Hart Johnson's Blog, page 48

A Galactic Holiday Release!!!

Today I'm very excited to host my good friend Stacy and her anthology sisters, Anna Hackett and Sasha Summers for the release of A Galactic Holiday. The anthology includes three sci-fi romantic holiday novellas and you'll want to hurry and order.



I will let these three, though, tell you about their project and stories. So without further ado, WELCOME GODDESSES!



*****



Woo!  Release Week-Streak for A GALACTIC HOLIDAY!





You know it’s Naked Thursday, right?  Why not get into the spirit of things, take off those irritating clothes and let’s go streaking to celebrate the release week of A GALACTIC HOLIDAY!  (Streaking was the best possible way we could thank the Naked Tart for allowing us to bounce onto her blog today. :D) 





Who are “we”, you ask?  Why, we’re the sci-fi antho sisters, Anna Hackett, Sasha Summers and Stacy Gail, and we’re delighted to tell you how we got ourselves into this amazing anthology.  And really, how could this concept not be amazing?  Think about it—spaceships and mistletoe. Laser guns and Christmas trees. Captain Kirk and Santa Claus. Science fiction and the holidays—not two things you see together very often.






So how did 3 romance authors come to mix science fiction and the holidays?   It all started when Carina Press Executive Editor, Angela James put out a call for sci-fi holiday novellas. It was a challenge too good to resist!






How A GALACTIC HOLIDAY was Born



Anna: I was fascinated with the thought of how future generations spread across the galaxy would celebrate the holidays. I knew I wanted to explore a different version of the holidays and when I read about Scandinavian Yule, I instantly envisioned an ice world. Harsh, beautiful, with rich geothermal energy. I imagined the people tough enough to settle an ice world would be strong with an exceptional sense of community.



Of course my hero, Savan comes from a world the complete opposite of Perma. A high-tech, energy-dependent world covered by a megacity. On Rendar, families and holidays no longer exist and the pinnacle of Rendarian life is personal success. It was fun throwing Perman Brinn and Rendarian Savan together—then I snowed them in and set an assassin on their trail. Let’s just say, these two generate a lot of heat…in more ways than one.






Stacy: Reina Vedette and Edison Wicke have been bugging me to tell their story for a couple of years now. Their basic background and a general plot involving androids have been in my brain just looking for the right time to get launched. Then, when Carina Press’s call for submissions went out, Reina and Edison INSISTED their launch time was now (they’re so pushy). 


This novella flowed out of me in a mere eighteen days—not that surprising, considering it’s been written and expanded upon in my head for so long.  The technology-dependent society in HOW THE GLITCH SAVED CHRISTMAS has lost touch with the simpler, more meaningful things in life, and it was a blast to reintroduce the timeless theme of home, family and love in such a setting.  Not to mention it was nice to shut Reina and Edison up, if only for a little while.




Sasha: I was completely intrigued by the call for a SciFi Holiday novella. I started mulling over the concept and Riley just sort of popped up. It was the first scene, her hanging upside down working on her ship and arguing into her earpiece. She was a very different heroine for me, I don’t normally write overtly strong, self-reliant heroines. But Riley has to be all of those things. She was born in the black, lives on her ship – alone – and likes it that way. Or rather, that’s what she thinks she likes. She doesn’t ‘know’ any other life. So I stranded her to see what would happen.

And the world I envisioned her being stranded on? Well, it was brutal – similar to Hoth – almost uninhabitable. Ice, snow, and man-eating monsters/aliens. At this point the odds were stacked against Riley…

Enter Leo, our mysterious hero. He scoops her – rather – drags her to the safety of Galileo’s Station.  A seriously dreamy space cowboy (Han Solo meets Malcolm Reynolds), Leo takes his work very seriously, keeping his mission priority one. But finding Riley on the ice muddies things up a little and warms things up a bit. Okay, a lot.

Something about these two independent and stubborn characters coming together drove me to write their story.




See?  Spaceships and mistletoe do go together. Happy Holidays!




Blurbs for the 3 novellas found in A GALACTIC HOLIDAY:



WINTER FUSION, by Anna Hackett:

Ex-space marine Savan Bardan survived the Galactic Wars to become the most ruthless trade negotiator in the galaxy. His planet needs energy to survive, and he'll do anything to close the deal for the Perman fusion crystals that can provide it—even if it means seducing his beautiful, infuriating opponent, a rival icier than her planet.

Perma's top negotiator, Brinn Fjord, lost her father when Savan delayed her planet's Trade Guild membership years ago. She hates the handsome Rendarian and the planet he represents. She's determined to finish the deal and get rid of him as quickly as possible, so she can celebrate the holidays.
But soon the rival negotiators are in a fight for their lives. Besieged by mysterious accidents and unforgiving weather, Brinn and Savan have no one to depend on but each other. As they put the past aside, they uncover a desire hot enough to melt ice, and Brinn discovers a secret that may keep them apart.

28,000 words







GALILEO’S HOLIDAY, By Sasha Summers:
Ice miner Riley works alone in the depths of space, and that's the way she likes it. She's proud of her independence, and when her ship gets destroyed by raiders on the icy surface of Galileo, she's not sure she wants to rely on rakish trader Leo and the kindness of a band of settlers to survive.

Despite her attempts to keep her distance, it's not long before Riley warms to the family atmosphere of the settlers' station. As Galileo's Holiday approaches and she develops feelings for the handsome, charming Leo, she questions whether she really wants to remain alone.

But Leo is hiding cargo the raiders want, and when they come back for it, everyone on the small station is in danger. Riley will risk anything to protect her new friends—because if the raiders succeed, the choice between Leo and a life alone won't be Riley's to make.

23,000 words










HOW THE GLITCH SAVED CHRISTMAS, By Stacy Gail:
Reina Vedette chose principle over position when the Chicago police department ordered her to accept performance-enhancing body modifications or lose her rank. Demoted to a level one detective, Reina's stuck chasing a bizarre, Grinch-in-reverse break-in case with fiery bod-mod enthusiast and level five top detective Edison Wicke.

Wicke has had his eye on Reina for ages, and as the two of them hunt down the benevolent burglar, they take turns warming each other with body heat in the subzero Chicago winter. Despite professional friction and their opposing views on bod-modding, Reina soon has to admit that she and Wicke are perfect for each other.

But when they track down their philanthropic quarry on Christmas Day, an unexpected glitch in a homemade android brings out Reina's emotional side, and she and Wicke must decide whether love between a Neo-Luddite and a "walking toaster" is a gift that either of them can give.

34,000 words





Contest Code

<a id="rc-070de90" class="rafl" href="http://waterytart23.blogspot.com/2012...http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/070de90/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>

<script src="http://waterytart23.blogspot.com//d12...







A GALACTIC HOLIDAY – Carina Press | Amazon | B&N | All Romance

Anna Hackett – Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Stacy Gail – Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Sasha Summers – Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads  




NOVELLAS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FOR INDIVIDUAL SALE IN DIGITAL FORMAT

Taking Over the World

[Or, an absurd take on the Insecure Writer’s Support Group]



Holy COW! Is it first Wednesday again? I almost blogged on… well, same topic, actually, but I had no plans to cleverly link it to insecurity and support for my fellow writerly sorts… but here we have it. A perfectly appropriate topic!



Be sure to get around to OTHER insecure writers today, too. You will make all of us feel more loved…







Branding a la Tart



So you know how they tell you when you talk about publishing that you need to BRAND yourself? And how they don’t mean burning an image on your skin, though somehow that sounds far less painful?



And you think about what you want people to think of when they think of you?



Well I have a secret. This is BACKWARD. You don’t want people to think of STUFF when they think of you… You want them, when they think of STUFF to have their mind pop to YOU! Then you will ALWAYS be on the brain! And see, isn’t that better than having the mind wander off to another topic when they think of YOU?





So here is the strategy. Find some obscure thing and OWN IT.



I mean it doesn’t have to be THAT obscure… in fact you WANT it to be something that comes up in their life somewhat regularly. But find a couple oddball things you are really enthusiastic about that people might encounter every once in a while…



I will use myself as an example (knowing all my obscure fetishes and all)







NAKED (and hating pants)

LLAMAS (and alpacas)

MISATTRIBUTING (meaning intentionally misunderstanding to create innuendo)



I am vocal enough about loving these things that pretty much anyone I encounter more than a couple times thinks of ME when they cross these topics. I get Facebook posts on my wall ALL THE TIME.



Or take our fearless leader, Alex… I can’t encounter Kate Beckinsale or Ninjas without thinking of Alex.







Now this may not seem like the most sophisticated form of branding you’ve ever seen, but it sure is fun and easy. And you know what? When strangers you meet in person can rattle off a few things that you love? That is REALLY gratifying. And if they think of YOU when they hear about something, they will get regular reminders to see what the heck you are up to… is your book out yet? Have you achieved fame and fortune?



You see, you are tapping the WORLD as your advertising.



And that’s just smart.



Did I mention easy?  Always best to be easy. *shifty*

(THAT was misattributing)

ABNAguity

See, it’s like this… there might be a few of us ABNA junkies… wait… you might need a definition if you are new around here…





ABNA: Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. The contest that begins every January and consumes the first 1 – 5 months of the year, depending on how far you advance. Note that it can also consume the 6th month, too, but I have never been a finalist.



So now that you know what’s what… I have been doing ABNA since 2010, which isn’t so long really… I’ve done three, coming up on my 4th. But heck, the thing only started in 2008, so I’ve done more than half of ‘em, right? I’ve got clout!



But more than clout, I’ve made a bunch of good friends who are ALSO ABNA junkies.





MUST. DO. IT. ALL.

Disclaimer: I am not JUST an ABNA junkie. I actually suffer from FOMS (fear of missing something) so am a joiner in general.



And there are discussion boards related to ABNA, so sometimes I hang out over there.



Well yesterday (note: this is where the actual blog begins, as opposed to the pre-information you needed just to follow the blog, but never mind) I was hanging out over there. There’s been some speculation about whether the contest would change this year. The speculation happens EVERY year, but this year there is reasonable reason—Penguin, one of the contest partners, merged with Random House this year (sadly NOT choosing the name Random Penguin), but part of the PURPOSE was to better compete with Amazon. (Ouch… business partner doing the nasty to smite you, eh?) So some of us feared…



I mean heck, we have an ADDICTION!





Gratuitous llama picture

Well anyway, we sneaky peekers SAW some stuff… and then they removed it and put up something else, and then they removed it. They are TOYING WITH US, MAN!



So the following may or may not be accurate and will probably be subject to change, but it LOOKS LIKE:





1) Contest opens January 14 and entry closes January 24. Note these dates are about 10 days EARLIER than last year.



2) We SAW (I swear it) that the GRAND prize (just one) will be a $50,000 advance contract.



Now for the past two years young adult and general fiction have been SPLIT and there were two grand prizes… this goes away.



BUT



It looks like the OTHER FINALISTS ALL get $15,000 advances… so five people get money rather than two, and one person gets a pretty nice deal.





3) Now SOMEBODY (not me) saw (maybe misunderstood?) the finalists might be from different categories?







Public service: Do NOT do this to your llama

But whatever the case, if you are interested in joining (and I strongly recommend it) there are 6-8 weeks to knock something into shape. They take books 50K-150K (or have in all past years) and take all ‘non obscene’ genres. (I don’t find erotica obscene, but somebody there does—I think this would also cancel out… maybe mutilation if it’s too graphic, incest or child sexual relations if it’s glorified, you know if you write on a fuzzy line)





I love this contest for the DEADLINE it gives me every January and for the writerly interaction in my life. There are also great threads for getting feedback on pitches. I’m sure I will be talking more of it as it approaches, but I wanted to give the heads up while there is time for you to do something about it.

Baby Faced Moi

Trisha is hosting a FABULOUS fun blogfest today (and yesterday) for her Bloggiversary--she is giving away a little prize, TOO. If you want to see several of your bloggie friends as babies and childings: the link for the Baby Faced Blogfest



So TODAY, I am going to share some pictures of me as a baby:







At 6 months with my dad, who was all of 21







And with mom for some balance, also 6 months This is Christmas at the Hart Homestead





A little older with my grandpa


Oh, and grandpas are good for stories!  When I was about 5 my cousin and I were walking with my grandpa on the beach at the lake--a rocky shore. We were trying to skip rocks and I ended up hitting my cousin in the head. Grandpa, with complete seriousness, told him the fish were throwing rocks back. See... I was the only girl until I was 24 and could do no wrong...





The cousin from the above story and I with our great grandparents



And finally, even though I'm not longer a baby... the last 4 generation picture with my fabulous grandma (and mom and kids)





I believe this was 2004





So let me have it.  Mock me!  And don't forget to go get the link for other baby pics and tell Trisha  Happy Bloggiversary while you are at it!

NaNoWriMo Home Stretch

And by Home Stretch, I mean HOLY COW! This is the first year I haven’t been DONE by the last day! I’m CLOSE. I really am. And if I don’t finish by tonight will accept no social invitations and will plow through it. But I am ALWAYS done by now. Usually 4 or 5 days ago.



But see HERE are the problems I’ve run into:







DONE That



See… I actually finished the book last Sunday, I think. The STORY anyway. Because my WriMo strategy has always been if you hit a rough patch, write a sentence or two about what KIND of thing goes there… [scene that does XYZ] and skip to the next place that flows.



And this is a BRILLIANT strategy… when your end goal is somewhere above 70,000 words… I just go in later, after a rest and a think, and fill in the holes.



But THIS BOOK will be done to the brim at about 52K… so I considered myself LUCKY that I was at 47K when I reached the end (only 5000 words to fill in, yeah?) But filling in is SO MUCH SLOWER than original writing. (like 200 words a day slow…)







Computer Fiasco



I lost almost a whole weekend because my desktop died. Now I have a couple other computers around here, but NONE of them have Open Office on them (the program ALL my stuff is in). And the computer I’ve been WORKING ON (a nice older Mac a friend lent me) doesn’t have enough memory to access my external harddrive from my old laptop (where all my stuff is saved), so there was a comedy of errors emailing myself stuff at work (where the newer version of word can read Open Office and I can save it all as word docs and then email them BACK to myself).



I also have a desktop from my aunt that I think is newer than the other stuff, but I am locked out by unknown password (anybody know what her other cats name was? Her clue was ‘cats’ and I have Sweetie, but not the other one), so I lost a good deal of time trying to save password breaker software, but none of the other computers is powerful enough to download the version I need of freeware (which is interestingly called Ophcrack *cough*). GAH! I can’t wait until the next leg of my advance comes and I can get an ALL MINE NEW laptop.







Near Death Experience



Not me. HWMNBMOTI… the hospitalization with all sorts of complications… one of which was a seizure, so he’s not allowed to drive, which means ME, the full time worker, full time writer, part time mom, also has to do the shopping (a task I’d never do AGAIN if I could opt out—I HATE it)—so I had a week of serious worry and adding FULL TIME mom to the other full time jobs, then part time worrier since then.





So today we are throwing a TRIUMP OVER ADVERSITY PARTY!



Swim in the champagne pool, eat from the chocolate fountain, rub a cabana boy for luck…



And have faith I will get there. I hope all of you who joined also make it!





Oh... and happy 21st anniversary to my sweet baboo... hopefully this next year will be LOTS healthier.

My Wildest Fantasy

Let’s see if I can even get it out there without getting censored right off the internet, right?



*fans self*



So Michael Oufitt posted something yesterday… and it really got me hot and bothered. And he wasn't even dancing like I like. He was... well...



Maybe this will give you a clue…





Source: http://cheezburger.com/6795838720



And to give you another clue… I have no brothers (or sisters, except the 'of the heart' variety). This is not a sick incestual porn fantasy… No, this is every writer’s DREAM… Having a fandom SO ADORING, so engrossed, so enamored… that they are making PREDICTIONS with other fans about where your story is going to go!



I think (at least for books) fantasy is best able to do this (though on TV a good mystery that runs all season will do it--or say... the Walking Dead, but back to books...). The world building gives the reader a sense of being an insider in some other world… And the fantasy READERSHIP is patient. They like long books and a REALLY long story. So there is time to develop a relationship with the world... and SEVERAL occasions of waiting and anticipating...



The first fandom I got totally engrossed in was the Harry Potter series and the seven books: over a million words, all told. Part of the dive into fandom, of course, is the anticipation… rereading as successive books are pending… talking to others who love them… And seriously… that prediction thing. That even got me to writing seriously for the first time... finishing stories… getting my predictions out there for the world in story form.



I’ve had a few other series I’ve really liked (Sword of Truth, Hunger Games) but none of them quite got me again until Game of Thrones. This series has all that juicy stuff to suck people in, and because the book and HBO series are both going, it ALSO has a lot of people TALKING about it.



That’s what I REALLY WANT… people talking about my books every which way I turn.



Yes. Erm... and pardon the language *blushes*

So, Define Editing…

I’m reading a book a friend recommended… and I’ve been a
little temped to ask if he recommended it because he knows the author
personally. I haven’t. I don’t want to be disrespectful, but there have been
several things that have really bugged me about it, and it got me thinking.




I’m pretty sure it was self published…


Well would you look what you find when you search 'bad book' teehee





And I don’t say that to put down all self-published books. I
have a lot of friends who are doing it right—going through all the steps and
publishing really professional products. I just think there are features of
THIS particular book that could not have made it through an actual publishing
system.







See, the STORY is pretty good… and there aren’t grammatical
and typo-type errors (or they are very rare—I noticed a ‘wrong word’ but those
are the ones I find hardest to catch, too).




But what it seems to be missing… and what I can’t actually
expect my friend to have noticed… is it hasn’t been edited by someone in the
industry.






There is a lot of passive language.  Helping verbs.  This is normal for speaking when we ‘are describing’
something. It is a natural thing to do. And it is a no-no.




The sentences have a lot of qualifiers (which I probably
most especially notice because I have to work so hard to limit these in my own
writing—it is just how I talk, so they creep in.




The VOICE of it… it is written in third person but SOUNDS
like first person, if that makes sense. I think, in fact, a lot of those
qualifiers wouldn’t bug me as much if it were first person. Then I could attribute
it to narrator quirk, rather than thinking the NARRATOR (meaning the author)
ought to know better.







I will be eager to see if the plotting still is good when
I’m further in, as that’s another thing that I think a good editor helps with.
In fact, I think that is sort of the first level.







I have a confession.




Fitting, possibly, since confessions is part of my blog title.  I am toying with the idea of self-publishing a couple of
books. I don’t plan on doing it right away. Like I said, I am honestly just
toying at the moment. But my primary reason for WAITING is financial.
Professional editors cost money and I’m not going to put my stuff out there
without it.




Here is just a SAMPLING of the things my editors have helped
with for my Gardening series:








Contrary to fantasies, super-editor actually has to be HIRED


Plot: 




You really need to move the body forward. A lot. It should
show up in the first few chapters. (I moved the body… in fact rewrote most of
the beginning)




“Wouldn’t she know this if they’ve been friends all this
time?” (had to give a ‘why not’—clarify the relationship)




“Where did her dad go? Is he at the party like she thought?”
(add the sentence to clarify)







See… there are a thousand things we take for granted… that
WE know, because it is our story, that a reader might get pulled out of the
story wondering… I’ve also had a reader point out the coincidence epidemic (in
my 2nd book).  This is a
good time to point out unlikable heroes and deus ex machina, too.




Is it going to slow?

Is it going too fast?

Has a character shown up who is never introduced?

Is a subplot dropped off the face of the earth?

Is the motivation realistic?

Is the villain canned?







Logistics:




“Sweet Surprise, per first book.” (I inadvertently renamed a
place)




“The Fish Market is actually a restaurant. NOT a fish
market.” (fact checker extraordinaire…)







And then there is the language, voice stuff and only after
THAT the proofreading.




I've had FABULOUS experiences with my editors but the process has made it crystal clear to me that I need not just a person, but a TEAM to make sure my process is fabulous. So until I have money to hire one, I am going to keep running the traditional paces.

 

Alison DeLuca Rocks!

Okay, my apologies for my half-assed title… but I’ve been
meaning to have my friend Alison over to visit for ages… for one, then another
book release.






See, Alison is one of my Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award
friends, but we all know… in all places we make friends that we enjoy and say
hi to, and then we make friends we sort of gel with… friends we cross pollinate
with in other domains… blogging, facebook… and Alison is one such friend.




And Alison does something special with her books… something
I would like to see more of, because as much as literature grows our minds to
new worlds, I think it doesn’t always grow our minds to the diversity of the
world we are actually IN… And to the extent we can get young people thinking
about diversity and embracing it, I think we make for a more promising future.
But I will let Alison talk to you about that…







 










WRITING MULTICULTURAL
STEAMPUNK FOR A YA AUDIENCE

If you watch a group of children play together,
they are what they are. They don’t care what other kids look like, as long as they are all engaged in the game.
When writing for a YA audience, keeping them engaged is the key.

Steampunk is a great genre for YA readers. By its very
nature it is filled with adventure, fantastic inventions, and strange
mysteries. The YA audience loves this sort of story: witness the popularity of
the Foglios’ Girl Genius series (link - http://airshipstore.com/ggnovel01.aspx)

If those stories, however, were all limited to a
Eurocentric view and characters, or to cowboys (and girls) and explorers who all
speak English and look the same, then the genre would, perhaps, eventually lose
steam.

Including a multicultural theme is, I feel, the
cure. Air pirates are fascinating, but how many books can be written about
them? Look at how repetitive the vampire meme is becoming. I feel, though, that
both archetypes, the aeronauts (and perhaps even the vampires) could be rescued
from flabby similarity by a multicultural slant. An example of that rediscovery
in paranormal romance can be seen with Natasha Larry’s book, Darwin’s Children
(link http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-Children-ebook/dp/B0050CL8R2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1306300962&sr=1-2)

Steampunk authors are doing the same thing, and I
feel it can easily carry over into the YA market. For example, if a group of teen-aged
aeronauts were building an airship in Tibet, what an interesting premise that
would make. The sky pilots could be struggling against overwhelming odds and
have to escape a clockwork threat by using local materials and ingenuity. Along
the way they could encounter strange, fascinating forms of prayer wheels and Tibetan
temples.

In order to do that successfully, the author would
have to begin with a great deal of research. What are the local materials in
Tibet? What would that group of young sky pilots do during the day? What would
they wear, where would they sleep, and what would they have for breakfast? The
steam author can riff off the research and history, of course, but she must
have a firm ground from which to launch the airship.



When I wrote my steampunk trilogy, it began in
England and moved to an island. I based that mythical country, Lampala, on the
real island of Madeira, which for centuries was a Portuguese colony. I used
many of Madeiran realities in creating my steam country: Madeira had thick
forests, which were used for export, and the population ate tapioca in lieu of
wheat, which had not yet been cultivated there.

The colonial part didn’t fit my story, though. I
rewrote Madeiran history and gave the local population ownership of their own
industry, thus creating a wealthy, ethnic class. It just seemed the time to
showcase PoC as an economically thriving group, whose members had large houses,
beautiful clothes (made from local materials, of course) as well as living in
an island filled with mysteries. I mention this as an example of how an author
can start from reality and more to a steamier place from that background
research. Now that I have finished the first three books of the series, I feel
that there are many other, more fascinating worlds to be created.

One example of that is Jaymee Goh’s story, Between
Islands (link to http://expandedhorizons.net/magazine/?page_id=1464) The story discusses an Asian response to The
East India Trading Company, centering in the island of Pinang. It’s a
fascinating subject, and one that is extremely well handled by Goh.

And this is the important element without which
the multicultural steampunk story must have in order to survive.


Tart note: This is my favorite


A writer cannot simply jam a bunch of research
into a story and toss in some ethnic characters, just as the addition of
airships to a lackluster plot will not create a steampunk work. The writing
itself must be well done. The characters must breathe and live, and interact
with society. And yes, this is even true in YA fiction. The YA audience is
quick to pick out dull characters and discard them. On the other hand, they
will overwhelmingly appreciate a creation who lives and breathes and has real
problems.

This can be very interesting in a multicultural
work. In Joyce Chng’s Moon Maiden’s Mirror (link www.semaphoremagazine.com/Semaphore%20Magazine%20-%20September%202009.pdf) the main character, Foo H-si, is living in Paris and renamed
Henri. The story is a fascinating look at a clash of cultures within a
steampunk framework. Chng shows the boy’s reaction to European dress and
customs, and does so beautifully.

In my trilogy, a lot of my main characters
are PoC. They, like Foo H-si, also had to confront existing societal mindsets
and prejudices. While writing, I hesitated over that a great deal. It took a
delicate touch to delineate that confrontation while being neither insulting
nor colonial.

A way to avoid that pitfall is to make the
character a real person. The character of color must have real adventures, real
problems, and real triumphs. It is difficult to sustain throughout a longer
work, but the reward is falling in love with that character (or group of
characters) and caring deeply about what happens to her.



There are many resources for the author who
is considering writing a multicultural steampunk work. I would send her to http://beyondvictoriana.com/ and http://silver-goggles.blogspot.com/.  There is an excellent discussion
on the possible pitfalls of the genre at http://holzman-tweed.dreamwidth.org/129133.html as well as a very comprehensive, in-depth
discussion by Ay-leen the peacemaker, creator of the Beyond Victoriana
blogspot, here: http://www.doctorfantastiques.com/steampunksaroundtheworld.htm/

When you begin
your research, don’t miss reading back issues of http://thesteamerstrunk.blogspot.com/ Of course, you will need to do
traditional research too, and Wikipedia and an old-fashioned library are great
places to start. That journey towards creating a story that will be lively and multi-layered,
filled with promise for the discriminating YA market, is difficult and
mysterious. No map exists for that journey, but gorgeous treasure does lie at
the end.

Resources: www.airshipstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.expandedhorizons.net, www.semaphoremagazine.com, www.beyondvictoriana.com, www.silver-goggles.blogspot.com, http://holzman-tweed.dreamwidth.org/, www.doctorfantastiques.com/, www.thesteamerstrunk.blogspot.com/




Bio:  Alison
DeLuca is the author of several steampunk and urban fantasy books.  She was born in Arizona and has also
lived in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Mexico, Ireland, and Spain.




Currently she wrestles words and
laundry in New Jersey.  Alison's Blog is here: Fresh Pot of Tea

Twinkipocalypse*

So I think it’s only fitting, in light of recent events, if we all go into a period of mourning. Because not only will there be no more Ding Dongs, Twinkies or Ho-Hos, but if you look at the documentation on the Zombie Apocalypse, we are losing a national treasure in food that lasts a lifetime… cakes that would last years… decades… after they were produced… for those special occasions when other sources of sugar, yeast and electricity are gone. (though, I have an uncle who can bake a mean cake in a Dutch oven buried in sand with a fire built over the top).



In fact... this HAD to be what the Mayans were referring to, don't you think?







All one needs to do is watch Zombieland to know how critical Twinkies are to survival of the species.



And because I look at it as my duty to keep you alert as to the dangers… the Apocalypse might not look like you expect…



We might not recognize the Apocalypse that is coming… it could take lots of forms…



One of the latest options I’ve seen is this:







Or this ever-more-likely scenario...









* The idea of the end of Twinkie… erm… Hostess… being what the Mayans meant by the Apocalypse comes from my friend Annette, though in retrospect, it seems self-evident.



Also wik: Blog plan this week… this today, Alison tomorrow, and then a blog Friday…



And don't forget to head over to Leigh's blog--she is doing a giveaway leading up to her Rouge blog tour.

Jessica Bell Shows & Tells!

Click to add me to Goodreads!

Halo, friends!!!



Happy Friday of the longest week EVER! (or is that just me?)--HWMNBMOTI still hospitalized... first the pancreas, then the heart (ACK!) but hopefully home soon.



In the meantime, our friend Jessica has a new book out... a WRITING book, and she wanted to share it with you and I was thrilled to have her, both because she's FABULOUS, and because I am a little short on time for writing my own darned post at the moment...



So without further ado, here is Jessica to tell you about Show & Tell in a Nutshell.



Welcome Jessica!!!





SHOW & TELL IN A NUTSHELL



Have you been told there's a little too much telling in your novel? Want to remedy it? Then this is the book for you!







In Show & Tell in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing you will find sixteen real scenes depicting a variety of situations, emotions, and characteristics which clearly demonstrate how to turn telling into showing. Dispersed throughout, and at the back of the book, are blank pages to take notes as you read. A few short writing prompts are also provided.







Not only is this pocket guide an excellent learning tool for aspiring writers, but it is a light, convenient, and easy solution to honing your craft no matter how broad your writing experience. Keep it in the side pocket of your school bag, throw it in your purse, or even carry it around in the pocket of your jeans or jacket, to enhance your skills, keep notes, and jot down story ideas, anywhere, anytime.







If you purchase the e-book, you will be armed with the convenient hyper-linked Contents Page, where you can toggle backward and forward from different scenes with ease. Use your e-reader's highlighting and note-taking tools to keep notes instead.







The author, Jessica Bell, also welcomes questions via email, concerning the content of this book, or about showing vs. telling in general, at showandtellinanutshell@gmail.com







Reviews:

“Jessica Bell addresses one of the most common yet elusive pieces of writing advice—show, don't tell—in a uniquely user-friendly and effective way: by example. By studying the sixteen scenes she converts from “telling” into “showing,” not only will you clearly understand the difference; you will be inspired by her vivid imagery and dialogue to pour through your drafts and do the same.” ~Jenny Baranick, College English Teacher, Author of Missed Periods and Other Grammar Scares

“A practical, no-nonsense resource that will help new and experienced writers alike deal with that dreaded piece of advice: show, don’t tell. I wish Bell’s book had been around when I started writing!” ~Talli Roland, bestselling author

Purchase the paperback:



$4.40 on Amazon US



£3.99 on Amazon UK







Purchase the e-book:



$1.99 on Amazon US



£1.99 on Amazon UK



$1.99 on Kobo







About the Author:



The Australian-native contemporary fiction author and poet, Jessica Bell, also makes a living as an editor and writer for global ELT publishers (English Language Teaching), such as Pearson Education, HarperCollins, Macmillan Education, Education First and Cengage Learning.







She is the Co-Publishing Editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal , and co-hosts the Homeric Writers’ Retreat & Workshop on the Greek Isle of Ithaca, with Chuck Sambuchino of Writer’s Digest.







For more information about Jessica Bell, please visit: 



Website



Blog



Twitter



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