Weekend Progress Report

It's been a long time since I've done a Weekend Progress Report, so I'll leave all the nitty gritty for next time. I wasn't allowed to post anything after the Writer's Voice post until all the picks were through, so it's been awhile since I've posted anything at all. Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the next round of the Writer's Voice, but I did get introduced to a lot of great blogs and I'm super excited about the entries who did make it! Especially the ones for the manuscripts I've been lucky enough to Beta read :) How about you? Did any of your favorites make it in? Are you going to follow the next round?

Still though, I was a bit disappointed about not making it further in the contest, but YA fantasy writer Kat kindly bestowed the Kreativ Blogger award upon me to cheer me up!

In order to accept the award, I need to answer 10 questions and also share 10 random facts about myself. So here goes :)

10 Questions

What is your favorite song? Gosh, this really depends on my mood. Right now though, I'd go with Andreas Kleerup - Until We Bleed and anything on the Twilight soundtracks!

What is your favorite dessert? My Mom's amazing NY Cheesecake :) And cupcakes - definitely have a weakness for cupcakes!

What ticks you off? People not letting me get off the train before they force their way into it. Grr.

What do you do when you're upset? Take a nap - if I'm in a bad mood then it's usually just because I haven't gotten enough sleep.

Which is/was your favorite pet? My cat, Jules. She's a girl, but she's named after Jules from Pulp Fiction anyways.

Which do you prefer, black or white? Black. White tends to be rather headache-inducing, imo.

What is your biggest fear? Never finding satisfaction in my career (never making it as an author).

What is your attitude mostly? Cynical (if that counts), but I'm working on it ;)

What is perfection? The Pacific Northwest, or coastal Maine. I love the rough beauty of the ocean and the trees softened by grey fog.

What is your guilty pleasure? Chai tea lattes and chocolate...yumm.

10 random facts

1) Before I start writing, no matter the time of day, I make a big cup of hot tea to set the mood.

2) I have degrees in both Biomedical Engineering and Bioimaging. I was always drawn to English and Literature, but was determined to get an education which which wouldn't leave me jobless after graduation. Guess what I wish I'd studied?

3) I didn't realize it at first, but looking back, I seem to have learned more about how to deal with tough situations in my life from characters in books than I have from anywhere else.

4) Writing the villians into a story is one of my favorite parts. Although, I seem to have a tendency to sympathize with them a lot (maybe too much). But hey, villians didn't start out all bad, right?

5) Using the phone makes me nervous. I'm much more likely to order food for delivery if I can do it online.

6) I've found the best CPs online, but I still crave a relationship with a real-life writing buddy.

7) Twitter is hard. I love reading everyone's tweets but find myself feeling like a weird stalker person whenever I want to respond to a tweet which wasn't directed at me specifically.

8) When Robert Jordan passed away without finishing the Wheel of Time series, I was honestly grief-stricken and down for at least a week. It was a strange feeling to have about a person, his imaginary world and characters, though we'd never met.

9) I can't stand apple juice. Just one whiff of the stuff makes me feel a bit ill. Love apples though!

10) Though I avoided it for awhile (no reason why), I recently watched my first episode of Dexter and now I'm hooked!

And I'd like to pass the Kreativ Blogger award on to these awesome blogs (not sure if any of them already got one or not)!

Larissa

R. C. Lewis

Theresa Paolo

Carissa Taylor

The Writer's Voice Entry: DAUGHTER OF THE MOON

The Writer’s Voice” is a multi-blog, multi-agent contest hosted by Cupid of Cupid's Literary Connection, Brenda Drake of Brenda Drake Writes, Monica B.W. of Love YA, and Krista Van Dolzer of Mother. Write. (Repeat.). It is based on NBC’s singing reality show The Voice, so the four hosts will serve as coaches and select projects for their teams based on queries and first pages.

I made it into the first submission period which was today at 9:00am EDT. There is another submission period tonight at 9:00pm EDT via the Linky on any of the four hosting blogs - so if you haven't entered already, get your clicking finger warmed up (you'll need the link to your blog and your name ready to enter the linky)!

Here's my entry (wish me luck and here's to hoping one of the judges will select DAUGHTER OF THE MOON for the next round):

Query:
Seventeen-year-old Selina Kane always knew she was different, but never imagined she was last-living-necromancer different. Not until she starts speaking the language of the Underworld and visiting Acherusian Lake in her dreams. And then Blake storms into her life, claiming to be her bonded protector and making her blush and stumble over her words. Blake warns Selina about Ciara, queen of the undead. Ciara has gained ground in the world of the living, and it isn’t a secret that she feels threatened by Selina’s return.

Before long, the undead attack and Selina watches helplessly through the only spell she can conjure – a protective shield – as Blake is dragged away in her place. Selina assumes the undead have murdered him and she turns to the necromantic powers she hardly knows how to use, risking her life to search for Blake in the Underworld. But Selina doesn’t find his soul resting peacefully in Acherusian Lake. Blake’s been transformed into one of the undead, and the guards of the Underworld expect her to find and destroy him.

Selina doesn’t care what the guards’ idea of her duty as a necromancer is; she’s determined to get Blake back in one piece. There is one spell, one that would save Blake’s soul, but she’d have to kill him to use it, and worse, transform him into a ferryman for the Underworld. There may be other ways to save him though, if she's willing to make dark alliances with the undead. Selina knows she shouldn’t, but with Blake’s life in jeopardy, the line between good and evil starts to blur.

DAUGHTER OF THE MOON: ACHERUSIAN BOUND is a YA Urban Fantasy complete at 53,000 words and will appeal to readers of both Garth Nix and Lauren Kate. It is a stand-alone novel with series potential.

First 250 Words:

Selina was probably the only seventeen-year-old with her own burial plot, and once a year, she looked forward to nothing as much as visiting her grave.

“I can give you a ride to school today, if you want. Since it’s your birthday,” Jess said, jingling the keys to the old Chrysler she’d inherited from Grandpa last summer.

“Thanks, Sis, but actually, I want to visit my mother on the way so I’ll just ride my bike.”

“We can stop at the cemetery on the way home,” Jess offered.

“I’d rather go now.” She would have already been at the cemetery a minute past midnight, if she’d dared.

“Yeah, sure. No problem. See you tonight,” Jess said. Her eyes were full of understanding and Selina turned away to hide the shame creeping into her face. Selina and Jess, like all of their brothers and sisters, had been adopted. But Jess had been thirteen when her parents died, Selina had been an infant. Using the loss of a mother she barely even remembered with someone like Jess was wrong, and Selina knew it. But she had to get to the cemetery before the wild roses covering her grave bloomed.

Her hands shook with excitement as she pulled her bike out of the side yard and closed the gate behind her. She jumped onto the saddle and pedaled down the driveway as fast as she could. Every moment spent on the road was one moment in which her roses might bloom without her.