Pausing to Enter a Contest

[A contest about Q-source]

My writing group, League of Utah Writers, sent me information on an intriguing contest.  I thought it would be a fun thing to try.  Entries are meant to be only 1000 words or fewer, and all need to have three Q words in it.  We're right now working on gathering up drafts of unpublished pieces as well as fresh brainstorms.  I know hour chances of winning aren't that high.  I've very rarely won writing contests of any type, but as with our writing series, it's something my boy and I can work on together. 

 

[Entering a contest-source]

 I've been trying to brainstorm ideas for three weeks, since I first heard of the contest.  The due date is tomorrow, so I know I don't have a lot of time.  But I finally decided rather than to tack these words onto a story that's been sitting around for a while to start afresh, to dig into those words and try to bring the meaning out of them.  We may use some stories my boy's already written, possibly including some super chickens.  If they get published, I'll announce it.  But we'll definitely also start something new.  And that's always exciting.  I recommend trying it. 

Looking forward to a Break

[The juggle continues: source]

 With the crazy juggle that has been my life this semester, I've been thankful for every scrap of time I could use for writing. I have made some progress, but much of that was with getting feedback to improve what I've already written, as I said last time.  Over the next month, the holidays pick up, and the obstacles between me and getting the time to write start fading again. I will be able to make much faster progress and actually use that feedback.  

[The publisher question: source]

I'm hoping that I'll be done with books 3 and 4 by the end of the break, so I'll be able to explore the next steps of bringing you these books. If I can make connections and find a regular publisher, I'd love that because it's likely to get more widespread readership.  

[Talking animals: source]

However, I know chapter books and middle-grade fiction are hard to place with agents and publishers because they're considered not very profitable.  Add the variety within the lore and series and the essential aspect of talking animals, and my optimism is not high.  However, I still have the plan of a hybrid publisher who can spread word of these fun series far and wide.  One way or another, I will keep working to bring these books to you.. 

Seeking Feedback

[Feedback; source]

While I'm working on book 4, I'm also looking through some detailed feedback on book 3 I got on the book before I seriously revamped it.  Some of that feedback still applies, but I'm also getting feedback on the rewritten version.  I want to make it as polished as possible.  I'm also hoping to get another beta reader for other books in this series, and this is supposed to be a way to do it.  

[Getting published-source]

Meanwhile, I have also had the recommendation to see if I can join a national children's writers' group to make connections that may help either publish or spread the word on both Doomimals and Just Us Chickens. I would very much like as wide a readership as possible. I have a hybrid publisher standing by, but it would be nice to find a traditional publisher with a wider readership.  I just know that chapter books and middle grade fiction often are hard to traditionally publish. I've tried some already with agents and publishers.  My friend, who is actually in the publishing field, suggested that the first three books of a middle-grade fiction may be enough to get someone interested but also indicated the nature of middle grade fiction is that it is hard to get published.  

One way or another, I will bring it to a publisher soon.  It may be traditionally published, or it may be via my hybrid publisher I've mentioned.  One way or another, I hope to make it available to you soon.  

A Complicated Juggle

[Juggle-source]

I'm back around to working full-time as a transcriber and online college instructor, which means I'll be juggling work with writing.  On the bright side, I made it through the first trilogy of my series, Doomimals.  I have rewritten all three books over the summer, one per month of the summer, basically.  It's been wonderful to have time to take books that weren't bad and turn them into books you will enjoy reading.  On the not-so-bright side, things will slow down some since I have to reprioritize and have urgent items to deal with for a while.  

[An illustration from book 3 by Ghostelle.]

Last time I blogged, a month ago, I was just then puzzling over book three.  It was a book with a protagonist who was fairly weak, who was not much of an actor in her own story.  The normal world was her cousin's world and not even hers.  The climax was confusing and weak.  The whole thing needed to be rewritten.  And in the last month, I found Tessa's voice.  I found a way to start in her world, with her family, and to allow her take charge of her underworld, slowly gaining confidence through the adventure.  The climax is exciting and triumphant because I turned to my creatively genius boy to help me write it.  

Now, I'm ready to start working on book four.  It should be fairly simple because it already has a strong voice, and its events are fundamentally sound.  It mostly needs a polish. And I'm looking forward to getting it ready for you. 

A Roleplaying Game

[dice; source]

Next on the list of merch that may come with our books or at least may be available at some point with our chapter books is a tabletop roleplaying game that my teenaged boy is working on.  He is also working on the video game but has taken time out to work on this for a while.  It is somewhat inspired by D&D, somewhat by GURPS (Generic Universal Roleplaying System), and somewhat by TOON, but it's a lot simpler than all of them because he's just one kid, and I'm just one playtester, though we're likely to be able to find more.  

[Aliens from our books.]

The game will contain several of the alien races we invented for my Doomimals, his Just US Chickens, and their extended universe.  It will have aspects of magic, tech, supers, and other sources of power and will allow the player and the narrator (the equivalent of the game/dungeon master) to enter their version of our world.  He's getting to the point where we can playtest it and figure out if it works for an audience.  He's not sure if he wants to make it available to you just yet.  I imagine that will depend on how well it tests.  I hope to be able to share most of the merch he's working on at the same time as the books. I'll be delighted to share as much of it with you as I can very soon. 

Facing a Major Rewrite

 

[Editing-source]

I'm wrapping up one book and embarking on another rewrite, but this one will be far more intensive than the ones I've done heretofore.  Others needed polish, emotional depth, connections, themes, and the like.  They needed to be streamlined and have greater connections made.  This one is one I knew even as I drafted it that it didn't feel right.  Some books practically write themselves once you know your characters, the overall plot, and the basic events that will go into a given chapter.   It's always exhilarating to find out what the characters are going to say and do because I don't preplan, just find out as the events unfold, just as my characters do.  But writing this book felt like pulling teeth.  I didn't fully know the main character or understand why and how of the plot, and it shows in the draft.  

[An illustration that I hope won't need to be redone-thanks again, Ghostelle.]

One complication as I rewrite this is I already had my illustrator draw an image for each chapter.  At the time, I didn't yet understand how very much would have to be rewritten.  I hope I'll be able to use most of them, but I can think of at least a few that will have to be replaced as the story reshapes itself to get more at the heart of its main character.  

[My characters by Ghostelle]

Part of the sticky part will be keeping the voice interesting. At least one beta reader found the main character dull.  The Doomimals books alternate perspectives, one for each book.  Davis, the only male protagonist, starts the first book.  Through the book, the narrative explores the thinking and adventures of a snarky, ADD peacemaker nerd in a first-person style.  I didn't even know he was a peacemaker (of the enneagram) personality type until I rewrote the book, and everything he did, said, or thought fit that character.  His voice is distinct.  The second book is from the heart and soul of his twin, Kitt, a very opinionated performer "princess," one who is all about her image and impressing people. Her voice, too, is distinct and strong.  Mostly, I needed to shift her voice toward her pain at missing her mom and her desire for her mom to be proud of her when they met again. 

[A close look at Tessa, one of my pics.]

This third book is from the perspective of the third character, Tessa, the youngest character, one I first saw as the weakest and the shyest, an animal lover pacifist.  That's a hard voice to keep fresh and interesting. But as I've rewritten the other books, her voice came out more distinctly as a thinker, an intellectual who memorizes zoology books and intellectualizes everything. I think I'll be able to get to her heart if I rewrite her first book starting with her heart, with her relationship with her parents.  So instead of starting in her cousins' world and home, where we've been until now, we start in her world.  How else can you really get to know her?  Once I get this book down, I think her other perspectival books will work better.  I look forward to introducing these three unique characters to you once I've made them ready for your enjoyment.  

(Almost) Full Time Writing

[Recovering from burnout-source]

It took me a while to recover from burnout from a very long, difficult school year.  Now, I'm trying to spend all the time I can, as close to full time as I can, rewriting the books and getting them ready for publication using the editor's feedback. During the school year, I gather up the few scraps I can and try to write a little bit.  But during the summer, I get real time. When I'm not teaching or transcribing (my two full or part time jobs during the school year, which become very part time jobs during the summer), I'm focusing all my time on writing. 

[Editing-source]

I'm now able to dig right into writing.  First, I'll go over the feedback I've received from various sources and make sure I know which direction I'm headed in, then I'll dig into each chapter, making sure I follow the right format and have at least one turning point per chapter.  Some chapters and even spans of book have to be completely rewritten.  It's not as fun as the freedom of writing in the first place, when a rough idea of what will happen that chapter guides me, and just about anything can happen.  But it's still gratifying to know where I've come from, where I'm going, and more about who these characters are and what they're doing over the course of these ten books and the next ten besides.  I'm making good progress and hope to make better progress still as I push through July.  I look forward to bringing you some actual published works soon. 

Connecting

 

[source]

When I was in my late teens, I started a novel that came from a dream.  In my dream, I was a shapeshifting alien boy.  I invented a vague backstory with a lot more detail to the world than I had to his life.  I had a working title, Transposition, a name, Joshua, a rough idea of various aliens involved, and the imagery from my dream.  I wrote one scene but then wasn't sure where to go from there.  I wanted to make something of the story, but though I was able to spin other dreams/ideas/concepts into a couple of (never to be published) novels, I couldn't seem to move this one past that first scene.  It had cool bits and pieces that I liked as a youth, but it was going nowhere. 

[Alpaca-lips-source]

Then, 2.5 decades later, my boy and I started Doomimals, a story that seemed to be totally unconnected to anything I had written before.  It all started with a stumble in conversation.  One of us said "Alpacalips" instead of apocalypse.  I thought that germ had promise for a kids' story but didn't come up with a path until later, when I was talking to my son.  Since then, it has become a complex and rich universe with detailed mythology.  And best of all, we've figured out a way to bring in the main character from those defunct novels and the story germ of Transposition forward.  Its basic idea of an intergalactic war between a set of three leading alien races in conflict with seven other alien races became the foundation for the Doomimals mythology. 

[Drawing from one of my Future Books]

Now, the main character has a new name, Adam (a religious and scientific allusion) and title (working title: The Radiant Army vs Me), and is becoming a complex character with a similar backstory but a whole pathway and plot laid out before him.  My boy helped me break down those barriers, so the boy from my dreams so many years ago could help those three alien races (now the Guardian Races) challenge each of those seven races of the Radiant Army to their own game, one at a time.  This is the value of having a working buddy; they can help you overcome writer's block. As I polish Doomimals for you, I'm also working on how to craft this story into a fun adventure for you.  Thanks for listening. 

Finding Writing Contests

 

[source]

I've always found writing contests motivating.  I've rarely won anything (a few first-place prizes almost 20 years ago from League of Utah Writers and a few miscellaneous prizes since, 2nd place on an essay in college, honorable mention from Writer's Digest, and a few others), but it's still fun to either come up with something fresh or to polish something you've had sitting around in a rush against the deadlines.  My son and co-writer won 2nd prize from League of Utah Writers in the children's book category--bypassing several adults, many of whom have degrees--a couple of years ago on his first novel, one he wrote when he was 13.  

[The first illustration in The Misadventures of the Just Us Chickens.]

As I'm also working on editing my stories for you, we'll be making a push to enter pieces into that same contest again.  It won't necessarily get anything officially published, but the prize money and bragging rights could be fine.  The feedback we get is usually very helpful as well.  My boy's feedback on his prize-winning book was, "Tell me when this gets published, so I can buy it."  It would be great for him (or me) to get more of the same this year.  Besides this, this will give us a chance to edit some more pieces, so they're more polished when they get to you.  

[Cover of my short story on Amazon.]

My boy, Ax the Narrator, has been wanting to write a silly story called "Just Us Chickens vs the McGuffin Puffin," a sort of Indiana Jonesish story for a few months now then get it published on Amazon as a sort of teaser for his books.  That will happen very soon and will probably be your first chance to read the Chickens.  You can already read the first of my Doomimals stories on Amazon, in "If You Give a Cat the Boot."  It's even free on Kindle.  We look forward to getting you more material in the near future.  If ever you're looking for motivation to move your writing forward, keep contests in mind.  

Beta Reactions

[The chickens]

 I've started to get reactions from friends who have started reading the revised versions of our books.  My boy has read several of his Just Us Chickens books to his much older cousin, who has found them highly entertaining.  His target-age cousin also found them highly amusing.  Recently, he shared some of his first book to an adult friend of mine, and she couldn't get enough.  This is the book that got second place from League of Utah Writer's children's book contest.  A friend has started reading them to her little one, and she has found them incredibly entertaining. Whether we share his books with children or adults, they all find the ideas and wacky stories entertaining.  I think you will, too.

[Doomimals kids by Ghostelle.]

Meanwhile, I've had various betas read through some of my Doomimals books.  Most of the reactions and feedback have been positive and helpful toward their development.  The professional editor I had read book 1 has given me a lot of guidance useful in all the books.  One of my friends read them all through, gave me detailed feedback, and is now reading them through a second time.  She finds the expanded and revised version so much improved.  All of this tells me I'm on the right path to bringing you some very good series.  I look forward to hearing back from you when they're done.  

What Is It about Early Chapters?

[Introducing Characters-image by Ghostelle from Cockadoodle-DOOM!]

 I've noticed rewriting early chapters seems to take so much longer than later chapters.  I wrote and rewrote and rewrote again chapter one of book one of my chapter book series, Doomimals.  I seriously spent five to ten times longer on it than I did on all of the others because I needed to make sure it did all the important things: establish the characters and why the reader should care about them, establish the setting, stick my toes into the adventure that was about to hit like a tidal wave, show the characters making decisions that would lead them out of the normal world and into the metaphoric underworld, and make it all seem engaging and fun.  That's a lot for one chapter to carry.  And it all had to be done in as short a space as possible, so the reader would keep reading. 

[Editing-source]

 I've gone back to it multiple times and only occasionally find something to tweak.  That's when I know I did it right.  It will be better yet when I have readers go through it and tell me they felt the same.  I still have to go through that same draft and see if my husband and son can find more things to "funny up," places to make more engaging, endearing, amusing, or in other ways make the reader feel.

 

[Funny Characters-source]

I've now gone through the first chapter and made sure, as writing experts say, it ends not where it did end, by getting into the adventure with a new set of characters, but on a cliffhanger that hints at the adventure to come.  I'm now working on making sure chapter two is as compelling and engaging as it can be.  I want to make sure the character is consistent, funny, and endearing, as with the main character of the first book.  In short, I'm working hard to make these books as fun for you as I can. 

Onto Book 2

[Book 1: A focus on Characters (art by Ghostelle)]

One Done

If I were publishing book one as a standalone, it would be ready to go to the publisher, ready to be prepared to come to you.  However, it's really hard to break into the chapter book and even middle-grade fiction markets since one tiny book on the shelf doesn't draw the eye nor have a big market or ready-made fans. I've taken some stabs at reaching out to publishers and agents, always ending up empty-handed.  That's why I embraced the idea of a hybrid publisher.  Once all ten of these first books (plus the first three of my boy's) are ready, they'll be available for you fairly quickly.  The hybrid publisher only takes less than a month from acceptance of the manuscript to readiness for market.  

[A focus on book 2 (art by Ghostelle)]

Moving on 

But now, I have the other eight from the regular series plus the bonus books to prepare.  I have the vision.  I know what I need to do for each book.  For one thing, I need to work on making each book's protagonist the kind of kid you or your child will enjoy following on an adventure.  I need to make sure he or she is truly the hero of his or her own story.  I say his or her because I have three main characters, twins Davis and Kitt and their younger cousin, Tessa.  The first book is from Davis's perspective, second from Kitt's, and third from Tessa's.  I need to polish each voice, so you hear their voices and hear their hearts.  Davis the nerdy slacker's first book is done.  I'll be moving to Kitt, the image-conscious overachiever next. After that, I'll be working on Tessa, the shy animal-loving character.  

[On the road to revising the next books (art by Ghostelle).]

What Else They Need

I'll also make sure the kids' antagonists weave throughout the book, causing problems and working under the umbrella of the primary villain of the first set.  I didn't understand story structure when I first drafted these books.  I'll be making sure I follow the story structure (3-act, 7-act, and hero's journey's 12 points).  The first book now fulfills all of this, though it took a lot longer than planned.  On the bright side, I am getting time to work on writing, plus all the other books are significantly shorter than the first one. 

Now, to get to serious work on book two.  This will be exciting. 

Wrapping up book one

[An illustration from Cockadoodle-DOOM!]

 I was hoping to finish two of my book series by the end of the holiday, but at least I'm just about done with rewriting book one.  I really want to do Doomimals justice.  I want it to be a kids' chapter book series that transports and entertains, while having a sense of reality and groundedness. I want a structure that works within the tradition of the three-act structure, one that keeps the rules but doesn't feel dull or by-the-numbers.  Basically, I want to offer you and your kids something fun and funny but smooth and streamlined as well.  

[An illustration from Cat-a-clysm]

Book one, Cockadoodle-DOOM, has evolved a lot through the feedback from friends, my writing group, a freelance editor, and more.  But it is almost to a finished, polished state.  Then, I will move onto book two, Cat-a-clysm and treat that the same.  It's just a lot shorter, since it doesn't have to establish ground rules for the series as book one does.  It, too, should transport and entertain kids and adults.  I'll keep you posted as I finish each book and get it ready for you.  

[An image from Just Us Chickens.]

Soon, I will have the first ten books published and ready to be read in one collection for you, along with bonus materials such as a video game, a card game, and some bonus books, including the first three of my boy's superhero chicken series Just Us Chickens.  I'm looking forward to bringing these all to you soon.