Motivate me...

I'm in the writing mode...working on my WIP. My goal is to have 50k written by the end of July. I have about 14,000. (Then I can edit and add to bring it between 65,000to 70,000 words.) My friends at YA Edge are running a 1K-a-day contest all July, just the kick in the pants I need.

I wanted to talk a wee bit about motivation, character motivation that is. What makes them tick? Motivation is essential for all characters, even your villain. Readers will accept what your character does, no matter how irrational, or stupid or unreasonable, as long as the action has rock solid motivation behind it. We fail as writers, when our readers say, "I don't believe it", and put the book down.
So, I'm working on a paranormal that is set in a world that although it mirrors our own , creatures live side by side with humans. I need it to be believable, like you or I could live next door to a vampire bakery...right? I have to make sure I'm blending my magic, my story "rules" and character motivation together in order to make it believable.

My heroine's motivation stems from her need to get out of the town. She is haunted by the memory of her mother's death. Everything she does is driven by the need to flee, and of course the conflict is making her face her demons...even the real ones.

YAedge July 1k-a-day Challenge!

Well - this is like a cross-over episode of Angel and Buffy...lol..

My other self and her blog buddy are hosting a fabulous writing contest for the month of July. If you're feeling the need for some serious motiviation to write this summer, join us - Tracy and Tami and Kitty and all our online friends.

Here are the rules:

- write 1000 words each day for the entire month of July - or more if you're a keener.

- comment on the YAedge blog with your word counts and share how the challenge is going

- every Friday the person with the highest word count that week will win a free, gently used YA title from our personal collections

We'll also be doing random book give aways throughout the month, just for fun.

Check out the YAedge blog for full details!

Ah shucks, we're blushing...

Wolfy Chicks was nominated by Kate for the Enchanted Blog Award. A huge howl of thanks to ya! Check out Kate's blog here. http://anotherbookblogwhore.blogspot.com

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

I'm reading a great new tale by Carrie Ryan,The Forrest of Hands and Teeth. My editor suggested it and also my friends at YA Edge are featuring it this month as their Book Club pick.

The story is set in a post apocalyptic world where a single village in nestled deep within the forest. A large metal fence surrounds them to keep out the Unconsecrated...zombies! I love it!

We see the world through, young Mary's eyes, in a world where she feels there are no choices left. I don't want to give away too much of the story. I'm on chapter 7 and have been drawn into the complicated and deeply constructed web. It is written in first person present. At first, it took me a couple of pages to get past wanting to added "ed" to everything in my head. So, I did just that and was able to enjoy the read.

The story also tells the importance of the written word, how without it our tales,our lives, our history is altered. (Books are important. Yeah Books!)

"My head in my mother's lap,her hands in my hair as we sit in front of the fire and she tells me stories handed down by the woman of our family about life before the Return."

The world has gone backwards, all the technological advanced are dust in the wind and the wonders of skyscrapers and flying machines are only legends. Think about what we have in this world and in a instant, it could all go away. Without the written word and books nobody would know about it, remember it and be able to recreate what was lost.

It's a powerful message...and well there's zombies too, so check it out.
The cover is also majorly fabu! Photographer Jonathan Barkat's work is haunting. Google him.

Vamp Reads, On Us.

Kitty and I wrote these short stories as a part of a book promotion on our publisher’s blog, Climbing Rose. We had a blast writing them and wanted to share them with you. My story, Old Flames Die Hard, features characters that also appear in my book, Under My Skin – so get a head start on the UMS world and check out the gothic little tale. The stories are in PDF format and you can view them by clicking on the cover images.


It truely shows how well Kitty and I work together that both of our stories (written without the other's knowledge) are about vamps and school dances. No wonder we're in the middle of writing a paranormal series together. Hope you enjoy them!



Judith Graves Old Flames Die Hard

My boyfriend, Travis, split town--a senior year hit and run. I almost didn’t recover. Evan drew me to life. We were even going to the Harvest Moon dance together. Tonight. So why didn’t I tell Travis to drop dead, when he called, asking me to meet him…at the graveyard?

***





Kitty Keswick My Prom Date’s a Vampire

When Wendy Stoke’s boyfriend dumps her just before the prom, it bites the big one. A pint of ice cream atop her favorite crypt seems like the perfect way to pout. But is the cemetery a perfect place to find a new boyfriend? One with his own style of bite?

A new spin on fang fiction

A new spin on fangs….vampire finishing school.

It’s no secret I love a good vampy tale…so when I heard about a new YA paranormal Vampire series by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast, I was intrigued. The premise was one that had never been done before…vampire finishing school. Bloody Brilliant.

The series cleverly plays on the vampire mythology. Students are marked with an outline of an indigo crescent moon tattoo on the middle of their foreheads. Once marked, the teens must leave their normal human life and attend The House of Night, a school where the vampire fledglings learn about their kind.

The students are in a flux between human and vampire, where they must stay in close proximity to adult vampires, otherwise they will die. Not all fledglings make the transition to adult vampires…some die, or so we are lead to believe.

The House of Night series starts with Marked, where fledgling Zoey finds herself as a new vampire. Her mark is completely filled in, a rarity for a fledgling vampire. She has been chosen by the goddess Nyx for a higher purpose. The Casts weave a lot of mythology using the goddess Nyx, pagan and Middle Eastern religions, Shakespeare, and Shelley mixed in with social issues faced by teens. The story is told through the teenage heroine, Zoey.

Although there are a few clichés in characters, the token cute gay boy, Damien, Zoey’s nemesis the rich, beautiful and bitchy Aphrodite...something about the characters and the author’s voice makes it fresh. So far there are five books in the series, Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed, and Hunted. (I’ve devoured the first few and I'm currently reading Untamed.)

There are some mature sexual relations in this series. They are handled well and would be appropriate for the older teen. The House of Night series is a fresh voice in the YA fiction and I’m looking forward to hanging out more with Zoey and her band fledgling vamps.

Plus, I love the covers...they remind me of what my publishers is doing with my Freaksville series-- which will be released January 2010. (Werewolves, Valkyries, ghosts no vamps.)