Kimber An's Blog, page 27

CRUSHED SUGAR Moves into the Final Stages

After all the necessary work is done, I believe it will depend on which book is next in line to be released at Decadent.  I'll let you know as soon as I get a date.

P.S. I don't know what's up with my right sidebar on this blog.  It likes my wordcount thing, but has bumped everything else down.  Can't fix it.  Must be a Blogger thing.  Anyway, scroll down for links and such.

Seward, Alaska

Seward is my favorite place in Alaska and a popular tourist destination.  My husband and I hiked around the Exit Glacier area when we were dating and honeymooned in Seward not long after.  We love Resurrection Bay.  The Alaska Sealife Center is located there.  The mountains surrounding it are among the most beautiful in the state.  Seward is accessible by road, air, train, and sea.  Cruise ships dock there all summer.  In the Ophelia Dawson Chronicles, her eccentric British grandmother lives in Seward.  In the book I'm working on now, Sweet Bytes, several scenes will be set in Seward. 

Sneak Peek at a Night Owl Ad for SUGAR RUSH and Other Decadent YA Stories

Looks like SUGAR RUSH won't be all lonesome on the Decadent YA shelf much longer! 

SWEET BYTES Begins

I've put my wordcount progress at the top of my sidebar to the right.

The SWEET BYTES Playlist

At the moment, it's the soundtrack from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmoron right now.  Remember that old movie from when you were a kid?  Here's a link to the Bryan Adams song, 'You Can't Take Me' to refresh your memory-   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqDhmTORtqM
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Meanwhile, I still listen to the A-Teens for this series too.  Their link is on the sidebar.

CRUSHED Edits Came Back

Prequels are scary to write.  Just look what happened to George Lucus. 

Countdown to SWEET BYTES

Last week, I was beating out the story structure for the next full length novel in this series, then titled Sugar Baby, and I realized what I had was two novels crammed into one, like conjoined twins sharing vital organs.  I surgically seperated them, but I have to say without the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet it would have taken me months of work and frustration to figure out this MAJOR problem.  So, if you're a storyteller and don't know about it, pop over to the blog and click on 'Tools' at the top of the page.  Blake Snyder  It was created for screenwriters, but it works for novels too.
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Christmas vaciation is just about over.  The tree is down and I'm trying to get my household in order before school starts again, because I don't just send mine off to school, you know.  I also homeschool two of them.  When you school at home that homes needs to be in order.  However, I'm also counting down to the starting of the next novel in this series.
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After surgically seperating the two stories, I renamed the novel, SWEET BYTES, because Sugar Baby just didn't work anymore.  I'll save it for the next book where most of that plot takes place.  Sweet Bytes is not misspelled.  As a Diabetic, Ophelia is a lollypop for Oldbloods (originators of the vampire myth) and a syringe full of Meth for the average Newblood junkie.  'Sweet bites,' get it?  But, she is also a
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Geek.
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Hence the spelling 'bytes.'
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If you want to read into that meaning, I suggest you look it up.  I'm chasing a metaphor here.
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Okay, I'll toss you something.  Ophelia undergoes a major learning curve in this story, coming off the tragedies of Sugar Rush; you know, her father's murder, her dog being killed, losing Brandon and Adrian.  Geez, it was like when Robin Hood returned from the Crusades in the spoof-movie Men in Tights to discover his whole family had been killed, even his dog and that his cat had choked to death while eating his pet goldfish.  So, Ophelia's reeling from that and is assigned a new Oldblood Protector who is also in charge of helping her develop her empathic abilities.  She kind of makes a mess of things before she learns self-control and thrashes an Oldblood who ticks her off.  She yells,
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"This Sweet bites back!"
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And that's where I got the title.
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Meanwhile, poor Adrian's off trying to kill himself.  That's going to require me to learn how to write Male Point of View well.  I did write Male POV for Star Captains' Daughter which is available free at Feedbooks, but I did a lousy job, I think, and now I'm scared.  Also, I'm more than a little anxious about writing Multiple Point of View, but Adrian's demanding it and I've had to agree that his side of this story is necessary in Sweet Bytes.
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So, meet me back here New Year's Day for an update.  The way it works is I create the story entirely in my head and then I set a date and I start writing the dreaded First Draft, at least five pages a day every single day.  It should take about a month to hammer that out, much like it does for NaNo.  Then, the rewriting and revision process begins.  I always come in way under wordcount on the first draft, so the rewrite takes twice as long.  Throw my four children and Tendonitis into the mix and I've got a lot of work ahead of me.
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There are more wolves in Sweet Bytes!  My daughter, who's a member of the YA readership, told me I needed werewolves, but I told her it just didn't make sense to have werewolves for a story which is set in Alaska.  We have plenty of REAL wolves here.  Anyway, she liked the wolves from Sugar Rush, brief as they were, and so they're coming back and getting more page time in Sweet Bytes.  A pack of wolves ate somebody from a small town in Alaska and made the Top Ten Stories for 2010 here- http://www.ktuu.com/news/ktuu-top-10-stories-increased-wolf-activity-122610,0,6490571.story   Do a search on the KTUU news website if you want to learn more details about the incident.  And do remember wolves are not evil.  It's just in Alaska, they *shop at the same grocery store* as the humans and things happen sometimes.  It's the food chain, you know, predator competition.  The Wolf in Alaska
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Okay, I need to get off the computer and rest my hands.  Here's something fun, I found the cover models for Sugar Rush at Dreamstime.  Want to see more pictures of 'Ophelia' and 'Adrian?'  These photographs are watermarked, so you have to buy them to use them.  You can look at them for free though.  I do and it helps inspire me as I'm writing.  My cover artist, Dara England, has excellent taste, I think. 
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'Ophelia' - http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-attractive-teenage-girl-in-studio-image14452754
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'Adrian' - http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-young-man-image5484026

Ophelia's Prom Gown

Writing a novel is long, hard work, but there are some fun things too, like dressing up my imaginary dolls.  In this fictional universe, Ophelia's twin sister, Bianca is the clothing design genius, but I'm the one who gets to dream up what she dreams up.
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The big battle at the end of the second novel takes place Prom Night.  By that point, Ophelia has matured from a quiet geek-girl into the leading edge of Kick-Butt Heroine Status.  I need a prom dress which is very beautiful, princess-like, but also conveys her developing power and confidence. 
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You're all probably familiar with Prince William, the next king of England, and how he's getting married next year.  Maybe you've read about his beautiful mother, Princess Diana.  Well, I had this image stuck in my head and I finally found it.  That's the picture above.  It was first featured in Vogue magazine, I believe.  The photographer was Patrick Demarchelier and Princess Diana is wearing a dress by Gianni Versace. 
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In my imagination, Ophelia's dress has a very similar bodice, the fabric is more pale green, and the skirt is full a-line.  I couldn't put her in a strapless bodice or a sheath-skirt, because there's going to be running, jumping, and kicking.  Ophelia's no Buffy the Vampire Slayer  Her fighting style is more like MacGyver  Still, she can't very well whip alien-human hibrids in a corset, you know.

Merry Christmas from the Moon

My Christmas present to you is the firmly held belief that you can do anything you set your mind to, that anything is possible, and that you are a beautiful, intelligent person who deserves kindness and respect from everyone.  Take a look at this picture of the Apollo 8 crew from 1968

And now take a look at the heroic crew of the Columbia Space Shuttle. 

Notice a difference?    Well, for one thing there are only three people in the Apollo 8 crew, but there are seven in the Columbia crew.  Why?  Major advances in technology from the 1960's to the 21st century.  But, it wasn't just technology which advanced.  In the Columbia crew, there are two women (one of whom was from India), one African American, and one Israeli.  How awesome is that?  Freakin' awesome.
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A couple of decades ago when I was the same age as my Young Adult readership, I dared to dream of having a close, loving family of my own, after growing up in a broken home.  Now, I have a husband who still thinks I'm cute and funny and and four beautiful children who never go hungry, get cold, or wear rags.  You can live happily ever after too, if only you believe it's possible and then set about making it happen.  Here's a great song to inspire you-
The Original Into to Enterprise
And here's the original Christmas broadcast from the Moon from the Apollo 8 crew-
Apollo 8's Christmas Message 1968
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Merry Christmas!

'All I Want For Christmas' My Guest Post at Decadent

Good morning, Blog Buds!  Pop over to the Daily Dose of Decadence to read how I learned to thoroughly enjoy Christmas.  'All I Want for Christmas' at Decadent
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Here's the Mariah Carey song at YouTube-   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXQViqx6GMY  This song meant a lot to me the first Christmas after I learned I was expecting my baby.  I heard Mariah was expecting twins!  I'm so happy for her.  She's been waiting a long time to be a mommy.