Shh…

Come back on Monday.

I'll need some feedback, but hopefully it's a nice surprise :)

Have a nice weekend!

-Jess

P.S.

Are you excited? I'm a little nervous.

It's Moving Along…

Yesterday, I got to talk to the CreateSpace team again (which I was actually looking forward to since they were so nice to talk to last time). And YES it was on the PHONE, which I usually hate. But they're so easy to talk to, so my usual "phone panic" didn't really occur.

Anyway, I discovered that I'll be getting a good look at the first draft of my cover sometime late next week! And I cannot describe how excited I am (actually I can… I just don't feel like it)!

Also my previous goal of getting published by the end of the year has sort of been tossed out the window. Due mainly to all the stuff I have to get done.

SO… my new goal is to be published by February 9th!

Which is Chinese New Year's Eve, and the LAST DAY of the Year of the Dragon.

And to those of you who've read my story know why it should be published on that day :)

Finally, I have a surprise for you on Monday, so make sure to stop back then! It's going to be cool, I promise!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

--Jess

I'm Back!

Sorry for the unannounced leave of absence! Thanksgiving was CRAZY as usual, but totally awesome :)

My whole family came to our house (a total of 17 people), and we had a wonderful time! My dad rented a suite at a hockey game and we got to watch it from the top and have all kinds of delicious food! It was so much fun!

My grandma & my cousin dancing

The Game

And then we had a wonderful family picture taken by my other grandma (so she and my other grandpa aren't in the picture, obviously.)

We had TONS of fun!

What are you thankful for this year? To my readers in the U.S. how was your Thanksgiving?

Have a wonderful day!

--Jess

I Did My Research

Yes I did.

Well not really, since I don't really have much time to read (yes, shame on me). I know what everyone says, you don't have to tell me. "A real writer makes time to read," or "to be a writer, you have to read."

I.

KNOW.

I'm just so busy… ugh.

Anyway, as I was saying. While choosing options on CreateSpace for publishing, I looked at a lot of books. What sizes did I like the best? Which fonts? What would work best for my book?

After putting on my thinking cap and doing some very complex calculations (… like… addition, subtraction, and division…) I came to realize that if my book was 5.25 inches by 8 inches, From the Ashes would be just about the same size as the paperback version of Divergent by Veronica Roth. Just a little thicker, maybe.

So, that turned out to be a good size.

I also had to choose the page color. And after checking many books published by big name publishers, I noticed that ALL of the pages were crème colored. (Or cream colored. I prefer the "cooler" way to say it :) Naturally, I went with crème colored pages.

Then, I went through all the font choices they had, and finally decided on Hoeffler Text Roman. At least, I think it was something like that. I didn't choose a size though, because it always looks different to me on paper than it does on my computer.

Currently, they're working on my cover and interior design. I'm pretty anxious to see how it turns out.

Oh, and I have some VERY special news that I forgot to tell you on Wednesday.

Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh finally became my 395th follower! Thanks so much, Alex! Now, only 5 more to go. How long do you think it'll take me?

Oh, and since I love music so much, I'll leave you with this pretty song I found:

Have an amazing day!

--Jess

"Thanks." – KOMF #9

For those of who who missed my post yesterday, this month's Knights of MicroFiction prompt is:

In 300 words or less, write a scene where the MC realizes he/she/it is thankful for something. Include the words "turkey" and "mayflower" (this could be May flowers, too, or other creative variations.)

Okay, here's mine:

THANKS

"You think we're safe here?" My voice echoes through the old, empty sewer tunnels.

Jasyn smiles then tosses a few more sticks into the flames. "They'll never find us here."

I can't help rolling my eyes. "Why are you so sure? They've got guards patrolling the borders."

"They don't check the sewers," he argues. "I was a guard for a few years and they never–"

A clatter sounds a few meters down a tunnel to my right. My hand reaches for the gun in my jacket, but I don't pull it out.

Jasyn grabs a flashlight from his backpack and shines it down the tunnel. A tiny, furry creature stares at us in the darkness, then scampers away.

"See?" he jabs. "Don't be a turkey. We're fine."

"You mean chicken." I run my fingers through my hair, doing my best to gulp down the nausea rising in my throat. "This was a bad idea."

Jasyn scoffs then scoots next to me. "You'd rather have been killed in the Purge? Last I checked, we were both Unsatisfactory. They'd have burned us alive as they do to everyone else who isn't Satisfactory."

Tears well in my eyes. "We're going to die," I whimper.

Jasyn wraps his arms around my shoulders. "Hey," he breathes. "Hey, it's alright. I know we're not so well of right now, but we'll make it out of this."

A soft breeze carries through the tunnel. Bits of dust and garbage float softly toward us. A mayflower stops at our feet. Jasyn picks it up and dusts it off. He lifts it to my face and places it behind my ear.

A choked laugh breaks the frown on my lips and I look up at him. "Thanks," I manage.

He nods then hugs me closer to him. "You're welcome."

***

Ta da!

Okay, so tell me what you think. It wasn't too cheesy, was it?

Anyway, if you still want to join in on the fun (trust me, we can always use more entries) just sign up on the linky list below. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. on November 15th. It doesn't matter if it's Eastern time or Pacific time… just have it in by 11:59 p.m. YOUR TIME.



Have fun!

--Jess

Thanksgiving & KOMF Prompt #9

Today is the 13th of the month, so you know what that means! Time for releasing the Knights of MicroFiction prompt!

Okay, here it is:

In 300 words or less, write a scene where the main character realizes he/she/it is thankful for something. Include the words "turkey" and "Mayflower" (this could be May flowers too, or other creative variations.

You have until 11:59pm on November 15th to post your entry. Can't wait to see what you guys come up with! You can sign up on the LinkyList below.



Speaking of turkey, Mayflowers and thankfulness, I can't believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner! We've only got nine days to prepare!

Thanksgiving has always been the craziest (and best) holiday for me. On Thanksgiving, my whole family comes to our house to celebrate our thankfulness to have each other. And since there aren't enough bedrooms in our house, all the kids make a big bed out of blankets on the floor of the living room and sleep there.

Despite not being able to get comfortable, and tossing and turning until I decide that maybe writing is a better option than sleeping, it's quite a lot of fun!

And I'm really excited, because my cousin (who's 8 years old) is coming on Sunday! We hardly ever get to see her–once a year is about it.

Oh, and since I'm posting today, I may or may not post tomorrow. But I'll be back on Thursday and Friday :)

Have a nice day!

--Jess

Siúil a Rún

First of all, here's a pretty song I found recently, called Siúil a Rún.

The video isn't very good, but it had the best quality sound. According to Wikipedia, it's a traditional Irish song about a girl who's love has decided to go to war, and though she doesn't want him to, she's supporting his decision. If you want to read more about it, go here.

Anyway, I'm just editing The Inferiors lately.

It needs a lot of work. Luckily, it's like 25,000 words less than From the Ashes so hopefully it won't take as long. And the first draft of From the Ashes was absolutely terrifying, which isn't quite the case with The Inferiors.

So yup, that's what I've been up to.

My goal is to get from page 109 (where I am right now) to page 180 by the end of the week. Think I can do it? I'll tell you on Friday :)

What are your goals for the week?

--Jess

Uploaded.

Dear fellow bloggers,

Please excuse my absence from the blogosphere yesterday, I got pretty much nothing done. As far as school work, and stuff other that writing goes.

So yeah, yesterday was quite busy for me.

Why?

I uploaded From the Ashes to CreateSpace.

Yes.

I did.

But it took quite a long time because I had to fill out a TON of information about my book, which is actually much harder than it sounds. For some reason, when it comes to talking about my own story, I get all tongue tied. Or keyboard tied, since I actually had to type it all out.

Then again, I get to talk on the phone again to the people at CreateSpace about my answers and other stuff… yeah haha I'm not quite sure what to expect. I'm just such an awkward speaker. That's kinda why I'm a writer.

Anyway, I'm really excited to see how things turn out!

How are you guys doing?

--Jess

IWSG~ Publishing

Um, yeah.

I'm very insecure about publishing.

Only a few weeks ago, publishing From the Ashes was a dream far off in the distance. Actually reaching it was a silly fantasy I had, not really believing the day would ever come where I'd have to worry about that rough, rocky shore of publishing.

Now that I've considerably closed the distance between me and that "rocky shore," I'm realizing it looks much more difficult to navigate than it did from far off.

Maybe I'd be a little more comfortable if I'd secured a publisher. At least I would feel like I'd been "accepted" by editors, and other people because they liked my story.

See, my mom has read my story like… ten thousand times for me. Okay, not ten thousand but probably around ten times. She's helped me edit it each time, and she always tells me it's really good, and it's getting a lot better and all the stuff a mom has to say. She's very critical, don't get me wrong.

As I'm reading through it one last time (as a reader, not an editor), I haven't found a single gramatical error. And I'm already on page 200.

Now maybe I'm just blind. But I have found a lot of stuff to reword, to make things flow better.

Anyway my biggest insecurity is… what will everyone else think about it?

I know some of you have read through it for me as beta readers and such, but that was the first few drafts.

(Very embarrassing that I actually let you read such a rough draft… I know…)

But what if you don't like the final version? What if no one likes it?

That'd be really awkward.

Anyway, what are you guys insecure about?

--Jess

Sometime in 2013

Due to hurricane Sandy, Halloween was "rescheduled" in our neighborhood from October 31st to November 4th.

The one problem with this is that now I'm VERY confused about what day it is, unless I click on the time display on my computer every few minutes to remind myself that today ISN'T Friday, November 2nd.

So if any of my posts are quite confusing, please note that I may have forgotten the date.

I've been writing quite a lot lately, but not the things I should be. Mostly flash fiction and some Star Wars fanfic now and then. I know I should start writing Book 3 in my trilogy soon, but I just can't bring myself to do it yet. Maybe it's because I know I'll be sad when I finish it.

I'll probably start it once From the Ashes is published.

Oh, SPEAKING of From the Ashes being published, I will "officially" be a published author in early 2013!

Yeah, I won't be in 2012. So, I am really hoping the world doesn't end ;)

--Jess

I Actually Have to TALK?

Well, it looks like I'm not doing NaNoWriMo this year. I really wanted to, and I made a last effort to prepare for it on October 31st, but I wrote absolutely nothing yesterday. Sure, I have today to catch up, but that'd mean a TON of work.

I have a story idea.

Not a storyline, or a plot, or characters.

Just an idea.

And I like to have things planned out before I write it, otherwise I get lost halfway through the draft.

So, yes, this is my explanation for not being able to do NaNo this year. I feel like I'm betraying all of you who are joining in. This is the first year I haven't participated since I started writing novels.

I'm pretty sad about it.

Secondly, I have some exciting (or scary, either way works) news. I have to talk to a Senior Publishing Consultant at CreateSpace today.

OH. MY. GOD.

What scares me the most is that I have to really talk. Not email, or IM.

I have to USE MY VOICE BOX and talk on the TELEPHONE.

You see, I'm not a very good talker. I have a writing voice, not a speaking voice. Of course, it's all right once I'm talking to friends, but my "writing voice" is still much better.  My speaking vocabulary is filled with an overuse of teen words like "like," and "cool," and "totally."

Worst of all, I say "um" a LOT. Especially when I get excited.

Another thing is, I'm not sure if these people know I'm only 16. I'd kind of like to see how long it takes them to figure it out. Oh well. They'll probably realize that today after listening to my limited vocabulary, lol :)

I'm really scared.

Wish me luck, guys!

--Jess