Beautiful People #14: Writerly Resolutions and Goals

It's time for this month's Beautiful People! Yay! This is a link-up hosted by Paperfury and Further Up and Further In where you answer questions about your characters. I participated in Beautiful People #1, #2, #3 and the villain special last year. And I've done Beautiful People Author Edition, Beautiful People Valentine Edition, Beautiful People #7, Beautiful People Sibling Edition, Beautiful People #9, Beautiful People: Parental Edition, Beautiful People #11, Beautiful People: Friendship Edition, and Beautiful People #13: Caleb. This link-up has been just so helpful with character development. 

It's the first Beautiful People of the Year! Yay! This one is about our writing goals for next year. I brushed up on these in my New Years post (Check out that to enter the giveaway!), but this post will go into more details. If you'd like to participate in this link-up yourself, check out either Paperfury or Further Up and Further In to see how. Here we go!

1.) What were your writing achievements last year?

Last year was probably the most accomplished year of writing in my life. I wrote over a quarter of a million words which gets me to about 750,000 words I've written in novels in my lifetime. I won the Beyond the Steeple Award. I worked on three books last year: edited, rewrote and extended Red Hood, rewrote Subsapien: Biomech, and first drafted Subsapien: Hybrid. Plus I won both Camp NaNos and NaNoWriMo. 

Lots of books!

2.) Tell us about your top priority writing project for this year?

My top priority project is definitely Red Hood since a publisher wants to see it. It's my steampunk fantasy novel which is also a Little Red Riding Hood retelling that I did for NaNoWriMo in 2014. 

3.) List 5 areas you’d like to work the hardest to improve this year.

1.) I'd really like to grow my platform. I'd love to get 100 followers on either Blog Lovin' or Google Friend Connect. That's a bit out of my control, but I'm hoping since I'm working hard to improve my content, I'll also improve my following.

2.) I want to get better at self-editing. I received a rejection between Christmas and New Years and one of the people in it said I wasn't a good self-editor (even though I didn't edit the chapters on my own. I had multiple critiques). Well, time to prove him wrong.

3.) I want to work on honing my author voice. I believe it's growing, but it's such an obscure part of writing it's hard to define.

4.) I want to work on my endings. Sometimes I tend to rush them because I'm ready to be done with the book by then. XD

5.) I want to get better at writing short stories. Those can be gotten into magazine articles and I need any leg up to novel publishing I can get.

4.) Are you participating in any writing challenges?

I plan to participate in April CampNaNo with Silver Hood (Red Hood's sequel. Learn more about it in Siocban's character question call!) and NaNoWriMo again.

I shall write as epically as Light Yagami.

5.) What’s your critique partner/beta reader situation like and do you have plans to expand this year?

I have acquired my friend Cassia as a writer buddy as of last year and she's fantastic. She's my reason for survival of NaNo. XD My beta reader situation is really good. I may take two more come summer, but I found an awesome group of them last year. 

6.) Do you have plans to read any writer-related books this year? Or are there specific books you want to read for research?

I have a bunch of my shelf I want to delve into especially Story Trumps Structure by Steven James and Plot vs. Character by Jeff Gerke.

7.) Pick one character you want to get to know better, and how are you going to achieve this?

Mor probably. She's my protagonist of Red Hood, but I still don't know her as thoroughly as my other protagonists. I'd like to know more about her interests. She's a stubborn one.

8.) Do you plan to edit or query, and what’s your plan of attack?

I plan to do a lot of editing this year in Red Hood and in Subsapien: Biomech. I'm sending off Red Hood to another publisher who requested it. I reaaaaally want this one to accept it more than any of the other ones I've submitted to. I hope to be going to Realm Makers in July, so I want to pitch to more people there. I'd also like to try to get published in some magazines too.

9.) Toni Morrison once said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”  What are the books that you want to see more of, and what “holes” do you think need filling in the literary world?

I want to see more books with homeschoolers. They're few and far between and often misrepresented. I also want to see more steampunk, especially in CBA, hence why I'm writing a steampunk series.

10.) What do you hope to have achieved by the end of 2016?

I hope to get Red Hood ready for submission by March, two more books at least first drafted, edit Subsapien: Biomech and get it pitch ready, and I'd like to acquire an agent and/or publishing contract next year, but that's something I don't have control over. XD 

And that's this month's Beautiful People! I hope you found it a good read!

Did you participate in the Beautiful People? Are you planning to? What are some of your writerly goals for 2016? If so let me see your posts in the comments!

You May Also Like:

Beautiful People: Authors

Beautiful Books: Introduce Your Novel - Subsapien: Hybrid

Beautiful Books:The Writing Process - Subsapien: Hybrid

Beautiful Books: The Editing Process - Subsapien: Hybrid

Beautiful Books #3: Let's Talk Editing - Red Hood

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Wonderful Word Wednesday: Crepuscular

It's Wonderful Word Wednesday again! Do you as a writer ever struggle finding that perfect word to describe something or you want to shake your writing up with some new words? Each Wednesday I post hand-picked descriptive words for writers and other vocabulary nerds out there. ;) 

crepuscular

adjective

1.) of, relating to, or resembling twilight; dim; indistinct.

2.) Zoology. appearing or active in the twilight, as certain bats and insects.

Example Sentence: Crepuscular light shined through the windows of the train. 

Have you seen or used this word before? What do you think of it?

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Click here for last week's word!

Tea Tuesday: Cinna

I'm not really a coffee person. I prefer tea, and I know a lot of fellow writers love tea, too. But have you ever wanted to break out of the Early Grey or English Breakfast norm and try something new? Well, let me help you find some cool new teas! If you need a little hot and flavorful boost to help you reach your writing goal or you're just a lover of tea or you'd like to try some tea but aren't fond of the stereotypical types, these Tea Tuesday posts are for you.

This weeks tea is ... 

*drum roll*

Cinna

How I found it: I'm back with another fandom set from Adagio Teas. Since the busy Holiday season is upon us, I bought these teas in advance. And the fact that the final Hunger Games film is releasing (released) may have something to do with it. I'm a huge Hunger Games fan and I'm so so so pumped for the film! I'm going to be cosplaying as Katniss when I see it (saw it depending on when these posts go up). I'm so happy for the Mockingjay Part 2 release but sad because the series will be finally over. :( I've been wanting to get a Hunger Games set for a while and when Adagio Teas had it for a weekend special I had to snatch it up. Let's see how good it is!

If you'd like to see what I think of the films check on reviews of the Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and The Hunger Games: The Mockingjay Part 1 on Geeks Under Grace.

This is the same site I bought the Avengers set,Sherlock set, Tolkien set, Avatar: the Last Airbender set,  Doctor Who set, Attack on Titan set, RWBY set, Divergent set, Firefly, and Fruits Basket set from!

The Tea: Sweet Cinna. This tea makes me so reminiscent of him. He's one of my favorite characters in the Hunger Games and he just breaks my heart. This tea is a perfect tribute to our beloved Capitol designer. This tea is perfect mix of nut and chocolate flavors from the mocha nut mate and hazelnut teas which remind me a bit of Ferrero Rocher candies. And of course this tea wouldn't be complete without cinnamon! These tea has a strong helping of cinnamon tea that makes a spicy twist at the end of every sip.

This blend is probably the most unique of the Hunger Games sets and is a good one to end with. The flavor reminds me of Cinna's warm and mello nature. He's unique among the other citizens of the capitol. Instead of being flamboyant with bold colors he chooses simple black with gold eyeliner. I believe he'd love drinking this tea while working on another groundbreaking design. 

That you did, Cinna. That you did.

Serving Recommendations: I steeped this tea at 180 for three minutes and added sugar, cream, and extra cinnamon!

How much is it and where can you get it? You can find this tea at the Adagio website. I bought this tea in a sample set which was about $22 including shipping and you get a goodly amount of tea since you only need about a teaspoon per cup. Some of these teas you can buy individually for about $10 a pouch or $4 for a sample tin.

So how good is it? Very delightful tea, very Cinna. Four stars!

Have you tried this tea? What did you think of it? Have you seen or read The Hunger Games?

Bonus! If you are a first-time Adagio customer I can send you a $5 giftcard! Ask in the comments for details! (This is no joke and no catch I seriously can. It's part of the amazingness of Adagio Teas)

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Click here for last week's tea!

Soundtrack Sundays: We Are Stars (Rhian Sheehan)

It's Soundtrack Sunday again! The day where I post awesome music to write to or just listen to for pleasure if you're a fellow soundtrack junkie. A friend of mine found me this piece randomly and I instantly fell in love with it. Before, I'd never heard of this artists, but this piece is gorgeous!

This piece feels like it would be played during an epic journey, at a triumph or another positively emotional piece. It is filled with beautiful strings and an underlying intensity with some light vocals. It has a bittersweet tone, especially at the end. It's perfect for an epic fantasy or sci-fi. You can listen to more epic music in my Soundtrack Sundays YouTube playlist.

Have you heard this piece before? What do you think of it? Have you listened to any Rhian Sheehan?

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Click here for last week's Soundtrack Sunday!

A Book Review of Viral Execution by Amanda L. Davis

Buy on Amazon!

With microchips implanted in their skulls at birth, the slaves of Cantral and Cillineese have labored under the tyrannical rule of the Nobles and their computers for decades. Monica, a Noble who avoided the implanting and escaped a death sentence at the age of four, is now sixteen. Having freed the slaves from Cillineese and Cantral, Monica embarks on an even more dangerous journey, across the ocean to the Eursian continent where a rogue noble has established a governing system of his own that was not affected by Cantral’s downfall.

In the meantime, the freed slaves of Cantral have taken the law into their own hands and are exacting revenge upon their former masters, including the very people who saved them. Monica and her friends Simon and Aric must escape the city and reach Eursia in time to stop the rogue noble’s implementation of his system, which would enslave everyone in that part of the world.

The fate of millions rides on Monica’s shoulders. As the only chip-less person in the world, she must find her long-lost mother, destroy the Eursian computers, and free the slaves before Eursia suffers the fate of Cillineese—termination.

Series: Cantral Chronicles (Book 3)
Genre: YA Dystopian Science Fiction
Publisher: Living Ink Books (October 14, 2014)
Page Count: 352 pages

The Plot: The plot was interesting. All of the coding of the chips reminded me of some of my family members who are very good at that sort of thing. The pace heightens more as the story goes and I enjoyed the circularity with the climax alluding back to the first book. I also enjoyed that the book showed the aftermath of a revolution. Often it's shown as everything is over, but revolutions often come with side effects, such as chaos before a new system is established. 

The Characters: Monica is an interesting main character. She's brave and determined. I can relate to her in some ways like her being adopted and wanting to know about her birth family, but gosh, does she get hurt. All. The. Time. She gets beat up more than other character in the book. It got irritating. Finally in this book she gets some love since in every other one she just seemed to be beat up and rejected 24/7.

I liked Wheaten aka Ten. She was sweet and her backstory was really sad. Aric was cool as well. It was neat having a doctor around. Monica certainly needed it, though I wish they weren't related so we could have had some romance. Simon is all right, but I guess I couldn't relate too much with the ornery old man side character. I preferred Ten and Aric. over him. I liked seeing more nobles like Rose, Dedrick, and Jacob. We didn't get much of a villain in this book, since we didn't know who he was till later on and even then his motivation seemed a bit lacking. 

The Setting: I liked that in this book we get to see more of the Cantral Chronicles world what with going overseas to Eursia with new languages and such. It was refreshing and good for the climax of the final book. 

Epic Things: The coding was really fun what with cloning and sleeping programs and all other sorts of things. Also big explosions!

The Theme: Little God is mentioned in the Cantrol Chronicles even though the author is Christian, which I thought was interesting. Monica prays a little and her mother mentions God a few times but no more than that, but many themes of sacrifice were shown throughout without the book getting too preachy. I enjoyed that. 

Content Cautions: I'd rate this book at about PG-13. There isn't excessive violence, but when there is it can get a bit bloody. Characters are shot and there's a slightly graphic neck stab near the beginning.

Conclusion: I feel like I should have enjoyed this book more. It was certainly interesting, but the characters didn't grab me and that was the deal breaker. Just three stars for this one. 

About the Author: 

Amanda L. Davis is the award-winning teen author of the Cantral Chronicles, a dystopian trilogy. She enjoys reading and writing and comes up with new novel ideas while spinning yarn or running on the roads near her home. She was born and raised a Florida girl and loves the warmth of the South.

You can find her on her website, Facebook and Goodreads!

Other Books by Amanda L. Davis:
The Cantral Chronicles Book 1: Precisely Terminated
The Cantral Chronicles Book 2: Noble Impostor

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Questions for Siocban (Silver Hood)!

Yep, I know it's Morgana. ;) She's perfect.

Hey, all! I'm back from my two week-ish hiatus! I hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Years! I'm still working on catching up with the blogosphere. XD Lots of great stuff is coming up for the blog. Many big changes which will be enacting come next month.

I'm starting off the year with a bang with one of my characters from the sequel of Red Hood called Silver Hood which I will be first drafting for April Camp NaNo (Though I may start in March)! I'm so excited! I need to get to know my side character Siocban at least basically before then.

In Silver Hood, I'm adding in some new fairy tale characters with a twist. See if you can guess which one Siocban (pronounced Shoke-bahn) is. ;)

Siocban is the leader of the elite sect of Red Hoods known as Silver Hoods--and the mother of seven boys. For years, she has remained in hiding with her growing population of Red Hoods possessing blood undiluted by citizens from the country of Ardalamh. She strives to keep the original population of Silfurlund alive along with their traditions, despite the Empire's pursuit to erase them from existence.

She has been married to her husband for nearly twenty years and has trained each of her boys to be warriors and how to use the unique ability of pure Red Hoods. She is fiercely protective over her family and their traditions and hesitates ever bringing the population out of hiding in fear that they will face extinction again. She fights with both a lantern shield and a trident dagger and works in secret to stop Nzelt's push to conquer her country.

When she isn't taking care of her duties as a leader, she enjoys spending time with her family and singing to her boys, though she never sings in front of anyone else. She also has a hobby of making woodland animal automatons who are her spies and even fight for her in battle. At times she has rescued squirrels and sparrows and other such creatures and fixed broken limbs with clockwork replacements. In the end, she cares most about her family and she will protect them no matter what the cost.

Credit goes to the artist. This pic is just perfect.

Leave your questions in the comments or in the form if you'd wish to remain anonymous or if you're having trouble with the comments and Siocban will answer them on January 22nd! Thank you!

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)