Chris Baty's Blog, page 44

30 Covers, 30 Days 2020: Day 29

Today’s cover was designed by Roxane Gay, based on the Erotic novel Off Screen by Rowen A. Leander.

Off Screen

Having his roommate’s brother crash in their spare room for a few months shouldn’t be a problem for Floris. However, Niels isn’t just his best friends twin, he is also the erotic model that has starred in countless of Floris’ fantasies over the past few years. And now he’s sharing a bathroom - and a very thin wall - with him.
A recent art school grad, Niels is juggling two freelance jobs, sleeping in his brother’s spare bedroom and still barely making ends meet. Pretty much the only upside of his current situation is his new roommate: Floris Rosing.

About The Author

The author has chosen not to reveal their secret identity.

About The Designer

Roxane is an author and designer who has received multiple awards for her writing. She is also a professor and editor. Find out more about Roxane here!

30 Covers, 30 Days 2020: Day 28

Today’s cover is brought to us by Randy Gregory II. This cover is based on the Fantasy/Steampunk novel by Ivana L. Truglio!

The Gioellieri Guild

The annual Guild Ball is only three months away. The host this year is the Gioiellieri Guild, comprising goldsmiths, silversmiths and corallini.

Ciro Corallino, the finest coral worker in Tor'Esint, holds the highest Guild Status – a Gold Guild Mark. At the age of seventy-one, Ciro has taken on his first apprentice – his ten year old niece.

His Guild has given him the opportunity of a lifetime – to create a coral statue as the centrepiece for the ball. It’s the opportunity he’s always wished for, but strays from the Gioiellieri area to the Artiste area. With the Inter-Guild Ban in place, any Guild member who collaborates with another Guild or strays out of their own Guild’s area is heavily penalised.

Imprisonment would seem the worst punishment, but in this Guild-based society, being stripped of Guild Marks is a worse fate. Ciro will risk everything to create a masterpiece for his Guild.

About The Author

This author is hiding their identity because they are a time traveler!

About The Designer

Randy Gregory II is a designer who focuses on bringing clarity to the complex & ambiguous. His experiences run the gamut from print projects to enterprise grade digital products to museum branding, and everything in between.  Randy is relentlessly curious, and is always looking for the opportunity to utilize new tools or techniques.  

YWP Participant Pep Talk: Inspiration to Write a Bigger, Better Story.

We could all use a little extra cheerleading during NaNoWriMo—so, we asked some of our Young Writers Program participants to write and share their own pep talks! Today, YWP writer Emma S. is here to give you some extra pep:

There’s a lot going on in the world right now, and it effects countless people. And sometimes, the only way out of our world is into our new world; the world of books and writing. But what if we add our real world into our books?

​How can you stay inspired with the story you’re working on? By using the world around us. Here is an example: One day, I was on a bus, and it slid on the ice. We were okay, but it got me thinking about what might have happened, which turned into the idea for a story about a girl who was in an accident.

That’s an example of a possibility, but (and this is a very big but) how can we add what’s happening in our lives, in our current world, into our story? Not something that didn’t happen, or could happen (like a meteor destroying the Earth), but more like what is happening NOW as you read this.

No, I don’t mean right now like, your annoying little sister/brother is trying to see what you’re doing. I mean the hardships and things that are going on around us. Like illnesses, strikes, and inequality. We can use those to inspire us into writing a bigger, better story. ​​

You can use the small stuff too, like your favorite store closing, or getting a new book or trying a new food. Even seeing a butterfly. Though, yes, these are not enough of a topic for a WHOLE novel, but they are good for chapter ideas, or something that happens to keep the characters to make them seem more realistic and more relatable. ​

You can also include real traits from people that you know or have observed in your characters to make them seem more human and real. This doesn’t mean that your novel has to be nonfiction. Your novel can be science fiction, fantasy, or even literature. Just add some nonfictional flair to keep your reader interested. You can add historical events, or even present events

If you’re not sure how to start or continue a writing project you’re working on, let’s brainstorm some things that are going on in our world right now that we can add into our stories:

You can channel your experience of quarantine. Your character could be exposed to a sickness by a family member or a friend. Your characters can go through an isolation and cannot see other characters. Your characters can learn something YOU did during this experience. (For me, it was chess and Greek.) You can add anything that you think is good, even something as small as a TV show you started watching.You can add movements and uprisings against inequality or injustice in your novel. Maybe your character finds themselves in a place where they don’t feel safe, and they have to figure out how to get out of that situation. Perhaps your character has a belief and makes a petition to fight an unjust law. Maybe your character is standing up for something that they have a strong moral belief in.

​What else is happening that you can add in your novel? Small things are helpful, too, as I mentioned. If you’re feeling stuck, you can always brainstorm your ideas and plan out your novel.

So get out your pens and pencils, and start brainstorming!

Emma has been writing since she was a kid. She enjoys singing, dancing, reading, writing, and drawing. She has written many drafts for novels and she hopes to finish a novel someday.

Photo Courtesy of Greg Willson via Unsplash.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2020: Day 27

Who doesn’t love a good Supernatural Children’s Fiction novel?! Check out this amazing cover by Samantha Barnes and it’s really great synopsis by Emily Connolly!

The Oddities

When Charlotte Dash wakes up dead in the afterlife, she’s mostly relieved that her beloved red boots crossed over with her. The 12-year-old has seen dead people all her life and believes that maybe now is her chance to meet her grandmother who died before she was born: hero archaeologist Maya Midsumpter.
However, on her arrival, Charlotte is informed that due to her young age and apparent “predisposition towards wickedness,’ she must attend Bartleby’s Academy of the Dead and New Emotions Within Souls (B.A.D.N.E.W.S.) in the shadowy In-Between. 

Graduating means earning a spot in the ethereal Wonderland and failing out means an eternity in the Badlands.
When Charlotte sneaks out to find her grandmother, she meets a mysterious kid named Sharkey, along with three other misfit students. In a shaky alliance with a thirteen-year-old girl from 1940s Japan (Mai), an eleven-year-old boy from 1500s Mesoamerica (Xocoyotzin), and a twelve-year-old boy from 18th century France (Louis), the team discovers that not everything at the Academy is as it seems, especially when members of their group begin developing new powers in the afterlife. After discovering a secret door in the academy library, the team plans the heist of an after-lifetime in order to discover who they really are.  

About The Author

This author has chosen not to reveal their secret identity.

About The Designer

Samantha (Sam) Barnes is a digital designer, web developer, writer, and social strategist, helping clients build brands and create online experiences with a user experience first focus. In addition, she leads the Interactive track of the Digital Design degree program at Tulane University.

Sam earned her B.F.A. from Nicholls State University with a concentration in Graphic Design. After graduation, she made her way to New Orleans as an optimistic front-end web developer. Most of the time, Sam is a mom in a big, blended family and a giant nerd. There isn’t a topic that you could find that she probably does not have an opinion about or would want to know more about.  

“There will always be a reason why you cannot finish your...

“There will always be a reason why you cannot finish your project. Now go ahead and list all the reasons you not only can, but you most definitely will.”

—Elizabeth Acevedo

Elizabeth Acevedo is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Poet X , which won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, the Pura Belpré Award, the Carnegie medal, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and the Walter Award. She is also the author of With the Fire on High —which was named a best book of the year by the New York Public Library, NPR, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal—and Clap When You Land , which was a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor book and a Kirkus finalist.

She holds a BA in Performing Arts from The George Washington University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland. Acevedo has been a fellow of Cave Canem, Cantomundo, and a participant in the Callaloo Writer’s Workshops. She is a National Poetry Slam Champion, and resides in Washington, DC with her love.

Read Elizabeth’s full pep talk here.

Loved Elizabeth’s pep talk? Follow her and let her know on Instagram!

Image created by Sandra Moore.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2020: Day 26

Today’s novel is a Romance and Suspense novel: The Underground Menagerie by Darcy Pope and the cover is designed by Roshanak Keyghobadi.

The Underground Menagerie

“Eleanor March needed a change after the life-altering year at graduate school. What better way to do that than fly 2,000 miles away from friends and family for a tour guide job at a new museum? When El lands in Denver, she finds that the altitude isn’t the only thing she needs to get used to. On top of making sure her new apartment is secure, she manages to grab the attention of Dr. Clark Bishop, an annoyingly handsome paleontologist contracted by the museum. Through several encounters in and out of the workplace, El manages to discover his secret: he is smuggling fossils and artifacts into the United States to sell them on the Black Market. After being found out, Clark offers her the opportunity to join in on his trade. All signs pointed out that this was the change that El has been searching for. When she accepts, she’s pulled into a dangerous, yet exciting, world of secrecy and romance. But when the danger becomes lethal, El finds that she could easily be buried deep beneath the earth.”

About The Author

This author has chosen to remain anonymous.

About The Designer

Roshanak Keyghobadi is an Assistant Professor of Visual Communications at SUNY Farmingdale. She holds a doctoral degree in Art and Art Education from Columbia University and her MFA and BFA are both in graphic design. She writes regularly on contemporary art and design for publications such as Neshan, Design Observer and Voice and her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in museums and galleries. Roshanak’s art practice is focused on mixed media collage. Follow her on Instagram!

30 Covers, 30 Days 2020: Day 25

Look at this super cool cover based on the YA/LGBT novel by M.K. River and designed by Debbie Millman.

Canaries in Cages

Following her passion was the most important thing in Liv’s life; she ignored the news, preferring to spend her time on her extensive plant collection and looking for her dream girl at open mic night. Nora has spent her whole life with a group of survivalists preparing for the collapse of society, pushing her own desires to the side. When the entire country does dark one afternoon, the two girls form an unlikely partnership to build a family out of strangers to survive the plague that has fallen on their home. Somewhere between the supply runs and late-night talks, a secret threatens to tear their fragile world apart, and they will have to decide what’s most important: love or safety.   

The LGBTQ+ end-of-the-world novel that nobody asked for but hopefully everyone will enjoy! They spend most of the novel in a cabin with a found family of other young doomsday preppers, splashes of humor and a found family vibe. I really want to show an LGBTQ+ love story where the focus ISN’T on their sexuality, but on them as full characters.

About The Author

M.K. is a 26-year-old cautious optimist with a passion for houseplants. By day she works as a communication specialist for a laboratory and by night she works on her novel with her fearless companion, a cat named Pepper Pawts, curled up in her lap. A first-time novelist, she has gotten through her first NaNoWriMo with coffee, cookies, and carefully curated music playlists. She hopes you find some joy while jumping into the little worlds she creates!

About The Designer

Debbie Millman is host of the award-winning podcast Design Matters, the world’s first podcast on design; Chair of the first ever Masters in Branding Program at the School of Visual Arts, Editorial Director of PrintMag.com, and the author of six books on design and branding. She has worked on the design and strategy of over 200 of the world’s largest brands. She has been curating the covers of NaNoWriMo for seven years.

YWP Participant Pep Talk: Reset Yourself.

We could all use a little extra cheerleading during NaNoWriMo—so, we asked some of our Young Writers Program participants to write and share their own pep talks! Today, YWP writer Plaksha D. is here to give you some extra pep:

Hey, writers!

So, you got the courage to brave this November. COOL! You have chosen to write, which is significant. But you stepped further and did something which sets you different from the crowd: You challenged yourself.

Yes, my buddy, first things first: give yourself a pat on your back because you took this decision. Now, to survive NaNo, you need to push yourself. You must, and I know you can. Your preparations are going… characters, settings, villains and all. And finally, now it’s time to decide what to do about your goals.

If you’re on track or ahead with your goals, great! But maybe you got over-excited, and you have set goals you will not achieve. Yes, you heard me right. Maybe you do not have a consistent writing habit. Maybe 200 words is the farthest you’ve gotten.

Listen, you are all lion-hearts for pushing yourself, but keep in mind the extent which you can bear. Imagine a 2-year-old weightlifting 30kg. If you find it hard to extract 500 words a day, maybe it’s time to reset the goal.

Or, reset yourself. 

A great speed and unlimited words require prominent strategies. You might need help amending yourself, so here are some of my tips for you.

1. Write.

Write every day. Go for word-sprints. The more you write, the more you know about your writing capabilities. After 2-3 days, when you get an average daily word-count, set new goals or increase counts by 50/80 words every-single day—even if that means you keep writing into December.

2. Let it go.

If you find it a bit difficult—take a break. And in this pause, do not think of it. Just leave it aside and go, grab some air or your TV remote or some chocolate and then come back, just focusing on your writing.

3. Talk to yourself on the page.

Probably this is the best thing I ever discovered. Imagine someone sitting in front of you who has no idea of what you want to deliver. How will you show/tell them that thing? Pour that talk into words. (Additionally, a great practice to get your dialogues realistic!)

4. Breathe and explore.

Go out of the walls and explore the beauty… because you are writing a story, my friend, which focuses on many unique, diverse scenes. Go for walks or a play. Just pen down your experiences.

5. Play Random and be a Panster.

Pick a scene or an experience you had (it can be from the above exercise!) Bonus points if it is as small as a sentence. Now brainstorm and develop a scene around it. Make sure while you do so, you do not reread what you have written. Just scribble whatever you are thinking. Because this can be a major turnback, avoid editing while drafting.

I hope my tips helped. So, you are now ready to crack it. If not physically, then be prepared mentally. You will achieve that goal!

But…

Even if you don’t, do not lose hope.

Because success is a journey, dear writer, not a destination.

Live the journey.

Happy Nano!

Plaksha D. is a thirteen-year-old chocoholic from India who admires learning new things. Obsessed with fantasy novels like Harry Potter, she is ambitious to have her works published one day. She is passionate in writing at any spare time she finds, of which most is balanced with her education, but feels fortunate for the boosting support and motivation her family shares. She is a bookworm and loves dancing, volleyball, and paints wildly. Fantasy, mystery, and poems is what she writes the most and adores nature with her words.

Photo Courtesy of Alex Alvarez via Unsplash.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2020: Day 24

Check out this Fantasy title by YWP Participant Will Maynard! This cover was designed by NaNoWriMo’s very own Programs Intern, Sandra Moore!

The One Who Falters

If somebody had told Ted that taking home three stray puppies would end in so much chaos and confusion, not to mention deadly situations, he probably wouldn’t have done it. And he definitely wouldn’t have kept that amulet that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

But, as is the way of the world, no guardian angel came to warn him, nor did he have any flashes of the future that prevented him from blissfully sauntering into the trap that powers mightier than gods had set for their enemy. And thus, fate runs its course.  

About The Author

This young author wanted to stay anonymous but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate this awesome novel!

About The Designer

Sandra is a NaNoWriMo participant herself who always admired the 30C30D initiative and is beyond thrilled to be included! When she’s not found reading speculative fiction or giving herself carpal tunnel through frantic writing, she’s taekwondo-ing or designing.

How to Get to The End of Your Novel (Not Just 50K)

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Dabble, a 2020 NaNoWriMo sponsor, gives you everything you need: manuscript, story notes, plotting, goals, drag-and-drop, auto-focus, auto NaNoWriMo word count submission, syncing between all devices (including mobile), and more. Today, they’ve teamed up with KJ Dell’Antonia from the #AmWriting podcast to bring you some tips on finishing your story:

I adore Nanowrimo. Tell me it’s impossible to write a whole novel in a month, especially a month with Thanksgiving in it, and I will set out to prove you wrong. My first novel, The Chicken Sisters (out 12/1 from Putnam) started as a NaNo project, and I’m hoping to be able to say that about my third as well. 

That said, I know myself. My first novel clocks in at around 107K, my current WIP draft is at 99K. I favor long, convoluted sentences. I like to express things in sets of three—reasons the character is reacting as she is, emotions that are bombarding her, the ways her body responds—or even five: lists, smells, tastes, memories, expressions. And, as I have just demonstrated, I tend to use a lot of punctuation while I’m doing it. 

I do this from the very beginning. If I’m writing a scene, I write a whole scene. The people move, they eat, they smell and taste and feel, they think about their backstory: the whole shebang. Historically, that’s meant two things. First, when November 30 rolls around, I’ll have 50,000 words—but I’ll only have a draft of about half of my story.

Second, I’ll have put in a lot of time writing those long sentences and elaborate scenes. The terrible truth about my first drafts is that the writing tends to be pretty good. The dialogue flows, the action moves, there’s humor and pathos and feeling in the way the characters interact with one another.

It’s the story that usually sucks. 

Getting to The End, not The Middle

I suspect that to some extent it will always be this way for me. I plot, then I write, then I discover that the plot doesn’t create room to bring the character to the place where she needs to be and I have to go back and do it all over again. But I also suspect I could do that initial finding my way to a character arc and plot that weave together in a way that satisfies the whole a lot more efficiently if I just wrote fewer words. 

Make a Plan, and Try Dabble

To do that, I need a plan that forces me out of my usual loquacious style, and here it is: I divide my 30 days and 50,000 words into a beginning (6 days, 10K) , a middle (18 days, 30K) and an end (6 days and 10K again). I use Dabble Writing Software to lay out the plot lines as they develop and try to maximize the number of things every scene advances—and I set it to count every word, not just the ones in the manuscript! World-building and character riffing are fine as long as I stick to the schedule.  

Write Some, Pre-write Some or Just Say What Happens

Next, I pay attention to time and word count. If I’m lingering and I need to move along, I throw down some plans and some prewriting. Conversation about the Halloween event here. Town history TK.  Some prescient line that recurs at end.

So that’s my weird NaNoWriMo 2020 plan: write fewer words, but get more of the whole picture on the page, with the goal of finding my way to “the end” instead of “the middle”. I know (and you know) that it won’t really be the end. There will be much, much work ahead—but I’ll have a draft. It will be a terrible draft, as it should be, but it will help me do the work I find hardest: not writing the scenes but finding the story. If I’m lucky I’ll be putting flesh on the bones; if I’m not, I’ll be rebuilding a scaffolding, not taking down a whole house. 

KJ Dell’Antonia is the co-host of the #AmWriting podcast , a weekly show offering actionable advice on craft, productivity and creativity for writers in all genres. Her debut novel, The Chicken Sisters , will be out from G.P. Putnam’s Sons December 1, 2020. Follow her NaNoWriMo progress on Instagram: @kjda and find more at kjdellantonia.com .

Top photo by Anton Shuvalov on Unsplash.