Elizabeth Guizzetti's Blog, page 12
November 5, 2014
Writing advice for #NaNoWriMo folks and anyone else who ever wanted to write a book!
Since it is NaNoWriMo month, this is my best advice for anyone who wants to write a novel.
1) Write what you love.
There are two basic problems with writing for the market is that you limit yourself as a writer AND writing a saleable book and getting it published takes time. By the time you get your opus to market, the market has probably moved on.
2) Hard work trumps inspiration.
Inspiration is fickle. Hard work matters. I’m telling you, if you want to be an author only one thing matters: butt in chair and words on a page. Enough said.
3) Focus on the present.
Stop thinking about seeing your book on TV. Don’t look at previous triumphs and failures. They don’t matter anymore to your current project than your jerk of a sophomore English Teacher who said you can’t string two sentences together. Focus on the ‘right-now’ and the right now it is your job to put words on a page.
And once that novel is completed…
4) Face rejection/critiques like an ADULT.
We all face it. We all have ways to deal with it. Be sad, that’s natural, but realize after every rejection there is a next step. Take that step. And if you get rejection with personal feedback, read it closely. Is there something to be gleaned from this?
5) Face success like an ADULT.
Don’t shove your successes into other people’s face. Be humble, because another failure is just around the corner. Marketing takes work–almost as much work as writing the damn thing. Anyone who says its easy is generally trying to sell you a book on how to market your book.
There is the myth of “If I just get my foot in the door…” It’s a myth. My second book The Martlet was rejected over 30 times. I thought once I was published the first time the next time it would be easier. Nope.
So good luck, and get writing, everyone!
And please feel free to add your own writing advice in the comments if you wish!
October 30, 2014
Release Day! Candace Knoebel’s Evernight Novel 2 in the Night Watchmen Series
*The book contains adult content and is appropriate for ages 17+*
_____________________________________________________________________________________
PEOPLE LIE. EVERY SINGLE DAY.
In fact, most of our world was built on the foundation of lies, some with the intent to serve the greater good, and others with the intent to serve one person’s giant ambitions. But the root of every lie is exactly the same. They’re all equally deceitful, treacherous propositions spewed from the mouths of men and woman alike.
Lies have the power to sound right, yet feel wrong. They have the ability to confuse your heart and twist your mind. The problem is, sometimes these lies become easier to believe than the truth. They become a sort of safety net from reality, a way to avoid what lingers in the back of your mind. And some say that over time, if you believe them long enough, they become real.
At least, that’s what my mother had hoped would happen in my case. But just like every lie ever told, all it takes is one small crack in that foundation for the whole thing to come crashing down.
And it did.
Because everything I thought I knew about myself was a lie. A beautiful and heartrending lie. I wasn’t the Defect my parents would regretfully see off to college before turning their backs on me. I wasn’t the weak friend who didn’t have enough backbone to stand up for what’s right, nor was I the loner without a purpose or a chance at real love. And I sure as hell wasn’t the weapon Bael and the members of the Darkyn Coven intended me to be.
But I am the weapon the Primeval Coven needs me be. Or so they keep saying.
In my Coven, there are two kinds of people: The Hunters and the Witches. They used to hate each other, even though they were on the same team, back in the old days when cars didn’t exist and time was tracked on a sundial. They hated each other so much that eventually a war was brought on by one of the original Witches—a Divine named Mourdyn.
The war was known as the Great Battle of the Covens. It was meant to wipe out the existence of every Hunter, and it devastated the population of my people, the Primevals. It annihilated the population of the Darkyns—the Witches who abandoned our Coven to follow the whims of Mourdyn and his persuasive lies.
But even though a lie can be struck down—imprisoned even—it can’t ever be fully erased. The scars it leaves behind on this earth and in our hearts are eternal, and somewhere along the way, someone will pick that lie back up and breathe life into it once more. Give it the wings it needs to rise again. Only, this time, that lie will be stronger, with an even greater purpose.
And that’s the part that scares me the most.
I glance down at my leg. The burn marks left behind from Bael’s wrath still tingle with echoes of the scorching fire he sent after me after I escaped with Weldon, reminding me that I’m nowhere near ready for the fight that’s sure to come.
And that has to change.
That’s part of why I agreed to come here to Ethryeal City—to the heart of our Coven. It’s where Hunters and Witches in an affinity bond enter as Night Watchmen and leave as Elites. Where those who have broken our Coven laws go to face the High Priesthood. Where those who need refuge… those like me… come to hide.
The only thing is, I never agreed to being separated from everyone I know. They call it debriefing, but with every day that passes, I’m beginning to wonder… to question how long it actually takes.
It’s been seven days and fourteen hours since my unfortunate and unplanned encounter with Bael—the Demon King of the Underground. In these last seven days, I’ve made more promises than I can count on two hands. And in those promises, I think I’ve told more lies than I ever have in my life.
Honesty seems to have slipped out of her bedroom from inside my integrity and, in her place, deceit has crept in with the offer of survival. If I just nod along with the many blending faces all interviewing me, then maybe somehow, I’ll make it out of this phase in my life alive. I’ll make it back into Jaxen’s arms and back into the graces of the friends I’ve come to trust.
But what deceit doesn’t offer is solace, because you can’t fool deceit. It knows every trick in the book.
Every day, twice a day, for the past four days, I’ve recounted in specific order how my friends and I nearly lost our lives in hopes that we’d gain an advantage on the Darkyn Coven and intercept them from taking the Dagger of Retribution. The one that has the power to initiate the removal of the Veil that separates the Underground and all its evil from the humans. The very Dagger that only I have the power to touch.
I’ve been singularly interviewed by every member on the Priesthood, and then by every general and Elder within the hierarchy of our Coven.
And I’m so very tired.
For the past four days, since I left the safe house beneath the church owned by the Night Watchmen, when I haven’t been in a laboratory undergoing strenuous testing, I’ve spent the remaining hours kept in a holding cell stripped of all personality. Chained down by claustrophobia. Shackled to the fears given free rein to destroy my hope.
I don’t have a home anymore. I have four white walls, one white jumpsuit, a white bed, white sheets… the color was bleached from my life the moment I crossed into the legendary Ethryeal City. I keep trying to remember the last time I saw Jaxen’s face, but my soul has fed so often on the happiness of that memory, I fear it’s disappearing. And I don’t know when I’m going to see him again.
They took everything away from me just to keep me repressed. Controlled. But what they don’t know is they cannot control what they do not own, and they do not own me. I can’t trust anyone. No one but myself, because all I know is I am more of a threat to them than I thought.
And the High Priesthood doesn’t know what to do with me.
October 27, 2014
The final fate of The Light Side of the Moon….
Good News!
The Light Side of the Moon’s rewrite and new artwork was accepted and will be published by 48Fourteen sometime in 2015! I signed the Publishing Agreement on Sunday.
Due to overpopulation, lack of natural resources, no public education, and a surplus of political bickering, Earth is a cesspool and our solar system’s colonies have failed. Nevertheless, outside our solar system, exploration has thrived.
Encouraged by the conquest of Kipos, idealistic dreamers look beyond Earth to build a utopia from the abandoned Lunar Colony Serenitatis. Industrialists reconstruct the colony, but struggle to turn a profit while encouraging scientific discovery.
Brimming with hope amid intense uncertainty and physical hardships, the excommunicated eleven-year-old child bride Ella follows rumors of plentiful jobs on the moon. On roads fraught with danger, she discovers Earth is a bigger place than she ever knew. Lunar Colony Serenitatis is little more than a prison colony. Ella forges unlikely friendships with corrupted androids and the idealistic prison doctor, Ian Whitlatch, who champions equality and rights for inmates. Amid riots and corruption, tragedy and victory, the fate of the colony hangs perilously in the balance.
The editor loved the artwork, but wanted the lettering changed on the cover once these details are nailed down, I’ll be scheduling a cover reveal soon.
Websites
Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/Elizabeth.Guizzetti.Author
October 23, 2014
3rd Annual Heroes Resource’s Fall Festival
Hey Fans in Northern Washington State, I will be signing books and giving away swag at
3rd Annual Heroes Resource’s Fall Festival
Saturday October 25th in Lynden WA.
They have Guest Artist’s, Authors, and Game Designers. There will be a costume contest, door prizes, game tournaments, Food vendors, the road will be half-closed for the safety of families. I have gone each year and had lots of fun. Hope to see you there.
http://www.facebook.com/events/1479287548998347/
Guests:
http://elizabethguizzetti.com/
www.facebook.com/pages/1314-Art-of-Ben-Hansen
www.facebook.com/BethSobelIllustration
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ian-Styer/498179706896404
www.facebook.com/pages/Psychedelic-Circumstances
www.facebook.com/BarnCatRadio
http://www.daportfolio.com/493591/
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMadisonKeller
October 12, 2014
Life of an author: 7 Ways to Keep the Creeping Bitterness at Bay
Yesterday I read this article: http://www.marcandangel.com/2014/09/28/20-things-to-remember-when-you-think-youre-not-good-enough/ I loved it enough to put on my Facebook Page and then I decided to write my own list, specifically for authors.
Every author has days they just want to hide under the blankets.
Every author has felt the creep of bitterness when they watch another author do well publicly. We want to be supportive to one another, but deep inside, is a little voice asking “Why isn’t that me?”
Right now, there are the fall releases. Most authors have author friends. And a lot of them are putting out new books. A friend and I went to a reading for two authors in our acquaintance. We stayed for the reading, but during mingle time, the friend was anxious to leave and overwhelmed. Why? Because she was jealous. Her first book just had another rejection and here two of our friends seemed to have all the success in the world.
Guess what? I know the inner workings of these two authors well enough to know that they don’t have it all. Yet, even I, feel that creeping anger that overtakes my being and stops me from moving forward. You see, I talk a good game and I hide it well. But it’s always there threatening to break out. This is how I control it.
1) Remember EVERY BOOK has a sales arc from release date to current time.
Every book’s sales drop off after the release blitz. Every Book. Some will hit the top 100 lists and some won’t. Not every book from the same best-selling author will hit the best seller lists. But every book goes up after its release and then comes down.
2) Remember EVERY BOOK has good and bad reviews.
I’ve had epic reviews where the reader said I’m their new favorite author and I’ve had reviews that said Other Systems was boring. Who is right? They both are. A review is an opinion. And everyone is entitled to their opinion especially since I asked them for it!
3) Remember EVERY AUTHOR has a budget for PR.
Some budgets are bigger than mine. I can’t control that. I can control how I spend my own money and remember that just because this book didn’t do as well as I like, doesn’t mean that the next book won’t.
Now here’s where it gets personal….
If I had been afraid to go through this gate, I would have missed one of the most beautiful and interesting gardens in all of Ireland! So Be FEARLESS!
4) Don’t be afraid to write what you want to write
I write what I want to write and have basically told people to fuck off if they tell me to write something else. (Depending on the relationship with the person, this will be a gentle or harsh.)
No, I don’t write about YA vampires nor do I write spanking fantasies about women being dominated by billionaires.To be clear, I am not dissing any author who writes about such things as long as they are writing about these subjects because they want to.
I am saying If I wrote such a story, it would be shit. Know why? Because I don’t care about that. I don’t even care about the Hunger Games wannabe dystopia stories though they are closer to what I write. Not because these subjects are better or worse than what I write, but because I would be a poser and no one likes a poser.
I write serious hard science and hard social science fiction. My inspirations are Margret Atwood, Vernor Vinge, and David Brin
Sometimes I also write horror or epic fantasy. My inspirations are Stephen King, Joe Hill, and Tanya Huff.
These are the authors I read for pleasure. Notice something about the authors I listed, they have two things in common. They are authors who write for adults. and no matter what the setting deal with real life issues in their writing.
No one makes me write this. It’s a tough road, but a road that I put myself on willingly. I really don’t care what other people think I should write. I’m living the dream–and so can you–just remember every great dream has a bit of a nightmare.
5) Go your own pace.
It will feel that everyone is moving faster than you. They are releasing ten books a year while you’re struggling with writer’s block. I once let a publishing contract pass me by. It hurts when I think about it sometime, but I know I did the right thing for me. I nor my project would have been what the press wanted from me.
6) When it gets too hard, reach out for help.
I think most authors want to help. I love helping. Hell, even if I can only give you a hug (real or metaphorical) and pass you along to some one more qualified, I will do that. And if you happen to run into jerks, write them off, and come over to my side of the inter-webs.
7) Five Words: I am a fucking author. (And if you need them add another seven…Nothing can take that away from me.)
I wrote a hard science fiction novel and it was published. I wrote, created artwork and self published 4 graphic novels and a comic book series. I have had a few short stories published. This is where I am in my career. It has taken me eight years to get this far and I’m not stopping.
No one can take that away from me…not even death. I might not be remembered, I can’t control that, but I used the time I have in a way that I feel is worthwhile.
Here is me at Norwescon’s Writer’s Row last year.
If you wrote a book or a short story or a blog post you are an author. You created something out of nothing. Be proud of that.
Plus one extra tip for no charge: Figure out what gets your hackles up, and do your best to ignore it.
America loves an instant Success story and a get rich quick scheme. Right now, that’s publishing an e-book on Kindle.
Being an author is work. No one just poops out novels or trips over a publishing contract. My pet peeve is every bio from a best-selling author that starts with “I never thought I’d be an author…. ” I’m calling out bullshit on that. Then I stop reading and go about my merry way.
So Authors Friends, what helps you?
September 13, 2014
Another Science Fiction Story on WattPad — Love in the World of Make-believe
So here is another free Short Story. Love in the World of Make Believe
Sarae has grown up with wearable hologram technology. She feels that not seeing reality is the barrier to her happiness–specifically why she has never been in love.
After reading, feel free to comment upon any part of the story. (Including the R Rating. While there is no descriptive sex or casual swearing, I gave it an R rating for adult themes. If you feel I rated it too harshly let me know.)
Still deciding if you want to read it? Here’s a teaser:
Mornings had become a perverse game of looking at her true self in the mirror, before she turned on her hologram. No wrinkles yet, but Sarae felt them just under her skin. She felt old at forty—not even a quarter through her expected life span as a non-smoking, social drinking American who exercised and tried to stay away from sugars.
Sarae caught a wiff of the automatic coffee maker as she slipped into the shower and scrubbed off the sweat from her mind-numbing hour on the treadmill. By the time she got out; she heard the message that her breakfast was ready…
September 11, 2014
Where were you on 9/11?
While I asked this on Facebook too, I think I’m going to change gears today and ask a question unrelated to writing. Where were you on 9/11? Did it change the way you look at the world?
(Even If you aren’t from the States or just a kid or ?, please still feel free to answer this question if 9/11 effected you. And please everyone remain civil.)
My answer is very domestic. I was getting my carpet cleaned.
My husband, had just left for work, called and asked me to look at the news because all he heard was a little snippet about the borders had closed. The carpet cleaner didn’t realize it was an attack yet. He had just heard of a terrible accident in NY–but they don’t close borders for accidents–so I turned on the news. This stranger and I watched the it unfold as he cleaned my carpets. He left. I spent the rest of the day, drawing or writing with the TV on, listening for new information, but much of it was repeating. Dennis came home.
While, it did not change how I looked at the world, the event gave me insight to the fact not everyone loves Americans. Still young and idealistic, I hoped it would open up an international dialogue to change the world for the better. (Seriosuly, I had only ever heard of a Jihad because of Dune) A friend told me that the American response would be an automatic war. History proved him correct.
September 3, 2014
New Story on WattPad : First Contact…
Want to read a free short story? Head over to WattPad and check out http://www.wattpad.com/67860933-first-contact
Not convinced? Need a teaser?
The soft glow of the television lit the darkened living room. Mark lifted his furry head towards the window and growled. Then he jumped from the couch, spun around, and made a higher yap.
Cover Illustration for First Contact.
“Quiet,” Erin said, readjusting the blanket to cover her feet. Trying to decide whether to finish the movie or go to bed, she wasn’t paying attention to Invasion of the Body Snatchers though its familiar dialogue soothed her and dulled the sound of traffic outside.
Mark’s barking continued. Erin gently put her fingers upon her dog’s head. Though he quieted, a low growl continued to sound in his throat. She glanced at her phone. 11:47.
It’s Tuesday night, people.
Expecting to see her neighbors smoking pot and drinking on the back patio, she pushed back her blinds and readied herself for the coming conflict. Instead of her neighbors, a bald whitish face with large black eyes peered back at her. A three-fingered hand waved. His/her/hir/its’ lips curled upward showing pointed teeth….
Want to read more? Please go to http://www.wattpad.com/67860933-first-contact
And if you like it, give it some love. :)
August 31, 2014
The Light Side of the Moon Artwork and Teaser
Since I know everyone has been waiting patiently to hear word, but I don’t have word yet, who wants a teaser for
The Light Side of the Moon?
3062
Due to overpopulation, lack of natural resources, and a surplus of political bickering, Earth is a cesspool. In Other Systems, human colonists from Kipos transported 750,000 Earthlings to inhabit their utopian planet ninety-four light years away. The Light Side of the Moon explores what happens on Earth.
Brimming with hope amid intense uncertainty and physical hardships, eleven-year-old Ella follows rumors of plentiful jobs on the moon. On roads fraught with danger, she discovers Earth is a bigger place than she ever knew.
Lunar Colony Serenitatis as little more than a prison colony. Ella forges unlikely friendships with corrupted androids and the idealistic prison doctor, Ian Whitlatch, who champions equality and rights for inmates. She aspires to build something that the population of Earth and Luna hasn’t seen in centuries: a public school.
Part 1: And the Kiposians came…
Chapter 1
June 1, 3062
Spiraling, interlocked rings of ejected matter danced to a song the android could hear on the edge of her mind. Faint halos of dust extended into space from NGC 6543, also known as the Cat’s Eye Nebula. Their rhythm matched the beat of her automated heart. Harmonic knots filled her with joy.
Part 1: Illustration
A pulse invaded the android’s reverie. Radio waves assaulted her audio membranes. Garbled noise awoke her consciousness, transporting her sentience back to Earth. Background noise grew into static. She lowered the current signal, pinching off sounds. Blasts of an indistinguishable din became overlapping languages. The android sought out her native French and found “Frères et sœurs.” Brothers and sisters
She teased out more words until the message was complete. Brothers and sisters, we come in peace and in need. We have found our way home.
“The lost androids returned?” she spoke aloud. “It must be them!” All androids referred to each other as brother, sister, or sibling—whether or not they had the same programmer.
She zoomed her optics from the nebula to Earth. Her enlargement algorithms resized the sky as she flipped her crafted compound lens to a smaller setting to allow in less light. Her world was millions of pixels shifting colors. Images smoothed. She could see.
*
August 22, 2014
The Light Side of the Moon Research Topics
The Light Side of the Moon rewrite took a lot out of me. Not only did I feel like I was able to make the characters more lifelike, I did more research in order to make the story sing with science and facts. Or at least so I don’t sound like an idiot. I’ve written before about how I believe in specific directed research.
This is some of the topics I researched for The Light Side of the Moon and some of the books and links I used:
Lunar Colonization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon
Lunar Lava Tubes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_lava_tube
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_Serenitatis
Map of the moon http://www.lunasociety.org/atlas/
Equipment in a medical lab (I was spell checking words like electrophoresis apparatus and ultracentrifuge)
How do doctors test for radiation poison? http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/radiation-sickness/basics/symptoms/con-20022901
British terms of endearment (I wondered if Royce should be calling Ian anything other that Ian or Son. And was Dad the most appropriate words for Royce.) http://www.anglotopia.net/british-identity/humor/top-100-most-beautiful-british-slang-words-and-phrases/
British Swearing — I asked my friend and author Dan Thompson
German Swearing — I just asked my friend Evan
French Phrase Book for the word “Help Me!”
Syphilis 2nd stage http://www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/tc/syphilis-symptoms
1800’s prison treatments http://www.ushistory.org/us/26d.asp
