Tag Archives: alternating current press

Day 3 of The Juliet Blog Tour

There’s just so much going on, it’s hard to keep up! Yesterday’s post at Lectito was all about my evolving process for writing my novels, and how each one has a different mission–and therefore a different method.

Then today there were two more posts.

At Alternating Current, there’s an exclusive audio clip of me reading from fairly deep into The Juliet—it’s a section set in the 1920s when Becky Skinner, a former prostitute who is now the wife of the mayor of a ghost town, meets a young stunt actress named Moll Grease. Making this clip was especially challenging, as I’ve never done one before, and firing up the software ended up killing my old MacBook Pro. No worries, though. Next day I got a snazzy 2 lb MacBook (rose gold), that came with a free set of Beats headphones.

Then over at Rainbow of Books, I talk about timelines and character sets in The Juliet.In particular, I stress how strong characterization generates organically developing paths. An excerpt:

Having characters return and change makes it easier to pull the universe together, especially if they intersect with multiple plotlines. Intersections are fun, and when plausibly built and interestingly revealed, they’re like miniature mysteries unto themselves. Imagine the mail carrier who knows everyone on his route. Now imagine that he has several unmarked graves in his back yard. He doesn’t just have good information about his community; he’s interesting on his own, as well.

So ends the middle of the journey. I hope you are enjoying these posts as much as I enjoyed writing them. Two more days, four more posts to go!

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#Pitmad is tomorrow: My post at Alternating Current

Alternating Current Blog The SparkThanks to Alternating Current Press for letting me have fun on their blog today, talking about my virgin #pitmad experience the ended with my book under contract. Tomorrow is the next #pitmad, and if you have a book ready to go, I recommend you give it a shot.

If you don’t know what #pitmad is, it’s a quick way to get attention for your manuscript, and right now we’re in a moment when the participants on both sides–authors and publishers/agents–are have wonderful, immediate conversations. It reminds me very much of what it was like 10-12 years ago when online journals were just heating up. You could submit a story in the morning, chat about it with the editor in the afternoon, and see it posted by evening.

If you are new to #pitmad, these are the best resources: Sub It Club’s “How to Pitmad,”and Brenda Drake’s “#PitMad

After a quick chat with my publisher yesterday, I’ve learned that she may sit this one out. She’s got quite a full roster of authors now, many of whom she recruited via #pitmad

Good Luck!

 

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