Sandra Waugh's Blog, page 3
July 29, 2014
Publishers Weekly's LOVELY Review!
Well, this is pretty cool. My first review. I'm so happy to announce that Lark is a "formidable heroine"!
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
July 13, 2014
Supermoon
Last night was the 'super' full moon (14% larger! 30% brighter!). I insisted to my husband that we go out and look. So we trudge down the drive to the point where the moon has just crested the trees and stand for a moment, considering. And it's all 'hmm' 'what do you think?' 'is it brighter?' 'doesn't seem so much bigger' and... sigh... we start to trudge back. I stop and point to the grass, saying 'it's definitely brighter, look at our shadows.' We are two bits of charcoal against silver. We stare. My husband pokes an arm out; I try bunny ears; he waves; I shake my leg. And then suddenly we are silly-dancing in the moonlight, flailing limbs and trailing laughter.
Children unleashed.
So yeah... pretty super, moon! Thank you :)
June 5, 2014
GOODREADS GIVEAWAY!
Hello! Just a quick post to let you know that I'm doing a Goodreads giveaway June 5-June 13 (yay!).
An autographed ARC of LARK RISING is up for grabs (and some swag).
Here's the link: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/enter_choose_address/95321-lark-risingGood luck!
(I just keep falling in love with this cover!)
May 19, 2014
My Writing Process Blog Tour/Hop
It's been a while since I've stopped by my blog. Writing new and revising old have taken up a lot of winter space. But it's spring and, on top of everything (including me) coming back to life, I've been tagged to participate in the 'Writing Process Blog Hop'... so, hello again!
The lovely, talented, kind, and coolest-named YA fantasy author Sabaa Tahir, did said tagging. (Follow Sabaa on Twitter!) Her acclaimed debut, AN EMBER IN THE ASHES, releases Spring 2015 from Razorbill/Penguin. The buzz is very exciting--Romeo and Juliet meets Game of Thrones. A must on every Goodreads To Read list!
Here are the Blog Hop questions jumping around the writing universe:
1. What am I Working On? Currently I am doing final revisions on Book 2 of the Guardians of Tarnec series (Book 2 was titled FALLING RAIN, but I've just learned that will change, so now it is simply 'Book 2' following Book 1 debut, LARK RISING). I've just seen and commented on the second pass of LARK (kind of scary to know that this tale will finally be written in stone--I think I would forever tinker). I am revising a YA contemporary (dark paranormal) and trying my hand as well at an adult (also dark) and a Middle Grade story (not as dark) which I am co-writing with an author friend. Oh, yes, am devising Guardians Book 3.
2. How Does My Work Differ From Others of its Genre? Well, as yet there are no dragons.
But, honestly, I'm not looking to be so very different. Rather, I hope the Guardians of Tarnec books follow fantasy in its most classic tradition: a quest, a battle of good versus evil, an unlikely hero/heroine, and, of course, a true love. I can hope that they might hold space in the beautiful company of other series--those whose worlds can be dived into deeply and unforgettably.
3. Why Do I Write What I Do? I think for the same reason I said above--I've cherished the books that I've dived into, where I've lived in worlds built from extraordinary imaginations. Fairy tales and fantasy formed my growing up, they are closest to my heart.
4. How Does Your Writing Process Work? I'm trying to figure out what my process is, exactly. I wrote the first pages of LARK based on a moment with a hawk, with no idea where the story would lead. Book 2's structure was in place--in my mind--when I began it, and this time I am actually writing a synopsis for Book 3 prior to facing the blank page. So: very different, and, hopefully, growth-displaying methods! That said, I do aim for certain beats in any story--things I imagine/want/need to happen (not that they won't, possibly, get axed later). It's sort of like choosing the stepping stones you will use to cross a river. The challenge is in the leap to each one.
On a more practical level, you can find me clearest and most attuned in early morning, sitting in my favorite chair, feet on footstool, laptop on knees and teacup at hand.
And now I shall pass these questions on to two other authors, whose terrific-sounding books are debuting in 2015:
Mike Grosso's, I AM DRUMS, Egmont USA, was pitched as "an anthem for band kids everywhere"! Check out his website follow him on Twitter.
Jackie Lea Sommers' TRUEST, HarperCollins is a story of summer love, small-town secrets, and the darker side of philosophy. Here are links to her Blog and Twitter!
Tag, guys, you're it!
Their insights on the writing process will be posted on May 26th! Until then--happy reading, happy writing, happy dreaming...
The lovely, talented, kind, and coolest-named YA fantasy author Sabaa Tahir, did said tagging. (Follow Sabaa on Twitter!) Her acclaimed debut, AN EMBER IN THE ASHES, releases Spring 2015 from Razorbill/Penguin. The buzz is very exciting--Romeo and Juliet meets Game of Thrones. A must on every Goodreads To Read list!
Here are the Blog Hop questions jumping around the writing universe:
1. What am I Working On? Currently I am doing final revisions on Book 2 of the Guardians of Tarnec series (Book 2 was titled FALLING RAIN, but I've just learned that will change, so now it is simply 'Book 2' following Book 1 debut, LARK RISING). I've just seen and commented on the second pass of LARK (kind of scary to know that this tale will finally be written in stone--I think I would forever tinker). I am revising a YA contemporary (dark paranormal) and trying my hand as well at an adult (also dark) and a Middle Grade story (not as dark) which I am co-writing with an author friend. Oh, yes, am devising Guardians Book 3.
2. How Does My Work Differ From Others of its Genre? Well, as yet there are no dragons.
But, honestly, I'm not looking to be so very different. Rather, I hope the Guardians of Tarnec books follow fantasy in its most classic tradition: a quest, a battle of good versus evil, an unlikely hero/heroine, and, of course, a true love. I can hope that they might hold space in the beautiful company of other series--those whose worlds can be dived into deeply and unforgettably.
3. Why Do I Write What I Do? I think for the same reason I said above--I've cherished the books that I've dived into, where I've lived in worlds built from extraordinary imaginations. Fairy tales and fantasy formed my growing up, they are closest to my heart.
4. How Does Your Writing Process Work? I'm trying to figure out what my process is, exactly. I wrote the first pages of LARK based on a moment with a hawk, with no idea where the story would lead. Book 2's structure was in place--in my mind--when I began it, and this time I am actually writing a synopsis for Book 3 prior to facing the blank page. So: very different, and, hopefully, growth-displaying methods! That said, I do aim for certain beats in any story--things I imagine/want/need to happen (not that they won't, possibly, get axed later). It's sort of like choosing the stepping stones you will use to cross a river. The challenge is in the leap to each one.
On a more practical level, you can find me clearest and most attuned in early morning, sitting in my favorite chair, feet on footstool, laptop on knees and teacup at hand.
And now I shall pass these questions on to two other authors, whose terrific-sounding books are debuting in 2015:
Mike Grosso's, I AM DRUMS, Egmont USA, was pitched as "an anthem for band kids everywhere"! Check out his website follow him on Twitter.
Jackie Lea Sommers' TRUEST, HarperCollins is a story of summer love, small-town secrets, and the darker side of philosophy. Here are links to her Blog and Twitter!
Tag, guys, you're it!
Their insights on the writing process will be posted on May 26th! Until then--happy reading, happy writing, happy dreaming...
February 12, 2014
LARK RISING Cover Reveal!
I am so excited to reveal the cover for LARK RISING! It's beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that I'm going to do this reveal in bits and pieces so you get to see the exquisite detail...
That's just a portion from the back of the jacket. I love how the bits of light trail from Lark's fingers! A hint of Dark Wood, a hint of Lark's connection with Earth...
And here is Lark. There was a bit of discussion about how much of Lark's face should be shown. Personally, I've always loved those book covers which leave the heroine to the imagination, that I might put myself into her journey. So... yay for the hint of profile!
Okay... not the most exciting part, but honestly this is a wrap-around cover, so I'm including this. Also I have to point to the "1"--because LARK is the first in the (also note) Guardians of Tarnec series :)
Those are Myr Mountains in the distance...
Now to reveal who designed the cover: Marcela Bolivar
She is an amazing digital artist who is currently located in Cali, Colombia (how incredible is that?). You can check out her portfolio here: http://www.marcelabolivar.com/
Gulp and wow! And now look close:
Dark Wood spreads along the back of the jacket.
Those are all the pieces. So now I'll put them all together:
The front:
The entire jacket:
Lush, haunting. I am SO excited!! (I already said that, but I am!). Thank you, thank you, Marcela! And thank you, Random House, for such an inspired choice of artists!
Now... to wait until September 23, 2014!
That's just a portion from the back of the jacket. I love how the bits of light trail from Lark's fingers! A hint of Dark Wood, a hint of Lark's connection with Earth...
And here is Lark. There was a bit of discussion about how much of Lark's face should be shown. Personally, I've always loved those book covers which leave the heroine to the imagination, that I might put myself into her journey. So... yay for the hint of profile!
Okay... not the most exciting part, but honestly this is a wrap-around cover, so I'm including this. Also I have to point to the "1"--because LARK is the first in the (also note) Guardians of Tarnec series :) 
Those are Myr Mountains in the distance...
Now to reveal who designed the cover: Marcela Bolivar
She is an amazing digital artist who is currently located in Cali, Colombia (how incredible is that?). You can check out her portfolio here: http://www.marcelabolivar.com/
Gulp and wow! And now look close:
Dark Wood spreads along the back of the jacket.
Those are all the pieces. So now I'll put them all together:
The front:
The entire jacket:
Lush, haunting. I am SO excited!! (I already said that, but I am!). Thank you, thank you, Marcela! And thank you, Random House, for such an inspired choice of artists!
Now... to wait until September 23, 2014!
September 9, 2013
HIDDEN BEAUTYThe publishing date for my first book, LARK ...
HIDDEN BEAUTY
The publishing date for my first book, LARK RISING, is still a year away. So, before I begin the countdown, I'm musing on other things...
My town is filled with beautiful treasures--places to wander, sites to admire. This probably stretches credibility, but I consider our town dump to be one of those treasures. We have a service that picks up our weekly trash and recycling, and removes it to somewhere I don't know, but I still drop by our dump on occasion to recycle paper and such. I know, I know. It is not supposed to be called a dump; some far more sterile and official term is on the sign at the entrance. But I love the name 'dump', and I love calling this little spot off a winding road the 'Dump', just because it is so NOT a dump.
Here's why:
The shed is neat as a pin; I swear you could picnic on site. It radiates order: the broom-swept floor, the set of tables with free items neatly laid out, the friendly old man who sits in his throne-positioned chair (behind me in this photo) and knows, after a formal exchange of greetings, exactly where you can dispose of your things ("Just drive up the hill a little ways, young lady, hang left, you'll see the green container...") and who likes to inspect all things added to the items table to make sure they are not junk (not junk!) and just in case he might want it for himself.
And look!!! It's like a little library in the back! Silence included!
Sometimes there is a person or two browsing the stacks. But I like it best when I'm the only visitor. I pull my car over to the side, get out, turn to the right, and this is what I see (and hear):
I'm fairly certain this hill is the result of years of trash, of years of being the Dump. But I love that Nature has taken hold and re-birthed it. I stand still for a moment listening: crickets, a bee, and nothing else.
The publishing date for my first book, LARK RISING, is still a year away. So, before I begin the countdown, I'm musing on other things...
My town is filled with beautiful treasures--places to wander, sites to admire. This probably stretches credibility, but I consider our town dump to be one of those treasures. We have a service that picks up our weekly trash and recycling, and removes it to somewhere I don't know, but I still drop by our dump on occasion to recycle paper and such. I know, I know. It is not supposed to be called a dump; some far more sterile and official term is on the sign at the entrance. But I love the name 'dump', and I love calling this little spot off a winding road the 'Dump', just because it is so NOT a dump.
Here's why:
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The shed is neat as a pin; I swear you could picnic on site. It radiates order: the broom-swept floor, the set of tables with free items neatly laid out, the friendly old man who sits in his throne-positioned chair (behind me in this photo) and knows, after a formal exchange of greetings, exactly where you can dispose of your things ("Just drive up the hill a little ways, young lady, hang left, you'll see the green container...") and who likes to inspect all things added to the items table to make sure they are not junk (not junk!) and just in case he might want it for himself.
And look!!! It's like a little library in the back! Silence included!
Sometimes there is a person or two browsing the stacks. But I like it best when I'm the only visitor. I pull my car over to the side, get out, turn to the right, and this is what I see (and hear):
I'm fairly certain this hill is the result of years of trash, of years of being the Dump. But I love that Nature has taken hold and re-birthed it. I stand still for a moment listening: crickets, a bee, and nothing else.
HIDDEN BEAUTY
The publishing date for my first book, LARK RISING, is still a year away. So, before I begin the countdown, I'm musing on other things...
My town is filled with beautiful treasures--places to wander, sites to admire. This probably stretches credibility, but I consider our town dump to be one of those treasures. We have a service that picks up our weekly trash and recycling, and removes it to somewhere I don't know, but I still drop by our dump on occasion to recycle paper and such. I know, I know. It is not supposed to be called a dump; some far more sterile and official term is on the sign at the entrance. But I love the name 'dump', and I love calling this little spot off a winding road the 'Dump', just because it is so NOT a dump.
Here's why:
The shed is neat as a pin; I swear you could picnic on site. It radiates order: the broom-swept floor, the set of tables with free items neatly laid out, the friendly old man who sits in his throne-positioned chair (behind me in this photo) and knows, after a formal exchange of greetings, exactly where you can dispose of your things ("Just drive up the hill a little ways, young lady, hang left, you'll see the green container...") and who likes to inspect all things added to the items table to make sure they are not junk (not junk!) and just in case he might want it for himself.
And look!!! It's like a little library in the back! Silence included!
Sometimes there is a person or two browsing the stacks. But I like it best when I'm the only visitor. I pull my car over to the side, get out, turn to the right, and this is what I see (and hear):
I'm fairly certain this hill is the result of years of trash, of years of being the Dump. But I love that Nature has taken hold and re-birthed it. I stand still for a moment listening: crickets, a bee, and nothing else.
August 25, 2013
we are the dreamers of dreams...
Such is the second line from the poem "Ode" by Arthur WE O'Shaughnessy. My best friend in high school showed it to me; the beginning caught my heart:
We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams.
World-losers and world-forsakers,
Upon whom the pale moon gleams;
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world forever, it seems.
My best friend has moved on to the place of Once, but the verse--battered and bruised by time and happenstance--never quite let go. "The dreamers of dreams..." still haunts me. We are. We are. It meant: if you are one of us, then carry on those dreams of yours and don't let go. It meant: see the world through bits of your dreams. It meant: grow old but don't grow up (not the other way around). And if at sixteen I can be forgiven for separating words from their writers and using them as guides, then I can say ages later that doing so saved me from a life of simply doing, of simply accepting. Drudgery and Giving Up are bad words.
So: Yard work is cleaning day for the sprites. Releasing spiders outside when dusting is a moment in which you bow politely to Earth and she bows back. Moths, too, for they are here to save a bit of fairyland, I'm sure. Tackling homework is for the learning of how to slay dragons, or save them, as the case may be. Keeping one's house in order allows room for dreams to breathe. But make sure to leave a crumb or two for the night wanderers.
And because you are reading this brand-new blog, peeking at this brand-new website, you see that one of my dreams is being fulfilled because I didn't Give Up, and so am here sharing a shy-ish, fiercely private voice out loud, (gulp) OUT LOUD. I'd like to say, sometimes, that I'm one to toss my head with the irony of it all, or that I am scathingly witty. But that is not me; that is not this space. Irony has no place in dreams. Nightmare or fantasy, dreams are pure of heart--extraordinary paths to somewhere... anywhere... everywhere. Soul yearnings. And in moments of darkness, as there will always be, dreams are what carry you through, remind you of your special-ness. You might try to dissuade yourself, of course, but dreams say other. So this is dedicated to all dreamers--the countless and unique--with love.
We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams.
World-losers and world-forsakers,
Upon whom the pale moon gleams;
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world forever, it seems.
My best friend has moved on to the place of Once, but the verse--battered and bruised by time and happenstance--never quite let go. "The dreamers of dreams..." still haunts me. We are. We are. It meant: if you are one of us, then carry on those dreams of yours and don't let go. It meant: see the world through bits of your dreams. It meant: grow old but don't grow up (not the other way around). And if at sixteen I can be forgiven for separating words from their writers and using them as guides, then I can say ages later that doing so saved me from a life of simply doing, of simply accepting. Drudgery and Giving Up are bad words.
So: Yard work is cleaning day for the sprites. Releasing spiders outside when dusting is a moment in which you bow politely to Earth and she bows back. Moths, too, for they are here to save a bit of fairyland, I'm sure. Tackling homework is for the learning of how to slay dragons, or save them, as the case may be. Keeping one's house in order allows room for dreams to breathe. But make sure to leave a crumb or two for the night wanderers.
And because you are reading this brand-new blog, peeking at this brand-new website, you see that one of my dreams is being fulfilled because I didn't Give Up, and so am here sharing a shy-ish, fiercely private voice out loud, (gulp) OUT LOUD. I'd like to say, sometimes, that I'm one to toss my head with the irony of it all, or that I am scathingly witty. But that is not me; that is not this space. Irony has no place in dreams. Nightmare or fantasy, dreams are pure of heart--extraordinary paths to somewhere... anywhere... everywhere. Soul yearnings. And in moments of darkness, as there will always be, dreams are what carry you through, remind you of your special-ness. You might try to dissuade yourself, of course, but dreams say other. So this is dedicated to all dreamers--the countless and unique--with love.
January 28, 2013
So I'm testing my limited computer knowledge by creating ...
So I'm testing my limited computer knowledge by creating a new blog to go with a new website, all of which is extremely daunting. I always assumed that I would write quietly in the shadows. We'll see how this goes...
