Cover Reveal: Cat-tastic!

I'm really excited to share this with all of you.

I've had several author friends tell me horror stories about getting good cover art. I was so relieved when I saw the cover art for The Girl and the Clockwork Cat. It was almost perfect. So much so that I even altered the book a tiny bit to match the art better while the cover artist tweaked a few other details. The result is a cover that I am quite delighted to share.

You can also see the cover reveal with story description at the Entangled Teen blog (and marvel at how much the cat looks like my boy Neko below, only with fewer neurotic issues).

If it catches your fancy, you can also add The Girl and the Clockwork Cat to your Goodreads list.

Enjoy!

Editors: How to Give and Take without Hair Pulling

If you’re going the traditional route with your novel, finally getting a publisher can feel like winning a war, at least until the editing starts. The editing process can feel like an insurmountable battle, especially with that first book. When you get the first round of edits from the editor at your publishing house, whose vision may or may not match your own, it can be a bit traumatic. You spent months, maybe years, on a work of fiction and now someone else thinks they can jump in overnight and be the new expert on your creation, telling you what does and doesn’t work and how they think you should change things.

It doesn't have to be a battle. In fact, if you start looking at it as a process of negotiation, of give and take with someone who wants your book to succeed almost as much as you do, it can be a lot less stressful and intimidating.

I learned from working with my wondrous beta readers that I should never respond immediately to feedback. I need to step away, tend my bruised ego, and breathe a little. Only then can I pick through the feedback I’ve been given with a practical eye to see what is and isn’t useful. When you get feedback from a professional editor at that publishing house you worked so hard to be accepted by, it feels different. You don’t want to be that author they talk about behind closed doors. The one whose ego is so big they can’t handle feedback and must make a dramatic scene about every change. The one they warn other publishers about.

Here’s the secret. Nothing your editor says is written in stone. You need to be able to recognize where integrating changes from your editor could create an even better story. As the author, you also need to push back on changes you believe will be detrimental to the plot/arc/character development of the story you wrote.

My first round of edits was easy. When I received the second round of edits, I was devastated because I felt like some of the changes they were suggesting would ruin the book. I felt locked in because this was my publisher, not just a beta reader. I was so upset I broke down in tears and talked to my agent to make sure I wasn’t overreacting. She agreed with me and I composed a letter to the editor detailing what changes I thought were good and what changes I wasn't willing to do, even if it meant losing my contract with them. I passed the letter through my agent first to make sure it was reasonable (always get another set of eyes when you are responding to something this emotionally charged) then sent it on to the editor.

Guess what happened then?

I learned a truly valuable lesson. Even with a professional editor, the editing process is a discussion, not one person cracking a whip while the other tearfully obeys. The letter triggered a round of negotiation. Whenever I had a solid explanation for why a change wasn't right for the book, my editor jumped on board with keeping things as they were. Whenever his explanation for why something needed to change made more sense and, in many cases, strengthened the overall story, I happily made those changes. In the end, I didn’t do anything I felt was bad for the story and I discovered that my editor is pretty awesome.

The relationship of author to any editor can and should be one of open discussion. It may seem intimidating at first. They have the experience and market knowledge you may feel you lack as a new author. The one thing they don't have is the intimate understanding of your vision and that is as critical to the success of your book as anything they bring to the table. Don’t feel that you have to make a change because your editor said to. Explain your decisions and negotiate where appropriate. It’s your book. Their goal is to make your book sell, but they aren’t in your head and they don’t know what your vision is. Art is subjective. They can only make decisions based on their understanding of the book as they read it. Sometimes you should change things because those changes will improve the book. Sometimes you have to stand your ground and help them see your vision. The editing process is a conversation and one that can be quite fun if you remember you both have the same goal of making your book the best it can be.

Happy writing!

Mercy and Some Books

In the name of mercy, I've decided to do a quick post so that the first thing you see when you come here isn't a sad post about the loss of my old Thomas kitty. If you haven't read it already, you should read I Remember You so that you can properly appreciate how merciful I am.

However, because I am also super busy editing and writing and...you know, author-like stuff, I'm only going to take a minute to tell you about upcoming books from a couple of authors you should have on your watch list.

The Book of Kindly Deaths

For the middle-grade crowd, I offer you an upcoming dark tale by the mysterious Eldritch Black.

The Book of Kindly Deaths is coming out this year through Spencer Hill Press. While you wait, enjoy his creepy Wall of Weird or visit his Books page for links to other stories available through Amazon.com.

The Masked Songbird

For the adult crowd, a quirky superheroine(?) novel by Emmie Mears.

The Masked Songbird (Scottish Songbird, #1) will also be released this year by Harlequin E. Learn more about it and read some of Emmie's shorter works on her Books page.

The Girl and the Clockwork Cat

Lastly, my debut novel will be coming out through Entangled Teen. More on that (including official cover art and such) as it comes along, but you can add The Girl and the Clockwork Cat to your Goodreads list now if you want (which you do, right?).

Happy reading!

A Little Love and Gratitude

Happy Valentines all!

Thanks so much for your feedback here and on Facebook. I am sending pictures one and three to my publisher.

I hope to get another post up on the blog soon in regards to our cat challenges discussed in my post Dramatic Paws (so clever) and hopefully announce an exact release date and cover art for The Girl and the Clockwork Cat. In the name of shameless self-promotion, you can now add it to your reading list on Goodreads.

Now back to my regularly scheduled editing. I leave you with a little love from my cat.

Happy writing!

Dramatic Paws

I’ve been away from my blog for a while. Several things have contributed to that, including illness, injury, writing and editing books (seems to take up a lot of time), and cats. Today I’m not going to talk about the writing or editing or even about my upcoming debut The Girl and the Clockwork Cat coming spring 2014 from Entangled Teen. (Yes, I am shameless, but it does have a cat in it, in the title even, so it’s loosely related.) I’m here to talk about cats. More specifically, about introducing a new cat into our home and the ongoing challenges we’ve faced with this particular cross-section of felines. I’m hoping this actually turns out to be helpful for others facing similar drama, but we’re dealing with cats. Anything could happen.

For this first post, I will introduce the cast of cats and the problems we have to overcome.

Thomas (the grumpy old man):

Thomas is 15. He’s been with us since day one and is convinced of his own awesomeness to the point that he knows, for certain, every person in the world is just holding their breath in anticipation of the day they will get to meet him and stroke his silken fur. He is very social and very demanding of his adoring fans. He enjoys long naps and watching TV with his people. He is prone to occasional regression to kittenhood in the form of wild sprints around the house and friendly Thunderdome (outdoor cat enclosure) matches with Neko.

Thomas is the dominant male in the household and deals with feline interlopers by preemptively yowling and striking at them whenever they come close to establish the hierarchy quickly.

Interloper Management Tactic = Successful

Shai (the special needs princess):

Shai is Thomas’ blood sister. At a very young age, she got under one of our horses and was stepped on. She has significant neurological issues and, as she gets older, arthritic issues due to injuries sustained in that incident. She has survived many other dramatic injuries throughout her life. I’m not sure if she’s lucky because she survived them or unlucky because they happened in the first place. She enjoys long naps and … well, long naps. Sometimes on heater vents. Not in front. On.

Shai prefers to solitude though she often naps and shares grooming with her brother. When faced with an interloper, she ignores them. If they persist to the point that she feels cornered, she will throw herself on the floor and scream bloody murder. The offending interloper is usually left staring at her with a look of mystified horror.

Interloper Management Tactic = Successful (oddly enough)

Koneko (the gentle giant):

Neko is about 20 pounds of giant feline paranoia. About 5 years old, he joined the family as a kitten and has always been highly anxious. He will cuddle on occasion, but rarely if more than one person is in the room. He has a disturbing fascination with having his butt spanked and enjoys such lovely past times as going out in the rain in the Thunderdome at night then coming in drenched to wake me up so I can towel him off and cuddle.

Neko’s tendency to slink about apprehensively makes him a delightful target for a more aggressive young interloper. He prefers to avoid the new cat unless attacked, at which point he will fight like a crazed demon.

Interloper Management Tactic = Highly Ineffective

BC (the interloper):

BC showed up on our property shortly after the 4^th of July and made it abundantly clear he wasn’t going anywhere. We ignored him. We shooed him off. He broke us down with his stubborn affection and we took him in. After having him tested, neutered, and vaccinated, we attempted to re-home him only to discover that he had a severe fear of dogs. Having already grown rather attached by the time this effort failed, we decided to make him part of our family. He enjoys aggressive cuddling, full-force head-butts, knocking glasses over (the fuller the better, especially if it happens to be beer and there is a lap nearby to dump it on), and playing with his favorite toy, Neko.

Some sensible people would suggest simply finding BC a new home or giving him up to a shelter. This is wise. We are not wise. We love our cats and BC has wormed his wicked way into our hearts. So, this is the tale of our efforts to integrate him into our home. This tale involves blood and pain and broken things and lots of expenses and life changes. I can’t promise a happy ending, but that’s what I’m hoping for. Stick around and see. :)

Next time: Bloody battles and broken bones. Is there any hope for this quartet of cats?

Super Squee! (and the Pain Dumbs)

This is going to be short and sweet as I'm suffering from the pain dumbs (the lack of mental capacity that occurs when part of your brain goes into hibernation until your pain levels go back below what's tolerable). This is a result of my frolicking recklessly on the back deck and subsequently crashing down on its rather unyielding surface with as much velocity as I could muster. I don't recommend trying this at home. The crashing part that is. I highly recommend frolicking as much as possible.

So, on to the squee part.

I was delighted to announce last June in my post An Agent and Geeky Goodness that I had accepted an offer of representation from the fantastic Emily Keyes at L. Perkins Agency.

Now I get the pleasure of announcing that my debut novel The Girl and the Clockwork Cat, a young adult steampunk, will be published in Spring 2014 through Entangled Teen.

It was announced on Publishers Marketplace on September 18th.

My agent also posted about it on Twitter the next day... twice. Thanks Emily!

So that's my story. More to come as things progress. Now, back to the pain dumbs.

Happy writing!