Linky Roundup
Where is my snow? *makes disappointed face* We were supposed to get 6-12″ today and DC shut down for what amounted instead to a day of rain. Boo! Stupid global warming.
I have a few links for you today:
1. Are you a writer wondering if your story’s working? (Aren’t we all.) My friend and fabulous critique partner Kathleen Foucart has a critique service, and she’s running an awesome contest! If you spread the word on Facebook or twitter or anywhere, really, you will win a FREE crit of the first 500 words of your ms. And you could also win a submission-package critique or a first-chapter critique! Check out her contest post for more details. Katie’s fabulous at asking insightful questions, especially about character motivations or world-building. Even if I don’t answer her questions in the text, it always helps my develop my story more fully.
2. How do you name your characters? I did a post for Corsets, Cutlasses, & Candlesticks last week about the process of naming mine, in which I reveal one of my favorite internet research sites.
3. Do you like YA or MG historical fiction? Obviously I do. Wonder what’s coming out soon? CCC has you covered. There are so many yummy-sounding reads here! I have already read – and loved! and blurbed! – both CHANTRESS and MAID OF SECRETS. THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE JUST and BELLE EPOQUE sound fabulous. And I can’t wait to read TARNISHED because I loved GILT so much! And I have got to catch up on the first books in both Robin LaFevres’ and Bethany Griffins’ series before the sequels land! Which ones are YOU excited about?
As for me, I am making progress on Cahill Book 3! I got some really fabulous positive feedback from two CPs, which has helped banish those pernicious Doubt Monsters…for now. I’ve written 10k in the last 5 days, which is really fast for me. I can’t remember if I’ve used this analogy here before, but for me beginnings are like pushing a boulder uphill and then once I hit the 1/3 or halfway point it’s more like chasing after it downhill. The beginning is…painfully hard. (But as my Amazing Editor pointed out when I told her this: I can push boulders! That is kind of cool, no??) And then something magic happens. My characters become more fully present in my head; they’re what I think about when I’m waking up or going to sleep or in the shower or taking a walk and all the other little in-between moments of my day. That’s where I am now. I like it here. I’ve still got loads to do but it’s starting to feel manageable instead of panic-inducing.
