DeadGirl by B.C. Johnson Blog Tour - Updated!

Date of Publication:November 6, 2014
Cover Artist: Andy Garcia
Goodreads
Description:
Dead is such a strong word …
Lucy Day, 15 years old, is murdered on her very first date. Not one to take that kind of thing lying down, she awakens a day later with a seemingly human body and more than a little confusion. Lucy tries to return to her normal life, but the afterlife keeps getting in the way.
Zack, her crush-maybe-boyfriend, isn’t exactly excited that she ditched him on their first date. Oh, and Abraham, Lucy’s personal Grim Reaper, begins hunting her, dead-set on righting the error that dropped her back into the spongy flesh of a living girl. Lucy must put her mangled life back together, escape re-death, and learn to control her burgeoning powers while staying one step ahead of Abraham.
But when she learns the devastating price of coming back from the dead, Lucy is forced to make the hardest decision of her re-life — can she really sacrifice her loved ones to stay out of the grave?
No Plans, No Problem: Writing By DesperationIf you count fully completed works (at least 3+ drafts and all wrapped up with a bow), I've written four books. I've left about six more half-finished along the way, lying in the dirt, choking on their own crappy story ideas. One of the finished ones (Deadgirl) comes out today, which is all that stuff above the text here. However, if I were to look at all my manuscripts, cram them into bikinis and make them walk around on the stage, here's how I would judge them – the ones I like the best, the stories I finished, were the stories I was telling to myself.Fighting procrastination and lack-of-energy has been a problem my entire life. If you took all my teachers from Kindergarten to College and put them in a room and asked them if I ever procrastinated, their combined sigh would blow the walls off the room. Some of my books I've thoroughly outlined, breaking it down by chapter and slicing those still smaller into detailed scenes. Whenever I start pounding away at one of those, I get about halfway and kind of meh the whole thing into the trash. Why? Because I feel like I've already "heard" it, like that weird uncle who keeps telling you the story about that time he slapped a cassowary. The books that last, for me, are the ships I sail with only a few guiding stars to navigate by. Step 1 of the "free-form" novel – have something in mind. Trying to write a book with nothing in your head but a couple characters and an idea is an awful way to start. You'll write a couple fun scenes in the beginning, sure. However, once enough scenes start piling up without any rhyme or reason, you realize the plot looks like it was glued together by a blind raccoon on ecstasy. Then it all becomes nonsense and you pretty much have to stop. So, if you're going to write by the seat of your pants, make sure you're actually wearing pants. For me, I  find knowing the beginning, the end, and at leastthe main character's personal arc will keep me on track and churn out a book that's actually worth reading.Step 2 of the "free-form" novel – know when you have to stop and work things out. Plowing ahead is noble and all that, but if you honestly don't know where to go next don't just start shoving alligators through the transom. It's great for word count, but those filler scenes can become a crutch, and you end up with random action scenes strung together between interminable navel-gazing. If you're lost, it's okay to pull out your compass and figure out where to go next.Step 3 of the "free-form" novel – write it as fast as you can. With the themes, world, plot, and characters all basically existing only in your mind, you have to keep the romance going or else you lose it all. Put those thoughts down quick – sketch the first draft on paper and carve it in stone on the second and third drafts.
If outlining has always made you feel stale and icky, try the "free-form" novel. It's hairpullingly crazy, but it's the most fun you can have at a keyboard. 

About B.C. Johnson:Born in Southern California, B.C. Johnson has been writing since he realized it was one of the few socially acceptable ways to tell people a bunch of stuff you just made up off the top of your head. He attended Savanna High School in Anaheim, and an undisclosed amount of college before deciding that weird odd jobs were a far greater career path.This lead him to such exciting professions as: aluminum recovery machinist, lighting designer, construction demo, sound mixer, receptionist, theater stage hand, wedding security, high school custodian, museum events manager, webmaster, IT guy, copywriter, and one memorable night as the bouncer at a nightclub. He is trying very hard to add “vampire hunter” and “spaceship captain” to that list.He currently lives in Garden Grove with his supernal wife Gina, his half-corgi, half-muppet dog Luna, and his new half-grayhound, half-living-tornado-of-destruction Kaylee. He also spends time with his two brothers, his parents, and his close friends, whose primary pursuit are usually healthy debates about movie minutiea. When he’s not working or writing, he’s been to known to pursue all conceivable geeky avenues of interest including but not limited to video games, the sort of TV shows/movies Benedict Cumberbatch might star in, graphic novels, podcasts, funny gifs, the whole thing.He’s also been known to apply his special brand of hyperbole and mania to pop-culture humor essays for various websites that can be found on his homepage, bc-johnson.com. B.C. also has a high school noir short story called “The Lancer” available on Kindle.Deadgirl is his first novel. Find B.C. Johnson Online:Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads