Lanelle Hall's Blog, page 5

Cover Reveal...

I ntroducing my new cover...
At first I didn't know how I felt about it.  I had to keep looking at it from different angles and I was going to tell the artist to change everything.  But then I gave it a good hard look, and I realized:  it's perfect.  It's dark, edgy, and sexy.  Just like my book.  I hope.  Mean Boys is in the new/young adult genre which I think this cover reflects pretty well.  My sister said it looks like a vampire book (I hope not) I'm guessing it's because the guy is incredibly pale.  He's supposed to be Judas.  He's not the perfect Judas but he's as good as it's going to get.  I do think I'll get another cover made, but, for now this will be my ebook cover.  I hope it makes people want to read.

Still working on Mean Boys...

 (oh look, it's me)I haven't given up on my book, I'm still in the process of working on it.  Recently I got a new job which has been taking up a lot of my time.  A lot.  But that hasn't stopped me from working on Mean Boys.  I utilize my breaks at work by writing my outline or writing little side notes.  I'm so close to being finished.  ><   
With the outline anyways.
My writing process is still a huge work in progress but I plan to put a schedule together in order to churn out this first draft.  Looks like my January release date will definitely be pushed back, way back.  Sadly.  But it will be out, eventually. 
I'm hoping my next book won't take this long, it shouldn't though since this is my first real published novel then again I have no help and I'm paying for everything (cover, advertising, etc) myself.  I also have another story on Wattpad with only three chapters but it's gotten pretty popular.  I'm updating that as well, it's a gay werewolf romance story.  Viewer discretion advised...seriously.  
So if you're into that I'd take a look. 
 Read me

Shinier blurb!

I've been tweaking my blurb for Mean Boys and I'm in love with this newer one I wrote.  I basically added a bit more detail and tried to make the wording sound smoother.  Until Mean Boys is published I'll probably keep tweaking it every now and then.  It's weird how authors can write thousands upon thousands of words but struggle with a short one paragraph blurb. :)
(click to view) (here's it in text)  “So...you're forcing me to be your slave?” I inhaled deeply even though my body had calmed. “Is that the basic gist?”
A reformed bully. Two damaged boys. Bound by blackmail.The only thing Bianca Wilbur wanted was to forget her past and sail through her first and only year at the prestigious Battle St. John Preparatory, by making new friends and maintaining perfect grades. That is until one scandalousraunchy night of Truth or Dare with two of the school's most infamous bad boys, the peculiar Judas and the reckless Zeus aka The St. John Gods,
leads to the unthinkable.
She's intrigued by one and despises the other. 
As Bianca is forcibly dragged into their troubled world secrets spill and dirty lies come out. What happens when the bully becomes the prey?
Mature YA/New Adult. Excessive swearing, sensitive subject matter, and sexual situations .

My Immortal Web Series LOVE!

Before I start this review you guys have to be aware of a certain Harry Potter fanfiction by the name of My Immortal.  A very imfamous fanfiction that has gotten famous because of how silly, terrible, and out of character it is.  It's basically about a girl who goes to Hogwarts and is a huge Mary Sue and in love with Draco Malfoy.  If you're super curious about it just Google it or search Youtube for narrators and you'll see just how bad it actually is.  It's BAD.  This review is about this web series I recently found based on the fanfiction.  
It's super necessary that before you watch this web series you throw out of your mind how the original Harry Potter cast looks and just immerse yourself in what these creators have done.  The characters in this series obviously look nothing like the Harry Potter cast but once you get past that the series becomes just addicting! 
 It was for me.



 Instead of following the fanfiction completely the creators made up their own little story and I'm relieved they did.  If they had followed My Immortal completely it would've been unwatchable.  The characters are super likable, the scenes are well filmed, the acting could use work but it's still nicely executed for what it is.  The girl who plays Hermione is my fave of the actors.
 I adore the way the series was filmed, it reminds me of a show that would've been on The N(before they changed it to TeenNick).  Minus the cursing, there's a lot.  Which I didn't mind AT ALL.  Another great element to this series was the chemistry between the Harry and Draco actors, yes chemistry.  Because in this series there's a Harry/Draco romance.
 I LOVED IT SO MUCH! 

If you're not into boyxboy or gay romance you probably shouldn't watch cause there's a bit of it.  Here's a sneak peak below. 
I can't even...

When I first saw this kiss my eyes were like O.O they did a really good job.

Lastly the music in this series is AMAZING, just great.  I wish I had some of the names of the songs they used.  Such an awesome soundtrack, I was pleasantly surprised.  Whoever chose the songs has a great taste in music.
Loved this series and you guys should give it chance, the first episode is a bit weird.  You have to get use to the way the actors look, the music, etc.  But after the third episode I was hooked.  I'm sad it's so short but it's understandable.  Their resources were probably limited.

 Watch it and give it a chance.  Seriously.
  Here's the first episode. 

Second episode as well.

How not to write a book!

  How not to write a book! M aybe I'm too ambitious but my story is taking a very long time to write.  Very.  I'm still in the rough draft stage and i'm still writing the outline.  Even though I'm close to being finished with the outline I know I'm a super slow writer compared to other authors.  Then again I am still a newb at this whole process.  I don't know if it's normal for writers nowadays to physically write their outlines.  I do.  And I don't just write short chapter summaries I like to write almost everything that happens in the story.  So when it's time to type I won't have many roadblocks.  For my outline I'm using three composition notebooks.  Yes three.  I've filled one, halfway done with another, and using the third for notes. 
Here are my babies.  Seriously they're my babies, if I lose one Mean Boys would never get finished.  Everything that happens in Mean Boys is written in these three books.  All the plot twists, romance, drama, fighting, sexual situations, everything.  Without these books my characters would be flat and lifeless.  No back stories, no history, no personalities.  These notebook are my life.  Pretty much.  The downside of writing out a thorough outline is it takes a lot of time.  For me it's making my writing process go at a snail's pace.  I'm still far from being done with my first draft.  It's really annoying.  I also start a new job soon so that's going to make the process even slower but thankfully I'm on the last section of my outline then all I need to do is type.  Here's a sneak peak inside my three notebooks.
Another reason my book is taking forever is because I keep changing and adding things.  Taking out cliches, adding more actions/scenarios.  I recently read a manga which gave me a pump of inspiration for one of my characters and I changed how they acted in a few scenes of my book.  This happens often.  This is my debut novel, aren't they supposed to be amazing, gripping, and addictive?  That's what I'm hoping for.  Though it may just end up being boring, badly written, and repetitive.  I hope not!!!  That's my worst fear.  There's people who actually want to read my book which makes me so happy.  I haven't done much promotion or any giveaways and there's already people on Goodreads who are interested.  Every time someone adds my book to their to-read list I feel like crying.  It's surreal.  Real people actually want to read my book.  So weird.  That's why my book needs to be as good as I can make it.  If that means it won't be out for a while so be it. Thanks for reading!

If my main male characters were manga...

 The other day I was scrolling on Tumblr (like usual) and I found this drawing of this Manga guy whose the splitting image of one of my main characters, Judas .  It was weird.  The drawing is exactly how I pictured Judas in my head.  From the hair cut to the piercing in the eyebrow.  The only difference is in my book Judas's hair is pink.  Bubblegum pink to be exact.  I wish I knew the artist name but sadly I don't, it's such a perfect drawing.  I'm sure it's probably some character from a Manga but in this particular picture it reminds me of Judas.  Love it!  It's hot and perfect!
  Since I found a picture for Judas I had to find one for my other main male character Zeus , and let me just say that was extremely hard.  For some odd reason.  There's a lot of great blond Manga characters but none that really struck me as Zeus.  I searched and searched, found a generic picture, and was going to settle with that.  Knowing me I'm an extreme perfectionist so it just didn't work.  Which means I started looking again and remembered this Manga I read a long time ago called Let Dai (Woon Soo-yoon).  That main character in a way resembled Zeus so I chose him.  The only difference is the hair in the picture is too long but other than that I'd say he's pretty perfect.
It would be a dream come true to be a writer for a manga or if one my future books was turned into a manga series.  A girl can dream. :)

  It's seriously a really awesome coincidence that both guys just so happen to be shirtless. 

The next big thing interview.

 This is simply "Tag" questions for authors to put on their blogs.  You're supposed to be tagged by an author, answer the questions, then tag five more authors.  I wasn't tagged...and I don't have any authors to tag sooooooo I just decided to answer them anyways.  Enjoy!
 
What is the working title of the book?

Where did the idea come from for the book?
What genre does your book fall under?


What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
 What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

video about means boys

So I made a quick video about my book Mean Boys.  Yes, that's me.  It's on my personal Youtube channel where I post beauty related things but I'm thinking of creating a Youtube channel specifically for author related topics.  In the video I'm just rambling and trying to create more awareness of my book.  Nobody knows about it and for now this is the only type of early promotion I can do.
More to come!

How I picture my characters!

These are simply the lead males, of course these pictures don't belong to me.  I'm using them only as a visual representation of my characters.  I've had these pictures stored in my computer for YEARS .  But they're pretty identical to how I pictured my characters in my head, so here you go! 

Okay I'll admit they look like the typical YA love interests .  They're not.  Far from it.  

TITLE & BLURB REVEAL!!

I know I have a tiny amount of readers but for those who follow me today I'm super excited to make this post.   It's my title and blurb reveal for my upcoming novel!! ! 
By upcoming I mean December 2013 .  Hopefully.  Also here's the link to my new Goodreads.  I still have a while before my book is finished but until then I shall tease you guys with this tiny blurb and the title.

 Here's the blurb below without the pretty image, just in case it's too difficult to read.
“So...you're forcing me to be your slave?” I breathed deeply even though my body had calmed. “Is that the basic gist?”
A reformed bully. Two damaged boys. Bound by blackmail.
The only thing Bianca Wilbur wanted was to forget her past and sail through her first and only year at the prestigious Battle St. John Preparatory by making new friends and maintaining perfect grades. That is until one scandalous night of Truth or Dare with two of the school's most infamous bad boys, the peculiar Judas and the reckless Zeus, leads to the unthinkable. As Bianca is dragged into their troubled world secrets spill and lies come out.