The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

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And now for The Next Big Thing!

This blog hop includes ten questions to help you learn more about an author’s current work in progress, so here’s a little info about my current project:
1: What is the working title of your book?

This is Home (A Nixies in Dixie Novel)

2: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Freshwater mermaid on vacation in Nashville meets angsty rock star – can their love survive her Siren call, his heroin addiction, and a nasty Sylph with a grudge against both?

3: Where did the idea come from for the book?

Thanks to my seven year old, I’ve seen the movie Barbie and the Mermaid Tale 2 about 500 times – that’s probably what put the plot bunny in my head. Plus I’m a total mythology nerd, and I love research.

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Liv Tyler would be perfect as sultry, seductive Nixie Lorelei. For Vance Idol, model David Gandy would be delish!

5: What genre does your book fall under?

Paranormal Romance

6: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

About three or four months – now I’m expanding it to a more marketable word count. Almost there!

7: Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Aside from the answers to question 3, I’m such a sucker for angsty alpha males. It explains my  obsession with every member of J.R. Ward’s Blackdagger Brotherhood. Vance Idol fits the angsty hero archetype, and writing his story was equal parts heartache and joy. Lorelei is an absolutely fascinating heroine as well – mermaid lore paints water sprites as beautiful yet predatory and often deadly creatures. Yet, they are also natural healers according to myth, which is just what Vance needs in his life.

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Mine has the same feel and flavor as Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris and Lexi George’s Demon Hunting in Dixie series.

9: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

A giant talking Catfish named Jack and a flamboyant Sylph named Bruce compete for page time. Jack will appear throughout the series. Bruce wants his own book, the bastard.

10. Where can we find you? How do we follow when your book is coming out?

Check out my website and author Facebook page. I tweet on occasion as well.

There are a handful of authors I would love to introduce you to (or you may already know them!)

I was tagged by the lovely and talented Addie King – check out her blog for more information about her cool and clever modern day take on classic fairy tales.

My ABNA pal Lynette Ferreira and critique partner Sophia Jones are both fabulous authors and all around cool chicks. They will be next week’s blog hoppers starting on February 7.

Happy 2013!

Writing

So I’m jumping on the whole wrapping-up-the-old-year-building-goals-for-the-new-year blog bandwagon (thanks, Pamela Turner and Christine Glover). 2012 came with some pretty phenomenal milestones.

1. First contract

Lyrical Press contracted my debut novella, Red Shoes for Lab Blues. My fabulous editor Ann-Marie Smith has worked with me on two rounds of copy edits and two rounds of line edits to make this story shine. We’re wrapping up the line edits and hopefully moving on to galleys soon. I’m hoping for a cover reveal sometime in early 2013 and gearing up for release in July. It’s exhilarating, and a bit nerve wracking – this will be the first time I’ve put my work (and by extension myself) out there, but it is a milestone I will always treasure.

I’m also blown away by the wonderful and supportive author community at LP.

2. Landing an Agent

I am profoundly grateful to Natalia Aponte for believing in my potential and taking me on as a client. She and Victoria Lea have given me some really terrific editorial guidance for two series I hope we can sell in 2013. I just wrapped up revisions for book one in the Music City Afterlife urban fantasy series and I’m super excited about the next steps in the quest for publication.

3. MCRW Service as Secretary

Wasn’t expecting this, but the lovely ladies on the nominating committee for Music City Romance Writers thought of me when it came time to elect a new secretary. I look forward to working with the rest of the board and our RWA chapter in 2013.

All in all, pretty awesome year.

For 2013…

1. Finish and Edit Works in Progress

This one may be tough, but definitely worth it. New material is the lifeblood of a writer. I’m making it my goal to take all of the valuable lessons I’ve learned from editing the novella and urban fantasy novel and apply them to my two new projects. I’ve read plenty of how-to books/blog posts on craft, and the recurring theme that most resonates with me – keep writing, keep writing, keep writing.  If you do, you’ll become a better storyteller, you’ll become more efficient and generate cleaner first drafts, you’ll have more projects in the pipeline ready to sell.

2. Learn All I Can About Marketing and Promotions

Here’s where (I hope) all of those panels and workshops on marketing and promo will pay off. I’ve got a great network of fellow authors, mentors, and industry professionals lined up and will continue to build on it. Balancing this goal with goal number one will no doubt present a challenge, but should be a great experience – starting with the novella and hopefully continuing with the series in progress.

3. Give Back

Probably one of the most rewarding parts of this journey has been encouraging other authors and watching them begin their own journeys. One of my cyberpals made her first sale at the end of the year. To my great delight, she told me that my encouragement was one of the factors that made her decide to write and submit original material. How cool is that? I get to be a mentor, too! And…one of my crit partners is working on her first novel. Look out, world – she’s got a great story in the making and I cannot WAIT to see what she does with it.

So that’s my year in review and my hopes and aspirations for the coming year.

What are yours?

Blog Resurrected – Greetings (Again) From the Music City Writer

Aponte Literary, Editing, Fun, MCRW, Nashville Writers, Writing

Backups fail.

Even triple backed up home servers are not immune to mysterious forces capable of destroying delicate computer equipment while one is on vacation.

Yet, in spite of losing past posts – not to mention a ton of family photos and other items from our home server (pauses to cry again) – out of the ashes, my new blog shall arise.

In the coming weeks I plan to recreate as many past posts as I can (remember) and build a better blog. But for now, let me start with my (re)introduction.

I am a Nashville-based scientist-turned-author of contemporary and paranormal romance, as well as urban fantasy. I honed my skills through contests a plenty, including Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award Competition in 2011 and 2012, and found a whole slew of author cyberpals who’ve shared this wacky and wonderful journey with me. While writing, editing, contesting, and looking for an agent/editor, I made my first sale to Lyrical Press with Red Shoes for Lab Blues, my debut contemporary romance novella scheduled for publication in July 2013. Along the way, I joined RWA and the Middle Tennessee Affiliate, Music City Romance Writers.

I HIGHLY recommend joining a professional organization relevant to one’s primary genre.

I was fortunate beyond measure to meet my agent, Natalia Aponte of Aponte Literary, through the 2012 Killer Nashville Writer’s Conference (more on that later in posts resurrected).

I HIGHLY recommend attending conferences.

In addition to writing, I’m still a working scientist, mom, caffeine addict, and entertaining neurotic. I hope this blog will entertain, educate as I share my journey from aspiring to published author, and above all else, live long enough to serve it’s purpose!

It’s great to be back!