H.M. Ward's Blog, page 43

Demon Kissed Day of Super Awesomeness – 4/29/11

Friday, April 29th, 2011 is the Demon Kissed Day of Super Awesomeness!  This is a fun day for people to show how much they love Demon Kissed by H.M. Ward!

So far you guys have done a smashing job!  I want to thank you so much!  The signed pre-orders sold out so quickly that we ordered a second round, and now those are almost gone too!  You guys drove the Demon Kissed ranking on BN.com to around 1,400 right after release.  And that was without any combined effort at all!  You guys are amazing!

We are having a single day of super-awesome-fan-ness on April 29, 2011, and you guys can make a stellar difference!!!  With over 35,000 Demon Kissed fans, you guys can totally rock it and make the book appear on lists, and even push it into the top 10 lists on Amazon and B&N.  The results are awesome!  Blasting it on one day spreads word about Demon Kissed quickly, and allows others to find it easier.

Your participation also makes it possible for the rest of the books in the series to come out faster.  Yup!  FASTER!

And, with more people getting the book, it can also bump up the timeline on the Demon Kissed movie!  The movie folks said that a certain number of books need to sell before they can go forward.  So that's right Demon Kissed fans!  You have the awesome ability to make this HUGE!

These are the different ways to participate ON APRIL 29, 2011:

1. Buy Demon Kissed by H.M. Ward  between 12:01am-11:59pm on April 29, 2011.  You can get it in paperback from Amazon, or get it in the ebook format from Amazon, B&N, or Smashwords.  This will help spread the love and boost Demon Kissed ranking on all these sites!

2. Already own Demon Kissed?  There are more ways to show your super awesome fan abilities.  You can buy Demon Kissed on April 29th for your friends and family!  Ebooks are cheap ($3.99) and can be gifted!  The paperback also makes a wonderful graduation gift.  A little bit of planning makes you super awesome twice!

3. Link to us on Facebook!  Telling your friends how much you want to read Demon Kissed by HM Ward or how much you enjoyed it is awesome and anyone can do it!  By inserting an @ @demonkissed on your status posting, so that we can see your post on the Demon Kissed fan page.

4. Tell everyone.  Books bring people together and everyone loves hearing about a great new book.  On April 29th, 2011, tell everyone how super awesome Demon Kissed is!  It is so awesome, an early draft of the book caught Hollywood's attention.  Now we are waiting on you guys to spread the word.

Over the next week post your fan art to get ready for the big day!  Fan art includes music, poems, drawings, paintings, or anything else that you created after you were inspired by Demon Kissed!

Demon Kissed Giveaway Sweepstakes of Awesomeness!

It's finally here!  Today is the official release date of the paranormal YA novel Demon Kissed!  

To celebrate, we are giving away some cool stuff this summer!  Read on to see the awesome prizes.

GRAND PRIZE Ivy's ring (pictured on the cover at the left). This is the ring that Collin gives Ivy in the book. It has a gothic feel with intricate patterns all over, adorned with a ruby-colored stone. The stone was brightened for the photo because the bezel setting doesn't allow light to go through the stone, it appears darker in person. Materials: Alloy & manmade gemstone. Value: Priceless

1st PLACE PRIZE Get a character with your name in the next book of the Demon Kissed series: Curse of the Valefar. This is commonly called a "namesake." A character will have your first name! Value: $500

2nd PLACE PRIZE A $20 Amazon gift card. You'll get an e -gift card emailed to you that you can use at Amazon.com. Value: $20.00

3rd PLACE PRIZE A signed copy of Demon Kissed by H.M. Ward. You'll get the paperback with the author's signature inside! Value: $17.99

For more info – like how to enter – click here and read the official page on the Demon Kissed website.

Demon Kissed's Sale Rank is Climbing

Okay, watching the book rankings is like watching grass grow.  It's really slow and it slides, up then down, then up more, then down more…you get the idea.  Anyway, I'm trying to control myself, and stopped watching the Demon Kissed sales rank for a few days.  I happened to look at my book's Nook ranking this morning – and it shot way up!  Wahoo!

There are over 2 million books, magazines, kid books, etc. in B&N nookbook store to compete with.  Demon Kissed was sitting around 80,000 the first few days, and shot up to the  1,400′s already!  (The goal is to get to the top 100, or #1 if you are super ambitious).

And if there are other Indie authors out there that are thinking, "It's Nook.  Who cares, it's not like it's Kindle."  Um, my Nook sales are kicking Kindle's butt.  Yeah, I know that's weird.  For a while a they were neck and neck, and now Nook has a clear lead.  I'll see how the next couple of months play out.  Either way, it's very interesting since Kindle is supposed to dominate the ebook market.

Anyway, just want to share.  Hooray!  We are in the pre-release date window.  The original release date of Demon Kissed was expected to be April 15, 2011, however, the paper copy and the ebook listings both went live about 2 weeks early.  Signed copies of the paperback go out next week.  The lot I ordered sold out.  We may do another round of signed copies that will ship later this summer.

And, btw, THANK YOU SO MUCH!  You guys are awesome.  The reviews you're writing are great too.  I never expected such praise.  People are saying that they can't put Demon Kissed down, and that it redefined their definition of soul mate.  That's major!  It's cool when books have some depth and are fun to read.  I'm glad Demon Kissed has captured your attention in multiple ways.  Keep the emails and facebook posts coming!  I love hearing from you guys and try to answer everyone.  Plus, there are like 35,000 readers to hang with over there on FB.  It's awesome. 

A Demon Kissed giveaway will start soon.  Keep your eyes peeled!

I want to buy Demon Kissed, but I don't have a credit card. Help!

DEMON KISSED by H.M. Ward  is available in e-book format and paperback.  Currently, all editions are only available online, which is messing with some teens' plans of super-awesome reading.  If that's you, keep reading.  You CAN purchase via Amazon without your parent's plastic (credit card).

I DON'T HAVE A CREDIT CARD, HOW CAN I BUY ONLINE WITHOUT ONE? You can purchase DEMON KISSED online starting at only $3.99!  There is an easy way to convert your cash, so you can purchase this book online without a credit card.

Kindle and Amazon have gift cards that can be purchased with cash at brick and mortar retailers like 7-Eleven stores and CoinStar machines.  That means you can walk into these places with your cash.  If you've got $3.99, you have enough for the ebook.  The paperback is currently $11.99 on Amazon.  Amazon does NOT charge sales tax in most states or S&H fees on ebooks.

So, say you go into WalMart and use the Coinstar machine.  I'm sure you've seen them.  It's automated.  You dump in some change, and then click the button for payment that is for AMAZON.COM.

Then you can use the gift card code to purchase the paperback or ebook via Amazon.com.

Note: these machines give paper receipts with a code, so don't lose it.

Gift card denominations start at only $5!  For more info and locations, follow this link.

[image error] The PAY NEAR ME machine at 7-Eleven is even easier.  Follow this link to their site and enter the requested info.  Then you go to 7-Eleven, walk up to the machine, and insert your cash.  PayNearMe then prints out a receipt with a code and they also email it to you.  Then you can then enter the info into Amazon for payment.  That means you can get the paperback OR the ebook!!!  BOTH are sold on Amazon.

This is the duh, why didn't I think of that option.  It's the WalMart MoneyCard.  It's a debit card that you can load/ reload at WalMart and other locations with cash, so that you can make purchases online.  It has a $3 fee, but if you plan on going nuts on Amazon and buying lots of ebooks or paper books, it's totally worth it.

The MoneyCard is sold at the front of WalMart stores, and has the VISA logo on it.  You do NOT to confuse it with their gift cards.  Those have no fee and can only be used in WalMart.  The MoneyCard is in a clear plastic container, and can be used ANYWHERE that accepts VISA – like Amazon.com – so you can buy Demon Kissed!

Best of all, this card is not tied to a checking or savings account, there is no credit check, and it's easy to use.  It's pretty straight forward.  The WalMart MoneyCard is issued by GE Money Bank, an FDIC insured member.  That means if you lose your card, you don't lose your cash.  Call up and report it.  That is one perk that is worth the fee, especially if you stick a bunch of cash on it.

Other options include using your PayPal account or PayPal student account to order.  This allows you to pay via your checking account or debit/ credit card, or with funds in your PayPal account.  FYI, if you pay via PayPal the seller does NOT see any of your credit card/ banking information.  PayPal is a credit card processor and conforms to PCI industry standards.  For more info about security on PayPal, click here. All the online retailers selling this book also accept debit cards with the Mastercard or Visa logo.

I WANT TO PURCHASE DEMON KISSED FOR MY E-READER. CAN I GET IT ON MINE? The ebook format is available on Kindle, Nook, Sony, and Apple.  Via the FREE Kindle app, you can also read the ebook without an ereader on the following: Your Personal Computer, Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.

WHY IS THE eBOOK SO MUCH CHEAPER THAN THE PAPERBACK? IT'S ONLY $3.99! Paper, ink, and S&H fees are very expensive.  None of those fees exist when dealing with ebooks, which is why the price can be much, much lower.

CAN I READ THE eBOOK ON MY COMPUTER? OR DO I HAVE TO BUY AN eREADER? Yes, you can read the ebook on your personal computer, select smart phones, iPad, etc!  You do NOT have to have a Kindle, Nook, or eReader to buy/ read the ebook.

 

Demon Kissed Released on Nook & Kindle!

Demon Kissed by H.M. Ward was released early on Kindle, Nook, Sony, iPad, & more!  To answer your question, yes you can buy it before the paperback!  Click the proper link below to get yours today!  Or you can buy all of them.  I really don't mind.  :o)

Kindle, Nook, and Other Editions are all eBook formats that can be used with different ereading devices.  Note: The Kindle can be read on iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, or your personal computer.  You do NOT have to own a Kindle to read an ebook.  The best part is the price tag of only $3.99, and you get it in a matter of seconds – no waiting!

The signed edition is the paperback, which will be released on the 15th.  Paper, ink, and S&H take longer.  Click the images below to find out more info about each edition of the DEMON KISSED book.

And some OMG! news: The Kindle store ranks ebooks.  When a new ebook enters the rankings, it's down around 100,000 or so.  The DEMON KISSED ranking went from around 90,000 all the way up to 10,000 over night! Wahoo! That means we flew past thousands of other books.

Let's see if we can get Demon Kissed into the top 100, so everyone can share the awesomeness!  Tell your friends its out.

And if you had your heart set on a signed paperback edition of DEMON KISSED, I still have a few.  Click the Signed Copy picture above and it will take you to the details page.

Thank u to everyone who already grabbed a copy – paper or ebook!  You guys are awesome!

I was quoted in a Washington Post Article!

Sarah Pekkanen on the gender divide in children's books

By Sarah Pekkanen, Friday, March 18, 4:39 PM

"I have a confession: As a teenager, I dog-eared the juicy pages in Judy Blume's "Forever," then hid the novel under my bed, even though I worried that the spicy scenes might cause my mattress to spontaneously combust.

How quaint that little book about first love sounds now. Teenagers inhabiting the pages of literature today are stalking vampires, slicing the heads off demons, and occasionally saving a fictional world that doesn't really seem to deserve it. And while such action-packed stories might seem targeted at boys who learned to read with chunky books starring tractor-trailers and dinosaurs, 'tween and teen girls are actually the ones gobbling them up.

In fact, when it comes to children's and young adult novels, many publishers are scrambling to capture the attention of the elusive, picky boy readers. Girls tend to accept a broad range of books, especially if romance is a thread in the story line. But boys lag behind girls in reading skills in all 50 states, making reading "the most pressing gender-gap issue facing our schools," according to a 2010 report by the Center on Education Policy. Captivating boys and making reading fun presents a big challenge — but it can translate into an enormous payoff, as Scholastic learned again when the fifth Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," earned $185 million in just six months.

The publisher that discovers the next big boy book "is like whoever can find a way to open up China. You'll have a great market," says Michael Sullivan, a frequent speaker at schools and the author of "Connecting Boys with Books." Sullivan also writes novels aimed at boy readers.

A longer-term concern is that non-reading boys will grow into teens and men who shy away from books in general and fiction in particular. Statistics back this up: Women read more books and more broadly across genres than do men. The British author Ian McEwan once stood in a London park handing out free books. Women gratefully snapped them up while many men "frowned in suspicion or distaste," McEwan wrote in the Guardian newspaper. "When women stop reading, the novel will be dead."

"I think there is this assumption that any book we publish will be read by girls or could be read by girls, so there's more concern about, 'How do we get boys to read it?' " said Mary Lee Donovan, executive editor of Candlewick Press, a major publisher of children's literature based in Massachusetts.

Cover art plays a big part. Girls will read a book featuring a boy on the cover or a simple but evocative image of, say, hands cupping a red apple (yes, "Twilight," we're talking about you), but boys tend to recoil from an image of a girl on a book cover. Many boys are drawn to the bold, splashy and outrageous — think garish colors, battle scenes and especially humor. The book "Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder," for instance, combines laughs with charming illustrations by Mike Lowery. He notes that his artwork has a "naive feel to it" that can make young readers relate.

Humor isn't threatening, which is one reason that books like the "Wimpy Kid" series take off. "Boys feel far more uncertain about their reading than girls do, so they're less likely to take a chance," said Sullivan, who has studied the issue of boys and reading extensively. "Studies show that psychologically, boys are known for overestimating their abilities in many areas. The one area where boys consistently underestimate their abilities is in reading."

Some books, of course, bypass the boys completely and aim directly at girl readers. This seems particularly apparent in young adult novels, where paranormal books with dangerous love interests abound. H.M. Ward recently finished writing her first YA novel, "Demon Kissed," about a teen named Ivy who is claimed both by the people chosen to protect humanity as well as by the soulless servants of Hell. Ward created a Facebook page and quickly attracted 30,000 fans for a book that hasn't even been published yet. "Teenagers feel trapped," Ward explains, "and my book explores whether you have a choice in your destiny and what happens to you."

Lack of control over their destinies (curfews! homework! acne!) could explain why plenty of teenagers are attracted to books featuring empowered characters, which also may be one of the keys to the prized crossover books that appeal to both genders. There isn't a stronger example than Katniss Everdeen, the lead character in Suzanne Collins's "The Hunger Games" trilogy, which has dominated best-seller lists recently. Katniss kills to save the people she loves, hunts food with a bow and arrow, and manages to topple an evil government — all while tolerating the affections of two handsome suitors. Romance is lightly woven through the books, but survival and maintaining personal honor are the dominant themes. The trilogy has leapt across gender as well as age lines, attracting adult readers along with boy and girl 'tweens and teens.

"Whenever a book like this comes out of nowhere and becomes so big, people take notice," wrote David Levithan, the trilogy's editor, in an e-mail. "But I think the biggest take-away isn't for there to be more dystopian fiction, or more Katniss-like characters. The take-away is that when you have an author with a singular vision, you should do everything you can to let her follow that vision."

In other words, empower the author. Both boy and girl readers would definitely approve.

Sarah Pekkanen is the author of "Skipping a Beat" and "The Opposite of Me."  bookworld@washpost.com"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/sarah-pekkanen-on-the-gender-divide-in-childrens-books/2011/03/04/ABWL1Or_story.html

Demon Kissed Super Phat Awesome Ordering Info

DUN DUN DUN DUN! (Yeah, you were supposed to sing that!)

DEMON KISSED IS UP FOR PRE-ORDER.  And and and… There are some signed copies!  There are about 1/4 remaining of the signed books.  The release date for the paperback is April 15, 2011.  Kindle and Nook my be sooner since they enter into the digital world and require no printing or shipping & handling.

If you missed reading chapter 1 – read it now you bad kid!  It's free, and you got nothing better to do.  You know it.  Follow this link to the download page.

Want to know more before you invest in clicking a link?  Here is the book description:

"The Valefar boy tricked Ivy Taylor into kissing him, but he took much more than a kiss – he stole her soul and left her within inches of death. By surviving, Ivy is drawn into the conflict between the Martis and the Valefar. The war between these two immortal forces has raged for millennia without distraction. Until now. Ivy is an anomaly—she is the only person who has ever walked away from a demon kiss alive. Her survival gives her unique and deadly abilities. Too powerful to ignore, Ivy is a threat to both armies. These two ancient enemies will stop at nothing to kill the seventeen-year-old. Surviving is nothing new for headstrong Ivy, but her survival has never depended on another person before. This time it does. And if she misplaces her trust, she's dead. To her horror, she starts falling in love at the worst possible time—with the enemy. He appears to be protecting her. But she can't be certain if he is trying to help her, or help himself to her power. For Ivy, trusting the right person is the difference between love and survival, or a deadly demon kiss."

SHUT UP!  IKR?  Sounds like it doesn't suck!  Wahoo.  That was totally what I was going for when I wrote this – lack of suckage.  Ha ha.  Hopefully you'll all swoon and cuddle with your book every night.  Instant BFFs – you and Demon Kissed.

Dude, I need to make a tee shirt or a crown or something.  OH!  And the ring on the cover – we are gonna do a give-a-way where you can win it!  Keep your eyes peeled for more info.

Demon Kissed Novel Release Date!!!

DEMON KISSED is a young adult paranormal-romance novel, by American author H.M. Ward. It tells the story of Ivy Taylor, a seventeen year old girl, who is claimed by both the martyr marked (people chosen to protect humanity from evil), and the demon kissed (soulless servants of hell).

While learning to survive in this new reality, Ivy discovers that she is at the center of a prophecy that foretold of her unleashing unprecedented evil into the world. Ivy relies on her friends, and finds herself in a forbidden romance, while trying to save the world.

Facebook Fan Page – Join over 32,000 eagerly awaiting fans!

It's finally here!  I have info on the release date, and guess what?  It's sooner than expected.  Wahoo!  After much talk with my agent, I decided to release an early edition of DEMON KISSED within the next 4 weeks.  It will be available via the official Demon Kissed website, Amazon in paperback, and the Kindle Store.  I'm also hoping to have it on Nook.

To celebrate the book's launch there will be special offers!!!  As in save money & awesomeness too awesome to post here!  To get the SPECIAL OFFERS YOU MUST BE ON THE EMAIL LIST.  It will be emailed via the newsletter first.  It's really easy to make sure you don't miss it!  Simply sign up below!

That's right folks – ONLY 4 WEEKS UNTIL YOU CAN READ DEMON KISSED BY H.M. WARD!

The new cover image is shown above.  It has a few hints about the book, and readers will really like piecing it together after they've read Demon Kissed.  Those kind of covers are fun, so we had one created for this novel.  It's really cool!!!

Another cool thing: This book is an Indie novel.  That means lots of great stuff!  My favorite of which is that it gives the reader a chance to support awesome authors.  With Indie writers, "the man" isn't screwing you over and making you pay $30 for a book.  The result is that book prices can be less expensive, because the middlemen have been cut out.  All proceeds from the book directly benefit your favorite author.  So it saves you money AND you're a flippin awesome patron of the arts!  Normally, only rich people get to be patrons and support their favorite artist.  That is something awesome about Indie – anyone can be a patron!

Being a patron and finding undiscovered artists is something that is very common in other areas of the arts.  I personally love discovering a new artist before everyone else.  Not only do you get a good price on awesome work, but you get the joy of being one of the first people to notice a new painter, writer, musician, etc.  It's a way for you to personally mold and influence the arts!

What else does it mean?  It means that books can be reach the public faster.  If I stayed the traditional route, it would have been approx thirteen more month before the release of this book.  As a reader – that sucks!  It's way too long.

The last plus of Indie writers is that they can bust the mold.  There is a like mindedness in publishing.  You may have experienced it yourself after you've read a new book and it feels like five other books you've read.  That's so disappointing as a reader.  Indie writers can write without constraints.  They aren't being forced to blend into the market for sellability.  The writer's individuality can shine through in their book.  I think that's awesome.  It allows writers to be more creative and it allows readers to get their hands on something new.

Those are the main four reasons Indie appeals to me, which is why I chose to go that direction.  I still have my awesome agent and she is very excited about it.  DEMON KISSED also has the attention of Hollywood, which means you guys have the power to make this book into a movie!  With over 32,000 facebook fans, I can totally see you guys shaping the movie!

Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to see this through.  I love writing, but rarely shared my work before now.  The emails and posts that you guys have made are incredible.  The comments on chapter 1 alone blew me away.  The fan art you sent is amazing and its an honor to know so many wonderful artists!  You guys made all this possible!  Thank you so much!

Make sure you sign up for the newsletter below.  You will be notified as soon as DEMON KISSED is available – and you'll get notified of the special offers.  There will be a limited number of some stuff, so keep an eye on your email over the next few weeks.

Sign up for the DEMON KISSED Email Newsletter

Tips for Young Writers Part II: Plot, Dialogue, Descriptions, & Age

I recently asked Demon Kissed book fans via our Facebook fan page what questions they had about writing.  There were several about plot and publishing.  I'll answer stuff Q&A style this time.

"Do you believe a 17 year old should get a book published?" – Audrey

Age has nothing to do with your ability to tell a story.  There are people who write well and are natural born storytellers.  They enjoy writing, so their ability begins to exceed their age.  That happened with me.  And of course there are several writers that were young and published – Eragon author Christopher Paolini is a contemporary writer who started writing his first published novel at age 15.  He took two years to complete his manuscript at which point his family self-published his book.  That was how he started.  Jane Austen wrote Sense and Sensibly when she was 21 years old or younger.  I've read that she was 18 years old in some sources, and 21 in others.  At any rate, she wasn't an old crone.  Her novel wasn't published until later, but the story originated when she was young.  Which is awesome!  I think there is a place for teen writers, and I think it would be awesome to see more of their work spread into the marketplace.  The folks that are hesitant are the ones who don't think you guys pay attention to grammar and spelling.  Prove them wrong!  Write a kick ass story, and go for it!

"Dialogue please – mine never feels like real." -Grace

Recognizing that dialogue doesn't feel real is the first step in correcting the problem, so you are half way there.  Writing dialogue is somewhere between reality and make-believe.  If you transcribed an entire conversation, it gets dull.  The words need to be tweaked for reading.  Basically, you cut out the fat-anything extra that does not propel the plot, but you have to leave enough so the reader knows what's going on.  The easiest way to practice is to write down a conversation you had.  Don't try to polish it at all.  Just notice what's there.  Next, take a red pen and start striking out anything that isn't central to the conversation.  You should automatically remove: um, like, and other filler phrases.  You can also watch conversations.  A good conversation goes back and forth, but not with every sentence.  Changing speakers too often stunts your story.  If you hear a conversation in real life, and someone is telling you a story or explaining something, you may interrupt from time to time, but not every sentence.  If a BFF is spilling coveted info about some guy that you've been dying to hear about, you want the info as fast as possible.  Your readers are the same way.  You may slow things down to create suspense or for your story's flow, but it should be done intentionally and not throughout.  So the short version is – dialogue should reflect real conversations, but cut out the fluff and jump to the important stuff.

"How do you add enough desciption? Like for the charecters surrounding." -Jessica

This varies between genre.  Example: Fantasy, epic stories, historical fiction, and literary fiction have a LOT more descriptions going on.  It seemed like the first 80 pages of Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence was description.  I read that when I was 19 years old, for fun.  I love that book.  Anyway, in YA books the surroundings are more like snapshots that are infused into the story.  Their purpose is to support the story, and not distract or slow the pacing.  It's a carefully orchestrated balance to let your reader know where your hero is, without that becoming the focal point.  In one contemporary series (meaning something that was written in the last decade or so), you know where Stephanie Plum is in One for the Money, because it's smooshed throughout the story.  The author, Janet Evanovich, sprinkles it in throughout.  You can't forget Stephanie's a Jersey girl – it's part of the story.  The descriptions should always be lending toward your story.  And avoid info dumps.  That is where you dump a bunch of info the reader needs to know instead of threading it into the story.  Weave it into your story, and you'll be good.

The rest of the questions were about plot and publishing.  I'll answer the publishing hoopla in another thread because there are so many things going on that it totally needs its own post.

Plot, Story Lines, & Sorting Things Out

Several of you asked how the heck can you keep the plot and all it's intricacies straight in your head.  I talked about this a little bit in a previous post about how I did it for Demon Kissed.  As I started writing the second book, Demon Kissed: Curse of the Valefar, I changed what I was doing a little bit.  I'll share with you what I'm currently doing.

The first part of turning the amazing story in your head into an amazing story on paper is to map out your plot.  The plot is the sequence of events that leads your hero from the beginning of the story to the end of the story.  Some of you asked how to identify the beginning of the story, which is an excellent question.  If you start too soon, you bore people.  If you start too late, people aren't sure what's going on.  General rule of thumb – start as late as you can.  I think it should be near the story's catalyst.

There is a catalyst, an event, that spurs your story into motion.  Without this event, you would have no story.  Identify what that is and it will help you decide where to start.  I can't talk about Demon Kissed too much because it's not out yet, but since this event occurs in the first chapter (which has been released), I'll demonstrate with that.  The event that spurs Ivy's story into motion is when Jake attacks her.  Without that key event, there is no story.  That single event creates a domino effect, which when combined with her decisions, propels her along the plot line and through the story.  Make sense?  You MUST have that moment in your plot.  If you don't have one, you will have serious issues trying to control where the plot is going, what is happening to the character, and why.

When you start your story, have a beginning and an ending in mind.  I'll pick a story that everyone knows - Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone. The story starts with normal Harry not knowing he is a wizard, and ends with Harry, the novice wizard, defeating Voldemort.  The writer can then go and fill in the plot holes from there by asking questions: How does Harry find out he's a wizard? How does he learn his skills to defeat Voldemort?  All the stuff he learned in the book supported the task he had to accomplish at the end of it.

As for keeping things straight while you accomplish this daunting task – remember most YA books have 80,000-100,000 words right now.  That's a lot of stuff to organize.  Trying to keep it all in your brain may not be the best method.  In my other post I mentioned using cork board and index cards to try and keep things straight.  The progression I made since then is easier for me.  Maybe it'll help you too.

I mapped the beginning and ending of the book on paper – the middle is blank.  This is a stepping stone/ bridging method.  The writer knows the beginning and the end and must connect the two.  Honestly, I didn't see how to bridge the gap in all it's glorious detail.  Normally, I would have started writing now and assumed my brain would close the gap as I wrote.  I didn't do that this time and it helped me much more.  Instead, I imagined the opening scene in my head over and over.  My imagination started to spread past that with several different ideas, and then finally latched onto a plot path that made sense, was interesting, and added another stepping stone to the plot.  That became chapter 2.  After I had all the key details of that scene I wrote it down as an outline.  So I had a complete chapter outline on the opening scene, scene two, and the ending.  (I think of chapters like scenes – it helps me organize the story).  Then I did the same thing, trying to move forward to scene 3.  There were several different directions to go, but the one I chose had to be awesome and line my story up with the final chapter.  I moved along like that, dreaming up the scene, determing which version to use, and then writing down the scene's key components in an outline so that I wouldnt forget.

Holy crap!  This helped my writing and plot like nothing I've ever done before.  I love stories with a rich plot, that turns and threads the story together in an intricate pattern.  Organizing all the thoughts that go into it were insane.  Doing it this way: Map, Dream, Outline helped SO much.  Now, I can sit down and write 60 pages at once.  And I don't have to stop because I got stuck and don't know what to do next.  The plot is all mapped out on paper well enough to tip the vivid memories I created in my mind.  It also helped with revisions and editing.  Now I don't have to go back and junk as much stuff because I planned it all out.

Plotting this way can seem really intimidating.  It was for me.  Seeing a blank page for such a long time, while working things out in my head was scary.  I thought I might lose some of the details and forget stuff.  But I didn't.  I put enough info in the outline to keep my thoughts in check.  It even allowed me to write more freely because I knew where the story was going.  I could scatter in deeper meaning and foreshadowing into places on the first pass, instead of adding it much later during revisions.

Every writer handles plots differently.  Some people write on the fly, while others spend 12 months plotting points in their novel without ever writing a word.  I found, the more info you can capture and pre-map, the easier it gets to actually write the story.  I spent about two to four weeks dreaming the scenes in Demon Kissed: Curse of the Valefar one by one.  Everyone will find something that works for them.  The main thing is to grab that plot and smooth it out in a way that makes it easy for you to remember and work with.

I hoped this stuff helped!  We now have over 30,000 Demon Kissed fans, of which many are young writers.  You guys have amazing talent!  Thanks so much for following Demon Kissed and telling your friends!  I cannot wait to share the book with you!!!

The plight of the control freak

Some of you might think that control freaks have the option of turning it off – but if you are one, you know it's not true.  It's like having middle child syndrome.  You can't turn that crazy crap off, either.  And, if you got both – you are extra awesome!  Oh yeah.

So let's look at some traits of the classic control freak.  And I can tease because I am one.

The Classic Control Freak:

Needs control the same way Linus needs his security blanket.
"Don't touch my blanket, bitch!  No, I don't need it.  I just like it!"
Will never admit that they are a control freak.
Unless you poke them a whole lot.  They HATE being poked.  Then they think the following…
Everyone is stupid.
(You poked her, didn't you?  NEVER poke a control freak.  They bite.)
Yes, control freaks think everyone is stupid.
Except for you – who seems to be smart.
For now…
And, control freaks won't ask you to do stuff, cause we can do it better…
Then we'll bitch that we have to do everything ourselves…
Even though you offered to help and did an okay job…
Okay, it was a good job, but they won't notice until later…
When we are obsessed with doing something else that doesn't matter.
Then you give us a tee shirt that says BEWARE! WILL BITE!
We laugh, but we are really thinking you are stupid.

Ha ha ha!