Amanda L. Davis's Blog, page 2
November 2, 2012
Contest Time!
Here's what you've been waiting for! The contest. One of the prizes? Naming a character in Viral Execution (among other things).
Now, recently, my contests have been random drawings and the like, but this time you have a little bit more control over what you win. Personally, I like that a lot better, who wants to trust their winning to odds?
There will be things you can do to earn points. Whoever has the most points by the contest end will earn the grand prize! There will be a second and third prize as well.
Now. How do you earn points?
5 points = Like this or any of the books' pages
5 = Have a friend like this page (and post on my wall to tell me about it)
10 = ask your librarian to order Precisely Terminated or Noble Imposter if your library doesn't have a copy
10 = write a book review and post it on your blog, amazon, CBD, B&N, or GoodReads and tell me about the posting (You can post your review on each of these sites for another 10 points!)
10 = Take an imaginatively posed picture with PT or NI and post it on my wall
50 = purchase PT or NI (And tell me about it by emailing me a copy of your receipt to amanda@daviscrossing.com )
120 = purchase PT and NI (And tell me about it by emailing me a copy of your receipt to amanda@daviscrossing.com )
There could be more options to earn points if I think about them later. So check back!
The prizes!
1st place gets to name one of three characters* in VE. He or she gets to pick which of the three characters (A Noble female or one of two Seen males) and gets a copy of VE when it comes out
2nd place gets to name a character* in VE (Whichever of the two 1st winner doesn't pick) and Monica's necklace
3rd place gets to name a character* in VE (Whichever 1st prize and 2nd winner doesn't pick)
Sound exciting? Good! Get to work earning those points!
Names subject to my approval, but don't worry, I'm not to strict. But please. No Bobs. ;)
October 29, 2012
And VE is Done!
Viral Execution, book three in the Cantral Chronicles (Once known as CCB3) is done.
Well, the first draft anyway. There are still a billion things to do.
Like take the wristband away from character #3, name Noble programmer #2, and foreshadow the oxygen tank.
Ahem.
Anyway. While the book is done, it's also really not done at all. The editing stage is quite long and often times, the hardest part of writing a book. Unfortunately, it's also the most crucial. There will be about 8 stages of editing to VE before I send it to the publisher and it can get into your hands.
I have a cool idea for a cover image, though. :)
So. Off to work I go! I plan on editing only one chapter today, because I need a little break after writing so much last week! After I edit one chapter I'm going to work on my neck tie quilt.
Chow.
October 26, 2012
I've realized . . .
I've realized that to finish my novel Viral Execution (CCB3) by my deadline, I have to write at least 3,500 words per day.
Whew. That's more difficult for me than some people. I know a lot of people who can pound out that many words per day, no problem, but I can't. It takes me from about 9AM - 8PM to get that done with very few breaks in between.
But I'm persevering! I wrote 4,000 words the day before yesterday and 3,500 yesterday.
Unfortunately, I had to kill one of my favorite characters yesterday. *Sigh*
He or She will be missed.
Back to writing! I have a funeral to plan.
October 22, 2012
CCB3 Has a Title!
I announced this on my Facebook author page already, but I haven't forgotten about my trusty blog readers!
I appreciate you guys sticking with me despite the sparse updates, I'm trying to get a lot of writing done. :)
But.
CCB3 has a title!
It is . . . .
Viral Execution.
Say it with me. Viral Execution.
Very good.
And it will complete the Cantral Chronicles trilogy.
Precisely Terminated - Released October 2011
Noble Imposter - Released July 2012
Viral Execution - Releases July 2013 (We hope)
Hurrah!
What do you think of the title? Yay? Nay?
I'm 85,000 words into it, and it does fit the story line, so that's good. :) The death count isn't very high yet in this story, but maybe it'll grow. Not that that's a bad thing (low death count), it's a good thing, just unusual for a dystopian novel. :)
I appreciate you guys sticking with me despite the sparse updates, I'm trying to get a lot of writing done. :)
But.
CCB3 has a title!
It is . . . .
Viral Execution.
Say it with me. Viral Execution.
Very good.
And it will complete the Cantral Chronicles trilogy.
Precisely Terminated - Released October 2011
Noble Imposter - Released July 2012
Viral Execution - Releases July 2013 (We hope)
Hurrah!
What do you think of the title? Yay? Nay?
I'm 85,000 words into it, and it does fit the story line, so that's good. :) The death count isn't very high yet in this story, but maybe it'll grow. Not that that's a bad thing (low death count), it's a good thing, just unusual for a dystopian novel. :)
October 14, 2012
Various Projects
Right now I've been pretty busy getting back into the swing of things, as we say around here. Settling back into being home and doing home type things.
I wrote nothing yesterday, thanks to being at a festival thing, but I wrote some today. I normally don't write on Sundays, but I feel it's necessary with my deadline fast approaching.
Maybe rainbow smiley socks will help me write faster.
When taking breaks from writing I've been cooking and cleaning and organizing. Went through my fabric stash this evening.
I hope to start a quilt, too. I started cutting out the pieces for it this evening. My parents leave in 1 week for the upcoming tour!
Back to writing. Aric and Monica are in peril.
October 11, 2012
Home Again
Sorry for the lack of updates y'all!
I know, you were used to me updating frequently and then I slacked off while on tour. I'm sorry, but it couldn't be helped! We were incredibly busy! Some days we would get up early and go go go until midnight or so, and that doesn't leave much time for blog posts. I promise I'll try to do better now that I'm home again.
We'll be home again for about . . . 10 days until there's another tour! This tour is going to Maryland, New York, and possibly Ontario. The only thing majorly different is . . . I'm not going on this one. Shocking, I know.
Generally, I go on every tour no matter what. I've been touring with my dad now for about 9 years. Yikes, that's a long time. During those 9 years I've missed maybe 3 tours. At the most. So this is going to be weird.
I want to go on tour, my dad wants me to go on tour, the issue is time. I have to work on CCB3 and turn it in on November 1st. I think with a 2 week long tour with just 2 weeks at home to write, I would not accomplish that goal, so it is wisest for me to stay home, despite my not wanting to.
So you all will be stuck with me for a while. :)
I hope to get a lot of writing done the next few weeks, so I won't have much time to post, but I will try to post at least something!
I'll leave you with a picture of my sock drawer. It slides out from under my bed. Very handy.
There are about 4 or 5 pairs missing from this picture- due to being in the wash.
I know, you were used to me updating frequently and then I slacked off while on tour. I'm sorry, but it couldn't be helped! We were incredibly busy! Some days we would get up early and go go go until midnight or so, and that doesn't leave much time for blog posts. I promise I'll try to do better now that I'm home again.
We'll be home again for about . . . 10 days until there's another tour! This tour is going to Maryland, New York, and possibly Ontario. The only thing majorly different is . . . I'm not going on this one. Shocking, I know.
Generally, I go on every tour no matter what. I've been touring with my dad now for about 9 years. Yikes, that's a long time. During those 9 years I've missed maybe 3 tours. At the most. So this is going to be weird.
I want to go on tour, my dad wants me to go on tour, the issue is time. I have to work on CCB3 and turn it in on November 1st. I think with a 2 week long tour with just 2 weeks at home to write, I would not accomplish that goal, so it is wisest for me to stay home, despite my not wanting to.
So you all will be stuck with me for a while. :)
I hope to get a lot of writing done the next few weeks, so I won't have much time to post, but I will try to post at least something!
I'll leave you with a picture of my sock drawer. It slides out from under my bed. Very handy.
There are about 4 or 5 pairs missing from this picture- due to being in the wash.
October 4, 2012
Couer D'alene
We have arrived safely in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. At least, I think that's how it's spelled.
I believe today is day 29, but I'll verify that once I have more time to write. It's late right now as I'm writing this, and we're at our host's house.
Today (the day this is posting) we have a few writing events at one school before driving off towards WY and MT on our way to CO. :)
Still working away on CCB3, but it's been a bit slow, thanks to talks and broken keyboards. My N key is still writing N and H at the same time, but I've beenh deleteinhg it almost every time so it doesnh't bug y'all. :)
I believe today is day 29, but I'll verify that once I have more time to write. It's late right now as I'm writing this, and we're at our host's house.
Today (the day this is posting) we have a few writing events at one school before driving off towards WY and MT on our way to CO. :)
Still working away on CCB3, but it's been a bit slow, thanks to talks and broken keyboards. My N key is still writing N and H at the same time, but I've beenh deleteinhg it almost every time so it doesnh't bug y'all. :)
October 3, 2012
Tour Day 23 - (Part Two)
More pictures from Banff!
This is lake Louise, on the shore.
That's Hannah being silly.
We all skipped some stones.
The most I got was 3 skips in a row. My dad got 7. He's had as many as 11 or 12 at once, though
Lake Moraine.
Very blue water.
After we visited lake Moraine we hiked a 5.5k trail, but it was in bear territory, so according to law we had to be in a group of 4 or more or we could be fined $5,000!
Fortunately, we have four people in our group. :)
The young man above, Antoine was hiking alone, though, so he asked to join us so he could go on the trail, too.
These giant rocks were fun to climb.
and very difficult, too
And then we arrived in BC. It was a fun, good day. :)
This is lake Louise, on the shore.
That's Hannah being silly.
We all skipped some stones.
The most I got was 3 skips in a row. My dad got 7. He's had as many as 11 or 12 at once, though
Lake Moraine.
Very blue water.
After we visited lake Moraine we hiked a 5.5k trail, but it was in bear territory, so according to law we had to be in a group of 4 or more or we could be fined $5,000!
Fortunately, we have four people in our group. :)
The young man above, Antoine was hiking alone, though, so he asked to join us so he could go on the trail, too.
These giant rocks were fun to climb.
and very difficult, too
And then we arrived in BC. It was a fun, good day. :)
October 2, 2012
Tour Day 23 9-28-12
Day 23 we had a nice day off.
By the way, my nh key is rebelling and almost every time I strike the 'nh' the h activates, too. I thinhk they're best friends or somethinhg. So you're goinhg to have to deal with that. ;)
Onh the 23rd we explored Banff for most of the day. We stayed at Canmore and drove to Banff and hiked about 10kilometers and got to see some cool lakes. This is part one. I have so manhy photos it takes two posts to post them..
There were domestic lookinhg bunhnhies at the hotel. They were cute!
Pretty mounhtainhs
I liked them. Canh you tell?
Nice view here. :)
We had to take a picture with this sign because we have a very good friend named Louise.
Our GPS showinhg our altitude.
The family on the path.
Lake Louise
Hikinhg alonhgside Lake Louise
Lots of funh! There will be more pictures tomorrow!
By the way, my nh key is rebelling and almost every time I strike the 'nh' the h activates, too. I thinhk they're best friends or somethinhg. So you're goinhg to have to deal with that. ;)
Onh the 23rd we explored Banff for most of the day. We stayed at Canmore and drove to Banff and hiked about 10kilometers and got to see some cool lakes. This is part one. I have so manhy photos it takes two posts to post them..
There were domestic lookinhg bunhnhies at the hotel. They were cute!
Pretty mounhtainhs
I liked them. Canh you tell?
Nice view here. :)
We had to take a picture with this sign because we have a very good friend named Louise.
Our GPS showinhg our altitude.
The family on the path.
Lake Louise
Hikinhg alonhgside Lake Louise
Lots of funh! There will be more pictures tomorrow!
October 1, 2012
Tour Days 20, 21, and 22 Dates - 9/24, 9/25, and 9/26
Three days in one!
We just chilled in our hotel for half of the 24th, because our event was at the hotel! Yes. At the hotel. We had three events at this hotel, and they all went smoothly. The first event was a writing seminar for 1st - 6th graders. 1st - 3rd grade is really almost too young for our writing seminars, but all the kids sat through it and seemed to be listening well, so I hope they learned something.
The second talk lasted from 2:30 to 5:10 pm. Where my dad spoke to 6th - 12th (or whoever wanted to come) and taught a writing seminar to them too. After the second talk a family kindly invited us over to dinner. It was delicious. Then we headed back to the hotel and had our third and final talk.
Once everyone had cleared out, we drove off to Calgary.
Now, Calgary and Steinbach are 16 hours away from each other and we left Steinbach at 8:30PM and had to be in Calgary at 3PM the next day. See our delima?
We had to drive through the night. Or, more appropriately stated - my dad had to drive through the night. It was interesting. The rest of us slept in the car, though my mom drove for a couple hours here and there.
September 25th
We arrived at our hotel and they let us into our room pretty quickly. There was a 2 story water slide at this hotel! That was cool (Actually, there was one at the last hotel, too.) Once we were settled in at the hotel we headed over to our book signing at o Blessings Christian Marketplace where we signed from 3 to 6 pm.
Dale Anderson - the president of our publishing house came to our signing and took us out to dinner, which was kind of him. It was good to see him and discuss upcoming books and such.
The morning of the 25th we were still driving to the book signing, so here's some pictures of that.
At the book signing with a fan
September 26th
We had only one event this day, but it was a long one! We went to Holy Name Church in Calgary for a home school group writers workshop.
The event went from 1 to 5 pm, with a couple short breaks, and my dad did almost all the talking. We packed up again and drove to Canmore (close to Banff).
Writing workshop
Rocky Mountains reflected in a lake.
We just chilled in our hotel for half of the 24th, because our event was at the hotel! Yes. At the hotel. We had three events at this hotel, and they all went smoothly. The first event was a writing seminar for 1st - 6th graders. 1st - 3rd grade is really almost too young for our writing seminars, but all the kids sat through it and seemed to be listening well, so I hope they learned something.
The second talk lasted from 2:30 to 5:10 pm. Where my dad spoke to 6th - 12th (or whoever wanted to come) and taught a writing seminar to them too. After the second talk a family kindly invited us over to dinner. It was delicious. Then we headed back to the hotel and had our third and final talk.
Once everyone had cleared out, we drove off to Calgary.
Now, Calgary and Steinbach are 16 hours away from each other and we left Steinbach at 8:30PM and had to be in Calgary at 3PM the next day. See our delima?
We had to drive through the night. Or, more appropriately stated - my dad had to drive through the night. It was interesting. The rest of us slept in the car, though my mom drove for a couple hours here and there.
September 25th
We arrived at our hotel and they let us into our room pretty quickly. There was a 2 story water slide at this hotel! That was cool (Actually, there was one at the last hotel, too.) Once we were settled in at the hotel we headed over to our book signing at o Blessings Christian Marketplace where we signed from 3 to 6 pm.
Dale Anderson - the president of our publishing house came to our signing and took us out to dinner, which was kind of him. It was good to see him and discuss upcoming books and such.
The morning of the 25th we were still driving to the book signing, so here's some pictures of that.
At the book signing with a fan
September 26th
We had only one event this day, but it was a long one! We went to Holy Name Church in Calgary for a home school group writers workshop.
The event went from 1 to 5 pm, with a couple short breaks, and my dad did almost all the talking. We packed up again and drove to Canmore (close to Banff).
Writing workshop
Rocky Mountains reflected in a lake.
