Red Tash's Blog, page 256
November 5, 2011
^Want!!! Please Santa of the Glittery Flowery Skull Rings,...
^Want!!! Please Santa of the Glittery Flowery Skull Rings, Santa of the Crystal Fox, you know you I need that.
Nanowrimo Day 5:
I just wrote a rant about how much I love YA & my browser crashed. :( I don't have the heart to retype, but suffice it to say, I think I've found my calling.
Not that I will abandon This Brilliant Darkness! It is a fun series and I enjoy writing it, don't you despair. The sequel is coming. I just am so in love with Troll or Derby that it's hard to consider what I'll write next. Probably Pirates vs Ninjas, fer sure, right? ;)
Unexpected chapter diversion: An entire chapter on Thunderbirds.
Angie was back. "Don't be scared of Jag," she said. "He's weird, but he's okay, and he'll look out for you."
Her eyes were bloodshot, and there were stitches along the hairline of her stringy blonde hair. My eyes flicked quickly to the crook of her arm—sure, enough, needletracks.
"I'm not so sure I want to be taken care of by the likes of…Jag, was it?"
"McJagger," she said.
"Mick Jagger? Same as the guy from the Rolling Stones?"
She laughed. "Sorta. Spelled different, but, yeah. We say it the same."
I was finished dressing, and sloshing around in my soaked tennis shoes. My backpack was still in the corner. I knew I would make a quicker getaway without toting the skates along, but there was no way I was leaving them.
"Tell the truth, Angie. What's he want with me?"
She shrugged. "Hard to say for sure, but he probably wants you to skate. Rumor has it you're pretty good, and with your blood, I'm sure you'll be able to keep up with the full fey, with a little training. Don't get your hopes up or anything," she said, pushing the bathroom door open and leading me by the shirt tail to an open seat closer to the stage.
Her words were mumbo-jumbo. Made no sense at all.
"The full what?"
She gestured at an empty table, the only one in the bar, right beside the stage. I was mere feet away from McJagger, and his black aura seemed to snake out toward me through the air. It smelled sour, like mold on an orange peel.
November 4, 2011
My friend Steve is giving away books
Nano Day 4:
Notable Nanos:
Coach was lucky. Although some...
Nano Day 4:
Notable Nanos:
Coach was lucky. Although some trolls find power within their mansa and seek to build bigger and bigger homes, the Coach was never into that sort of power trip. Like me, his home was temporary in nature, movable, and he was free. Someone like Dave or Jag—they may command armies, but they're tied down to their lairs in a way that the Coach and I would never be.
It wasn't that Zelda lied. She wasn't a liar, so much as she saw so many truths flash in front of her eyes that she often forgot what she had told to whom.
…considering we hadn't yet made our introductions, I figured a helpful troll was the last person she wanted slowing her down.
Scenes I'd forgotten I'd written:
"Happy to see me, Cousin?" I asked. He lunged for me, and I threw myself backward at the same time, catching his wrist and using his own momentum against him to sling him further off-balance, into the mud.
(Jiu-jitsu, anyone?)
word-count: 1126
'shrooms courtesy oldbookillustrations:
Black morel (Morchella elata)
Albin Schmalfuss, from Führer für Pilzfreunde (The mushroom lover's guidebook) vol. 2, by Edmund Michael, Zwickau, 1901.
(Source: archive.org)
One of these days, I'll take the Hedwig drawing I had...
One of these days, I'll take the Hedwig drawing I had commissioned, and finally get my ink.
I need extra sets of eyes!
Official Troll or Derby Beta-readers...
I need extra sets of eyes!
Official Troll or Derby Beta-readers wanted
Applications now being accepted for eyeballing the upcoming YA rural roller derby fantasy, Troll or Derby by Red Tash (that's me!).
Do you love YA? Do you wish you could escape to the land of the Fae, or play roller derby, or both? Do you have a great sense of humor? Do grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and punctuation gaffes make you cry? If an author uses the same adverb three times on the same page, are you tempted to send her a thesaurus? Have you always wanted to be able to say "Hey, I knew her when"? Have you ever been thanked in the acknowledgements of a book?
Well, this is your lucky day! If you answered "yes" to all of the above, then have I got a book for you.
I am looking for a few good women (or men!) to read through my current work-in-progress in December and January, possibly February. It should be a fairly quick read, and relatively clean in terms of errors (but, for instance, I just noticed while looking for my "Start Here" notation, that I used the word "start" three times within two paragraphs, very early in the book).
Please note: I am not looking for a professional edit. I am not seeking editorial guidance, although questions about any plot holes or untied threads, etc. will be welcome. I am also not looking for someone who will simply say "Thanks for letting me read it, I loved it, wouldn't change a thing." (As I said, I know there are already too many "starts" on that one page.)
Beta-readers *must* have the time to get this task done. I am willing to reciprocate beta-reading at the same time, or in the future, for the privilege of your time.
If you are interested, please apply by emailing RedTashBooks@gmail.com with the subject "Beta Reader" in your email.
Explain to me what your process would be for evaluating the book, and what your turn-around time would be. If you have done this before for others, please list what books, so I may reference them. Also, please name your favorite urban fantasy author. Bonus points for you if you know your Big Blue store from your Big Ten ball club. You must love YA and urban fantasy for this to work. Non-negotiable. Thank you!
vintage ad from:
Cutex advertisement, 1962
