Nicole Zoltack's Blog, page 64

Shiny New Idea Syndrome

Do you suffer from shiny new idea syndrome? I know I do.


Shiny new idea syndrome is when you are plugging along on a story, making awesome progress on it, when you get an idea for a new story, a better story, an epic idea. And you want to stop writing the first story to write this mega blockbuster story. It's shiny and new and has to be written now!

This happens to me constantly. I usually can ignore it by writing down the gist of the story and saving it in a word document. If it's a short story idea for an anthology, I'll usually start writing it right away, at the same time as my other story. I don't normally write two novels at the same time, although I might be writing one and editing another.

So do you suffer from this horrible writing affliction? What do you do to overcome it? What's your writerly medicine?

Picture Book Idea Month

So I'm crazy.

But I'm sure most of you already realized this. Glad you still come back though!

Anyhow, a couple of days ago, I mentioned how I  want to start writing picture books, as if I don't already have enough on my plate.

Well, while doing some research on PB, I found this wonderful blog that mentions November being Picture Book Idea Month. You're supposed to come up with 30 PB story ideas in the 30 days of November.




Now, November is also National Novel Writing Month, and I already signed up to do that.

But how hard is it to come up with 30 PB ideas? It can't be that hard.

So I'm going to do both.

I told you I'm crazy.

Mertales

My author's copy of Mertales arrived in the mail yesterday! I'll have to post a picture of me holding it on my blog soon. Mertales is a collection of stories of water, fin, and pearl. Fellow bloggers Cherie Reich and Aubrie Dionne also have stories in this wonderful anthology. You can purchase it on Amazon.

In this collection of short stories for teens, readers will be plunged into tales of terror and love, with unimaginable beings of the deep.

From the kelpies and banshees of Tim Reed's 'Waiting at the Water's Edge' to the shark-men of Jerry Sutton's 'Discovery on Neptune Two,' we meet some of the less understood watery creatures.

Dark and dangerous, Mertales will captivate and thrill, as selkies, kelpies, mermaids and river gods keep you captive within its murky depths.

My short story is called 'Beauty is Only Fin Deep' and it's the last story in the collection. You could probably guess this, but my story is not one of the terror ones, at least not in this collection!

Wyvern Publications publishes one anthology each year. Last year was Dragontales, this year Mertales, next year is Fangtales. I plan on writing a piece to send in for this anthology and would love for you to send one in too. The guidelines are here.

Picture Books

My hubby and I love to read to our sons. Son #1 especially loves it. He'll turn the pages (sometimes before we're finished reading it). There are times he'll sit with a book and flip through it while babbling. It's so precious. And I love that he loves to 'read.' He just turned 2 a few days ago and he's already a reader.

So this of course, makes me want to write books for him, stories that he would like read to him. So a light bulb went off. Picture books! I could write a picture book!

Well, writing one isn't hard. I wrote one, a cute little story about a baby brown bear who loves Christmas. The only problem - I know nothing about picture books. I don't know the market, how to write a query letter for it, anything really. Are any of you picture book writers? Have any pointers for me? Any suggestions? If you aren't a picture book writer, would you ever consider writing one?

Inspiring Mondays

I love this picture. It could be historical or fantasy, definitely romance.

Silly Interview with Jen Daiker

Jen was one of my awesome winners from my 100 followers contest and her prize is an interview filled with off-the-wall questions so here it is!

What paranormal creature would you be and why?I'd prefer to be an animagus, I'd like to be like Professor McGonagal and be a cat and then a human. More or less because it would be something no one would expect.

Oh, that's an awesome choice! What would you do if you didn't have to work?Too easy, a full time writer.

LOL Figured that was going to be your answer. What did you want to be when you were 10 years old?An Architect (actually started when I was 7 years old.)

Interesting. Now instead of creating buildings, you're creating worlds. Talk about an ego boost! :) What makes you laugh?My husband and very sarcastic humor.
If aliens landed in front of you and, in exchange for anything you desire, offered you any position on their planet, what would you want?I'd like to be Princess of their land and give others the gift of magic, beacuse of course this alien world is magical!
Princes and magic, what more could you need? If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be?Hermoine Granger from Harry Potter or Sophie Mercer from Hex Hall, I'm a witch fan, what can't I say.
I love Hermione! If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?Sandra Bullock, because I love her, she looks nothing like me but I like her!
Sandra is my favorite actress and While You Were Sleeping is one of my favorite movies. If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be I'd like to fly and be invisible... super easy!
If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?Unedited (I cheated!)
LOL You are a cheater! :) If you had six months with no obligations or financial constraints, what would you do with the time?Visit family, buy and fix a fixer upper, travel, write another novel.
Buy and fix a fixer upper - that's a great idea! If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would it be, and why?I'm not a huge history buff so I'm going to go with a few people I'd love to meet, one would be J.K. Rowling and the other Susan Elizabeth Phillips, it would be amazing to meet them.
I would love to meet J.K. Rowling myself. If you could compare yourself with any animal, which would it be and why?A cat, I am independent, have an attitude, and in the end I ALLOW you into my world.
If you won $20 million in the lottery, what would you do with the money?Pay off debt, buy a house, travel to see family, invest, open an adorable bookshop. I'm simple.
Great answer. I wonder what percentage of authors would open a bookshop if given the chance? I'm guessing the majority. If you were a Star Wars character, which one would you be?I don't know enough about the characters to choose *ashamed* sorry.
Say what? We can't be friends now. LOL Just teasing. What kind of people do you dislike?Whiners and One-Uppers
What makes you angry?People I dislike, lol. 
LOL I hope everyone enjoyed reading this interview full of awesome questions and answers!

Writing Update

I'm finally getting back into writing somewhat consistently after giving birth to son #2. Yay!

I had a flash piece that I tried to sell to different magazines. No one wanted it so I chopped it up, changed the bad guy to a paranormal creature and submitted it to Pill Hill Press' Daily Flesh Anthology. A day later, I received a contract for it. Another yay! So now I will have two stories in it: Deadly Flat Tire and Zombies Don't Bite.

I also received contracts for a short sweet Christmas romance story called My Christmas Luck which will be in A Yuletide Wish from Night Wolf Publications.

I submitted a short story to Pill Hill Press' Gone with the Dirt anthology. Since Gone with the Wind is one of my all-time favorite movies, I had to submit a piece to this anthology. My story is called Black Roses and I should be hearing about it soon.

The Prideful Knight had been shortlisted for Pill Hill Press' Shadows and Light II anthology but when the editor looked over their slush pile, rejected it. So I sent them another story which is now on the shortlist.

I started to write a prequel to Hidden in Shadows to submit for an assassin anthology, forgetting that the market wants sword-and-sorcery type stories set before 1700's. So I started another story, with a FMC that I have a couple of other stories about, and submitted that. The editor liked it and asked for the rest of the story so I finished it and submitted it. This story is called Collecting Hearts.

I had written a paranormal romance short for ARe's contest but it wasn't picked as a semi-finalist so I submitted Never Shall We Part to More Scary Kisses. I really like this story. It's different than most paranormal romances.... no vampires or werewolves. But I'm gonna be a tease and not say what creatures. :P

I still have several other short stories currently on submissions to different magazines. One magazine, I've been waiting over 470 days on. It would be worth it though, I receive an acceptance. It's a pro market so that means 5 cents a word. Would definitely make my day to crack that market.

As for novels, a publisher and an agent both have the full MS of Hidden in Shadows. My stomach flip-flops each time I check my email. I also just about ready to start querying Alexia's Pen.

I'm also working hard on Champion of Valor. I've been slowly piecing together an outline and trying to make certain that there aren't any loose ends. I really want this book to satisfy my readers.

So that's my writing update. How's your writing going? What step are you at ? Querying? Submitting? Revising?

Author Interview with Theresa Milstein

Theresa was one of my 100 followers contest winners and here is her interview.

So, Theresa, please share with us your latest news.

BlogHer has begun reposting some of my previous posts. It's my first paid gig, which is pretty exciting. I hope to be a more regular contributor to the blog. Here's the link to my profile. I get less comments than my regular blog, but more readers.

I'll say that's exciting! Congratulations! When did you first consider yourself a writer?

That's been a gradual process. I decide to write seriously about four years ago, but had only taken one creative writing course in college so I had much to learn. I think I became comfortable with telling people I'm a writer shortly after I started my blog "Substitute Teacher's Saga" last September. I write, therefore I'm a writer.

What inspired you to write your book?

I was driving to New York for Christmas break. There was this creepy mist wrapping around trees on the side of the highway. A minute later, I passed by a Walmart, and the line, "Walmart was the first to disappear," popped into my head. I spent the rest of the trip trying to figure out why and how a Walmart disappeared and what it had to do with the fog.

Oh, what a fantastic prompt! Love it. There are so many different directions, it makes my head spin. :) Do you have a specific writing style?

I love writing children and teen dialogue. It comes easily to me since I spend so much time with my kids and students.

How did you come up with the title?

For my manuscript that I'm querying The Mist Chasers, it was originally called The Disappearances. My main character, Eve, calls herself a mist chaser. Someone in my critique group suggested the title change.

Now that is an awesome title. It's not always easy to choose a title. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Since there's an environmental message, I'd like teens to think about the changes they could make in their lives, little and big, to help save the planet. If we wait for the government to do everything, we won't do enough.

Oh, that's a great message. What books have most influenced your life most?

Harry Potter because it got me writing. I want to create books that can have whimsy and humor, but still have an important message and an exciting plot. When I was around eighteen, The Accidental Tourist taught me about healthy relationships. The idea that it's not enough to love someone, but it's who you are when you're with that person that really stuck with me. And I'd add The Lorax because it made me care about the environment was I was in first grade.

I love the Harry Potter books! If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

I would choose Kate DiCamillo because she writes different books in different voices. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is one of my favorite books, ever.

Now that is an awesome book. I read it to my youngest sister once even though she had already read it about five times. But some books are just worth rereading. What book are you reading now?

I always read two or three books at a time. Right now, I'm reading Tithe by Holly Black and How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack by Chuck Sambuchino. I follow Chuck's "Guide to Literary Agents" blog and I've done two guest posts.

That's an awesome blog. I follow it too. Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

I really enjoyed Paranormalcy by Kiersten White. The protagonist, Evie has a great voice and the premise is clever.

I have to read that book. I've heard so many great things about it. What are your current projects?

I just wrote a short story "Allured" that I submitted to Wyvern Publications. I hope it will make it into their upcoming YA book, Fangtales. I've also unearthed my first manuscript to see if it can be rewritten knowing what I know about writing now. Can this manuscript be saved?

Oh, good luck! I plan on submitting to that anthology too. Can you share a little of your current work with us?

I'm on chapter five of Naked Eye, which is a YA fantasy. The protagonist, Lucienne, loses her eye in seventh-grade. When she's sixteen, her prosthetic eye is replaced by a magical one so she knows when people are lying. She finds skeletons in her past and has to figure out whom to trust.

Oh, that sounds griping! You have awesome story ideas. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

The query is more daunting than writing the book. I use "that" and "so" way too much. I add too much tell and need to replace it with showing, but I've gotten much better about that.

Queries are awful. Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their
work?

It's so hard to choose! I guess I'll have to mention J.K. Rowling again because not other author made me want to live the protagonist's life so much. How many of us dream to be more than a mere muggle? And the way book 7 brought everything together was impressive and satisfying.

Great choice! What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Editing. Figuring out what's wrong and how to make it right. And I wish I'd paid more attention to those grammar lessons in school.

I'm with ya on editing. A necessary evil. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I only have blog readers. Your support keeps me going.

How long does it take you to write a book?

Usually five weeks. I eat, sleep, and breathe the book. When I'm done, it's a rough, rough draft.

Wow! Color me impressed. I always say that you have to have the words written first in order to polish them. Man, I wish my first draft could be done in 5 weeks. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

If it's not the weekend and I don't have a sub job, I try to devote three to four hours of solid writing and editing. And then I sneak in more when I can.

That's great. I'm so envious. I wish I had that amount of time to devote to writing. I'm lucky if I get a half hour here or there. What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I will wake up dreaming about the next scene in my WIP, and have to get up in the middle of the night and write it down before I forget. Does anyone else do that?

*waves hand* I do! Although usually it's a new story idea, but sometimes it has been a scene from the story I'm working on at the time. Now for some fun questions. What paranormal creature would you be and why?

I'd be a witch in HarryPotter, of course. I'm just waiting for that Hogwarts letter.

Me too! Haven't seen any owls yet though. What would you do if you didn't have to work?

I'd love to have more time to write. And if I could visit Paris often and write there, that wouldn't be too bad.

Writing in Europe would be awesome. If I ever make it big, I'm definitely gonna do that. What did you want to be when you were 10 years old?

An artist. Later, I found out I was good, but not that good.

What makes you laugh?

My husband makes me laugh. He's really sarcastic. My children make me laugh as well. Lately, they keep trying to speak with British accents, but they sound awful. We all crack up about it. And two of my favorite funny TV shows are "30 Rock" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia".

I love sarcastic humor too. Thank you so much for joining us today, Theresa!

With a Little Help from My Friends

The awesome YAlitchat is having a query contest and for the first round, voting is open to the public. My query for Alexia's Pen is in the running, and I would greatly appreciate your thumb up vote. But don't feel pressured to vote for me, check out the other entries as well. You're only allowed one vote. Voting is open to the public until October 31. Thanks!

Inspiring Mondays

Danielle asked for a paranormal romance picture so here's a picture of vampire love: