Michelle Zink's Blog, page 19

An Unexpected Gift

A friend once told me that it’s not wise to ask things of the universe for oneself without balancing it by sending those same things to others.

At the time, it sounded a little hokey, but since this is a friend I trust with these things, I promptly started balancing the mantras I said for myself with ones said for others. Sometimes my good energy is directed at someone specific, but most of the time, I just send it out there for anyone who might need it.

This is surprisingly easy to do when things are rough and I find myself leaning more on meditation and mantras, as one is likely to do when things are rough (I imagine this is like praying for some people – lol!).

What’s also surprising is how easy it is to fall away from these habits when things are GOOD. That’s something I’ve been working on – meditating regularly and using mantras even when things are going well rather than saying, “Thanks for the good shit, Universe! Later!”

After long dry spell in which I’ve worked my ass of with seemingly no progress, let’s just say this was a very good week.

A very, very good week.

I like to think it’s a mix of hard work, good fortune, and who knows? Maybe the result of someone else sending their good energy to me.

So this weekend, I’m going to make time for the cushion. And I’ll be sending all my good energy out to the universe and hoping it finds those of you who need it most.

The Art of Mixing it up

Since announcing the release of my new adult novella series, I’ve gotten a ton of email. Questions range from why I decided to branch out from YA to why I chose a small e-press to whether or not I’m worried the diversification will hurt my brand.

All good questions.

And while there are lot of answers I could give, they all boil down the same thing; I’m a writer. Not a writer of YA novels or a writer of short stories or a writer of adult novels.

A writer.

But somewhere along the way, the art of creativity had gotten lost in the business of publishing. Most of the writers I know are artists. And like all artists, they long to stretch their creative ability, to try new things, to see if they CAN. It’s the reason we see Brad Pitt in The Tree of Life and Burn after reading. The reason fine artists doodle. The  reason Neil Gaiman writes a book like Coraline along with one like American Gods along with an episode of Doctor Who.

The problem is, until very recently, that kind of creative exploration was reserved for people who had the artistic clout to pull it off (see above), people who could afford not to care what it did to their “real” career, or people who explored their various talents in secret, either under pseudonyms or in the privacy of their home offices.

When I thought about trying something new, it wasn’t fear of not being able to do it that stopped me. It was worries about my brand, what my publisher would think, whether my agent would be supportive, whether advocates of traditional publishing would despise me for what they might see as a betrayal.

And those are just not the things that inspire creative growth.

But times are changing. And while there is much debate over the demise of traditional publishing and the merit (or lack thereof) of e-publishing, we’ll save that discussion for another time.

The fact is, there are more opportunities than ever to explore and stretch our creativity as writers, as artists. And while there are still those who want us to believe that doing so will “dilute our brand”, the truth is, all evidence is to the contrary. There is a long list of authors who are writing across genres, and unlike in the past, they aren’t all mega-bestsellers.

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at the adult market for awhile. I love writing for young people, and the YA genre will always have a special place in my heart. But I’ve written twelve YA novels (including the ones that haven’t been published or have yet to be published), and I have been itching to try something different. To challenge myself to something completely foreign and terrifying and exhilarating.

Last year, I started two adult novels. I still hope to have them published traditionally (I think they’re a better fit for that kind of distribution), but in the meantime, another opportunity reared its head when I mentioned my idea for an adult novella series to Georgia McBride of Swoon Romance (an imprint of Month Nine Books). Georgia encouraged me to give them a try and then offered to publish them under the Swoon Imprint.

I was hesitant to mention it to my agent. There has been so much animosity between traditional publishing and e-publishing that I half-expected to be considered a traitor just for saying it out loud. But after some discussion, I was pleasantly surprised to receive his blessing. And you know what?

It’s been FUN. Foreign and terrifying and exhilarating. But FUN.

I have no idea how it will impact my YA brand, if at all. It shouldn’t. I write for young people. Now I write for adults, too. Every now and then, I even write a letter or a note excusing my child from school or an email. They all come in handy from time to time, although I imagine if I sent one of my adult novellas into school in place of a note excusing my child, the teacher would be, er, surprised.

But each of those things have a place. I’m choosing to believe my professional writing is the same, and I hope my YA readers will continue to enjoy my YA novels (I have more coming!), my adult readers will look forward to the next installment in the Shadowguard series, and maybe, just maybe, some of you will enjoy the other surprises I’m hiding up my sleeve. Because the more I try, the more I stretch, the more I feel myself getting BETTER. Like all of this writing across genres is only serving to make me a better writer in EVERY genre.

Don’t I owe that to myself? To ALL of my readers?

I’m not gonna lie; I’m a little bit scared, but mostly I’m just grateful that in this day and I age, I have the opportunity to be true to myself and my idea of who I am as a writer.

Because when you get right down to it, that’s the only part that matters.

And don’t forget; you can enter to win free books and a $50 or $25 gift card just for helping me celebrate! Also, please note my lovely new ADULT BOOKS tab at the top of this website. There you will find covers and summaries of the first two Shadowguard novellas.

Shadowguard Series Launch Giveaway!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You guys! Temptation’s Heat and Temptation’s Kiss, books one and two in the Shadowguard series, are out and ready for your hot little hands.

Emphasis on the word HOT.

In many ways, the Shadowguard series represents a departure for me. While my work to date has been exclusively YA, the Shadowguard series is solidly adult (and pretty steamy, if I do say so myself).

But a story is a story, and I like to think the Shadowguard series has all the elements that readers love in my other work; complex characters, tons of atmosphere, and of course,  plenty of sexy (although these are significantly steamier than any of my YA work). I’m having great fun playing in this new world, and I can’t wait to share it all with you.

To celebrate, I’m kicking off an awesome giveaway. Because you all know how I love me some giveaways.

Up for grabs is a $50 gift card and a $25 gift card (to the bookstore of your choice) plus copies of both novellas. And there are lots of ways to enter! You get one entry for each time you tweet a link to the giveaway (limit of one per day), one entry for each review you post on Amazon and/or B&N (four possible entries if you review both books on both sites), one entry for posting the covers on your Pinterest board, and FIVE entries for changing you Twitter pic to either cover.

Just post links to your reviews, Pinterest board, and Twitter profile in the comments section! Giveaway open now through 12/20 at Midnight EST.

Thanks so much for helping me celebrate!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now, for something completely different…

Those of you who follow me on Facebook know I’ve been hinting at an announcement for quite some time. The truth is, I have a lot of different irons in the fire right now and hope to have a couple announcements for you in the coming weeks.

But here’s my big one for today;

Acclaimed young adult author Michelle Zink’s debut adult steamy paranormal romance novella, TEMPTATION’S HEAT, the first in a 3-book series featuring members of The Shadowguard, an elite group of assassins whose passion for forbidden entanglements may bring more than one of them to their knees to Georgia McBride at Swoon Romance by Steven Malk of Writers House for publication in Fall 2012 (World English).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There will be AT LEAST three Shadowguard novellas (the third will be out in January) starting with TEMPTATION’S HEAT and TEMPTATION’S KISS. It has been so much fun to play in this new creative space, and I’m excited to share more about my decision to expand my writing repertoire in the coming days.

For now, I just want to share the good news! The most exciting part? These first two novellas will be out on TUESDAY.

That’s right. THIS TUESDAY, December 4th.

Keep an eye on my Facebook page, Twitter, and this blog for more information plus awesome contests and giveaways. In the meantime, let’s kick off my announcement in style, because you KNOW how I like to give stuff away!

Winning this one is easy; just comment on the covers (here on the blog) thru Tuesday, December 4th, and be entered to win both novellas plus two more from Swoon Romance, Unwrap Me by Samantha Spencer and Carolina Jordan, and Captivated by You by Diane Alberts. Three winners will be chosen at random.

Super excited to share this with you guys!

Pride and Parenthood

Most of you know that my son, Kenneth Zink, has been composing original score music for my trailers since 2009. At that time, he was just seventeen years old. Book trailers were a “new thing” and original music to go with them was even newer.

Kenneth just got better and better, composing an entire score for Prophecy of the Sisters as well as music for the rest of the trilogy and A Temptation of Angels (2012) and pieces for other authors. In the meantime, he developed an interest in writing and the two of us began working closely on a number of projects (none of which I can talk about just now). Music took a backseat to those projects and to his own novel (in progress) until friend and fellow author A.E. Rought approached him to create trailer music for her upcoming novel, Broken.

I blurbed Broken and thought it would be a great project for Kenneth. Something different and a little edgy, brooding, less classic than the music he’d composed for me. I think the resulting piece is an awesome backdrop to Anne’s trailer.

I hope you enjoy both and pick up Broken when it comes out January 8th!

Dirty Thirty

I know, I know! I’ve been away SO LONG. I’m sorry. The only excuse that I have is that I’ve been writing A LOT and have tons of exciting stuff I’ll be sharing with you very soon.

In the meantime, I’m back with the Song of the Week. This one should give you a feel for what I’ve been working on since I’ve been listening to this kind of thing a lot lately.

Hope you enjoy Dirty Thirty by The Crystal Method!

Walking This

This week’s song is courtesy of my latest Pandora station. Kye Kye keeps coming up while I write, and although I’d never heard of her before now, I’m totally enamored with the mellow, sensual sound.

Hope you guys like this as much as I do.

Also, I will have an announcement soon. *ahem*

Two and Twenty Dark Tales Releases!

Just a quick post to say… WOOT! Today is the official release day of TWO AND TWENTY DARK TALES, and anthology of dark Mother Goose retellings.

I was fortunate enough to co-edit this beautiful book with Georgia McBride, founder of YALitChat and publisher of Month 9 Books. I don’t know what I’m more excited about — the fact that I was able to edit so many amazing stories, the fact that got to contribute one of my own, or the fact that I am in such amazingly talented company including Sarwat Chadda,Karen Mahoney Angie Frazier, Lisa Mantchev, C. Lee McKenzie, K.M. Walton, Gretchen McNeil, Pamela Van Hylckama Clieg, Suzanne Young, Suzanne Lazear, Nancy Holder, Sayantani DasGupta, Nina Berry, Leah Cypess, Shannon Delany w/ Max Scialdone, Jessie Harrell and Leigh Fallon, and an amazing foreword by Francisco X. Stork.

So, let’s celebrate! Post in the Comments section your reason for wanting to read TWO AND TWENTY DARK TALES. I’ll pick a winner among all the entries. Contest ends at midnight EST Monday October 22nd and is open to residents of the US and Canada.

Also, take a look at an interview I did for Hypable and find out five random facts about me.

Yanno, in case you were wondering.

THE BLESSED Giveaway Winner!

Congrats to Enna (@ennapenglin), winner of THE BLESSED prize pack! Enna, send an email to prophecypress@aol.com to claim your prize. Please include your shipping address.

Thanks to everyone who helped celebrate the release of THE BLESSED by Tonya Hurley by entering the giveaway and spreading the word. Hope you all get a chance to read it soon!

Editing Corner; Stage Direction

I meant to post this yesterday for Thursday Night Write.

Whoops!

This week’s editing corner focuses on something my agent likes to call “stage direction.” I thought he’d coined the term just for me (after working with him for over five years, this remains a challenge), but since I’ve been freelance editing, I’ve realized I’m not the only one who does it.

In short, stage direction is over-explaining the movements of your characters. Literary blocking, you might say.

I think the reason it’s been a challenge for me is because I see everything I’m writing as if its a movie. In fact, I’ve said before that I often feel that I’m channeling a story more than creating it, as if the story already exists out there and I’m just writing what I see in my mind.

As a writer, it’s a gift to see things this way. It enables one to create a rich atmosphere and and an immersive visual experience for the reader.

But it can also be distracting, forcing the reader to stop reading as they try to visualize every move of a character’s hand, every lift of the eyebrows, every smirk. Just as bad, it can mire your pacing, eliminating the momentum that is critical to a swiftly-moving story that pulls the reader through it in one smooth motion.

Dialog scenes, in particular, are a huge danger zone. You want to keep things moving as they would in real life, where we don’t stop to think about (or notice someone else) touching our hair, biting our lip, or putting a hand in our pocket.

Here’s a small example from an older manuscript of mine. At the time I wrote it, I was already aware of my stage direction problem. Even so, there are things I’d cut if I went back to edit it now.

“Here ya go.” Sarah pushed the steaming cup of tea toward me with a sympathetic smile. “Don’t work too hard.”

I thanked her, dropping a dollar in the tip jar. I was at the end of the counter when she called after me. “Tell your mom I hope she feels better.”

I came to a sudden stop. “What do you mean?”

She looked surprised. “She stayed home sick today. Didn’t you know?”

I shook my head. “I left early this morning.”

I stood there for a minute, fighting the alarm that slithered through my veins. I must have looked worried, because Sarah came down to the end of the counter.

“Hey,” she said, shaking me out of my thoughts. “I’m sure it’s nothing. I think I heard Helga mention a cold.”

“Yeah, but… she’s never sick.” It was true. In all the years my mom had owned the Depot, she had never missed a day of work. Not one. It didn’t matter if Helga, the store manager and my mom’s best friend, was on duty and my mom was so sick she could barely get out of bed. She was always here.

Sarah laughed a little. “Everyone gets sick sometime.”

I sighed, trying to feel relieved. “You’re right. Thanks, Sarah.”

 

If I were to go back and edit it now, this is what I’d do;

“Here ya go.” Sarah pushed the steaming cup of tea toward me. “Don’t work too hard.”

I thanked her, dropping a dollar in the tip jar. I was at the end of the counter when she called after me. “Tell your mom I hope she feels better.”

I came to a sudden stop. “What do you mean?”

“She stayed home sick today. Didn’t you know?”

“I left early this morning.”

I stood there for a minute, fighting the alarm that slithered through my veins. I must have looked worried, because Sarah came down to the end of the counter.

“Hey, I’m sure it’s nothing. I think I heard Helga mention a cold.”

“But… she’s never sick.” It was true. In all the years my mom had owned the Depot, she had never missed a day of work. Not one.

“Everyone gets sick sometime,” Sarah said.

“You’re right,” I sighed. “Thanks, Sarah.”

 

Truth? Even now, I’m cringing removing some of the stage direction. People won’t be able to see it the way I do! They won’t be as immersed in the scene!

IT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

But let’s be honest; the second version is cleaner. It moves faster. The dialog isn’t bogged down in a bunch of minutia that doesn’t add to the story. It’s an extremely small change, from an editing standpoint. But it makes a HUGE difference when applied to an entire manuscript.

So when editing your own work, remember; you’re not blocking a play. It’s not your job to lay out every movement. That’s the job of the reader – to take what you write and see it their way.

And if you ever need a reminder, here’s something funny to help you remember (hint; there is an overabundance of stage direction in this song about a guy who’s girlfriend is breaking up with him).

I’m entirely booked for full manuscript edits for October (a rare month in between writing projects), but I do have some slots left for three-chapter plus query letter critiques. Even a small-scale critique like this one can mean a big improvement if the suggestions are applied to an entire manuscript. Email me at prophecypress@aol.com for details!