Rachel Vincent's Blog, page 26

What if you didn't know vamps eat people?

"Reaper" the new Soul Screamers online novella will officially be out in nine days, and my plan was to post one short quote a day on Twitter and Facebook until the release. But (surprise!) there is no need for that now. It looks like my publisher and Books on Board have teamed up to offer an early look (read: the entire novella). So "Reaper" is now available for free in PDF format from Books on Board.

They're currently charging for the other formats (as was everyone else, when I last checked) but my understanding was that it was going to be free everywhere for at least a little while, so I'm still checking on that. But for now, you can read it early by clicking on the link above, though I think you need to sign up for a Books on Board account to do so.

In other news, I'm continuing to tap away at the new adult manuscript. I'm pleased with how it's going so far, but in nearly every chapter, I've had to leave myself a note to go back and establish another little bit of worldbuilding earlier. This is frustrating, but normal in the first book of a series, because I'm actually learning about the characters and the world myself, throughout the process of writing this first manuscript.

During the rewrites, I'll go back and incorporate the bits I didn't know yet when I wrote the manuscript, then, during critiques and revisions, my critique partner and editor will let me know whether or not my worldbuilding is clear and interesting. They will also point out the parts that are rough or confusing.

This is one of the most difficult manuscripts I've written, because it doesn't rely on any established creature lore. When you pick up a vampire book, no matter what liberties the author has taken, you know that at its heart, it's a story about one person (kind of) who feeds off other people. That goes for literal vampires, psychic vampires, and even real-world social parasites, like the family moocher. The reader goes into the story with some idea of what to expect.

But in my new series, there's no mythology to use as a basis, which means that readers will pick up this book with absolutely no idea what to expect, other than what s/he reads on the back cover. On one hand, this is good: no preconceived notions.

On the other hand, it's quite a challenge. Since the reader brings no foundation of knowledge into the story (for example: the universal understanding that vampires eat people), s/he will know only what I tell him/her throughout the course of the book. My job is to make sure this new world makes sense, is fun to read about, and fleshes out the story, rather than defining it.

No pressure, right? ;)

And, of course, that brings with it a whole new set of worries, which I've already analyzed ad nauseum. I figure some people will say I've successfully avoided writing the same story and characters over and over. And others will say that this series isn't enough like the Shifters series, and therefore isn't what they expected/wanted from me. And yet others will find small similarities between these characters and any other characters I've ever written (after all, they all have EYES! and NOSES!) and decide that means that I can only write one kind of story/character.

Wow. With all that rolling around in my head non-stop, it's a wonder I've written as much of it as I have. Fortunately, most of the time, these bits of insanity dripping on me like Chinese water torture doubts don't usually hit while I'm actually writing. They wait until I'm eating, or watching TV, or trying to sleep to drive me nuts. ;)

But for the record, here's where the book stands:

59,079 / 100,000
(59.08%)

And here's where my November writing goal stands:

42,669 / 65,000
(65.64%)

Click the image below to see how my CP Rinda Elliott is doing on her November goal. We're keeping each other company and keeping the craziness at bay. ;)

Pie!

Unfortunately, my progress on the new adult novel was abysmal yesterday. I only wrote 1,400 words, which is less than half my goal. I HAVE to make up for that today, even though it's a Friday. No Rock Band until my goal is met.

But on the bright side, I did successfully roast a whole chicken (raw chicken is SO gross--they stuff the viscera inside!) and serve it with three (count them--three!) side dishes. And I served this for dessert:


Yes! The crust was a total success!!! (Thanks, ceosanna from LJ for the link to the recipe!)

For those who've asked, it's an apple pie. Normally I make the filling from scratch, but since the purpose of this pie was to practice the crust before taking it to my family's holiday get-together, I bought store-bought filling this time. 'Cause I have very little free time. (And we'll just pretend I NEVER HEARD #1 say the store-bought filling was as good as mine.)

But the crust is 100% from scratch. Also for those who've asked, I made the leaf cutouts with these:

And I baked the pie in this:
Isn't that a gorgeous pie plate?! Both the plate and the crust cutters are from Williams Sonoma. Alas, today involves almost all work and almost no baking.

Here's where the new adult book stands so far:

53,410 / 100,000
(53.41%)


And here's where I am on my November wordcount goal.


37,000 / 65,000
(56.92%)

Click here to check my CP Rinda Elliott's progress toward her goal. She probably didn't waste time baking yesterday. ;)

About the drama

For some reason, this morning I can't get Internet Explorer to work on my desktop, so I've borrowed #1's desktop for the purpose of blogging. And because his keyboard feels really weird, I'll be turning this thing off very shortly and will move to my laptop for today's work.
But since IE is obviously working on his computer, and TweetDeck is working on mine (so I know my internet connection is fine), I'm very suspicious of viruses. Which makes me both worried and angry. ;(
In other news, I failed at a pie crust yesterday. I don't understand this. I have yet to find anything else that I absolutely cannot bake, but I fail at pie crusts over and over. But the other day I bought a BEAUTIFUL set of pie plates and I'm determined to take some very pretty pies to my family's Thanksgiving get-together. So I'm either going to have to master the art of the flaky pie crust in the next week or break down and buy some roll-out pie crusts. Again.
*My inner baker hangs her head in shame.*
Anyway...
Yesterday I skipped the section of the book I was having trouble with and went straight for the drama. Drama always makes for strong, rapid wordcount for me, which is one of the reasons I love writing YA. There's so much legitimate drama in adolescence, and even more so in paranormals, because you really might die, or the world really might end any moment.
My new book isn't YA, of course, but there is some drama, and finding that drama has put me back on course with the novel. I'll have to go back later and fill in the bits I've skipped, but for now, all is well. This book seems to want to be written out of order.
Here's where the novel stands at the moment:



52,010 / 100,000
(52.01%)
And here's my progress toward my November word count goal:



35,610 / 65,000
(54.78%)
I finally passed the halfway point, but I'm going to have to kick into super-high gear to allow for the holiday. Click below to see how my CP (Crime partner, or critique partner--you decide) is progressing toward her November goal:

Looking for the hammer

[If you've been meaning to check out the Soul Screamers series, there's an interview and a My Soul To Take giveaway here.]

I've run in to a problem with the new adult novel I'm working on. It's a plot problem #1 calls the "find a hammer" problem. And here's why...

Several years ago, when I was writing Stray, #1 had time to read everything I wrote, and when he got to the scene in Stray where Faythe was looking for the key to the lock on Abby's cage, he set down the manuscript (that was back when I used to print them) and said, "Why would she waste so much time looking for a key when she could just bust the lock off with a hammer?"

Basically, he was saying that I'd made the solution more complicated than it needed to be. Why spend 3000 words of the novel looking for a key, when I could spend about a hundred looking for a hammer.

Unfortunately, in that instance, the activity (looking for a key) was, in part, something for Faythe to be doing while she had an important phone conversation. I couldn't get rid of the phone call, so I altered it so that she was looking for a key--or preferably a hammer.

Well, this time, when I replace the search for a key with the simpler search for a (metaphorical) hammer, I wind up losing the introduction to an important character. A character we're going to need to have met before her purpose in the story becomes obvious.

Which means I now have to find a new way to introduce this character. And until I do that, evidently, the words won't flow well.

Grrr...

So, here's where the book stands so far:



47,970 / 100,000
(47.97%)

And here's my progress toward my November goal of 65,000 words.


31,570 / 65,000
(48.57%)

As you can see, I'm less than halfway there, even though the month is more than halfway over, and I'll have to take several days off for Thanksgiving and my family's holiday get-together. And no, I can't do much work in the car. Stupid motion sickness...

So, hopefully I'll be able to figure this hammer mess out this afternoon and make up for some wordcount loss tonight. Wish me luck!

Also, check out my CP Rinda Elliott's progress on her November goal below:

"Reaper" PSA

I'm popping in on the weekend with a quick alert/reminder for Soul Screamers readers...

It's come to my attention that "Reaper" is up for pre-order for the Nook at Barnes & Noble. Which would be cool, except that it's listed with a price of $2.99. That will eventually be the right price at e-book stores, but for the first few months, "Reaper" will be free in most formats, in most places. And it will stay free in PDF format on my website. That was the whole point of the story.

Back in May, at BEA, I pitched the "Reaper" novella to my editor with two goals in mind. First, I wanted to tell the story of how Tod died and was recruited as a reaper. Second, I wanted to offer it to the readers for free, just like we did with "My Soul To Lose" in '09. I wanted it to be a sort of gift to my current readers and a free sample to those who may not have tried the series yet. Though I will admit, it's mostly the former. There are characters and events referenced that will make a lot more sense if you've read the previous books.

My editor (and publisher) was kind enough to indulge me. Though they can't offer the story for free forever (overhead costs include professional editing, proofreading, typesetting and formatting, electronic distribution, and cover design), it will be free initially (and permanently, on my website).

One more note:
People are probably going to slam me for saying this, but I want to be clear...

"Reaper" is a novella. NOT a novel. When "My Soul To Lose" came out in '09, I got tons and tons of very angry reviews slamming it not because of the content or writing, but because readers were "fooled" into thinking it was a full-length novel and were angered by the length. Even though the story was FREE.

I can't control how novellas are listed on Amazon or other e-book stores. All I can do is try to make it clear here that "Reaper" is not a novel. It's a novella, about 17,000 words in length. (The "average" novel is closer to 100,000 words.) So please don't download it expecting a full-length Soul Screamers novel.

Okay, PSA over.

Here's a quick rundown of things you might want to know about "Reaper."
It is narrated by TodIt takes place (mostly) after "Fearless" (the Sabine novella in Kiss Me Deadly) and (mostly) before "My Soul To Lose."I will be posting mini-quotes from the novella on Twitter and Facebook.

-----

Writing progress:

Here's where I stand on the new adult novel.

44,098 / 100,000
(44.1%)

And here's my progress toward my November goal of 65,000 words.


27,698 / 65,000
(42.61%)

As you can see, I still have a way to go, so now I'm off to work!

Click below to check out my CP Rinda Elliott's progress toward her goal:

MSTSteal ARC winner!

I don't have a writing progress update for today, mostly because I've made negligible progress since yesterday. However, #1 was off today, so we did some Christmas shopping and went to the movies to see Red. Which was awesome! How could it not be, with Bruce Willis, Mary Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman, and John Malkovich. The script was awesome (and funny!) and the action was totally over-the-top, in the best way. Red was what The Expendables wanted to be. Seriously.

Now for the news everyone's been waiting for! The winner of my last ARC of My Soul To Steal is:
Sarah Farr! Ms. Farr has been notified via email, and I'm going to give her several days to claim her prize. Should she fail to do so, I will draw another name.
A huge thanks, by the way to everyone who entered the drawing. I'll be holding a couple more when I get my author copies, and of course, My Soul To Steal is available for pre-order just about everywhere, including B&N, Borders, IndieBound, Book Depository, and Amazon.

Wanna see?

I blogged at The Deadline Dames today with a photo-excerpt of My Soul To Steal, so click here if you're interested!

-----
Also, today's the last day to enter to win my last ARC of My Soul To Steal. There's just over 700 entries so far (wow, you guys blow me away!) and I really wish I had another one to offer up, but I don't. However, I should have author copies in a month or so, and I'll be giving away several more then. ;)

-----
Writing Progress:

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday, so this is actually my progress for the past two days combined. The novel currently stands at:


39,924 / 100,000
(39.92%)

And my progress toward my 65,000 word November goal is:



23,524 / 65,000
(36.19%)

So, I'm chugging along, but still have a long way to go.

Click below to check my CP Rinda Elliott's progress toward her goal.

Oooh, shiny!

[If you haven't already, click here to enter to win an ARC of My Soul To Steal!]

So, I wasn't going to work this weekend. My daily goal is designed to let me take weekends off and preserve my sanity. But then #1 said, "But wouldn't it be nice to get ahead?" And he had a point. Especially considering the upcoming holidays. So I did put in a little bit of work this weekend.

But I also watched several movies and played a couple of video games with #1.

Also, the Williams Sonoma catalogue arrived on Saturday, and just FYI, the Williams Sonoma catalogue=total time suck. We spent at least a couple of hours (total) staring at the shiny pictures and composing wish lists. (Why don't *I* have soup bowls shaped like pumpkins?) But, you (and my editor) will be happy to hear that this morning, I left the catalogue downstairs, so I can't be tempted by it.

What? They have a website? Uh oh.

-----

ARCs of My Soul To Steal are making their way into the world, and the first reviews are good! Also, they're spoiler-free. And zero calories.

Mary at BookhoundsLani at LaLa Land

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Writing update: After a Friday + weekend total of almost 5000 words, here's where the new book stands.


34,388 / 100,000
(34.39%)

And here's my November total so far:


17,988 / 65,000
(27.67%)
Not bad for the first week, I think. But unless disaster strikes, things should be ramping up this week!

Click below to find out how my CP Rinda Elliott did this weekend!

Why I may be the crazy cat lady.

Unfortunately, I still don't have the official all-clear to shout my new series titles (one for the series as a whole, the other for the 1st novel) from the rooftop yet. My emails obviously don't sound quite desperate enough. Maybe it's all those exclamation points (in honor of my new French cover!!!).

But here's what I can tell you so far: this book is driving me nuts. I mean, crazy, in the sense that people now pause on my sidewalk to point and whisper, "That's where the crazy cat lady lives." And they're not far off. I have cats. See?

Why is this novel driving me crazy? Because I'm writing it from two different points of view. (FYI, I'm pretty sure that's abbreviated as PsOV, not POVs. Right? Or is that further proof of my craziness?) I've never tried a multiple POV book before, and my conclusion after having written almost 1/3 of one now? Multiple points of view (PsOV) just means there's more than one voice in your head. Thus, the crazy.

I'm far from sure this multiple point of view thing will actually work out. My editor asked me to try it, and I said I would. So I did, and it turns out I suck at it. So I called her and said, "Hey, it turns out I suck at multiple point of view, so I'm taking the second point of view out, 'kay? Oh, also, this book isn't turning out much like the book I proposed. How much trouble am I in?"

I was seriously stressed about both of those issues, but she took it all in stride.

Then I decided that I needed that second point of view, to be able to properly tell both sides of the story. So I gave it another shot. And it turns out that I'm not as bad at multiple points of view (PsOV) as I thought I was. But who knows. I might spend the entire revision process changing it all back to a single POV (PsOV).

So, there you go: everything you ever wanted to not-quite-know about my new series. ;)

---
Here's where the novel stands, after writing 3,205 words yesterday:



29,558 / 100,000
(29.56%)

And here's where my November writing goal stands:



13,158 / 65,000
(20.24%)
My critique partner (and partner in wordcount crime) Rinda Elliott had an interesting day yesterday. Click the button below to read about her progress (and how she nearly burned down her house.)

Chuggin' along...

[If you haven't already, click here to find out how to enter to win my only ARC of My Soul To Steal!]

I barely made my writing goal last night. Lucky for me, barely counts. ;)

Here's where the new book stands, after an addition of 3,053 words yesterday:

26,353 / 100,000
(26.35%)

And here's how I stand on my November writing goal, after three days:

9,953 / 65,000
(15.31%)

Looks pretty good so far, I think. Except that I don't get to work much on the weekends. Real life, you know. And this weekend, that includes Christmas shopping, because my extended family is having its holiday get-together/gift exchange over Thanksgiving weekend. A full month before Christmas. Which is awesome (I'm so glad I have the kind of family that gets together once or twice a year, without fail), but that also means that--with the seven hour drive each way--there will be 3-4 days at the end of the month in which I won't get a word written.

(I can't work or read in the car--motion sickness.)

So I'm trying to plan ahead. But the stupid book keeps getting in the way of...its own creation.

Why? Because it's the first book in a brand new series, with brand new characters and brand new world-building. And I don't really know the characters or their world like I should yet. I'm getting to know them. But that means I'll have to go back during the revisions and rewrite the entire beginning of the book to adjust for the stuff I didn't know back when I wrote it.

And unlike most of the NaNoers, I don't have the luxury of aiming for quantity over quality, with the understanding that the book will need a massive rewrite later. By the time the book is finished, my "later" will consist of two weeks (if I'm lucky) in which to rewrite, have the book critiqued, and rewrite it again before it's due. So I'm trying to strike a balance between quality and quantity. And sanity. ;)

This book is due Jan 1, 2011. Boy, am I looking forward to the new year. ;)

Click below to see my critique partner Rinda Elliott's progress in our partnered not-NaNo. She made her goal too!