Rae Hachton's Blog, page 2

Spiders and Unicorns

Before I get started on this post, yes, I will totally point out that I am aware that I am inconsistent and random and haven't been posting teasers or world building Wednesdays.

That's just me and I can't exactly apologize for it. I do things in moods.

So anyway.

I have a pet spider. Yep. He's just sort of nested in my window between the sheets of glass and has woven many webs.

You see, I am one of those people who like totally believe that everything is connected to everything and there's meaning in all things; nothing is truly random. I mean, I get messages from the Universe on my receipts because I believe in this thing called ANGEL NUMBERS.

Fortune cookies? Yep. I love breaking those open (and getting to eat Chinese.) Pendulum? It swings for me all the time. Tarot cards? I spread those out. Runes? I cast them. Crystal ball? I'm getting there.

So what did I do when I realized this spider had found a home in my window? For starters, I let it stay there because I love spiders and creepy things and it's almost Halloween anyway so weave it be.

And then, in the middle of the night, and because I have insomnia most obviously, I Googled this lovely entry: The spiritual meaning of spiders.

Spider Totem

Spider Symbolic Meaning

What I ascertained from these articles was that the spider is all about being able to see past your fears. Some Key words were: determination, believing, creativity, manifestation, and dream-weaving. There was also a tid-bit on possibly having hidden or latent creative gifts. (Where are those?)

(You can click to read more about the Spider Totem.)

All of this resonated with me because I have been living in this great big circle of fear that I'm breaking out of. For weeks, I've felt nothing but dread as I approached my computer or notebook to write, and I've pushed through the fear of not accomplishing my goal, of writing poorly, of not being good enough, of not hitting the mark on what I've outlined for myself. (I have self-imposed book writing standards.)

Because I am determined. I am determined to finish this book series and make it as awesome and as readable as I possibly can. That's my ultimate goal.

It's been a little over a year now since I began rewriting Pretty in Black book one, and I've put tears, sweat, and blood into that book almost literally. It's gone through several drafts and revisions and I can pretty much point out every paragraph that it took me hours, HOURS, to write. I mean, I spent 3 hours writing a 91 word description of a cemetery gate because it was JUST. THAT. IMPORTANT to me because it's important to Marcus and Ellie—they're getting married in that cemetery and when that freaking beautiful iron-woven gate swings open on her wedding day, I am going to cry because that will mean I've made it, that I've finally made it to the final book and Evermore will be a thing, a book-thing that you will finally be able to read.

And before I wrote the description of that gate?—I dreamed of what it would look like for an entire MONTH and didn't write a single word. I had to put a generic sentence in its place and move on because nothing I was writing at the time did the vision in my head justice.

Maybe I am crazy or something for being so nit-picky about what I'm writing, I dunno. But I don't think I am.

As a reader, I know what I love. I LOVE beautifully wrought passages that give me pause and make me dream. I LOVE gorgeously woven sentences and on-point descriptions because those are the things that really make a story come alive and make it seem as though I am living inside of the book and experiencing everything instead of only hearing about what's happening.

I've paid careful attention to what makes me close a book—too much telling, not nearly enough description, (or bland/generic description) and lack of emotion. (I've been guilty of these things in the past, so I'm having to correct all of that.)

Emotion is everything.

I LOVE when emotions are described through actions and/or through how a character describes/interacts with the setting rather than the emotion being stated directly on the page, and I LOVE when an emotion is so strongly depicted that YOU can feel it too. And I LOVE the parts of a book that make your heart squeeze when you read them.

I LOVE books that have a tone/mood/atmosphere/setting that's so real you can just slip between the pages and feel everything, see everything, live everything. Without a properly described setting or mood/tone/atmosphere, a reader can't clearly experience the book, and that makes everything so frustrating. I know because I've been there and I don't like it. The setting/feeling of a book is the undertone which carries a story. For me, it's like the book's soundtrack.

So no. I can't just write the story down any old-fashioned way and then expect you to read it/like it/buy it/share it.

I have to write a book that I, myself, would want to read/fan-girl/tell a friend or ten about.

If it's crappy and I can't fall in love with it, then why the hell would I expect anyone else to? And I'm not in love with anything I've written and published previously. Well, except Eternally. I love that one but it needs a lot of touching up.

However, I am in love with the ideas that I originally had, and I'm making them better.

I'm aware that my previous writing wasn't so hot-to-trot in the beginning because I didn't know what I was doing, and I know more about what I'm doing now so all that's about to change.

(I wish I could give you an exciting new update on my progress but I can't because I'm disappointed in myself at the results right now.)

“Those who weave magic with the written word usually have this totem.”

That's what I hope I'm doing—weaving magick.

There have been days that I haven't wanted to get out of bed. I just want to sleep forever.

Because there's other things that have been stressing me out—like the book length.

“Don't write a 200,000 word book,” and yada, yada, blah, blah, blah.

Listen. In my opinion, some books only need to be 45,000 words and others need to be 200,000 or 300,000. So blast it already. The book will be exactly how and what it needs to be and nothing more or less.

 

Unicorns.

So I was out and about and I just started seeing Unicorns everywhere. Okay, so not real ones, because how awesome would that be? Too awesome.

And I felt drawn toward them suddenly, like, I needed to have unicorn this and a unicorn that, and once again, I wanted to know why so I also looked up the meaning behind that too. Here is what I discovered. 

Unicorn Magick

It's all about transformation, and seeing possibilities. Believing in yourself, and the pursuit of dreams. The unicorn is a symbol for manifesting your dreams into a reality.

I bought a unicorn plushy and a necklace. The plush toy sits on my desk and travels with me wherever I go to write, and I wear the unicorn necklace whenever I am writing as a reminder to listen to my intuition.

I'll write what I believe in and follow my heart.

I believe in magic and love, and that's what all continue writing about, in all its messy, beautiful, and impossible forms.

LIVE UPDATE: November 5, 2016 3:31 a.m. Holy crap. I'm done with the second draft of Black Satin and I'm working on Raven in the Grave? Say what? I've come that far in a month? I had no idea . . 

NVRLND by The Raveonettes

As you may or may not know, The Raveonettes are my favorite band in the entire world. No one on this planet makes music like they do. Some songs by The Raveonettes make me feel like I'm at an 80s prom and after tonight my boyfriend and I will both die and never see each other again. 

This is one of those songs. 

And this song NVRLND is one of their best songs ever. If you've never heard this band before and you wanna know why I love them, well, here you go. This brand new song and video is EVERYTHING I love about this band. 

The first song I ever heard was Sad Transmission in 2008. I remember standing in FYE searching for new music because back then that's how I did things. I ran across the album LUST, LUST, LUST and once I started listening, I could not stop. 

My immediate reaction was "This is so beautifully sad, and there's something about this band and their sound, I dunno, but they are special." 

I became a fangirl for this band on that very day and I've been following them ever since. I have every song they've ever made. 

The sound, feel, and tone of their music is EXACTLY how I want my books to READ. I wanna capture that dark and dreamy feeling. I want to write dark romanticism and gritty fairytales. Take the romance of the 50s/80s and throw some darkness and heartache on it. I want to write about tragic boys who'll break your heart in the sweetest way. 

And that's what I've been doing—working on finding and refining my voice. I'm so damn happy this band exists. I've never been more excited about anything in my entire life than I am whenever they release a new song. 

I'm off on another adventure

Hey, so life is throwing me another curve-ball, y'all.

This has been an extremely turbulent year full of twists and turns, and the only way through it is just to go straight through it. The game isn't over. I'm not going into specific details about this, because this isn't meant to be a sad post, but to give a quick overview:

Everything I own is going in a box. Well, lots of boxes, but I'm having to box it all up. For a summary, I won't be homeless—I have family and for that, I am grateful—but I will be houseless.

But the books are still coming! Oh nooooo way am I going to cave in, freak out, or cry. (Okay, so I cried a little.)

I'm not giving up on being an author. Ever.

I told myself I would do (almost) anything and everything that it took to have this career, and well, this is that anything/everything. It's like the Universe is saying, “Oh, yeah. Anything? How strong are you? How willing? How badly do you want this?”

As badly as I want and NEED to breathe. That's how badly. I chose this career path when I was twelve years old and I'm not stopping now. I've come too far to quit.

This is life and sometimes things just happen. But nothing lasts forever, especially the “bad” stuff.

But I don't see this as a bad thing; I see it as an amazing opportunity. If there's ever been a time to work my ass off, it's right now, at this very moment.

In fact, I am pretty damn sure that we will get to see the brand new edition of Pretty in Black #1 in August!

That's NEXT MONTH.

I am starting over. With Everything.

This is a brand new beginning in and of itself. I will be taking down Black Satin and Raven in the Grave, but only temporarily.

Why?

So that way there won't be any confusion about the books. (I don't want you buying the original book #2 in the series that doesn't match the brand new version of Pretty in Black.)

I had to make a decision whether to hold off on releasing Pretty in Black until the other books were completed, or releasing it now.

I choose to release it now because I know how badly you want to read it, and since you've been patiently waiting for Evermore, I cannot bring myself to hold this book back from you because that's just cruel.

This is my new plan:

The books will follow in order, one by one, as though I am publishing them for the first time.

I will be writing and then publishing the books just as soon as they are edited and readable.

I'm shooting for sometime in August with the first book in the Pretty in Black series.

Black satin will follow shortly after—maybe October or November, depending.

These are much longer books than the originals and there's a lot more world building and extra puzzle pieces to the plot. So, the spaces between the book releases will give everyone time to get caught up on what's going on in the series and get reacquainted with the story world, and the slew of new characters, before the much awaited finale—Evermore—debuts, which will be next year!

And if you've already downloaded any of the original editions, I will walk you through how to go about getting the updated versions if you're not sure. I will compose a blog post with those specific details soon.

Okay, so I'm headed back to the writing cave so I can finish off these last few chapters, and then name them, and then zip off this book to my beta readers for test reading.

Can't wait to officially announce the final word count, the number of pages, and the release date.

The book will be releasing in both paperback and e-book edition too!

xoxo.

 

Ghost Story

I'm Finalizing Pretty in Black!

 

Hey. I haven't posted anything in a little while because I had something funky going on with my left eye. I had to go see a Retina specialists and everything, but the good news is that I think I'm going to be okay. I was told that it's a possible infection/inflammation thing, but I have an MRI on Friday just to double check everything and if that goes well, then I'm all set. 

The even BETTER news is that I'm finalizing Pretty in Black this week so I can finally get those proofs I've been waiting for!

(I'll be so damn happy when I have the printed galley in my hands so I can line edit and then send it to the printer.)

What this means: I will make sure there's nothing else left to say (and there SHOULDN'T BE because I've said PLENTY LOL!) and double check that all the chapters/scenes/etc are in place and there are no more glaring mistakes or continuity errors. I will print the book exactly the way it'll look in paperback form on the page, and then edit it for a final time, line by line, checking for pace and exact wording, etc. I'll correct any issues I find, then it'll be headed out to be formatted for e-book and bound in paperback form. 

Can't wait to hold the paperback version in my hands and cuddle it and take pictures of it and post them everywhere!

I also can't wait to share with you the final word count. I'm telling ya, it's gonna be a whopper of a book. 

I also can't believe this is REALLY happening and that I am the creator of this book series. It's soooooo much better (and different in a lot of good and surprising ways) than the original.

 

Eleanor's reaction upon hearing the news:

And Marcus's Reaction:

MY REACTION UPON FINALIZING:

The Original Marcus had me like:

The NEW Marcus Marble has me like: 

And the NEW WORLD BUILDING makes me wanna: 

Also,

I’m almost done with the new Black Satin draft (a few more chapters to go) and I've already started working on Raven in the Grave. I’m only a few days behind the finish line because I had to pause to gather my World Building notes and begin composing the World of Nevermore world guide; things were getting complicated and I needed a way to keep everything straight so I know what’s what. This is gonna make everything so much easier for me now. Once I get started again, the Raven in the Grave rewrites are gonna be a breeze; the outline is printed and ready to go. I should be able to continue with the rewrites on the third book by early July and if not, then I’ll just bump it to August and keep on rollin’.

TODAY IS JUST A REALLY HAPPY DAY. 

Last year, in April 2015, I woke up in the middle of the night with a voice screaming in my head to rewrite my book series. The whole thing. I accepted the challenge without questions. And lemme tell you, I CRIED. I cried because I knew I NEEDED to do this, and I cried because I had NO IDEA HOW to do it. And that set off a chain of epic writing/researching events. I've spent several months working on this book series, deconstructing it and then putting it back together again. There isn't hardly a single day that has gone by in the last 12 months that I haven't been writing or rewriting or studying HOW to write something. I've purchased new books on technique and skill and spent weeks teaching myself new things. It's been a fun and turbulent journey. 

I've been working on Pretty in Black for a little over a year now. I had to rewrite several of the chapters up to ten times. I had to keep going back and adding layer upon layer of detail either to the character development, atmosphere, setting,  etc. I had to invent a new plot line for the series, and a new character ARC for not only Eleanor, but also Marcus, and I had the fun challenge of figuring out how this plot line would make the story THE SAME as the original but DIFFERENT and NEW. at the same time. I know that sounds wonky, but trust me. you'll get it. It will MAKE. SENSE. 

I knew right away that I couldn't just go in and start changing stuff at random because I didn't want you reading an entirely different book series than the one you've already read. I feared everyday that the personalities of my characters would suddenly change and that I wouldn't be able to recapture their voices or bring my new vision to life. 

It was excruciatingly hard to pull off. 

But I made it. I built a world. 

And let me tell you how I made it. I made it because Marcus and Ellie are the most amazing book characters an author could ever have and I'm so damn proud that they are mine. I LOVE them, megatons, and I am going to FIGHT LIKE HELL for them and their story because they deserve it. When I told them I was rewriting this book, they didn't groan or complain or throw a fit. They showed up and KILLED IT. They started talking to me like they've never talked before and keeping me up at night with conversation after conversation. They have totally blew me away with their enthusiasm. And their voices that I worried about? They're the same! They didn't go away; they've only gotten stronger, more clear. 

I made it because I have an AMAZING support team. My grandmother encourages me every damn day. She is the BEST. She's the reason that I AM a writer. She has always encouraged my dream when other people told me it was stupid and unrealistic. 

And I made it because of YOU. I have THE BEST readers in the world and I love them all. Not just the ones who like my work, but even the ones who hate it. The nastiest reviews have helped me the most. And all I can say is THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone. 

I'm not quite there yet. I still have to complete Black Satin and Raven in the Grave, edit and polish them to near perfection, and then rewrite Evermore. But I'm ALMOST there. 

(I'm saying almost because I'm two books down, with only two to go. Black Satin has already been rewritten, minus a few chapters that I will write and attach later.)

And knowing that I'm ALMOST at the finish line? THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE THIS FEELING. 

The only feeling better than this is the one I will have when all four books are finally out there. 

 

Pine Hills High School

Hi guys!

When I originally wrote Pretty in Black, I had zero reader-fan engagement. And now  I have a glorious opportunity to earn that!

One of the very best aspects about rewriting this series is getting to share with you SO MANY THINGS as I go along.

I had this idea to begin a brand new thing on my blog called World Building Wednesdays. I was thinking that, while we're all waiting on me to finish these books, why not share with you a little sneak peek into The World of Nevermore, so you can kind of get an idea about what all I've changed and/or added to the book as well as explore the world a little bit before the books release. 

In case you missed my first post in January, be sure to check that one out too!

Welcome to Pine Hills!

This week's post is all about Eleanor's high school.

Some quick notes and commentary before we get started on the tour: 

I knew right away before I began rewriting these books that everything I wrote would have one primary goal: to make you feel as though you were really there. This got me thinking about every single aspect of the novel from every angle, which led me to digging up tips on World Building.

Everything in this book has brand new world building, y'all. Everything. The clothes they wear, food they eat, weapons they use, the rooms they enter/exit/do things in.

Nevermore has really super-duper fantastical world building which is why I'm calling it The World of Nevermore. I've even invented the Evermore Lexicon because there are new words related to this world that are unique to Nevermore and the Evermores.

(I will be sharing glimpses of Nevermore further along in the WBW posts.)

Not all books need to go so in-depth about everything, but this one absolutely does. But at the same time, I also knew that if I was going to do this, I needed to somehow tie the descriptions into another aspect of the book: character development, atmosphere, theme, plot, etc, or they wouldn't work or be necessary.

Every choice in a book has to count in some shape, form, or fashion. For example: showing Eleanor's cheer practices. Why is this important? There will be an entire post on this in the future, but for starters, everything we see her do, all of those tricks and stunts are crucial to her character arc; in Raven in the Grave, she will be doing some of those exact same stunts during the sword fight/battle scenes, but on a more badass fantasy level. Flying back tucks for the win!)

The woven-in descriptions of Pine Hills High (all of which I've dispersed between or during actions so it seems like a natural part of the story and not just a massive info-dump to the reader) all tie into the theme and the atmosphere of the book.

The atmosphere of the book is spooky and haunting, and totally Edgar Allan Poe inspired! So Pine Hills High fits right in!

I wanted to create a school that I wished I could've attended when I was a teenager, and one that readers could also dream about attending.

And as you might know, all High schools aren't created equally, in real-life, and in fiction stories. In some of the more recent books I've read lately, the teens are walking down empty colorless hallways with only the brief mentioning of a locker slamming or combination spinning. I wanted something a little different for my own book world.

I wanted Eleanor's high school to be as atmospheric as the rest of the book. I didn't want her walking down a generic hallway. And, I wanted you to be able to walk down the hallways of Pine Hills High with her.

I think this will add an extra level of excitement to the book.

So here we go!

Welcome to Pine Hills High School—Home of the Black Ravens.

The Brief History of Pine Hills High: it was “ . . . originally built to become a Gothic cathedral, but because it was being built on an ancient burial ground that many locals complained was haunted, they stopped construction midway through and built the cathedral—St. Valentine's—a block away; someone else resumed the plans for the cathedral, but changed the design. This building you're sitting in right now was the first structure they completed that year, and it was turned into a private school for the royal class.

"The construction continued, eventually resulting in several buildings connected by walkways in a collegiate Gothic style. Your school almost became Pine Hills University. However, the demographics of this small town ensured its fate, and here you are, at Pine Hills High.”

 —as explained by Eleanor's Gothic Architecture & Arts teacher during their Gothic Revival studies in the Gravesgard building.

Yep! You heard that correctly! Along with her basic core classes and cheerleading, Eleanor is taking two fun electives! Greek Mythology and Gothic Architecture & Arts.

Okay, so raise of hands: who wants to enroll at Pine Hills High?!  

 

There's an iron gate at the front of the school, and when it parts to allow you in, the raven at the top divides in half. (This image isn't the gate, but it might give you an idea of what the real gate looks like :)

Pine Hills High is Home of the Black Ravens! *\O/* GO BLACK RAVENS!Purple ¦ Black | White 
Photo credit: Billy Wilson Photography via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC

There are two primary buildings which are mentioned besides the main entrance, and they are: Ravens Hall, and the Gravesgard building. 

Photo credit: guldfisken via Visual Hunt / CC BY

The buildings are separated by cobblestone walkways and some of them look like really large mausoleums—Ravens Hall, for example; it is three stories high and has weathered stone staircases leading to each level.

 

Ravens Hall has the Ralph Raven gymnasium where pep rallies and after school cheer practice takes place. A flight of ravens is painted along one wall of that gymnasium, above the bleachers, and the GO BLACK RAVENS banner is on the other side. In the center of the glossy hardwood floor is the Ralph the Raven mascot, and on each side of him, on opposite ends of the gymnasium, are two bright purple raven talon-claws.

These same talon-claws, in black and purple and in smaller size, can also be found on the floor in some of the hallways, which have bright purple lockers on one side and black lockers on the other.  

Photo via Visualhunt

The main entrance has towers. Instead of a ringing bell, Students are ushered to first class, signaled to lunch, and dismissed from school at the end of the day by the donging or gonging bells in the tower. The ringing bell only sounds between classes of the day.

Photo credit: ONETERRY. AKA TERRY KEARNEY via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC

As Eleanor changes classes, she often passes by this arcade that gazes over into the courtyard.

 

 

The tall narrow arched windows have clear glass instead of stained, and it glints with a blue tint.

Photo credit: Jolie-Julie via VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-SA 

The Gravesgard Courtyard has crumbling weather-worn headstones marking graves that were never excavated, and from Ellie's seat in Gothic Architecture & Arts class, she can look out the window and see these graves below. Sometimes, crows and ravens land among the stones.

 

Crows and ravens fly around the school a lot too!

The Gothic patio outside Ravens Hall is where the Cheerleaders often hang out before and between classes, or after school before cheer practice; sometimes, you can find them here during lunch hour. Other students hang out here too, but mostly this has been claimed as cheerleader territory. The other students lounge in the domed student common room that has a purple and white checkerboard floor, a wall of trophies behind glass— (Pine Hills High loves to win!)—, and really comfortable couches and chairs for study time!

I chose these specific locations to describe in the book because throughout the series really awesome scenes—plot defining and death-defying!—scenes take place in these locations. Especially the Ralph Raven gymnasium! We have a three-pointer on that one!

 

The Ralph Raven gymnasium is the location where three of my favorite scenes take place! One in each book. If only Eleanor could get through one cheer practice or pep rally without something eerie or supernatural happening!  

So! This is just a little bit of the awesome atmosphere of Pine Hills High School that you will be getting to experience in the book! Hope you enjoyed this post!

PS: The beauty in world building an entire school is that I can use this same location in more than one of my YA Books! Same school, different characters, new stories! Just an idea :)

 

 

JuNoWriMo 2016

I'm definitely participating in JuNoWriMo this year. Right now, it's May 30 and I have a jumbo cup of coffee and a Raven in the Grave outline that I am tweaking. 

Sigh. Confessions time: I was supposed to start writing (rewriting) this book at the beginning of May, but I spent my time learning how to properly edit a book instead, since, you know, I have two incredibly messy Manuscripts stacked on my desk that are in various stages of editing.  

At the end of June, my goal is to have a brand new 160,000 word draft of Raven in the Grave. 

The Best Young Adult Books

IMAGE FROM PIXABAY https://pixabay.com/

IMAGE FROM PIXABAY https://pixabay.com/en/legs-all-star-...

Yes, there are a TON of amazing books about teens doing awesome and extraordinary things, visiting cool worlds, slaying monsters, overthrowing corrupt governments, or going through a lot of serious and hard times, no doubt. 

But . . . for me, the BEST YA books, the ones I LOVE to read the MOST, are those that have that true High School feel. The atmosphere that strikes up nostalgia and can transport you all the way back. The ones that are anchored within the halls and classrooms of high school. 

As a reader, those are always the books I'm seeking to read. Before I knew that I would become a writer, I read a lot of Contemporary YA. And when I imagined being an author, I always thought I would end up writing Contemporary or realistic YA. But when I actually began writing, fantasy started creeping in (which is ironic because I seldom read Fantasy anything) and so,  somewhere along the line, I realized that, you know what, I like both. So why not somehow just do both? So, I'm developing this style of blending realism with fantasy. 

Even though Pretty in Black will go onward to be a fantasy, I still wanted to have that high school feel, combined with the warm fuzzies of falling in love for the first time. Not necessarily the first relationship, or first kiss, or first sexual experience, because Marcus is none of these things for Eleanor, but the first true love. 

I hope I've captured that. For me, that's what the books I've been reading lately are missing. I just want to write the kind of books I want to read. 

Yes, Marcus is a vampire-Evermore hybrid/demon-angel, but underneath, the book is about more than that. 

I wanted it to be a blend of contemporary and fantasy, and a lot of parts read as though it were a contemporary YA about a girl on the cheerleading team who meets a guy and falls in love with him. 

I think I've grown a lot as a writer and I realized that I was rushing things too much in the previous books. So now I want to linger a little longer and really draw out the high school experience and every fantasy aspect too,  make it as real as possible. All of this was lacking before.

And yes, books are awesome, most definitely, but when the entire book seems like it only exists to push a contrived plot without giving us any time to get to know the characters or become familiar with the world and the rules of that world, that's pretty much where I stop reading. After realizing this, I've made some MAJOR changes in my own work. 

I am beginning a new blog series this week called World Building Wednesday and I will be sharing with you the creation of the brand new Pretty in Black series and the World of Nevermore™.

 

A rambling 3 a.m. morning post

I am tired, hungry, anxious, and excited.

I’m also supposed to have more completed on Black Satin than I do, but this has been a rough week. I’ve been battling another bout of depression, but I won’t let it win, and I won’t quit writing. I may take longer breaks from writing than I would like here and there, but I return to the words because the words are my life. My breath. I seriously think I would stop breathing if I quit writing.

Sometimes, I feel like a failure, but I also know that you only ever truly fail when you give up.

I have anxiety because I know there are readers who’ve been waiting forever to read Evermore, but there’s no way I can deliver Evermore to you until every part of this series snaps into place, and I can’t apologize for that either.

I have anxiety because I’m not engaging in social media.

But I’m not going to worry about Twitter or Instagram or my Facebook feeds right now and how many followers I’ve gained or lost. All I want to do is WRITE. I just want to write books. Good books.

All the time. Always.

I would write even if no one read. (But half of everything I’ve already written and published is complete rubbish, ahem, utter shit.)

So this is what I’m doing. Writing. And overhauling the Pretty in Black series.

Quick facts:

I feel like I have a really good book series here that lots of people will read once it’s published again.

I’m really enjoying what I’m doing and I can’t wait to get it back out there. Until then I’ll write about what I’m writing about.

It wasn’t until I finished writing Evermore last year that I realized I wanted to go back and do more with this series. (There’s this really awesome twist that happens in Evermore which I wasn’t expecting, and I needed to go back and set all of that up earlier on.)

The new books have a brand new plot, but interestingly, the story line isn’t altered that much, if at all.

I also think that Black Satin is gonna be my favorite out of the 3 so far, with Evermore being my second favorite of all 4 books.

I want to write good books and have success with them so I can go to book events and book signings.

As I’m rewriting Black Satin, I’m having those “Ellie should be with Walter” feels all over again. He’s different than Marcus and I love them both. I do think that Walter would challenge her more, but they also argue too much because their personalities are too similar and that would eventually be their downfall and any relationship they have would filtrate out; they’re both too domineering which sort of makes them clash.

Walter pisses Ellie off, she pisses him off. I can see exactly where those fireworks would be exploding, but after that? I’m not sure they’d even want to be in each other’s company.

Marcus, even though he is dangerous—THIS side of him comes across way better in the new version than it did in the original—he also has this calm side about him that I think Ellie needs. They balance each other out. Marcus is also obsessively in love with her, not possessively, (Nope, that’s Walter’s department) but obsessively. Everything about her drives him mad, quite literally, as the series progresses. And no matter how dark or dangerous he becomes, she stands by him and she’s all like

“all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay

And follow thee my lord throughout the world.”

and I think she even quotes that, literally, in the book to him after something major happens to him.

Although I have a soft spot for Walter, I personally love Marcus more because he has this duality about him. He’s sooooo good—(to Ellie)—but sooooo very bad once he is provoked, but not once is he ever aggressive or abusive to Ellie so he’s unlike other male romantic leads in that regard. He’s an Alpha male with a very Beta heart when it comes to Eleanor. He pretty much lets her make the majority of the decisions. I kinda think she’s the one pulling the strings in their relationship. She could ask him to do something and he’d basically do it in a heartbeat (so to speak) without question.

I love that he can be so dangerous, but also very loving. He has this dark side to him that didn’t start to truly come out until book 4. When rewriting the books, I wanted to incorporate a little more of that in the beginning, show both sides of his personality earlier on before everyone reads Evermore and goes—Wait, WHAT?! There’s no way that he did that.

With Walter, what you see is pretty much what you get. There aren’t that many layers. But I love his character and he’s gonna get a good satisfying ending that might be a little surprising. I also love him because instead of being a bitter asshat about the whole Marcus and Eleanor situation, he learns to accept it, and more than that, befriends Marcus, (even though he’s the one who killed him in their human life—so yeah, I guess Walter does have some complexity going on there because given their characteristics, I would’ve though Marcus might’ve been the one who’d killed Walter. But nope), and loves them both so much that he’s willing to sacrifice his own life to save theirs.

There’s no denying the chemistry between Eleanor and Walter in Black Satin, but it’s based more on lust that love; he’s her “right now,” but Marcus is her FOREVER.

I’m definitely not telling anyone how to think, and some readers may totally see it the other way around, and I would still almost have to agree with you on that! There is a lot of lust going on between Ellie and Marcus, but a lot of love too.

The main difference is that Eleanor loves Walter, but she’s not in love with him. However, for him, it’s quite different. He’s totally in love with her.

I’m still not making this a love triangle because even Eleanor knows that Walter would be a better friend for her than anything else, and while she’s attracted to him, she doesn’t allow it to tangle her feelings for Marcus because she knows he’s the one she wants. But I’m glad that Walter is introduced to us in Black Satin because he’s gonna play a big important role in the overall series.

I still haven’t finalized Pretty in Black and that’s because I’ve gotta lift some passages and move them to an outtakes folder; some of those clips and scenes (the sexy ones!) will be inserted into Raven in the Grave. I got a little bit carried away and wrote some scenes which I later realized would mess up the pace of the Marcellie ¦ Mellie relationship progression if they occurred in book one.

I really wanted to have a lot of romantic scenes in book one because in book two, Marcus isn’t there for the majority of the book, but when he returns in Raven in the Grave, the focus of the story will be less on their relationship (with a few candy bar scenes here and there) and more on what’s going on in Nevermore, etc. I’ll pick the romance back up toward the end of Raven in the Grave though and follow through for the first half of Evermore.

Also, Eleanor will be getting a voice or a POV in Raven in the Grave which she didn’t have in the original. She will need that POV because of the twists and turns I’ve worked into Black Satin. We will still want to follow her journey in the third book.

Anyway.

Whew.

This girl is damn lucky.

Two weddings! Three rings! And she’s marrying the sexiest vampire EVER. 

Our Favorite Cheer Videos

Eleanor is a flyer for the South Carolina, Pine Hills High Black Ravens and she loves being a Lady Raven. She and I have been watching a lot of cheer videos lately and here are a few of our favorites!

 

HOW COOL ARE THEY?? They go HARD.

I could watch this one (one directly below) over and over again! So awesome that it made it into the book! You can officially see/read this stunt during the pep rally scene in Black Satin. 

I wasn't a cheerleader in high school (I was the awkward loner drifting from group to group) but my mom was! A cheerleader, I mean. 

She was the popular girl with lots and lots of friends. I was born the exact opposite, LOL.  Oh well, I still LOVE cheerleading even if I didn't participate in it. 

I didn't do crap really in high school except survive it. I was on the Lifesmarts team though, because yanno, I was a little "geeky/nerdy" or whatever. 

So yeah, Eleanor is a cheerleader because I have a deep admiration for it and it's also my way of experiencing it. Like, I did a cartwheel once and just . . . no.

I'm really glad I decided to place Eleanor back on the cheer team in the new edition of Pretty in Black because it has really helped round out her character more. You see, because after her sister dies, she's this really sad girl who uses cutting and self-harm to deal with her emotions. (It's not just her sister's death she's having to deal with, but her messed up home life too.) But what I didn't know until I started rewriting the book was that, before she made JV her sophomore year, she used to cut then too, but stopped for a while after making the team—thanks to her sister encouraging her to tryout for cheerleading; her sister was also a cheerleader. But after her death, Eleanor goes back to her addiction as a coping mechanism. Also, Eleanor is "dark" or "goth", both words which I immensely hate, so let me describe to you who she is: the cemetery girl, the one who frolics among the tombstones and reads Edgar Allan Poe, and dark romanticism in general. Yeah, she likes dead roses and skulls, and coffins, and music like The Cure. And in the book, this doesn't stop her from being a cheerleader, like at all. I asked myself, why can't she be a cheerleader and still be the cemetery girl too? Like, why DO people always separate everyone into categories and limit their likes/dislikes? I mean, she really loves cheerleading and she really loves Poe too, so why can't she do both, be both? SHE CAN and SHE DOES and I LOVE IT. 

At the beginning of the book, we learn that she's not on the cheerleading team, but she used to be, and that she's a cutter, and misses being a flyer.  

This contrast/ combination proposes an internal struggle/challenge for her. Yes, she has a few scars on her arms so how is she going to hide those from the other girls on the team, etc? How will that work out if she rejoins? CAN she rejoin because of this? Will cutting keep her from doing what she loves? All of this is answered in the book :) 

Eleanor doesn't fit the stereotypical trope that continues being used in books/movies where the cheerleaders are the mean girls/bitches or the perfect girls with perfect lives who don't have problems. I'm tired of that trope. Eleanor is a combination of who I was and who I wished I could've been. I'm sure you can figure out which is which.