Michelle Zink's Blog, page 30

Things I Love

I'm bringing back one of our old features, Things I Love, mostly because it gives me a place to spread the word about cool stuff.

I love this gorgeous vintage locket because the colors are so deep and rich, and the design is one you'd be hard-pressed to find manufactured today. I love old things that speak to a different era or aesthetic, and I can totally see Helen from A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS carrying this (though her grandmother left her a locket of another sort).

You can view this piece here from Etsy store Mint Designs.

Hope you're all having a good weekend!

Friday Poll – How Superstitious Are You?

This week's poll is brought to you by Becky, who suggested I draw on the fact that today is Friday the 13th for a poll topic.

Sometimes I think I'm a little twisted, because I sort of revel in dark things. Superstition, Friday, the 13th, scary movies, freaky books, ghost stories… I love them all!

And even though I wouldn't  go so far as to say I'm superstitious, I have to admit there are times when I think, "Don't tempt fate!" or "Knock wood!" even if I don't say or do those things out loud.

What about you? Do you adhere to any rituals or sayings to keep bad things at bay? Share your thoughts in the comments and weigh in with the Friday Poll!

View This Poll

Thursday Night Write 1/12/2012 – Open Mic

Wow… That's a lot of "12s"!

It's been awhile since we've done Open Mic, and since I know a lot of you have started writing again now that the holidays are over, I thought this would be a good time to open up the floor.

So share your original poem, song, short story, script, or novel excerpt of no more than 300 words for comment. And don't forget; if you post a piece of your own, you have to comment at least one other piece. Writers of all ages and levels of experience are welcome. Don't be shy!

One more thing; If you haven't been getting status updates from me on Facebook, there's a reason! I've officially switched my Facebook account from a Profile to a Page. There aren't a lot of differences, but there is one; If you don't have your account set to see updates from Pages in your Feed, you'll no longer see mine. This includes links to special features on the blog, contests and giveaways, and my random updates about movies, life, and take-out.

To see if you're receiving updates from my Page and/or to change the Settings;

From your home page, hover your mouse to the left of the left side News Feed menu.
Select Edit.
A list of people, apps, Pages, and groups you've hidden or unsubscribed from will appear in a pop-up box. Click the X next to each one you'd like to remove from this list. Removing someone or something from your list of hidden stories means those stories can appear in your News Feed again.
Click Save.

Easy! And I hope you'll all continue to follow my updates on the Facebook Page because that really is where I post EVERYTHING, including all of the upcoming giveaways and contests for A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS.

And if you're not already following my on Facebook, you can do so here.

Hope you are all well!

 

A Temptation of Angels Contest & Giveaway Update

Hey, guys!

Thought I'd give you a quick update on current and upcoming giveaways for A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS.

You can enter the giveaway for a Be Tempted t-shirt five bookmarks, and a nail polish here through Midnight on the 15th.This giveaway is done in partnership with YALitChat, who also gave me a marketing grant last year that continues to pay for the shipping of prizes for contests and giveaways.

Starting Monday, January 16th, I'll be giving away a signed TEMPTATION bookplate plus a bookmark to anyone who preorders and emails me the receipt (online or otherwise). This will run for two weeks and I'm super excited about the bookplates because they are GORGEOUS!

After the preorder giveaway, we'll go right into the MZ Posse Packs Giveaway. Those of you who have been fans for awhile might remember this as the Giveaway Formerly Known as the Superfan or No Strings Attached Giveaway where I give away 50 (yes, 50!) prize packs to the first people who leave a comment explaining why they are a Prophecy Superfan.

No tweeting, linking, or any other kind of promotion required. This is my opportunity to say thank you for all you do to supprt me throughout the year.

But since this is for A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS (and the prizes were chosen accordingly), I had to make a decision; continue calling this giveaway (which I run right before the release of every new book) the INSERT-BOOK-TITLE-HERE Superfan Giveaway, or come up with something more universal. Since the Zink posse is commonly referred to among publishing peeps as the group of people I usually have in tow at events (namely, my teenagers and sometimes some extras), I decided to make you ALL part of my posse. So from now on, this prize will be called the MZ Posse Pack.

There's one more difference; this time it won't be the FIRST 50 people to comment who win. It just gets too tricky to choose a time of day that's fair for all time zones, so I'm going to choose 50 people at random from the comments.

But still! 50! That gives you great odds of winning, so stay tuned for these giveaways, which are really just the beginning of the ramp up to the release of A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS.

Let It Be Me

Huge thanks to friend and fellow author, Rhonda Helms, for reminding me how much I love Ray LaMontagne. For some reason, this one makes me long for hot summer nights, big glasses of lemonade, and slow dancing in bare feet. Such a beautiful song, an amazing voice, and something I hope everyone of you hears or feels during your lifetime.

Sending you all love tonight.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I have a confession to make; The pressure of Mystery Monday finally got to me!

It's not that the world isn't full of mysteries. It is! It's just that I'd wait until the minute to choose a topic and inevitably stress myself out hunting for a subject, link, etc.

So I decided to make a change with the new year. I'll still do Mystery Monday from time to time when I have one, but when I don't, we'll talk about movies, because as you all know, I ADORE movies. Between DVDs and streaming, I watch at least two a week, which should give us plenty to talk about.

Let's start with David Lynch's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I say "David Lynch's" because a Swedish version was made first, and I have to say, I LOVED it. It was dark and brutal and the scenery was gorgeous. Plus, it's interesting how the actors they chose (all of whom did an amazing job) didn't have the slick, homogeneous beauty of American actors. I liked that about it!

David Lynch's version was different – slicker, a little more subtle, and definitely Americanized – but I still enjoyed it. If you haven't read the books I should tell you that it's not for the faint of heart. This is a graphic mystery/thriller about men who hate women (so much so that that was the original title of the first book in Larssen's Millennium Trilogy), a damaged, badass woman who takes matters into her own hands, and a man who loves women and fights to see that they get justice.

The casting was dead on with Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Slander and Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist and while the score (done by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails) was, in my opinion, too generic for such an intense story, the overall film held it's own with the Swedish version.

On another note, if you haven't read the book and like this kind of thing, you should. It's an incredible trilogy.

Here's the trailer;

 

 

What I Did and What I Want to Do

Happy 2012, you guys!

I meant to write a goal-related post last week, but to be honest, I had such a tough November/December I just withdrew over the holidays and tried to regroup. I'm still getting my feet under me from the very tough year that was 2011.

All the more reason to look ahead and set some writing goals (and I'm not just talking about me here).

Last year I wrote 2 1/2 novels, edited two books front to back, wrote a 20,000-word novella, and continued to promote my little heart out by sending out tons of swag and spending the majority of my promotional time and money focusing on connecting directly to readers. I also plotted two more books and started work on some exciting TV/film stuff that I hope will open more doors for me in that arena this year and in the future.

In addition, (and I know this isn't writing, but it certainly impacts my writing), I single-parented four teenagers, maintained our old converted barn by myself, and shopped colleges for Rebekah.

Because I'm so goal-oriented (and I always have aggressive goals), my schedule was packed tight and dependent on everything moving at a certain pace. About midway through the year, I hit a roadblock where I just could not get any of my writing projects to move forward. Publishing is notoriously slow (I've heard it described as "glacial"), and this proved to be my downfall in 2011. Things didn't start moving again until December, which proved to be too late for me to meet some of my goals (like finishing that 1/2 a book, selling it, selling one of my others, and getting my novellas out into the world).

I'd like to claim that I learned to say "c'est la vie", but when it comes to goals, I'm not that much of a defeatist (or maybe that's just one thing I can't be Zen about). I think the biggest thing I learned is something I suspected all along – it's never a bad idea to diversify with projects in multiple genres, mediums, etc. That way, if one thing (or ten things) are stalled, you have something else (hopefully) moving forward.

The downside is that you have to work through all those roadblocks on multiple projects to even get to a point where you actually HAVE a diverse set of in-process projects. I'm hoping I did the hard part of that in 2011 and that all my hard work will come to fruition in 2012.

With that in mind, here are some of my writing goals for 2012;

1. Finish and sell the adult book I'm working on now.

2. Finish the adult book I started last year (and had to abandon at 35,000 words because of aforementioned scheduling issues with other books) and prepare it for sale.

3. Complete the two short stories I've committed to for anthologies.

4. Line up my 2014 YA book to meet my Book-A-Year-For-The-Foreseeable-Future goal. I have a book I'm super excited about and am really excited to get it out there. Hoping that will be my 2014 book.

5. See at least one of the TV/film projects I'm working on move forward, even a little, and work on more in that arena, including a script Kenneth and I are plotting now.

6. Get my three Prophecy novellas out into the world. I know I promised them to you awhile ago, but an opportunity arose that I wanted to see through. Will have more on that — one way or another — soon.

Whew! Kind of scary, but… I got this!

How about you? What are some of your writing goals for the New Year? Share in comments!

 

Keep You Right by Blind Pilot

This week's song comes to you courtesy of Missy! I like the folksy sound, and supporting an Indie band is always a plus.

Thanks, Missy!

And don't forget you can enter to win a Be Tempted t-shirt, a nail polish, and five bookmarks in the first A TEMPTATION GIVEAWAY of the year, in partnership with YALitChat. Also, keep your eyes and ears open, because the free bookplate giveaway for TEMPTATION preorders is imminent!

You'll Be Mine by the Pierces

I'm totally loving this week's song, You'll Be Mine by the Pierces. It was nominated last week by Chrissy, on of my favorite readers. I'm so glad I went back and looked at that thread. I would have hated to miss this one.

Also really love the gorgeous video!

P.S. Don't forget that you can help one of my readers get his mom back on the transplant list and win a manuscript edit or original song by Kenneth by bidding in our charity auction!

Win a Manuscript Edit, an Original Song, and Help Someone Along the Way

Some of you probably remember a couple of months ago when I posted about one of my readers, Paul (London) Nieves. London's mother is very, very ill and in desperate need of a new liver. She's been on the transplant list, but her status was changed to "inactive" after car trouble sidelined their vehicle to the tune of $2500 they couldn't afford to pay (transplant recipients must have transportation to get to and from doctor's appointments and to the hospital in a hurry if an organ becomes available).

I put the word out about London and his family for two reasons; 1) It's a matter of life or death, and when you have an opportunity to help in a matter of life or death, you do it, and 2) I've never met a son who does more for his mother than London does for his mom. He often works more than one job to help pay the bills and spends every second of his free time trying to get his mother to doctor's appointments, and recently, trying to raise money to get her back on the "active" transplant list.

Unfortunately, no one was able to help when I put out the call a couple of months ago, but then a local news station did a story on London and his mom and some wonderful Good Samaritan came forward to pay the remainder of the repair bill. Now, London is only $420 away from being able to renew the car's registration and insurance so he can get it back on the road. Once the Nieves' can prove the car is operable and his mom can get to her doctor's appointments, she'll be placed back on the active transplant list.

You can view the original news story here; http://www2.tbo.com/news/2011/dec/08/unpaid-car-repair-bill-got-in-way-of-liv-81323-vi-25308/

The Zink's really want to help London and his mom, so here's what we're going to do;

Kenneth and I are ponying up two pretty awesome prizes in an auction format. Many of you probably don't know that I do freelance editing on the side. If you don't know, it's because I usually work on referral only and can only take editing projects when I'm between writing deadlines of my own. But I'm putting it out here now because it's the only thing I can think of to help London in a hurry (you can read more about my editing services here).

So I'm offering a full manuscript line and content edit – up to 350 pages – to the highest bidder. This includes a read-through with basic line edits a and summary of the manuscript's strengths and weaknesses, flagging things like phrase repetition, awkward or unrealistic dialog, choppy transitions, and areas of confusion or unnecessary detail as well as providing basic impressions. Correction of typos and grammatical errors are included though this should not be considered a copy edit. I will also provide the winner with a detailed overview of pacing, characterization, point of view, setting, world building (if applicable), extraneous content, and plot holes and anything else that is of particular concern as well as possible work-arounds and ideas where possible as well as suggestions to increase marketability for potential representation and sale.

At my normal rates, this level edit would cost around $1750.00, but I'm offering it up to the highest bidder between now and midnight EST on December 30th.

In addition, Kenneth is offering an original composition (song) for a book trailer or just for you or a loved one. As many of you know, Kenneth composed the trailer music for all three Prophecy trailers. He's also worked on a trailer for author Lisa Mantchev, a public service announcement for the New York Public Library, and has completed the trailer music for A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS. That trailer will be unveiled soon, but just for stopping by this post, you get a link to the unlisted sneak preview (just a snippet!) of the TEMPTATION theme. You can find other examples of his work on the Projects page of his website here or see the Prophecy trailers on the Books page (Prophecy of the Sisters) of this website. Kenneth will donate a 60-second song to the high bidder of his auction. If you'd like the song for your book trailer and you're the winner, you will send him a brief summary of your book and a description of the atmosphere you're looking for in your trailer. You may also include a list of trailers that have a similar look/feel to the one you'd like for your book. If you'd like the song to be for you or a loved one, you can send Kenneth a little backstory, either on yourself or the person for whom you'd like the song composed. Kenneth's is an amazing composer, and I can think of few things that would be more meaningful to anyone than a song composed just for you/them.

So let's break it down;

There are TWO auctions here. One for the manuscript edit and one for the original song. To enter, all you have to do is use the COMMENTS form on this post, state which prize you're bidding on, and then state your bid.

For example; Manuscript Edit $50.00 or Original Song $50.00.

You're bid must be at least $5 higher than the last bid. Whomever has the winning bid on each prize at Midnight EST on December 30th, wins. Payment must be rendered within three days via Paypal. I will deliver your editorial letter and manuscript notes within two weeks of the date I take delivery. Kenneth will deliver your song within two weeks of the date you provide him with all the applicable information.

Should we raise more than $420, the additional money will be donated to one of three charitable organizations; FEED, Water.org, or 826nyc. I'll post a poll, you guys can vote, and whichever organizations get the most votes gets the extra money. I chose these three organizations because they're awesome, and because for me, food, water, and reading/writing are pretty much the stuff of life.

Easy! And wonderful, because it's a chance to make a life-saving operation available to someone who might not otherwise get it and to lighten the load on a wonderful young man just a little.

Opening bid for both prizes is $25. Ready… go!