WIP Wednesday

My second WIP Wednesday post, I guess it's lucky I finally have a WIP to write about. Or rather, why have one WIP when you can have two.

I've spent the past week (and most of the month) avoiding working on anything. Yesterday I sat down and decided to finally start work on my YA 'The Horrifiques'. I re-read the outline (impressed and left wondering why I'd delayed working on it), and then within the space of a day, I decided to pick-up my MG, 'Lucy Baxter & The Evil Emporium', again!!! I did this about a month ago - edited the manuscript, decided I hated it. I've given the manuscript a name change - The Drawing of Dolls - and I've started work on it hoping to turn it into a novella or maybe a short YA novel. Oh, and I've promised myself I will work on both (because I'm sure it's a delaying tactic to save the hard slog of writing a proper first draft).

So, here's where my WIP's stand - the estimated end figure is of course estimated:

The Horrifiques (YA) 1st Draft
1045 / 45,000 (2%)

The Drawing of Dolls
878 / 30,000 (3%)

Anyone else up for the WIP Wednesday challenge?

The Ticking Clock & The Dusty Cupboard

I’m trapped in The Expulsion Cupboard.

Or rather, the characters in my MG novel ‘Strange Bones’ are trapped in a chapter with that title. I have a page full of hideous sentences and it’s starting to get quite dusty in the cupboard. If I don’t push one of the characters into it soon, the thing hiding within will close the door and refuse to let me finish the chapter.

I’m supposed to finish the second draft of this book before November 1st.

Me, panic… Ha! I laugh at pressure. I mean, there are still 19 days until NaNoWriMo, and writing without a plot is brave not foolhardy.

I "HEART" Zombies

Okay, so you may or may not know that my MG book 'The Poisoned Apple' has zombies in it. Unless you have the initials TKT then you haven't read it (and even then there's a mega possibility you haven't read it because I'm sure loads of people have those initials) so why would you know it's full of zombies. I have mentioned it a few times, but then I mention zombies alot. I think!!!

Anyhow, stop rambling girl and get on with the point of the blog post. That is, I just found a really cool blog called My So Called Undeath. It features characters from Daniel Waters novel 'Generation Dead'. Go check it out.

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my copy from Amazon - why oh why do I always opt for the mega slow free shipping.

Hair-Pulling Nail-Biting Frenzy!!!

I've gone a whole week (plus one day) without working on a short story. YAY! As I have 25 stories out with editors, plus two waiting in the wings for submission dates to open, I knocked myself on the head (HARD!) and settled down to work on the second book in my 'The Poisoned Apple' series. Check out the meter to the right for the current word count.

My other MG book 'Matchsticks, Moths & Machinations' is in hibernation because a) it doesn't want to be an MG, and b) can't decide if it wants to be YA or Adult. It's based on a 3,500 short story I wrote that came back from critique with demands the readers wanted a back story and more! more! more! I was also writing it with my typical MG humorous slant but I think this is a story that needs to be darker and the humor trimmed back. I'm hoping to get the first draft of TPA II' finished by the 16th August (that's only just over 1200 words a day so it should be doable if I give up the constant internet surfing), then I'll set it aside and get to work on Matchsticks during my 2 weeks off work. YAY! Sorry, I get excited at the idea of not having to get up at 5:20 Monday thru Friday.

Okay, so back to the short stories. Of the above 25 submissions those I am most anxious about are (drum roll please):

Dwelling - at the Harvest Hill anthology
Frog & The Mail-Order Bride - at Andromeda Spaceways
The Graveyard of Dead Vehicles - at the Wolfsongs anthology
Flying Dutchmen - at the From the Asylum anthology
PlasticineCoffins.com - at the Ghosts in the Machine anthology
Treading the Regolith - my attempt at sci-fi at the Return to Luna anthology
Sneakers on Asphalt - at the Terrifying Toys competition
Cold Coffee Cups & Curious Things - Malpractice anthology
The Flat-Packed Golfer - at Stymie

Ooh, and my wee 100 worder (which I wouldn't normally stress about) 'Halloween Watch' which is submitted to Necrotic Tissue's BITE contest. We are supposed to hear next week (August 1st) if we've made it or not.


Oh, and very, very, very excited, stressed, excited, excited, excited about The Poisoned Apple. Please don't let me jinx myself.


And the ones I am not nervous about/given up on:

The Last Motel Room - which has been out with Horror d'oeuvres since last October.
Yee-Haw! - the OMG! anthology

Have a good word-filled weekend!

Matchsticks, Moths & Machinations

I've finally started writing my next children's novel - working title: 'Matchsticks, Moths & Machinations'. Here's a 'first draft' extract:

The First Chapter

The Malodorous Mademoiselles

Molly Beaumont chased after the blue and grey socks that had slithered off the Wormald sisters’ stinky feet. They slipped under the coffee table, took a detour around a threadbare armchair and escaped down the hall. She had a stitch in her side and a nasty smell up her nostrils. The peg on her nose was no longer adequate protection from the collection of whiffs that steamed from the bedrooms, the parlour and the sisters.

As furniture bumped against her legs and doors smacked at her elbows, Molly was finding the chase difficult and tiring. Everything seemed to be against her catching the rotten things.

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I've put an optimistic 50,000 words as the word count I'm aiming for. Fingers crossed. I also need to start planning 'The Poisoned Apple II'. Another request for a partial today (eek!) for 'The Poisoned Apple', also an ejection, and the undying hope that one day someone will ask for a full. I also need to start writing something for the Necrotic Tissue anthology 'Malpractice'.

A not so POISONED letter

Received my first rejection for my childrens book 'The Poisoned Apple' and I am officially declaring it the BEST rejection I have ever had. Apologies to all those editors of small press mags/anthos who have provided critiques and helped me improve as a writer.

After a wee while (translate that as years) of sending out my horror novels and my first childrens book and getting form rejections, I finally got an outstanding personal rejection and it is from one of the top UK agencies. I quote:

You have a quirky style of writing, it is fast-paced, funny and I love the opening line. But for us to consider taking your novel on, it would have to be more in region of 60-70,000 words in length as this is what publishers expect.

The last part - 60,000 words - bothers me. I was aiming for an early Lemony Snicket length book and I know there are a lot of books out there that are around the 20-25,000 mark for children, but perhaps the times they are achanging. Then again, maybe I can change them back - :)

I'll send it out to a few more agencies - probably every single one in the book - and then if I get nowhere I will consider merging the as yet unwritten book 2 with book 1. Who knows?

I am telling you, I so have butterflies in my stomach that they read as far as the opening line... At last, a query letter that works.