

Hello world!

Today, as part of our publisher’s UNITY BOOK EVENT, I’m introducing you to fellow author McCallum J. Morgan, published by Little Bird Publishing House. We’re on a kind of Foreign Exchange project whereby we get to be hosted on each other’s blogs and get to hang out in their world with their readers for a day.

Be sure to head over to McCallum’s blog and check out my interview at www.mhablas.blogspot.com!

They’re going to tell you a little bit about themselves and then for a chance to be in with winning a copy of their book, just drop a comment below.

So hi. What’s your name and what do you write?

I’m McCallum. I write whatever the Muses dictate, which so far has been YA steampunk/myth fusion and horror-comedy.

[image error]

When did you start writing and why?

I started my first book at age thirteen or so, but I’d been writing since long before that. I loved reading fantasy and it inspired me to want to create my own worlds, characters, and stories. I’ve always loved making things up and imagining that there is more to the world than meets the eye.

What were the biggest challenges about becoming a published author?

Trying to figure out the social media presence thing. I know a lot of people build up a presence and following before they get published, which is helpful, I think. But I was unsure of myself and didn’t want to tout myself as an ‘author’ when I wasn’t even published. But a writer’s a writer, published or not. Of course, it’s never easy to get an online presence and following going. But if you’ve started ahead, you have something to go off of to start your ‘published journey.’ I’m still working on it. I’m not a very outgoing person, so even behind the veil of social media, it’s hard to be big, brassy, and bold.

Shout out your publisher and tell us how they helped you on your creative journey.

Little Bird Publishing House has been a wonderful place to grow as a writer. With the network of authors that all reach out and help each other, giving advice and encouragement, it’s a very nurturing environment.

Where can we find out more about them?

www.littlebirdpublishinghouse.com

What are you working on right now?

I’m working on book three of my Weather Casters Saga, A Hole in the Air. And several other half-formed projects: various fantasy and horror stories and novel ideas.

 

Who is your most favourite character you’ve written and why do they speak to you so much?

That’s like asking someone to pick their favourite child! Haha. Ok, if I have to choose just ONE, I pick Lady Vasille. I’ve had a fascination with villains since I was a kid (my favourite characters in Disney movies were the villains, Jafar, Maleficent, Cruella De Ville). Villains are cool and the ones that are complex and conflicted are even cooler. I’ve written three books with Lady Vasille now and I love how easy it is to slip back into her viewpoint and write her story. The same is true with Parsifal, but I’m proud of Vassilissa’s development and multifaceted villainy. So that’s why I choose her over Parsifal. She’s a villain and I’ve always loved those.

Do world events and politics influence your writing?

Not really. I think fiction is an escape, so if avoiding current events is being influenced, then it’s actually yes, I guess. Although if they do find their way in, I’m not going to expunge them on that basis. I really hate politics and prefer to avoid them at all costs. I refer to myself as a non-political monarchist. Which is really just a fancy way of saying I’m a desperate romantic who was born in the wrong century.

How important are places you have visited and where you live to your writing?

I think the scenery of North Idaho helps fuel my imagination. I grew up with woods all around my house and I played in them nearly every day. I think that was an important part of developing my rabid imagination. But the small number of places I’ve actually travelled to might influence my wandering imagination: wondering what it’s like out there, envisioning it, hungering for it. I think that is some influence on my writing about exotic and imaginary locations.

Share with us your favourite line from your most recent release.

Off the top of my head? Sir Crawft, a poet, in Ambulatory Cadavers responds to a question about his writing with ‘No Your Lordship, I write fiction.’ But there’s also this bit from Charles:

‘I put it over him with a chandelier and half a pint of whiskey,’ he wheezed.

Lyra: ‘You mean you set him on fire?’

Charles: ‘Accidentally, yes.’

Tell us five things that you love in life.

Coffee, Costumes, Vampires, Books, and Björk.

Tell us five things that you hate in life.

Adulting, Poor Grammar, mornings, politics, and country music (sorry, but I can’t stand it. Although I can appreciate the Romanticism of many of the lyrics).

What book started your love of reading?

Oh, gosh. I don’t know, Dr. Seuss? The Chronicles of Narnia? I read the Lord of the Rings in fifth grade. I loved Hank the Cowdog, too. And there was A Series of Unfortunate Events. I started a fanfic of Lemony Snicket, the Horrible Highway. I used to listen to children’s classics on tape. Loved the nonsense poems. Lewis Carroll is an all-time favourite of mine.

Tell us about your most recent release.

Ambulatory Cadavers was released last Halloween. It’s horror-comedy that caught me by surprise. It takes place in an imaginary country I’ve made up stories about for some time: Monezuela. The era is Regency. 1820-ish and Lyra plans to help her father take over parliament and dethrone the queen…by raising an army of the undead. Her cousin, Alice is just trying to avoid getting married when she becomes entangled with Lyra’s plot, and a strange young man of questionable occupation. I never planned on writing this book. I’d heard of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and even read the first page. I was mildly amused but disdainful of the butchering of a classic. However, the idea of zombies in Jane Austen’s time did seem like a charming notion. I thought, they should just write an original tale. I didn’t think I would be the one to do it, but the two characters of Alice and Lyra, who had developed separately, just came together, fused by the addition of zombies. Add a little Frankenstein, slapstick, ridiculous dialogue and you have a romp of nonsense to shake your sensibilities (I had a lot of fun writing it, anyway).

[image error]

Where can we buy it?

Ambulatory Cadavers

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Ambulatory-Cadavers-Regency-Zombie-Novel/dp/1911552058/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495906329&sr=8-1&keywords=ambulatory+cadavers

Ebook: https://www.amazon.com/Ambulatory-Cadavers-Regency-Zombie-Novel-ebook/dp/B01LX8TJDL/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1495906329&sr=8-1

Thank you McCallum for joining me today, and thank you all for reading! Be sure to go check out his books, and while you’re here, see what else is going on in our UNITY TOUR on Facebook! There are a lot of opportunities to win prizes and to celebrate the way books connect us all across the world.

The Sacred Writing Space

Hello world!

Here’s another question I get sometimes and one that I love chatting about:

“Do you have a ‘sacred’ writing space?”

I do!!!

It is so important for writers to think about their ‘environment’ and the place that will get their creative juices flowing. It’s just as important as a workbench for a carpenter, or a laboratory for a chemist, or a studio for a painter!

I know plenty of people who can work in coffee shops and get a lot of great work done there. They love hearing the steamer at Starbucks and the gentle hum of conversation. They thrive off of listening to the acoustic guitar player in the corner. They get a “creative buzz” off the “caffeine buzz.” For me? This doesn’t always work. Sometimes I’ll get the urge to take my laptop and go sit in a coffee shop, but I know that I get my best writing done at home and at my desk. It’s a space that I “curate” over time and it’s always in flux depending on what I need, but there are always a few things in the atmosphere that I keep close by.

[image error]

I try to keep my writing space practical, so I want to make sure that everything I need is close. The laptop is a given, but it’s also important for me to have my earbuds there, because I know music is usually going to stimulate the creative juices for me. I also know I may want to reach for a book on the craft every now and then, so I keep a shelf full of those nearby. Oh, and every now and then I need a little nudge to get off Facebook and write. That’s why you see the great Brett Dalton offering his encouragement on top, and the more recent additions: Victoria Schwab suggesting that I should probably be writing, and my baby niece looking sweet and innocent and asking me to please write her a story