Dawn Metcalf's Blog, page 45

A Photo's Worth 80,000 Words

Okay, yeah, I'm still on First Pass Pages (can you still call them that if you're on the second pass...?) etc. and so on so I'm extending my hiatus but thanks to Glee, I had to say that, for the very first time, I was struck that someone looked like one of my characters enough to make me sit up straight. It was tough to tell with that golden smile and wide-eyed deer looks he keeps having to give the camera as new-jock-on-the-block, Sam Evans, but I realized that Chord Overstreet is totally my boy, Tender.



Broody, wound, just needs a stamped, silver belt buckle...



Now *there's* a smirk! See you around, Bones!

Inspiration complete. Now back to work!

COVER!

I'm sorry, did I say I was motivated before? Let me correct myself: feeling like a real author comes from seeing your cover pop up online! Incredibly talented Italian cover artist Alberto Seveso and designer Jeanine Henderson have created a beautiful, evocative cover featuring my beloved MC, Consuela, for all the world to see!

Therefore, may I proudly present the cover of LUMINOUS:



This is real, people. Really really really real!

Speaking of Motivation...

You know what makes you feel like a professional author?

Receiving a check in the mail for something you made up in your head.

:-D

I think this is actually happening. Wow!

What's My Motivation?

It is NaNoWriMo for many in the writing community, but I've been busy with what's already on my plate or, more specifically, what's just left it. I've finished my copy edits and now await the next step: FPPs (First Pass Pages) and getting introduced to my marketing contact at Dutton. In the meanwhile, my agent and I agreed to what I'd like to offer as an option book, which I re-read and tweaked during the following week and just sent off for consideration. *slaps hands together proudly* Okay! What's next?

Sometimes people need motivation and being answerable to hundreds of other writers on the same path to creativity egging you on with word count for the goal of 50,000 words by the end of November is motivation enough. For me, motivation is finally getting to answer Maggie's proddings by listening to the voices in my head and sitting down to tell their story, one thousand words at a time. I've heard of writers whose motivations include writing until their lunch break or the mental promise of opening that really great book on the night table if they get to their goal, maybe a night on the town or chocolate cake or Hulu-ing the last episode of a favorite show they missed while diligently at the keys. There's a lot of writers out there and a lot of stories being written and the biggest question you can ask yourself is "What Will It Take To Get This Thing Done?"

Whatever that is, do it. Because this thing *can* be done!

To that end, may I present here the highlight of my birthday weekend: my favorite birthday present made for me by my darling daughter! It is the ultimate in motivational posters and I plan to hang it up in my office.



The real gift was her calling out to me while drawing, "You're an author, aren't you, Mommy?" and I got to say, "Yes. I'm an author." And she replied, "Good!"

That smile is my motivation. What's yours?

A New Hope

Am madly re-reading, editing, and plotting my return to WIP-land, hence the blog-silence.

My wise, Jedi agent has counseled good pacing and great placement for the next work. So, for now, there's nothing to see here. Move along.

Random Editor: "How long have you had these manuscripts?"
Me: "About three or four seasons."
Agent: "They're up for sale if you want them."
Editor: "Let me see your numbers."
Agent: "You don't need to see her numbers."
Editor: "We don't need to see her numbers."
Agent: "These aren't the manuscripts you're looking for...yet."
Editor: "These aren't the manuscripts we're looking for..yet."
Agent: "She can get down to business."
Editor: "You can get down to business."
Agent: "Move along."
Editor: "Move along. Move along!"

;-)

¡Dia de los Muertos!

In time for the second night and wishing everyone health, happiness & best wishes for you and your family (both here and elsewhere)! Memory is what keeps us alive and love transcends all barriers.



Nothing says "live life in the face of death" like a little flowery flourish and a top hat!


¡Feliz Dia de los Muertos! Happy Day of Dead!

The Pride of Halloween

While I was a little disappointed that both my kids wimped out after only one cul de sac of trick-or-treating, I have to say this was one of my best Martha-Stewart-meets-MacGyver Halloweens yet. My son finally agreed to wear a costume for the first time (HOORAY!) so I didn't push it with a lot of fancy demands (yet) and my daughter happily informed me that she wanted to be a Mad Scientist. I rubbed my hands together in maniac glee, "BWAHAHAHAHA!"

While I won't paste her final costume pic up, I will be a good narrator and provide some details and let you fill the rest in with your imagination. So here are the highlights:

My daughter wore a white lab coat, white gi pants, and a turtleneck sweater. We tucked a pair of giant black-rimmed glasses into the pocket and did her hair up with crazy sparkly pipe cleaners topped in pom poms. (She called these "Molecule deelie-boppers.) Mommy was pleased. Then the key touches:



Pictured above: tinted goggles, time travel belt (with steampunky gears) and three containers of "experiments" (aka Pop Rocks). The devil's in the details and my li'l devil really loved these!



Pictured above: The piece de resistance was, of course, her very own raygun (which she named the "Deadly (Blue) Bunny") which we designed with gem-heart settings, a blue glow-in-the-dark necklace as tubing that connected to her very own radioactive "Power Pack" of Blue Bunny serum*. [Note the final design of the hazardous material! A personal best for me!]

After tucking my sugar-filled kinder into bed, the evening concluded with a puppet show where I played a dog barking at those who rang the bell and demanding the password (I doubted most would get the Labyrinth reference).



Handing out candy and surprising/scaring the neighbor children was followed by sitting watching LoTR with my husband until the wee hours. My night. while tame this year, was complete.

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Thanks to the RAGman (and you know who you are), I can't get this outta my head!



If you're not dead already, you should be living it up!

Next!

I sent the copy edits off yesterday via FedEx. YAY! Of course, truth be told, I had to call for an intervention to do it. (Thanks, divinebird for helping me to tear it out of my itching-to-keep-tweaking fingers!)

Now my hands barely know what to do. No copy edits or revisions. No colored pencils or email notes. Huh. I'm reintroducing myself back to the WIP I was forced to abandon for two weeks to see if it forgives me and start on that relationship once again. Maggie is suspiciously quiet. I'm bracing for the impact like Calvin returning home to Hobbes...

[image error]
Bill Watterson clearly knew what it was like to wrestle with one's own imagination!

Week 10 of the 16 Weeks to XVI: here on Officially Twisted!

I have the honor of being the latest blog host for fellow Elevensie, Julia Karr's countdown for her debut XVI. Have you heard about it? If not, go back to her blog and check out all the great tours, details, cool insider tidbits and *contests* that have gone before and now you get to have them here, too!


Author, Julia Karr, the mind behind the haunting XVI -- just LOOK at that stunning cover! *swoon*

To that end, I thought I'd join in with questions of my own because as a Chicagoan, a genre lover, a cultural anthropology nut, and an educator on body image and media messages, I had a TON of questions I wanted to ask, but give *no* spoilers! Hahahaha -- you'll just have to read the book for yourself! Therefore, I concocted:

X Questions that Inspired XVI!

I. The world of XVI is rich with detail, projecting our world forward into one where tattoos, GPS inserts, and government eavesdropping are considered to be "for your safety" (as opposed to parents, boyfriends, or private journals which are *also* supposed to keep you safe!) What I love is that Nina's sense of safety comes from those she trusts and who have earned her trust: family, good friends, and most of all, herself. What made you take on our notions of "safety"?

Increasingly, our world is seen as unsafe. The government has alert levels for terrorism threats, there are constant headlines in newspapers and online about dangers, perils, hazards bombarding us in every form. Sometimes I wonder how we manage to get out of bed in the morning (or why we bother!) Personally, I think paying attention to what is really going on around us (which is more often than not, a whole lot less threatening than "they" would want us to think) and using common sense are paramount in keeping us safe. And, I have a feeling that a lot of the current "threat of harm" is hyped-up so that we will be more eager to allow eroding of our Constitutional rights. (Oops! Does that sound a little paranoid? Mmmm....could be! :)

II. The onslaught of "verts" (advertising) makes it tough to think. Is there an advertising jingle or slogan that gets stuck in your head?

Ha! I still have ones memorized from when I was a kid! Everything from "Things go better with Coca Cola, things go better with Coke. Life is much for fun when you're refreshed. and Coke refreshes you best. It's the Refreshingest!" to "Don't leave home without it!"

III. Vegetarianism is a big part of your life and the lives of your characters; cows and horses are found in zoos, not farms. What inspired the zoo in XVI?

When I lived in Chicago I spent a lot of time at the Lincoln Park Zoo. They had a "farm" area with all the appropriate farm animals. It wasn't much of a stretch for me to take that into the future!

IV. I loved the detail of the tattoos -- using Roman numerals made the practice feel both archaic and futuristic--where did that visual come from?

The number 16 didn't seem menacing enough. Roman numerals felt more removed, less human.

V. Being "sex-teen" for girls is like entering a free-for-all zone, with the only caveat being the FeLS program, where candidates must be virgins. Did you have a real-world example of this kind of double-standard dichotomy that you kept in mind while writing?

In the '60s, when there was a whole lot of "free love" going around, guys were very into that (duh!) and so were a lot of girls... until they wanted to get married. Then, guys found themselves struggling with the standard with which they were raised (that their wife should be a virgin) and the reality that the girl they were in love with, having sex with, maybe even living with (although that was not common back then at all) was definitely not a virgin. That was a difficult time and the backlash is still happening in a lot of places.

VI. I could go on at length about the FeLS program, where young XVIs can earn a way to pull themselves out of their lower tier in society, but I have to ask: was there anything in particular that made you come up with FeLS?

I felt like Nina needed a larger struggle, besides all the personal issues that she's going through. So, I upped the ante on her troubles with the government - a bunch!

VII. We often think of caste and class as something found in foreign countries, not in our own. Have you visited a foreign country where this really stood out for you, or was it something you saw here in the US?

I'm not much of a world traveler (although I'd like to be!) Here in the U.S., it seems that the divide between classes is becoming much more pronounced.

VIII. While there is a romantic element (which I shall not divulge here for spoilers), one of the strongest bonds is between Nina and her sister, Dee. Did you have a sibling or friend in mind when writing these two?

I am super-close to my older sister. She was always very protective of me when we were growing up. I think that definitely comes out in the way I wrote Nina and Dee's relationship.

IX. I know a lot of authors have playlists. Is there a particular song or artist who captures the "feel" of XVI?

I write in silence, but... when I first "saw" Nina in my head, she was walking down the street, earbuds in place, blocking out the noise of verts. In my head, she was listening to the Ramones, probably Sheena is a Punk Rocker or Blitzkrieg Bop - or - Common People by Pulp.

X. I was inspired by the strength of Nina and her story and was thrilled to join you offering an ARC of XVI for Swati Avashti's Split fundraiser to fight domestic abuse. This book can inspire someone to stand up and get the help that they need to protect themselves and their families. Is there anyone you know who inspires you with their strength?

My daughters. They are both fiercely independent and so capable. I know they have their moments, we all do, but I am so proud of both of them and all they've accomplished so far & will continue to accomplish in the future.

Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Dawn! It's been so much fun to go back and think about these things. I believe the perfect giveaway for this week is a split-heart necklace. So, in order to be eligible to win, please comment below (or under the 10 Weeks to XVI post on my blog) and in a week, we'll draw a name and announce the winner! Reminder, too, whether you win or not, you will be entered in the GRAND PRIZE Drawing on January 6th. Who knows what will be in that? Hmmm... :)

*grin* Check out Julia Karr on her blog, Writing YA in the Midwest and look for XVI in 10 weeks! (Although you can always pre-order now!) Thanks, Julia, and let the countdown continue!

P.S. If you haven't read it, the first chapter of XVI is here.

Comment below for a chance to win!!!