Gabrielle Prendergast's Blog, page 4

From the Archives, Nano 2011: Rejection Reaction

It’s November and that means it’s NANOWRIMO. To celebrate my first Nanowrimo novel, Zero Repeat Forever being on the way to publication by Simon & Schuster I’m revisiting a few posts from that crazy month, November 2011.

(first posted 2011/11/22)

Something beautiful happened yesterday on Miss Snark’s First Victim. An author entered one of Miss Starks’ contests and wasn’t chosen as a finalist – was rejected, in other words. The writer, going by anonymous, posted this reply:

This has proven to me that I should give up on writing, though. Not being a sore loser,  just opening my eyes to the facts that I don’t stand a chance if I can’t even win a blog contest.  Time to move on.

Nano Novels Get Published and Here’s Proof #4

It’s November and that means it’s NANOWRIMO. To celebrate my first Nanowrimo novel, Zero Repeat Forever being on the way to publication by Simon & Schuster I’m featuring many published or soon-to-be-published Nanowrimo novels over the month of November.

Today I’m featuring Hannah Moskowitz‘s novel Not Otherwise Specified which she wrote during Nano 2012.

Here’s a synopsis:

Etta is tired of dealing with all of the labels and categories that seem so important to everyone else in her small Nebraska hometown.

Everywhere she turns, someone feels she’s too fringe for the fringe. Not gay enough for the Dykes, her ex-clique, thanks to a recent relationship with a boy; not tiny and white enough for ballet, her first passion; and not sick enough to look anorexic (partially thanks to recovery). Etta doesn’t fit anywhere— until she meets Bianca, the straight, white, Christian, and seriously sick girl in Etta’s therapy group. Both girls are auditioning for Brentwood, a prestigious New York theater academy that is so not Nebraska. Bianca seems like Etta’s salvation, but how can Etta be saved by a girl who needs saving herself?

The latest powerful, original novel from Hannah Moskowitz is the story about living in and outside communities and stereotypes, and defining your own identity.

Hannah wanted to share her playlist for writing this book and not surprisingly, it’s pretty eclectic:

Cry When You Get Older — Robyn

Ships in the Night — Mat Kearney

We Dance to the Beat — Robyn

Beverly Hills — Weezer

I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous — Frank Turner

Read My Mind (Like Rebel Diamonds mix) — The Killers

Mean — Taylor Swift

Dancing On My Own–Robyn

At The Ballet — A Chorus Line, new cast recording

At The Ballet — A Chorus Line, original broadway recording

White Horse –Taylor Swift

In The Sun — Joseph Arthur

And because Taylor Swift’s “Mean” was once one of my daughter’s faves, here’s the video:

While we’re at it, check Hannah’s latest book, 3.

You just have to be a brave and certain kind of person, and I don’t think that I am. I’m sarcastic and loyal and a little shy. I’m quietly and slightly Catholic. I’m a daughter trying to learn how to be a sister. I’m a virgin. I’m a butterflier.

I’ve never been in love.

Taylor Cipriano had everything figured out, back when she lived with her single mother in Miami. Now, she’s moved upstate for her junior year to live with her mom’s boyfriend and her soon-to-be-stepsister and is trying to figure out who she is out of the shadow of her best friend. When she meets Theo—quirky, cute, sensitive Theo—he seems like a great match…except he has a girlfriend. Josey, icy and oh-so-intimidating.

But Theo and Josey aren’t like anyone Taylor’s met before; Josey grew up in a polyamorous family, and the two of them have a history of letting a third person in to their relationship. It’s nothing Taylor’s ever considered before…but she really likes Theo.

Her feelings for Josey, though?

That’s where it really gets complicated.

3 unwraps who we love and how we love, in numbers as odd as we are.

 

Nanowrimo Books Get Published and Here’s Proof #3

It’s November and that means it’s NANOWRIMO. To celebrate my first Nanowrimo novel, Zero Repeat Forever being on the way to publication by Simon & Schuster I’m featuring many published or soon-to-be-published Nanowrimo novels over the month of November.

Today’s featured novel is Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen which Donna Gephart wrote during NaNo in 2009.

Here’s what she said about her experience:

When I was behind on coming up with a third book for my publisher, I decided to give NaNoWriMo a try.  Two days before it started, I scribbled ideas, hoping to come up with something I could turn into a novel.  Just before abandoning hope of that happening, I scribbled the words:  “Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen.”  Well, that might be something, I thought.  The next day, I realized Olivia was a trivia whiz who wanted to get on Kids’ Week on Jeopardy!  She also wanted to reunite with her father, who’d left the family to live on another coast with another woman.

I blogged daily about the experience, because there’s nothing like the fear of public humiliation to keep word counts up.

Even though I worked hard each day, I sometimes had a page count of zero.  Some days were thinking days.  Other days were revising days (even though the NaNo folks suggest not revising as you go along).  I’m a rebel like that.

No one was more surprised than I that I was able to complete Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen in only 29 days.  It took a few months to revise.  And it was published by Delacorte Press/Random House Children’s Books with a lovely blurb from Jeopardy! champ, Ken Jennings.

I highly recommend participating in NaNoWriMo and have done it along with my students when I taught creative writing to high school students.  It’s a lot of fun, and the community and cameraderie are a welcome change from writing in isolation.

I wrote a blog post for Writers Helping Writers about what I learned from participating in NaNo.

My newest book is Lily and Dunkin, a story about a big-hearted, nature-loving transgender girl who tries to save a beloved tree and a boy who deals with his bipolar disorder and the move to a new town — Lily’s town — and in order to fit in, Dunkin joins the basketball team, even though those are the very boys who are tormenting Lily.  Lily and Dunkin took a long time to research and nearly a year to write and revise and was totally worth it because of the messages and letters I’ve been receiving about how the book is providing mirrors for some and windows for others to create understanding and empathy.

Donna Gephart is a professional nerd. Her love for libraries and reading have led her to a career as a children’s book author for Penguin Random House.  Her books now reside on the shelves of the library she frequented when she was a child.Donna’s books have won a number of awards, received starred reviews and landed on many state reading lists. 

She’s a popular speaker at schools, book festivals, libraries and conferences, including the S.C.B.W.I. National Conference, the Erma Bombeck Humor Writers’ Workshop, F.A.M.E., the Conference on Children’s Literature and others.

Originally from Philadelphia, Donna now lives in South Florida with her family, including two sweet shelter dogs, Benji and Teddy.

Donna blogged extensively about her Nano experience and also shared what she learned here. More than that, Donna continues to publish great books for kids. Check out her latest novel Lily & Dunkin here.

From the Archives, Nano 2011: Good Things Are Worth Waiting For

It’s November and that means it’s NANOWRIMO. To celebrate my first Nanowrimo novel, Zero Repeat Forever being on the way to publication by Simon & Schuster I’m revisiting a few posts from that crazy month, November 2011.

(First posted 11/11/29)

Recently I told an editor he would have to wait for my manuscript because, in making some minor changes he suggested, I had discovered a few other issues I wanted to address. This was his response:

“An author who is alert to the need for improvements without prompting by a potential editor of the project is always appealing to work with.”

Nice, right?

I might even go so far as to say that for an agent or editor, this is one of the most attractive qualities in a writer – the ability to be critical and rigorous with one’s own work.  The query-verse is flooded with half baked manuscripts. Too many writers spend too long perfecting a query for a manuscript in the hope that …what? An agent or editor will be so thrilled with the premise that they will want to see the book published, even though it’s deeply flawed? The MANUSCRIPT is what we are selling, people. Not the premise, not the voice, not the character, not even ourselves.

I know many of us have just finished or are about to finish a NaNoWriMo manuscript. For the love of all that is good and great in this world, let’s agree that these manuscripts are going to need considerable editing before they go out into the world.

NANOWRIMO Books get Published and Here’s Proof! #2

It’s November and that means it’s NANOWRIMO. To celebrate my first Nanowrimo novel, Zero Repeat Forever being on the way to publication by Simon & Schuster I’m featuring many published or soon-to-be-published Nanowrimo novels over the month of November.

Today’s featured novel is A Change In Crime, which D.R. Perry wrote during NaNo in 2013.

Here’s a bit about the novel:

In November of 1929, the last autumn leaves started a domino effect in Fall River. At a time when most give thanks, others lurk at society’s fringes, waiting for a shot at revenge. Power. Redemption.

A Mafia hit leaves Leo Riley homeless and at the mercy of Oguina, a powerful monster under an ancient curse. A hunter with skin in this game stalks the streets, playing cat-and-mouse with the creatures he’s sworn to eliminate. The capo di tutti capi with a secret gazes into a moral abyss, threatening to take his men with him if he falls. All struggle to hold on to humanity.

Unlikely allies join forces, fighting for their rights to Fall River’s streets and their very survival. Some will fall, some will rise, but can there ever be a winner when crime and change come to call?

Author D.R. Perry lives in Rhode Island, where all her books are set. Although she’s not a native New Englander, once up north she got so inspired she couldn’t leave. A wild Northern Muse attacked. D.R. used Typing; it was Super Effective.

D.R. writes all kinds of things. Mostly, they have strange and unusual elements. Not strange isotopes or Strontium or anything like that, but creatures who are people or people who are creatures. Beware of the Attack Poetry and rampant puns. Keep off the grass, or the song parodies may bite.

She lives with her husband, daughter, and dog in the Ocean State, which she loves to remind people is not an island and not Long Island. D.R. is well aware that her home state has both of those things, but isn’t defined by them. Maybe she likes it here so much because it reminds her that she’s also more than the sum of her parts.

D.R. hopes you have as much fun reading her books as she did writing them.

You can find out more about D.R., including links to social media and mailing lists, here.

And here is the link to the book on Amazon.

NANOWRIMO Books get Published and Here’s Proof! #1

It’s November and that means it’s NANOWRIMO. Nanowrimo started as a challenge to write a whole novel (at least 50,000 words) in the month of November and has grown over the years to a large not-for profit organization that benefits students and other aspiring writers all over the world.

I participated in my first Nanowrimo in 2011 and “won” (wrote more than 50,000 words). That novel eventually, many drafts later, became ZERO REPEAT FOREVER which comes out from Simon & Schuster next year! YES! It can happen! To celebrate this happy event I’m going to feature as many published or soon-to-be-published Nanowrimo novels over the month o November. I’ll be highlighting both indie and traditionally published novels and looking at a variety of genres. So buckle up folks. It’s going to be a wild month!

To kick things off I’d like to point you to ALIENATED by Melissa Landers. ALIENATED was Melissa’s 2009 Nanowrimo novel and was published in 2014. it kicked off a very successful series. Melissa’s next series STARFLIGHT kicked of in 2016.

Here’s a little something about it:

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them.

Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara’s classmates get swept up by anti-L’eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn’t safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara’s locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class.Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she’s fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.

About Melissa:

Melissa Landers is a former teacher who left the classroom to pursue other worlds. A proud sci-fi geek, she isn’t afraid to wear her Princess Leia costume in public—just ask her husband and three kids. She lives just outside Cincinnati in the town of Loveland, “Sweetheart of Ohio.”

Melissa has written a blog post for Nanowrimo writers to help them develop their novels. You can read it here.

Thanks Melissa!

Nanowrimo Celebration!

It’s November and that means it’s NANOWRIMO. To celebrate my first Nanowrimo novel, Zero Repeat Forever being on the way to publication by Simon & Schuster I’m featuring many published or soon-to-be-published Nanowrimo novels over the month of November, as well as some old posts I wrote during my first Nanowrirmo in 2011.

It’s going to be super fun. Here’s a taste of what’s in store:

We’ll look at Alienated by Melissa Landers, which developed into a successful series for this nano author
D.R. Perry’s A Change in Crime will inspire us to meet our daily word targets
We’ll remember the importance of editing, and making agents and editors wait until your manuscript is as good as it can be.
Author of  Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen , Donna Gephart will tell us about her Nano experience
We’ll admire Hannah Moskowitz‘s novel Not Otherwise Specified 
We’ll think about how best to deal with rejection letters and other writing “failures”
Sarah Ahiers, author of Assassin’s Heart, will tell us about how to Nano as a perfectionist.
Queries! We’ll chat about how and when to write them.
Elizabeth Schechter author of Heart’s Master, will tell us how she broke her Nano curse.
We’ll revisit a fantastic hashtag: #YASaves
We’ll learn about Rebecca’s Roanhorse‘s recent sale of Trail of Lightning to Simon & Schuster
We’ll talk about visiting bookstores for inspiration.

And this is just the first half of the month. Over twenty authors have told me about their Nano novels and every one of them will be featured. So if you’re looking for inspiration to keep going this November, look no further than this blog. It can happen. It does happen.

Happy Nanowrimo!

Cover Reveal! Hollywood Homicide

As you guys might know I’m a big supporter of We Need Diverse Books and especially fond of diverse book covers! But all this enthusiasm shouldn’t be restricted to books for kids and teens, so I’m pretty excited to be part of a cover reveal for Kellye Garrett‘s Hollywood Homicide, a murder mystery set in one of my favorite cities, Los Angeles.

Just look at the pretty:

You don’t see many illustrated covers anymore and I for one hope they are making a comeback. I love the way the light reflects on her hair. It’s moody and evocative, while still being fresh and sexy.

Here’s some more info about the book and author:

Title: Hollywood Homicide

Book 1 in the Detective By Day Series

Publisher: Midnight Ink

Release Date: August 8, 2017

Book Blurb:

Dayna Anderson doesn’t set out to solve a murder. All the semi-famous, mega-broke black actress wants is to help her parents keep their house. After witnessing a deadly hit-and-run, she figures pursuing the fifteen-grand reward isn’t the craziest thing a Hollywood actress has done for some cash.

But what starts as simply trying to remember a speeding car soon blossoms into a full-on investigation. As Dayna digs deeper into the victim’s life, she wants more than just reward money. She’s determined to find the poor woman’s killer too. When she connects the accident to a notorious Hollywood crime spree, Dayna chases down leads at paparazzi hot spots, celeb homes and movie premieres. She loves every second—until someone tries to kill her.

And there are no second takes in real life.

About Kellye Garrett

Kellye Garrett spent 8 years working in Hollywood, including a stint writing for the CBS drama Cold Case. People were always surprised to learn what she did for a living—probably because she seemed way too happy to be brainstorming ways to murder people. A former magazine editor, Kellye holds a B.S. in magazine writing from Florida A&M and an MFA in screenwriting from USC’s famed film school. Having moved back to her native New Jersey, she spends her mornings commuting to Manhattan for her job at a leading media company—while still happily brainstorming ways to commit murder. Her first novel, Hollywood Homicide, will be released by Midnight Ink in August 2017. It’s the first book in the Detective by Day series.

Connect with Kellye

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog

You can pre-order the e-book and print edition on Amazon.

My Hit Rate Is Surprisingly High

I’ve  just been cleaning out my blog a bit, deleting a few things with dead links or out of date information and such. When I got to the first months of this blog I found this post from September 2011, in which I confessed having up to seven works in progress (WIPS) going at once. Looking back at this post and the WIPs listed I realized I have a pretty good hit rate when it come to those projects. It’s not 100% by any stretch, but it’s still pretty good. This is what I wrote:

So what are the projects in my current “rule of seven”? I have a middle grade ghost story; one (3/4 complete). I have a lower middle grade realism ; two (3/4 complete). I have a YA sci fi; three (just started). I have a sports novel ; four (almost done and sold). I have a non fiction for young readers ; five (proposal 3/4 complete). I have a complete MG that I’m marketing; six. I have another completed YA verse novel that I’m marketing: seven.

And here’s how all those projects turned out.

Middle grade ghost story – permanently abandoned due to an untenable premise.
Lower grade realism – This is Pandas on the Eastside, just published this month.
YA Sci-fi – This is Zero Repeat Forever, which I sold in a SIGNIFICANT deal. I comes out next year.
Sport Novel – this is Wicket Season, my first novel, published in 2012
Non-fiction for young readers – I abandoned this project. It’s a great idea but I was never able to quite formulate it. Maybe one day I’ll take it up again
Completed middle grade – Permanently bottom drawered. It might be salvageable but I doubt it.
Completed YA – this is Audacious, which was published, part of a duology in 2013.

So that’s four out of seven? Not bad by my measure. And somewhere between now and then I managed to write and sell two other books, The Frail Days and Pinch Me. Now that I’m an established author, I still have a number of projects on the go at once, and I hope that my hit rate gets even better. In other words, I don’t have time to waste on books that will never publish, so I have to be more discerning. So I don’t jinx it, here are my current rule of seven WIPs:

Zero Repeat Forever – yes, this book is close to being locked but only just, so I’m leaving it on the list.
The sequel to Zero Repeat Forever. Doesn’t have a firm title yet and is in outline stage. I hope to write the first draft during Nanowrimo .
Another YA sci-fi, about 75% complete. It’s demented, you guys. Utterly demented.
 A adult contemporary romance. First draft complete. My agent read it and loved it, but wants changes that I agree with. When will I get the time? Good question.
A non-fiction picture book – I have news coming about this soon. No doubt more drafts and work will be needed.
An adult sexy sci-fi dystopian romance. I wrote two parts of this proposed trilogy of novellas and stalled out 10% of the way into the third. I’d dearly love to finish it.
Another contemporary YA, about 30% done. One day I’ll finish it and it will BREAK YOUR HEART.

So check with me in five years, guys, and we’ll see if my hit rate reaches 100%.

Spooktacular Giveaway

Happy October everyone! Just a quick post to invite you all to enter my annual Spooktacular giveaway: You’ll find it here.

The prizes include Amazon $$ and copies of my two latest books. It’s part of any amazing Blog hop involving over 100 authors and bloggers, each doing their own giveaway. Click on the giveaway to find the list of all the blogs.