Chris Baty's Blog, page 154

30 Covers, 30 Days 2015: Day TenEvery November, during National...

LOVE ALWAYS, EMILY || A romance novel being written by Eden Ellis || Cover design by Roshanak Keyghobadi


THE KEYS || A fantasy novel being written by YWP participant Zoë Winslow Griffin || Cover Design by Stewart Scott Curran


Roshanak Keyghobadi is an artist based in New York.


Stewart Scott-Curran is a Glasgow-born, San Francisco-based designer and illustrator.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2015: Day Ten

Every November, during National Novel Writing Month, thirty professional designers volunteer to create book cover art inspired by novels being written by aspiring authors from around the globe. Why? To encourage new, diverse voices, and help build a more creative world.  

30 Covers, 30 Days is presented in partnership with designer and author Debbie Millman.  Wrimos: submit your synopses for 30C30D 2015 here.

Read more about these NaNoWriMo 2015 novels-in-progress, and the cover designers, below.

Love Always, Emily

A romance novel being written this November by Eden Ellis.

1967, New Haven Connecticut. When Emily Gardner decides to send a care package to local soldiers who’ve been deployed to Vietnam, she can’t imagine anything of importance coming from it. However, as Emily gets to know Captain Christopher Breckenridge, she quickly finds him becoming a friend in whom she can confide. 

When Christopher stops writing, Emily fears the worst until she learns he has been injured, and is coming home on medical leave. Suddenly, Emily is face to face with her new friend of the past year, and over the summer their relationship blooms into more than a mere friendship.

However, the couple faces numerous odds: from Christopher’s redeployment to their age difference, and her family’s disapproval. Neither can help but admit the deck is stacked against them. 

This novel is for anyone who remembers what 17 felt like—the first time your stomach did flip-flops, the first time you brought someone home who your parents hated… and all along the way trying to figure out who you are in this big, crazy thing called life.

Cover Designed by Roshanak Keyghobadi

Roshanak Keyghobadi is an artist based in New York. She also writes about contemporary art and artists with special focus on design and typography. Roshanak’s essays have appeared in AIGA’s VOICE as well as Design Observer. She blogs at artCircle.

 

 

The Keys

A fantasy novel being written this November by YWP participant Zoë Winslow Griffin.

Once, Katharine Nettleworth was an interrogator for an organization dedicated to locating the Three Keys of Alderia, which, when found, would open the legendary Three Sanctuaries and release magic back into Alderia.

But one day, Katharine’s employer, angered by her irrepressible attitude, erased her memory and sent her away to live in a little hamlet called Riverside.

Now, three years later, Katharine and fellow amnesiac Mirya hunt for the man who took away thirteen years of their lives and seek to prevent him from finding the Three Keys—because if he does find them, then all of Alderia is doomed.

Cover Designed by Stewart Scott Curran

Stewart Scott-Curran is a Glasgow-born, San Francisco-based designer and illustrator. He has worked for companies such as Nike, The Coca-Cola Company, and CNN.

"Novels aren’t written by muses who come down through the ceiling and shoot magic through your..."

“Novels aren’t written by muses who come down through the ceiling and shoot magic through your fingers and out onto your laptop’s keyboard. Before NaNoWriMo, some teensy part of me still believed that because writing is a creative act, it should feel easy. But fairies don’t write novels. They’re written with one simple equation:

 

Time + Work = Novel”

- Stephanie Perkins, on the rewards of not giving up on your story.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2015: Day NineEvery November, during National...

THE ACCOUNTANT || A mainstream novel being written by Melissa Jordan || Cover design by Brian Singer


THE JJARE WAR || A fantasy novel being written by YWP participant Paige S. || Cover design by Luisa Baeta


Brian Singer is a San Francisco-based artist and designer.


Luisa Baeta is a graphic and typeface designer living and working in London.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2015: Day Nine

Every November, during National Novel Writing Month, thirty professional designers volunteer to create book cover art inspired by novels being written by aspiring authors from around the globe. Why? To encourage new, diverse voices, and help build a more creative world.  

30 Covers, 30 Days is presented in partnership with designer and author Debbie Millman.  Wrimos: submit your synopses for 30C30D 2015 here.

Read more about these NaNoWriMo 2015 novels-in-progress, and the cover designers, below.

The Accountant

A mainstream novel being written this November by Melissa Jordan.

When her fiancé leaves her a day before their wedding citing her “disinterest in life”, Maeve throws herself deeper into the same thing that was already burning her out: her work as an accountant for one of the largest U.S. casinos. 

As her exhaustion and resentment of her employer grows, Maeve is introduced to Matt, a suave investor who introduces her to the world of advantage gambling. 

Maeve jumps at the chance to retaliate at her lousy job by making millions off the house; and her growing romance with Matt is a welcome change. But when Matt is arrested on fallacious charges, will Maeve come forward and indict herself?

Cover Designed by Brian Singer

Brian Singer is a San Francisco-based artist and designer. He is currently the Design Manager for Brand Creative at Pinterest and serves on the national board of AIGA, the professional association for design. IG and web: someguy.is

 

The Jjare War

A fantasy novel being written this November by YWP participant Paige Scrittrice.

On the day Ruthie Kendall forgot, she was found in the middle of the desert. No memories remained, except a persistent name—Sam—and a lingering feeling that she was not home. Wherever that was. 

On the day Sam Kendall forgot, he woke up in the snow. He couldn’t remember anything. If that weren’t disconcerting enough, his first night in this strange land is spent in a dingy jail cell. 

Quickly, the siblings are contacted by someone who knows much more about their past than they do. MKS is a rebel. She is the leader of the espionage team called the Half-Eared Fox, slowly working to dismantle the drug trade of Esmari, a country in the middle of a war she never belonged in.

In an adventure including shape-shifters, zip-lines, flying reptilian birds, and a game of cards, the siblings work on MKS’s side, helping the opposing country of Keradrim negotiate with Esmari, while trying to regain their memories and get home.

Cover Designed by Luisa Baeta

Luisa Baeta is a graphic and typeface designer living and working in London, with a background in graphic design and three years experience as a font designer at London-based type foundry Dalton Maag.

A NaNoWriMo Hack: Sprint Your Way to Writing Success

Need a quick NaNoWriMo hack? We’ve asked our Municipal Liaisons to offer their best tip for November success. First up? Northeast New Jersey’s Hillary DePiano:

No time to write between job, kids, school, rooftop patrols, you say? Don’t worry about finding some big chunk of time to work on your novel. It doesn’t exist. Instead, whenever you have a spare minute, set a timer and write as much as you can until the time is up. Take a break. Repeat. That’s it.

Let me lay at little math on you:

My Wrimos average 550 words in a 15-minute sprint.
That means you could write the entire 50,000 words in about three 15-minute sprints a day (less than an hour!).
That’s under 23 hours total.

And that’s the average. I have personally hit 2,000+ words in a 15-minute sprint and I’m not the fastest typist.

Even if it takes you double the sprints to finish, that’s still just finding half a dozen little moments in your day, not some mythical stretch of uninterrupted time. And the more you do short sprints like this: the faster you’ll write, the easier it will be to pick the story back up where you left it without all the dithering, and the more you’ll realize you’ve actually got the time to write a novel after all.

Hillary DePiano is a playwright, fiction and non-fiction author best known for her bestselling adaptation of Carlo Gozzi’s The Love of Three Oranges, which has been performed in both full length and one-act form in theatres around the world, and as the non-fiction and e-commerce author known as The Whine Seller. Since 2010, Hillary has served as ML for Northeast New Jersey for NaNoWriMo. She also ML-ed two Script Frenzy regions before it’s untimely demise.

Top photo by Flickr user Sean MacEntee.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2015: Day EightEvery November, during...

FOLLOWING FLOTSAM || A fantasy novel being written by T. L. Fitzwilliam || Cover design by Jim Killian


Jim Killian is the Principal/Creative Director of Chop Shop, a Salt Lake City based design studio.


Bernardo Margulis: Graphic designer. Art director. Principal of This Makes Me Happy.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2015: Day Eight

Every November, during National Novel Writing Month, thirty professional designers volunteer to create book cover art inspired by novels being written by aspiring authors from around the globe. Why? To encourage new, diverse voices, and help build a more creative world.  

30 Covers, 30 Days is presented in partnership with designer and author Debbie Millman.  Wrimos: submit your synopses for 30C30D 2015 here.

Read more about these NaNoWriMo 2015 novels-in-progress, and the cover designers, below.

Following Flotsam

A fantasy novel being written this November by T. L. Fitzwilliam.

Temporary work in a museum is rarely glamorous. For a young worker in a maritime museum, it is downright disgusting: cleaning a long-abandoned storage space of decaying boats and whale bones is far from the sterile shrines to art that stereotypical museums are. 

But among the flotsam, jetsam and lagan of the museum, an odd object proves to have magical properties that will change the future of our hero forever.

Cover Designed by Jim Killian

Jim Killian is the Principal/Creative Director of Chop Shop, a Salt Lake City based design studio specializing in melding the past with the future. He likes anything that is loud or has wheels.

 The Staff of Crystals

A thriller/suspense novel being written this November by YWP participant Phil I.

There is a legend of a staff that holds the power to make the philosopher’s stone, and set the world in order… but only if wielded by one special person, chosen by the ancients. Centuries in the making, people like Columbus and Napoleon have tried to find this staff, but to no avail. So it was hidden for centuries… until now.

Join James, Nebula, and Aaron as they find the ultimate formula for the philosopher’s stone, only to get chased by the president, discovered by the Yakuza, and betrayed by their friends. Trust no one… and betray those who betray.

Cover Designed by Bernardo Margulis

Bernardo Margulis: Graphic designer. Art director. Principal of This Makes Me Happy. Hand letterer. Type lover. Pattern repeater. Educator. Crafter. Knitter. Foreign. Middle Child. Color whore. Polyglot. Nice guy.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2015: Day SevenEvery November, during...

MARKED || A romance novel being written by Meaghan Rae || Cover design by Jenny Price


TAMRIN THE TRAVELER || A sci-fi novel being written by YWP participant Lydia || Cover design by Cyril de la Torre Branger


Jenny Price is a designer, strategist, educator.


Cyril De la Torre Branger is the Sydney-based Creative Director of Deltobran.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2015: Day Seven

Every November, during National Novel Writing Month, thirty professional designers volunteer to create book cover art inspired by novels being written by aspiring authors from around the globe. Why? To encourage new, diverse voices, and help build a more creative world.  

30 Covers, 30 Days is presented in partnership with designer and author Debbie Millman.  Wrimos: submit your synopses for 30C30D 2015 here.

Read more about these NaNoWriMo 2015 novels-in-progress, and the cover designers, below.

Marked

A romance novel being written this November by Meaghan Rae.

In a world of soulmates, Felicity Dawson meets hers. She knows she is meant to spend her life with Doug Peterson—and she plans to. But then she meets Reid Burnett. 

In a world of soulmates, everyone only has one. Felicity, it turns out, has two.

And now she has to decide between following the rules of the universe and following her heart.

Cover Designed by Jenny Price

Jenny Price is a designer, strategist, educator. She currently is a design facilitation leader and mentor, guiding higher education teams through discussions and strategies for enhancing community engagement and experiences. Jenny serves as President for AIGA Minnesota, advocating for the betterment of design profession. You can find her on Twitter.

 Tamrin the Traveler

A sci-fi novel being written this November by YWP participant Lydia Loverin.

June Scrivener is a normal teenage girl. She has two best friends, an annoying enemy, and a crush on the most popular kid in school. But everything changes when a mysterious girl named Tamrin somehow time travels from the year 1107 directly into June’s bedroom. 

Now, June has the task of keeping Tamrin hidden, figuring out how to get her home, and most importantly, teaching her how to text.

Cover Designed by Cyril de la Torre Branger

Cyril De la Torre Branger is the Sydney-based Creative Director of Deltobran—a multi-disciplinary design studio specialising in Brand Identity, Brand Management, Digital and Graphic Design. The studio focuses on creating a balance between form and function making aesthetic decisions based on our findings from our core consumer needs to create meaningful experiences.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2015: Day SixEvery November, during National...

AFTER YOU'VE FORGOTTEN || A literary novel being written by C. Johnson || Cover design by Christopher Simmons


LUCIFER MORNINGSTAR || A horror novel being written by YWP participant Dean K. || Cover design by Tony Pinto


Christopher Simmons is a designer, author, advocate, and principal of the San Francisco design office, MINE™.


Tony Pinto is a designer, educator, and fine artist living in Southern California.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2015: Day Six

Every November, during National Novel Writing Month, thirty professional designers volunteer to create book cover art inspired by novels being written by aspiring authors from around the globe. Why? To encourage new, diverse voices, and help build a more creative world.  

30 Covers, 30 Days is presented in partnership with designer and author Debbie Millman.  Wrimos: submit your synopses for 30C30D 2015 here.

Read more about these NaNoWriMo 2015 novels-in-progress, and the cover designers, below.

After You’ve Forgotten

A literary novel being written this November by C. Johnson.

We do not often think of our forgotten objects: used up pens, once-cherished stuffed animals. But these objects carry pieces of us with them, even lost behind desks and in the corners of attics. And as the things we’ve forgotten collect dust and rise in number, so do the parts of us that are forever gone with them, creating importance for themselves and beginning to tell stories of their own. 

One collector of these objects in particular begins to know and befriend people through the things they’ve left behind.

Cover Designed by Christopher Simmons

Christopher Simmons is a designer, author, advocate, and principal of the San Francisco design office, MINE™.

 Lucifer Morningstar: First Impressions

A horror novel being written this November by YWP participant Dean K.

Lucifer works at a gas station in Utah. Angels stop in, and old arguments are rehashed.

Cover Designed by Tony Pinto

Tony Pinto is a designer, educator, and fine artist living in Southern California. He teaches graphic design, art history, and painting at several colleges, and is co-owner of Grace/Pinto Communication Design, with his wife and business partner, Adrienne Grace.

10 Prompts to Get You Out of a NaNoWriRut

All through National Novel Writing Month, published authors will take the whistle, take over our official Twitter account for a week, and act as your NaNo Coach . This week’s NaNo Coach, @SarahOckler, the bestselling author of books including The Summer of Chasing Mermaids , shares 10 prompts to unstick any writer’s block:

Congratulations, writers. You’ve survived the first week of NaNoWriMo! Cue the glitter canons!

Okay, maybe it’s not all sunshine, rainbows, and 2K-word days. Even if you’re burning up the keyboard, chances are you’re going to get stuck at some point—if you haven’t already. Sometimes a scene just doesn’t translate from your imagination to the page, or the characters refuse to cooperate, or you notice a few weak spots in the plot, or you’re just feeling… ugh.

Don’t stress, storytellers. You’re inventing people and conflict and worlds out of thin air—a few speed bumps are to be expected. Yeah, they can be crazy-making—but they don’t have to be showstoppers. The good news? There’s always a way out.

Writing Prompts to Unstick the Stuck

If you’re in a rut, rather than forcing a scene or characters that refuse to budge, take a break and try something different by free-writing with a few of these prompts:

1. Be afraid. Be very afraid. What is your main character’s worst fear? Is it something universal, like the death of a loved one? Or a rare phobia, like turophobia (fear of cheese). Whatever it is, make that fear—or something close to it—show up in a scene. Make her feel like it’s breathing down her neck, waiting for her around every corner, giving her no way out but to face it head on. Be as subtle or over-the-top as you’d like (giant cheese-wielding cheese monster, anyone?)!

2. Worst. Day. Ever! What’s the absolute worst thing that your character believes could happen at this very moment? Got an idea in mind? Cool. Toss it out the window and make something even worse happen.

3. Genre-bender. Writing a romance? Using your existing characters, write the next scene as if your story is now a murder mystery. High fantasy your thing? Throw those elves and warlocks into a soap-style serial drama. Badass international spy hero? Let’s see how she does in a YA paranormal romance. Whatever your genre, mix it up and make your characters think on their feet!

4. Ripped from the headlines. Flip to a random page in magazine or newspaper. What did your eyes land on first? A news story about a kid who discovered a new species of dinosaur? An ad for deodorizing shoe inserts? A weather forecast for a record-breaking heat wave? A job offer for a paranormal investigator? Allow it to inspire a new scene with your characters.

5. Blow it up. Give your character an unexpected kiss, have him start or end up in a fistfight over something ridiculously mundane, or make something literally explode in the background. How do the characters respond to these sudden emotional or physical eruptions?

6. Dream on. What did your character dream about last night? Was it related to her predicament? Was it a ho-hum realistic dream, or a shadowy Jungian hellscape loaded with symbolism (or giant cheese monsters)? Is she a lucid dreamer? If she doesn’t remember her dreams, what about her daydreams or fantasies? Where does her mind wander when she’s drifting off?

7. Go for the block. What is the point-of-view character’s goal in a particular scene? Throw some more obstacles in his way, starting small (minor annoyances) and increasing in scope until there is no possible way he can achieve his goal. Then, find a way for him to achieve it anyway. What did he have to give up in order to win? What is the cost of his actions? What are the consequences? Who or what else is impacted?

8. Fun with fanfic. Choose a beloved character from one of your favorite books, television shows, or movies. What would happen if she walked onto the pages of your novel? How would your characters react? Would they get along? Work together to solve a problem? Go out for coffee? Become besties? Sabotage each other? Cuddle? What could the characters learn from one another?

9. Raise the stakes. What important thing or person does your main character stand to lose right now if things don’t go her way? Good. Take it away from her. Now, give her something else to lose—something even more important. What happens next?

10. Psych 101. Put your main character on the therapist’s couch. What’s bugging him? What deep-seated issue hasn’t he dealt with? What does he talk about with his counselor that he’d never reveal to another character? What would happen if another character discovered this deep, dark secret? Write a scene about that very discovery. Does your character try to deny it? Freak out? Break down in tears? Shrug it off? Kill or blackmail the person who made the discovery so no one else finds out? Are the other characters supportive, afraid, judgmental? Who leaves, and who sticks around?

The scenes you create from these prompts won’t necessarily appear in your final draft (though they might), but by giving yourself permission to have fun and stray from the plan, you’ll likely discover something new about your characters, your story, or even yourself—something that can launch you clear out of that rut.

Let your creativity fly, guys. Go off the rails, get crazy, and then get back to work. Newly freed of your frustrations and limitations, you might just surprise yourself with another 2K-day, rainbows and all.

I’m rooting for you!

@SarahOckler is the bestselling author of The Summer of Chasing Mermaids, #scandal, The Book of Broken Hearts, Bittersweet, Fixing Delilah, and Twenty Boy Summer. Her books have been translated into several languages and have received numerous accolades, including ALA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults. She lives in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2015: Day FiveEvery November, during National...

APOCALYPSE BOYS || A sci-fi novel being written by Emily Ingram || Cover design by Val Lehnerd


CONSTANT CONVERSATIONS || A romance novel being written by YWP participant T. Zacharias || Cover design by Amanda Schutz


Val Lehnerd is a visual communicator/graphic designer, educator, and business owner of Val Lehnerd Design in Las Vegas Nevada.


Amanda Schutz is a creative director, illustrator and artist.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2015: Day Five

Every November, during National Novel Writing Month, thirty professional designers volunteer to create book cover art inspired by novels being written by aspiring authors from around the globe. Why? To encourage new, diverse voices, and help build a more creative world.  

30 Covers, 30 Days is presented in partnership with designer and author Debbie Millman.  Wrimos: submit your synopses for 30C30D 2015 here.

Read more about these NaNoWriMo 2015 novels-in-progress, and the cover designers, below.

Apocalypse Boys

A sci-fi novel being written this November by Emily Ingram.

This is how it is: the world’s gone down the toilet, there’s nothing left to eat but dry noodles, the only people left are killers, and the sun may or may not still exist behind the purple clouds that are choking the sky. Oh, and there’s more carnivorous aliens than anyone knows what to do with, because the apocalypse didn’t suck enough already apparently.

Hawk and Elias don’t know anything about this new world. What could possibly prepare you for a life of sniping aliens and trying not to freeze to death? They’re smart, they’re resourceful, but they’re running out of time—in an invasion, it’s rise up or be subdued, and it’s time to pick a side, before the aliens eat them all.

Cover Designed by Val Lehnerd

Val Lehnerd is a visual communicator/graphic designer, educator, and business owner of Val Lehnerd Design in Las Vegas Nevada. He is well-known for his ability to work through complex visual communication projects, infusing his creative talents to solve his client’s visual problems. He continuously strives to expand the boundaries of design to deliver the very best results.

 Constant Conversations

A romance novel being written this November by YWP participant T. Zacharias.

Fink is an aspiring author in college. His friend recommends a radio station to him, and after he listens for a week or so, he finds himself literally falling in love with the show’s host, Dan. 

As a hopeless romantic, Fink attempts to get Dan to notice him through letters, emails, and constant conversation…

Cover Designed by Amanda Schutz

Amanda Schutz is a creative director, illustrator and artist. She heads her own design company, Curio Studio, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. While she directs and designs everything from ad campaigns to visual identities, her passion for  illustration often touches her work. She has produced visual communication for a variety of clientele, her illustrations have appeared in three children’s books, and her paintings exhibited internationally.

Check Out Your Imagination... Ask Ridiculous Questions

This year, we’ve invited you to tackle NaNoWriMo and check out your imagination at “The NaNoWriMo Library”. We’ve asked some real-life librarians for their best tips on finding inspiration in the stacks. Today, Genee Bright at the New York Public Library challenges you to keep asking “What if?”:

I’m extremely fortunate to be working at The New York Public Library. With 92 locations, there’s a place for everyone to find great resources that can be accessed to promote education, imagination, and personal growth. Being able to work in such an inspiring atmosphere always tugs at my imagination. 

I often find myself wondering what a person might do in certain situations, and at the Mid-Manhattan Library, the people I meet every day allows me to be very creative! 

For example, what if a person picks up a book and inside finds the unsigned confession letter of a murderer listing in detail how they will kill again that same day and where they could find the next letter if not stopped? Or what if they found an uncashed check for a significant amount of money. What would they do and why? These situations may seem far-fetched, but then again you might be surprised by what people use for a bookmark! 

Never stop asking yourself or the world questions because sometimes ridiculous questions evolve into the best and most loved stories. 

For some additional help getting the writing juices flowing:

Try 8tracks.com a free music playlist for when you’re writing. 
Also, if you’re anything like me and need more than a little help with your grammar, try grammarly.com  it’s a great writing enhancement platform. 
Lastly, here at Mid-Manhattan Library, we are hosting two, 2-hour write-ins per week on the 4th Floor PC Lab. We’ll also be tracking the progress of some of our participants on nypl.org’s blogging platform. Meet our MML novelists!

Genee Bright has been working at The New York Public Library for the past four years. Currently, she is an Information Assistant at the Mid-Manhattan Library. She’s attending Queens College for a Master’s of  Library and Information Studies degree and holds a B.A in Art Education from CUNY City College. She lives and works in New York.