Michelle Rowen's Blog, page 16

Deadline ahoy!

Yeah, I know I have to do a conference recap of my week in Washington DC where I finally faced the fact that there is a slight possibility I do, in fact, say "aboot" since five people mocked me about it. Or maybe they just pointed it out. Is there a difference?

RWA National '09 was fabulous, as expected. Exhausted, draining, fun, and I didn't drink too much. Well, except for that one night. Met lots of awesome people, reconnected with a whole bunch of others. I'll post photos in the near future.

Frakkin conventions

This weekend I was at Polaris 23, a Toronto sci-fi/fantasy convention. It was a lot of fun and thank you to everyone who attended the panels I was on -- the Supernatural and True Blood ones, especially, were so much fun. I've learned an important lesson about myself this weekend. I'm a total control freak when it comes to panels, so I hope I let everyone get enough of a say as I blathered on about my thoughts on these great shows. I had dinner on Friday with Lesley Livingston and Adrienne Kress.

Scene by scene

So I'm finished with my read-through of Living in Eden #2 and have established that it will need a very thorough second draft rewrite. For the most part, I pantsed this book (I have no idea why -- it seemed like a good idea at the time). I'm in love with these characters, and the plot is fine, but the major issue with the first draft is it's lacking solid GMC (Goal, motivation and conflict) and emotional depth. This is not a shock. Most of my first drafts are very surfacey. I need to dig down de

Dust jacket

Just received the final dust jacket design for Demon Princess. It's out in trade paperback too, but this is what will be on the hardcover version. I just love those horned tiaras!!

Click on image to see it larger and read the snippet on the back cover! Ah, Nikki. She is fun to write.

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Being that it is the first of the month (***HAPPY CANADA DAY***) I am starting my second draft of Eden #2 with a read-through of the manuscript. It's officially due August 1st. I'll make scene-by-scene notes on what n

Finished 1st draft...yada yada

So I finished the first draft of Living in Eden #2 last week and neglected to mention it here! I'm so cheating on this blog with Twitter, just like I've been cheating on Hugh Jackman with Sam Worthington! (sorry blog. And Hugh. I still love you. Sort of. Although not as much as I used to.) I'm always looking for a chance to trot out the dancing celebratory bananas!

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Yes, just shy of 85K, it is done and currently in hibernation on my hard drive until the beginning of July when I'll start the second

Progress, weasels & archetypes

I'm heading into my last few scenes of Eden #2 and trying to ignore the doubt weasels that are gnawing at my ankles for this book. They've been on vacation for quite some time but seem to have returned with more friends.

It's like I logically know that a first draft can be rough, and I have budgeted plenty of time to make things bigger and better, but I'm still getting nervous that it won't be good enough. I don't just want it to be good, I want it to ROCK and lead to more books about these crazy

Dream On

I had two vivid dreams last night...

#1 -- I moved to Los Angeles and had a basement apartment that had windows at the top of my walls. While in bed (it was a one room apartment) I noticed that somebody was peering in at me because my curtains were sheer. I felt exposed and a bit threatened.

#2 -- To win a contest (or, possibly, save the world) I had to walk out on a narrow platform, high in the sky when it was really windy, and tie a scarf around a target while wearing a funny outfit and at risk

Fangsome chat, T4, and misc updates

I already shared this on Twitter and Facebook but wanted to put it on my blog as well. After seeing the video on PubRants by Sherry Thomas, I knew I had to lemming up and do one myself for Tall, Dark & Fangsome. Who says you need to spend hundreds of dollars on an effective book trailer?



It cracks me up every time I watch it. That Sarah and Thierry. So silly. *shakes head*

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Saw Terminator Salvation today and proclaim it infinitely watchable. I've been hearing such terrible things that I was afrai

Time Travel anthology cover

I'm in the midst of writing my short story (as Michelle Maddox) for The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance. And lo and behold, I happen to see that it's already up for pre-order on Amazon. And it's out this year!! Yep, December 7, 2009 seems to be the official release date on this anthology. October for the UK.

My story is turning into something fairly interesting, I think. We'll see, right? It's a romantic thriller, a little bit futuristic, but mostly takes place right here in the present. Howe

Inspiration Friday

After a disappointing week of season finales, I'm ready for a little inspiration.

I know I've always said Hugh Jackman is the actor I pictured as Thierry in my Immortality Bites books. Well, in case he's not available if a movie is ever made, I think I've found someone else who would be fairly right for the part. Monsieur Gilles Marini, who was the runner up in Dancing With The Stars.

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*fans self*

Yes, he would do very nicely, I think. I knew he'd become a big star after seeing him in the Sex and th