tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57805104929016838112024-03-13T19:58:23.912-07:00 Author JL HenrySo, yeah, I do this thing called writing. Occassionally.Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-2062233444147495372014-03-31T20:53:00.000-07:002014-03-31T21:02:46.278-07:00Book Review: Geoffrey Girard's CAIN'S BLOOD<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16130318-cain-s-blood" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Cain's Blood" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1378065772m/16130318.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16130318-cain-s-blood">Cain's Blood</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/226368.Geoffrey_Girard">Geoffrey Girard</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/724227135">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
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Brilliantly written, <u>CAIN'S BLOOD</u> includes some of the most visceral descriptions, scenes, and chapters I've read in modern literature. The book induces emotional responses in the reader that not a lot of books do anymore. The themes of the book include: nature vs nurture, are the limitations of heredity (are there any at all?), morality and amorality and who defines the traits of each. <br />
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That said, the book is most assuredly not for the faint of heart, or those who mind crawling around in the dark depths of a serial killer's consciousness. For those people, I suggest--very highly--reading the young adult companion novel <u>PROJECT CAIN</u>, which I read before venturing into <u>CAIN'S BLOOD</u>.<br />
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After reading <u>PROJECT CAIN</u>, I almost did not even give <u>CAIN'S BLOOD</u> a shot. I figured <em>"oh, it'll just be told from the pov of the military guy in Project Cain. How can they think that'll be so different they need to make a second book? no one will read that." </em><br />
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<b>And then I picked up <u>CAIN'S BLOOD</u>. <br />And then I read the first page of the actual book, swept past the front matter and prologue.<br /><br />And then my mind was completely blown.</b></strong>
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Told through multiple points of view, the reader experiences the hunt for six boys who are clones of the most infamous serial killers in history, through the eyes of more than just the man hired to retrieve. We climb inside each of the six boy's heads, at least once. We live in the mind of several of their victim's as they are being hunted, and one girl whose mind is in league with those who preyed on her.<br />
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I really enjoyed the 360 degree view the multiple POVs provided and I feel the book would have fallen flat, for me, had it <strong>not</strong> included every last chapter Girard wrote.<br />
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Happy Reading. Happier Writing. <br />
<br />
J
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4259777-jodi-henry">View all my reviews</a>
Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-79679925704559019932014-01-11T16:17:00.001-08:002014-01-11T16:17:44.238-08:00Book Review: Neal Shusterman's UNWIND<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/764347.Unwind" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Unwind (Unwind, #1)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1297677706m/764347.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/764347.Unwind">Unwind</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19564.Neal_Shusterman">Neal Shusterman</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/517230289">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Brilliantly written, UNWIND had me intrigued from the first page and inching toward the edge of my seat with the passing of each chapter.<br><br>I think I held my breath for the last third of the book. Amazing. I can't wait to get into the next one.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4259777-jodi-henry">View all my reviews</a>
Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-27351216700116601312014-01-06T07:17:00.001-08:002014-03-31T21:00:54.987-07:00Shelf Awareness reviewed MD Water's debut novel ARCHETYPE<b>Coming 02-06-2014</b><br />
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Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-67456689021651386622013-12-16T16:35:00.000-08:002013-12-16T16:35:28.444-08:00Book Review: Dan Wells' FRAGMENTS<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13170596-fragments" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Fragments (Partials, #2)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1352943797m/13170596.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13170596-fragments">Fragments</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2740668.Dan_Wells">Dan Wells</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/724213425">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Completely in love with these books, the characters, the setting, everything. <br><br>This one carried us along at a slower pace than PARTIALS, but still a very good read.<br>And the end leaves you with the promise of something great to come from RUINS.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4259777-jodi-henry">View all my reviews</a>
Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-7871463709590526952013-12-03T12:38:00.000-08:002013-12-16T16:35:40.605-08:00Book Review: Dan Wells' PARTIALS<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12476820-partials" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Partials (Partials, #1)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1337468746m/12476820.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12476820-partials">Partials</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2740668.Dan_Wells">Dan Wells</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/751301042">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
The book is amazing. <br><br>The world building<br>The themes<br>The characters.<br>Everything held me captive from the opening page to the very last sentence. <br><br>I am so happy the sequel is already out, because I am starting it IMMEDIATELY.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4259777-jodi-henry">View all my reviews</a>
Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-85699980143287700882013-11-17T17:56:00.000-08:002013-11-20T21:19:13.173-08:00Flash Fiction Challenge Entry<div class="MsoNormal">
Entry for <b><a href="http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/11/15/flash-fiction-challenging-find-your-favorite-opening-line/">Chuck Wendig's Flash Fiction Challenge: Find Your Favorite Opening Line.</a></b> </div>
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I chose one posted by <b><a href="http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/11/08/flash-fiction-challenge-another-opening-line-challenge/comment-page-2/#comments">S.W. Sondheimer</a></b> and ran with it. </div>
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At 946 words, I give you:</div>
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<b>Jade Wore Black</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jade wore black. From the dye she rinsed through her red
hair two hours ago, to the soles of her boots laced loose enough to slip twin
daggers down each calf. Even in the flickering gaslights of Marcus’—no, she
would not think of him as a man—the Feareater’s clutter-filled hovel, their
silver handles glinted above the reach of the worn leather. A warning, she
thought, to those things that might mistake her for just another waifey victim
strutting her goods through the underbelly of a rotting city.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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No. Jade would never be that.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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From across the split-wood table, the Feareater watched her through
keen, empty eye sockets. His skin a light shade of grey, his nostrils flared
with each shallow breath. Her fear resonated in him at a pitch he’d never
experience before, and from one so young. She couldn’t be more than fourteen,
yet her fear felt ancient. “And you know what it means to live without fear,
little one?” He repeated the question he’d asked upon their first meeting.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I know, </i>she
thought, but the words tangled in her throat. So she nodded. She’d heard the
stories of the Fearless. It didn’t matter their lives were always short-lived
and plagued by madness, she didn’t need the useless emotion. She’d get rid of
them all if it were possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“My payment?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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She fingered the key tucked in her jean’s pocket, unsure if
she could trust him to uphold his end of the deal. Many of her friends had
sought the Feareater, but only to mellow a fear so it was not a true fear but
instead a faint anxiety, a worry. She gritted her teeth. From every one of
them, the bastard had siphoned too much. They’d returned home sick and
withered. Not one of the Fearless, but not anyone Jade would call a friend
again. Between him and the city disintegrating from the inside out, Jade was
alone. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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He drummed his boney fingers on the tabletop. Boom. Boom.
Boom. Like the sound of coffin lids slamming.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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With a shaky breath, she drew out the key to the Sumner Asylum
and set it in front of her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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He closed his eyes. The quick flush of blood gushing to his
scars a traitor to the hope that she’d failed to acquire the key. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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It had been all too easy getting the key. He couldn’t have
known she’d practically been raised in the asylum, visiting her sister daily,
befriending the janitors for extra hours with her. Or maybe he had, maybe he
remembered her sister, and that’s why he asked for it, she thought, but said, “We
had a deal. I’ve held up my end.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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He sprang from his seat and landed atop the table. Jade
lurched backward, a scream tearing from her throat. She shook herself as if to
cast off the prickles of adrenaline dancing beneath her skin, and straightened
her spine. Never again would her heart hammer in her chest that way. She would
fear nothing, especially him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Crouching, he waited languishing in her terror as it spooled
around him in a comforting cocoon. She is the one, he knew, that would finally
sate his hunger. When he reached to clasp the girl’s face, the sleeves of his
cloak slid to his elbows. She flinched at the sight of the pale, gnarled scars that
littered his greying skin. The reaction echoed through him, a phantom instinct
to run, because he’d flinched too. The worthy always did. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Even as Jade stared at them, the scars began to writhe like
so many maggots living in a bloated carcass. She shoved her face forward,
urging him to proceed. She would not back out now, not when she was so close.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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He splayed his hands flat on both sides of her face, forcing
her head backward. He curled his fingers until his nails pierced her scalp. She
screamed. His fingernails ratcheted down harder, boring into her skull. She
kicked and bucked and clawed at his hands. He clutched her tighter. Leaned
closer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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“I tried to save you, child,” he snarled, indigo liquid pooling
in his eyes. It wept from his scars as they surged down his arms toward his
hands. His mouth hovering over hers, he spread it wide.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Something uncoiled deep inside Jade, and she clamped her lips
shut trying to hold on to the very thing she’d sold him. A vortex churned from
her toes, up her legs, and into her guts, making her want to vomit. It seared
past her throat and hit the back of her teeth. She went limp, her mouth falling
slack. Her arms dangling by her sides, her fingers brushed the hilts of her
daggers. But she couldn’t reach them. No, no, no, she wanted to scream, it
wasn’t supposed to be like this.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The terrors that haunted her every second, spewed from her
lips in a fountain of indigo liquid. The Feareater reared back as if he’d been smacked
in the face with a bucket of hardened cement. The rickety chair groaned and
smashed. Jade hit the floor with a dead thud, the Feareater sprawled on top of
her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her body her own once again, she threw a knee into his side,
and shoved him off her. Her hands shook as she drew the daggers from her boots,
but not from fear. From something else. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His eyelids fluttered open, and in the once vacant sockets, Jade
saw he now had hazel eyes. “Was it worth it? Your vengeance?” he asked on a
thin breath.<br />
<br /></div>
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In answer, Jade jammed the daggers into his heart and, as he
died, she drank his fear to fill the void now residing within her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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THE END</div>
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Hope you enjoyed,</div>
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Happy Reading. Happier Writing.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
J</div>
Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-51585439343175088392013-11-12T10:19:00.000-08:002013-12-16T16:35:51.396-08:00Book Review: Richard Kadrey's DEAD SET<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17349326-dead-set" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Dead Set" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1361650413m/17349326.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17349326-dead-set"><b>Dead Set</b></a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/37557.Richard_Kadrey"><b>Richard Kadrey</b></a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/760085895">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
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If you're looking for a young adult fantasy that does not fall into the "teen romance" trope, this is a great choice. <br />
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With Zoe, <b><a href="http://www.richardkadrey.com/">Kadrey</a></b> has seamlessly dodged every archetype I've read in YA female leads yet nailed the young female voice dead on. She is both damaged and endearing. She makes good choices and bad ones. She's clever and witty and rebellious. She saves the swearing for when it's the only way to express herself, and just when you think she's acting a little too mature, she does something a teenager would do. The only way to describe her is as one of those people every one says carries an old soul trapped in a teenage body.<br />
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The setting, is as always, very well crafted. Kadrey corrupts one reality and twists it into his own, in Dead Set.<br />
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now, go read.
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<b><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4259777-jodi-henry">View all my reviews</a></b>Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-3433302365636571332013-10-31T11:24:00.000-07:002013-10-31T11:24:17.108-07:00Progression of a Writer's NovemberSo we all know<a href="http://nanowrimo.org/"> <b>NaNoWriMo</b></a> rides in on the heels of Samhain. And there are something like 191,553 crazies out there willing to dedicate the month of November to really digging into their psychoses to vomit words until they reach 50,000.<br />
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NaNo is just a thirty day trip into madness.<br />
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So, what the hell, why not jump in with both feet and do it right?<br />
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Being a veteran NaNo'er, I know how my November is going to play out.<br />
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Day 1: Fuck yeah, let's do this!</div>
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End of Week 1: Where are all the words??</div>
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End of Week 2: WHAT THE FUCK WAS I THINKING?!?!</div>
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Middle of Week 3: Rededication after a four day drinking binge.</div>
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Beginning of Week 4: the family just wouldn't leave me alone...</div>
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November 30th @ 11:59pm: Do we have any survivors?</div>
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Come December 1, some will be without families, some will perish in the fires of writer hell or be committed to an asylum. But the rest of us will have bleeding fingers and a nifty badge that basically says we are the shit.</div>
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What's your NaNoWriMo progression?</div>
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Happy Reading. Happier Writing--for all of November.</div>
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Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-72500222265350514452013-09-16T07:30:00.000-07:002013-09-16T07:45:44.541-07:00Where In The World is ARCHETYPE?So...<br />
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My friend wrote a book.<br />
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A little place called <a href="http://www.us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/publishers/adult/dutton.html"><b>Dutton Books</b></a> who is an imprint of another little place called <a href="http://www.us.penguingroup.com/"><b>the Penguin Group</b></a> decided to publish this book so all of you can experience the greatness that is <a href="http://www.mistydwaters.com/p/archetype.html"><b>ARCHETYPE</b></a> for yourselves.<br />
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But, since it's futuristic and it's a suspense novel, you get to wait until <b><a href="http://www.us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780525954231,00.html?Archetype_M._D._Waters">February 6, 2014</a></b> before waking up with Emma in a hospital.<br />
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Lucky for you, I've known the author since she was just a little baby author with big, huge, mammoth size dreams of being an all-grown-up author. Oh, wait, that's my luck, not yours. Sorry :-/ We're getting to how you're lucky right now:<br />
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I READ THE BOOK</div>
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a couple of times<br />
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and then we took a field trip to <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/archetype-m-d-waters/1115700018?ean=9780525954231"><b>Barns & Noble</b></a> in Silverdale,<br />
Washington so it could meet some soon-to-be friends. </div>
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Book blurb from <b><a href="https://twitter.com/_MDWaters">author M.D Waters</a>' <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7135842.M_D_Waters?from_search=true">Goodreads</a></b> page:<br />
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<i> Emma wakes in a hospital, with no memory of what came before. </i><i style="text-align: center;"></i><br />
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<i style="text-align: center;"><i>Her husband, Declan, a powerful, seductive man, provides her with new memories, but her dreams contradict his stories showing her a past life she can't believe possible: memories of war, a camp where girls are trained to be wives, of love for another man. Something inside her tells her not to speak of this but she does not know why. She only knows she is at war with herself.</i></i></div>
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<i><i> Suppressing those dreams during her daylight house, Emma lets Declan mold her into a happily married woman, and begins to fall in love with him. But the day Noah stands before her, the line between her reality and dreams shatters. </i></i></div>
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<i><i> In a future where women are a rare commodity, Emma fights for freedom but is held captive by the love of two men--one her husband, the other her worst enemy. If only she could remember which was which. . . </i></i></div>
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The momentum of the novel is something that is unmatched in any book I've ever read. It's like driving. You start out going the speed limit and, before you know it, you're twenty miles an hour over, then thirty, and just when you think you've maxed the speedometer, the Nitrous Oxide injectors kick in and send you sailing into the low-flying aircraft zone. From page one, that's <b>ARCHETYPE</b>.</div>
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From the start, Emma is a likable character, a little naive in how she sees the world, her world, but that's because--<i>you didn't think I was going to tell you, did you? </i>She is compassionate, and sexy, and strong and she is these things in a very easy way. At no point did I feel like the author was telling me "this is who Emma is and you'll accept it because I said so." Emma proves, again and again, who she is as a person, even though she doesn't remember anything about her life. She breaks away from the stereotypical "strong female characters" we've come to see in so many novels these days, yet is a very strong character. And one that we will remember longer after the final page of her story. (it doesn't end in <b>ARCHETYPE</b>)<b>.</b></div>
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The Men of <b>ARCHETYPE</b>: well, I can only say <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MistyDWatersAuthor">M.D. Waters</a></b> builds male characters with a dash of pent-up sexual frustration, a whole lotta stamina, a pinch of devilish good looks (right around the mouth and eyes and ass and...you get the picture). I couldn't decide who I wanted to be Emma's husband or who I wanted to be her worst enemy. I mean, couldn't she just apply to rule "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" and keep 'em both?</div>
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And I really don't know the answer to my little question there because Waters hasn't let one spoiler out about the sequel <a href="http://www.mistydwaters.com/p/prototype.html"><b>PROTOTYPE</b></a>. Not on her <b><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7135842.M_D_Waters?from_search=true">Goodreads</a></b>. Not on her <b><a href="https://twitter.com/_MDWaters">Twitter</a></b>. Not on her <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MistyDWatersAuthor"><b>Facebook</b></a>. Not even in a text or email or smoke signal.</div>
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Yeah, so enough of me talking about why <i>I</i> love the book. There needs to be more of you reading the book <b><span style="font-size: large;">BEFORE</span></b> it's even released, and there are two ways to do that:<br />
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1) Join the <b><a href="http://www.charissaweaks.com/2013/09/kicking-off-where-in-world-is-archetype.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Charissaweaksblogspotcom+%28charissaweaks.blogspot.com%29">Where in the World is Archetype</a></b> blog tour hosted by the lovely <b><a href="https://twitter.com/charissaweaks">Charissa Weaks</a></b> by clicking the link and:<br />
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<li>posses your own blog and be willing to post about the book</li>
<li>read in the allotted time frame of 2 weeks and mail to next recipient</li>
<li>take a pic of you w/ the book and post it on your site</li>
<li>write a little note to Charissa inside the cover since this is her ARC</li>
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<li>Sorry, Charissa, I don't get to leave a note because I used my own ARC :( </li>
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OR</div>
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2) M.D. Waters is giving ARCs of the book away on her <a href="http://www.mistydwaters.com/2013/09/and-winner-is.html" style="font-weight: bold;">website</a>. (see site for details)</div>
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and, as always, you can pre-order your copy of <b>ARCHETYPE</b>: </div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Archetype-M-D-Waters/dp/0525954236/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378466067&sr=8-1&keywords=archetype+waters">Amazon</a> / <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/archetype-m-d-waters/1115700018?ean=9780525954231">Barns & Noble </a> / <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/archetype/id663455801?mt=11">iTunes</a> / <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/archetype/id663455801?mt=11">iBook</a> / <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525954231">Indiebound</a> / <a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details/M_D_Waters_Archetype?id=VO2uwyV3T_oC&hl=en">Google Play</a></b></div>
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Next stop on the book's travels is: </div>
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<a href="http://melindascollins.com/"><b>Fantasy Author Melinda Collins</b></a> on September 26.</div>
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Happy Writing. Happier Reading--<b>ARCHETYPE</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a>Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-154675006726002252013-08-13T12:54:00.003-07:002014-11-20T14:49:13.033-08:00A Fox from the Present in a Henhouse of the PastSo, big news, guys, I'm writing a book.<br />
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<i>(Aren't we all, though?)</i><br />
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Okay, two, at the same time, in different tenses.<br />
Hell, I'm even writing one from a female POV and the other from a male POV.<br />
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<i>(no, I'm not standing on my head while doing it, that would be ridiculous)</i><br />
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It's okay. I got this. I really do.<br />
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Until I don't.<br />
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And then it's all "oh, I got a whole lotta present tense sneaking into my past tense story and now I have to get out the "ed" gun and hunt down on the "s" endings" and that's a lot of work, because you can't just Ctrl +F to obliterate all the "s" words.<br />
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Well, you could, but then you'd have sentences that looked like "heed fingered hied shoeed laceed" and, sure Chaucer was cool and all, but let's get real most people would rather gouge their eyes out than read ye Ol' English.<br />
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<i>(Sorry, Chaucer, no hard feelings, bro)</i><br />
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The only logical way to fix this is to limit yourself to working on one project at a time, and that's just never going to happen.<br />
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I, like so many writers, have writing ADD--or is it ADHD--where you're neck deep in in the trenches of one project and ohhhhh, look over on the top of that hill!! There's a shiny new project just beckoning you to come and play. And so you leave the safety of your trench, then BLAMMY the enemy--we call her our Muse--blasts you with something even better.<br />
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<i>(You can nod, you know I'm right)</i><br />
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We love our Muse and our writing ADD and everything else in our bag of eccentricities, but we hate, HATE, H-A-T-E tense switching. At least I do. It is a sign of sloppy writing and sloppier editing. I am forever seeing it in books on the self and in self-pubbed material.<br />
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<i>(this is my BIGGEST pet peeve while reading)</i><br />
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Tense switching is probably one of the lesser offenses when you compare it to plot holes and continuity issues and flat characters, but if you cannot keep in tense, maybe you shouldn't have a plot to have holes in. Or a magic system filled with continuity issues.<br />
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<i>(I'm breaking down my soapbox now, guys)</i><br />
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I refuse to be guilty of tense switching, especially of the gratuitous sort I have recently been more than guilty of. I'm off to evict the foxes from my henhouse and keep them segregated the best I can. And for any I miss, I know my critique partners will seek them out and destroy them for me.<br />
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Happy Reading. Happier Writing.<br />
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JJodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-67231446962820985132013-07-11T15:14:00.002-07:002013-07-11T15:14:37.941-07:00Working From Home is HarrrrdSo...I work from home.<br />
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And by work, I mean <b style="font-style: italic;">writing is my job </b>(one I don't get paid for--yet--but job nonetheless)<br />
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You'd think it would be rad making and keeping your own schedule. Having your passion and the success of your friends to motivate you. You think you would crank out words like every one was the last word in the existence of the universe and it had to be you to type it.</div>
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And it is rad. It's rad in a million and one ways. Ways like:</div>
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gardening, and laundry, and dishes, and landscaping, and...</div>
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Very little time at your computer banging on the keyboard.</div>
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I didn't realize until these last two weeks how much I relied on syllabi, and pre-scheduled work and reading, and the threat of bad grades if I missed a due date, to keep me on track. And now I need these things but in my work-from-home environment.</div>
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I've tried making a writing schedule on iCalander and setting reminders in my phone so Siri can yell at me to switch gears from house stuff to writing. But these things just don't work.</div>
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I need a manager, someone to keep me on task. Someone to give me daily/weekly word-count goals to work toward, and to impose penalties for not reaching my goals. </div>
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Le sigh...</div>
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Happy Reading. Happier Writing.</div>
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Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-53121848640345382502013-05-20T22:11:00.003-07:002013-05-20T22:37:50.072-07:00The Idea of Free Time Terrifies Me<div>
Some things feel like they take forever to accomplish, but then when they are so near, taking that last step makes you sweat between your shoulder blades and your stomach grab for your throat. Because it can't really be happening.</div>
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Graduating college is one of those things. Planning a wedding is another. Moving, yet another thing that takes two lifetimes in the span of a few weeks to accomplish, and yet the average person does each of these things several times before they die. In the writerly circle, finishing a manuscript, landing an agent and then selling a book each seem to take a life time to accomplish.</div>
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Humans perplex me, but alas, the tech to alter one's species has not been invented just yet so I'll deal.</div>
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So we--I--spend the best years of our new adult lives in an institution to better our minds. Well, maybe not better, but hone, shape, expand them. You name it, there's a college that wants to do it to your brain. My college has decided they've done all they can to my brain, and that now it is time for me to move on. After 7 years of attending college full-time--save for a year off for each of my two children--I will have my BA in English/Creative Writing on June 16, 2013.</div>
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And we--my sister and my best friend who oddly enough have the same name--get married in Ohio--one is from Ohio, the other is from Michigan--in the same week of June. The coincidences here are just too unbelievable if anyone wrote them into a book our beta readers would slap us. I mean, c'mon, what are the odds of this happening? Like zilch.</div>
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And we move--because old people die and their spouses cannot bare even the thought of living in a house they've occupied with the same person for 61 years, without that person. I've been in the new house for four weeks. Grandma's ghost is rattling around all the 1970s wood paneling calling me The Witch of Endor because of my black hair and wondering when I'm going to make time to finish my book.</div>
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But most of all, we write. And we query. And we land an agent who sells our books. Or at least my good friend, <a href="http://www.mistydwaters.com/"><b>Misty D. Waters</b></a> (author name MD Waters) does, did and did. She landed an agent in October 2012. Within a month her agent sold her first two books--<i>ARCHETYPE</i> and <i>PROTOTYPE</i>-- to Dutton (an imprint of Penguin). Every week I get exciting incites and news from the world/process of publishing. And, let's face it, sometimes the idea of being published seems like finding an alien body in Area 51. Seeing someone you know accomplish this is encouraging and motivating and more verbs than I can fit in this post.</div>
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I celebrate my fifth wedding anniversary June 14, graduate college June 16, celebrate my daughter's third birthday June 24, attend my sister's wedding in Ohio June 25, attend my best friend's wedding in Ohio June 29 and celebrate my son's sixth birthday July 3...come July 4th I will need a vacation.</div>
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So I'm getting a work schedule.</div>
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Because free time, for as much as I want it, it really does terrify me. It's going from having a million and forty-seven things to nothing to do. Like running at warp speed one minuted only to have your legs fall off between strides. </div>
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Happy Reading. Happier Writing.</div>
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Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-18821005360344097382013-02-27T11:55:00.000-08:002013-05-20T22:38:39.888-07:00Listening to a Book? What?So...<br />
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You have two kids<br />
and a husband,<br />
and you go to school full-time,<br />
have homework<br />
and housework,<br />
are writing one novel,<br />
and co-authoring a second novel,<br />
and you've read--*checks <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4259777-jodi-henry"><b>goodreads</b></a>*--19 novels in 2013.<br />
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A friend said this to me today, flabbergasted that I have time to actually read books.<br />
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With a bright smile, I admitted I cheat. But only a little bit.<br />
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No, I don't use sparknotes to "read" <span itemprop="name">Dostoyevsky </span>and Tolstoy and Milton. All of which I started and finished in 2013.<br />
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I've found it's awfully difficult to read while folding laundry, or cooking dinner, or cleaning my house, or driving to drop my son off in kindergarten. Every fold of cloth and mile of road felt absolutely wasted. Wasted because I had books to read for school and leisure.<br />
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I have two friends who swear by audiobooks.<br />
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And now I swear by them.<br />
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When I found I couldn't possibly finish school books and leisure books, I downloaded the <b><a href="http://www.audible.com/">Audible</a></b> iPhone app, plugged my phone into the docking station, and voila!!!<br />
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I listen to books while I clean, and cook, and drive. (I'm listening to one as I write this post) You never really notice how much time it takes to "make a quick trip to school, then stop quickly to get the mail" until you have an app keeping track of your listening time. Those quick trips are nearly an hour of my time in the morning.<br />
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For every one book I read, I've listened to one and a half audiobooks. Because really, with everything I do, I'm left to "actually reading a book" right before bed. I kill a hundred pages or so before my eyes grow too unfocused to read any longer. During the day, while I'm doing everything else that needs to get done, I listen to books.<br />
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My house no longer suffers for my book addiction. My car stereo has forgotten what "music" is. My children, five and two years old, listen along with me to books they will read in college...in thirteen and sixteen years. The transition from morning cartoons to "listening to mommy's books" wasn't as tragic as expected.<br />
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My kids comment on the narrator's various accents. My son, the five year old, shrieks with the glee of recognizing words in mommy's books that he's learned to write/read in school. Instead of sitting in front of the television, my kids are learning, expanding their pliable little brains while mommy expands her less pliable and slightly tougher brain.<br />
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Audiobooks, are far more beneficial than just getting the next fix for an addiction that isn't detrimental to your health.<br />
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Happy Reading--listening to audiobooks. Happier Writing,<br />
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J<br />
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<br />Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-82946664395831359862013-01-11T11:54:00.002-08:002013-05-20T22:38:51.378-07:00Sacrifice, It's What We Do.<div style="text-align: center;">
You see it on faces, in wrinkles</div>
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And many other places</div>
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There's a list of the Doing</div>
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We Should Bes</div>
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Enough to fill yours</div>
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mine, his and hers</div>
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To a hundred, </div>
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Plus a third</div>
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Though, it's never free</div>
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All too willing, are we to pay the fee,</div>
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To a thing that will not be owned</div>
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Because,</div>
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Time is not for us alone.</div>
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Jodi Henry</div>
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To be a writer we sacrifice, because there is not enough time in the day to accomplish everything we must in order to be successful. But there are ways. So many before us have proved it can be done, and so many prove it every day that it still is being done.</div>
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I've recently lost a great majority of my day to sitting in classrooms listening to a professor drone on about something totally and annoyingly not related to genre fiction, of which I write. So I've taken steps! I've put my foot down!</div>
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I'm writing pieces of my novel by hand.</div>
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This is seriously archaic, and I have no idea how anything got published before the advent of typewriters and computers, but it has it's benefits, though they are brief.</div>
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It makes you <i>Think</i> about every word you put on the page.</div>
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I strike through more than I write, and for the simple fact that my brain moves faster than my hand. I find myself changing the direction of a sentence mid-sentence, and I've already written the beginning. <strike>STRIKE STRIKE STRKE</strike> this is where I would simply hit the delete, or highlight the whole thing and just start typing over again. But by hand *shudders* this isn't possible.</div>
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So I think. I think about what I really want to say, and the words I'll use to say it. And the results are crazy. I might not have to edit so much after it's typed into the manuscript because I've already done so much editing in my head before the pieces ever touched the page. </div>
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Happy Reading. Happier Writing...hopefully not by hand.</div>
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Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-39548851075920940912013-01-08T09:30:00.000-08:002013-05-20T22:39:10.557-07:00No One Likes Arrogant AssholesAs I sat down to write this, I found myself struggling to control the venom that wanted to seep into the post and infect the meat of it. It ravaged every key stroke and bleed into each word on the screen until it mutated the entire post into a rant that, no matter how much you sliced and sucked at the offensive wound, would ultimately kill it's intended victim.<br />
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Yes, I wanted to teach someone a lesson in humility. To rake their naked body over the coals of <u>Publishing 101</u> and drag them into the depths of <u>Intro to Self-Promotion</u> only to leave their broken and bleeding ego at the feet of <u>Every Author Who is Better than Them.</u></div>
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<u><br /></u></div>
<div>
But alas, I have calmed down.<br />
<br />
Oh, you thought you weren't getting a rant. Sorry, but I haven't calmed down <i>that </i>much.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
While I am in no way an expert on writing, publishing, or advertising, I can tell you:</div>
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<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
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1-- Every author has those moments of "Goddamn this is the best <span style="color: #38761d; font-weight: bold;">sentence</span>/<span style="color: #134f5c; font-weight: bold;">paragraph</span>/<span style="color: #351c75; font-weight: bold;">scene</span>/<span style="color: #b45f06; font-weight: bold;">chapter</span>/<span style="color: #741b47; font-weight: bold;">book</span> I've ever written."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And it is <b>OKAY</b> to have those. Hell, we <b>NEED</b> to have those. They are what keep us doing what we love. Without those moments of self-proclaimed genius, however warranted or unwarranted they may be, failure is inevitable.</div>
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<br /></div>
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2-- No matter how great you think you are, or how many of your family and friends fluff your ego, keep it to your goddamn self.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Telling people how awesome you are will only ensure they never read your book. Or, if they do read your book, they do so in order to pick apart every one of your self-proclaimed awesome <b><span style="color: #38761d;">sentences</span></b>/<b><span style="color: #134f5c;">paragraphs</span></b>/<b><span style="color: #351c75;">scenes</span></b>/<span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>chapters</b></span>. This leads to rotten reviews, deep sighs, frustration, and possibly ranting blog posts about arrogant assholes.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
3-- There are people who will read your work, unbiasedly. These people EXCLUDE friends, family, co-workers and yourself.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<b>THESE </b>are the people that matter. <b>THESE</b> are the people who give their opinions without feeling obligated to stroke your already bloated ego. They have nothing invested in your book because they do not know you personally. <b>THESE</b> are the people you don't want to show you're an arrogant asshole, no matter how awesome you truly are, because <b>THESE</b> are the people that post reviews of your book.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>THESE</b> people are the reason you publish . You write for yourself. You publish so others can enjoy your works. Plain and simple and brashly stated, but true.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, keep the fact that you are the Best thing that's EVER happened to writing between you and your bathroom mirror--don't lie, we all have a mantra that keeps us going. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Feign modesty to everyone else.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
No one likes an arrogant asshole.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Happy Reading. Happier Writing.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
J</div>
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Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-62313744835795990812013-01-06T09:12:00.002-08:002013-05-20T22:39:34.651-07:00The Yawn of the Half-BreedsTodays post is spurned by a trend that is--hold on, help me find the right word here, please?<br />
<br />
Boring? Trite? <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Cliché? Washed out? </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Used up</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">? Overdone? Yawn?</span></span><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>*yawn**yawn*yawn**yawn*yawn**yawn*yawn**yawn*</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Stop that, it's contagious!<br />
<br />
Yes, I'm talking about you, Half-breeds. You're contagious and it isn't a good things. In the last three years you have gone from a fresh, new trope to an epidemic. Look at the list of the Half-Breeds and tell me how many titles flashed through your head. <i>Oh, I know this book and this book and oh, yeah that book too. And, shit, she's right...</i><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
Human-Were(whatever species) Half-Breed<br />
Human-Vampire Half-Breed<br />
Human-Angel Half-Breed (commonly known as the Nephilim)<br />
Human-Demon Half-Breed<br />
Human-Faerie Half-Breed<br />
Human-Greek God Half-Breed<br />
Vampire-Were(whatever species) Half-Breed<br />
<br />
These are *just* the half-breed mixes I've either read or put back on the shelf after discovering it was yet again another book starring a half-breed.<br />
<br />
Where did this trend come from and, more importantly, <i>why</i>?<br />
<br />
I think the <b><a href="http://www.worldfantasy.org/">World Fantasy Convention 2012</a></b> panelist answered it best during the Romancing the Monster discussion:<br />
<br />
<b>Topic:</b> Why do we as authors feel the need to have our heros / heroins fall in love with Monsters? How did the evolution of said monsters go from "Run for your life terrifying" to "hey, baby-cakes, let's make out?"<br />
<br />
<b>All four panelists answered similarly:</b><br />
1) The Monsters of old fill the role of everything taboo in humanity. We see ourselves in these Monsters, and think they are not beyond "saving" because by seeing ourselves in them we humanize them.<br />
<br />
Now, you notice the trend of the Human + Other Species dominates the list of half-breeds above. So, kudos to you, <b><a href="http://www.keriarthur.com/books/">Keri Arthur</a></b>, for standing out amongst the b<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">lasé class with your Vamp-Were Riley Jensen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I think, in an attempt to humanize the Monsters of old, we injected them with human traits, making them lovable and attractive to the humans in our stories. But it's a slipper-slope and we couldn't help ourselves. We began infusing human DNA with our monsters, and creating half-breeds. Now EVERYTHING is a half-breed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There are two ways to extract ourselves from this trend:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">1) Shake up the half-breed combos and cut the HUMAN out of the equation. Make your characters odd mixes of the Monsters themselves. Give us a Vampire (if you must) Greek God cross. I mean, seriously Hera the Half-Breed Vampire. The bitch was already a little crazy, imagine what she could do if she wasn't just </span></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">vengeful</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> but blood thirsty, too...??? </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2) Let the Monsters have their Ball back: give a Winter Fearie the leading role, and use their own nature against them while they try to change because of a new and totally alien desire within them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Happy Reading. Happier Writing...something new and exciting.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">J</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Two Truths: </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The main character of the first novel I ever </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">scribed</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> was, in fact, a female human-vamp half-breed. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The novel I'm currently working on includes a Nephilim secondary character. </span></span><br />
<!--EndFragment--><br />
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<!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment-->Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-2551281555617008882013-01-04T17:44:00.002-08:002013-01-04T17:44:48.817-08:00When Life Gives You Turquoise Hair Forget the Lemons. They say you should never grocery shop while you're hungry. You come home with things that, when you look at them together do not create anything edible.<br />
<br />
The AA batteries you've forgotten a million and a half times since you initially noticed you needed them. And chicken nuggets you could swear you needed but find, once you get home, there are three partially used bags in the freezer. Cocoa powder, a purple onion, feta cheese, and a bottle of your favorite red wine blend (14 Hands "Hot to Trot"), round out the list of the unusual.<br />
<br />
When all you really needed was a lemon, which you forgot because a girl with striking turquoise hair walked through your line of sight.<br />
<br />
And, of course, you did the most non-creepy thing of your life and stalked her through the store...learning her. You may have snapped a picture of three while eavesdropping on her plans for the evening and stuffing cocoa powder in your basket. Okay, so maybe <i>you</i> didn't, but I did.<br />
<br />
"But I have a legitimate excuse, officer!"<br />
<br />
The stern look he gives is enough to shake lesser women. "And what's that, Mrs. Henry?"<br />
<br />
"Uh...erm...I'm a writer?"<br />
<br />
Then the officer offers himself up for possible bodyguard duty in any of my future stalking adventures...<br />
<br />
Or, at least this is how I pictured it happening as I studied the snapshots I'd stolen of Miss. Turquoise Hair.<br />
<br />
Writing is right up there with being a spy, in more than one sense, apparently. Both are occupations that require seclusion of self, and at the same time, hinge on the existence of other people despite how much we try to avoid them. And we get to do cool things like stalk people in grocery stores.<br />
<br />
All in the name of research, obviously.<br />
<br />
Happy Reading. Happier Writing.<br />
<br />
J<br />
<br />
PS: Miss Turquoise Hair is currently doing the Tango with a plot and, yes, it involves lemon juice.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-66350242889899810932013-01-01T11:36:00.002-08:002013-01-01T11:36:42.339-08:00Goals to Dreams and Back AgainSomeone once told me dreams and goals are two very different things for one reason:<br />
<br />
Control.<br />
<br />
A goal is something, that once you decide to achieve it, only you can stop yourself from succeeding.<br />
<br />
Goals: Graduate high school<br />
Live in Boston by the age of 35<br />
Earn a bachelors degree<br />
Eat Chinese three nights a week for the rest of your life<br />
Lose weight<br />
<br />
Dreams, as far fetched as they sometimes seem, are achievable, but you do not control when or how they come to reality. That lies in someone else's hands.<br />
<br />
Dreams: My kids graduate high school with a 4.0<br />
Make $250K a year camping on my sofa<br />
Cure cancer<br />
Become a NYTimes Best Selling Author<br />
<br />
Now, as this is a writing blog, how do goals and dreams relate to <i>US</i> writers?<br />
As many of you have figured out, our success is often in the hands of another or several others...<br />
<br />
Or is it?<br />
<br />
For most of us, I believe it's true, that we don't set out with the big dream of being an NYTimes Best Selling Author in mind. We start out with a goal. And this goal often feels like climbing Mount Everest in ballet slippers. You can all guess this goal is to <i><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Write A Book</b></span></i>.<br />
<br />
As we scale Everest in our ballet slippers, inching toward the highest peak, something strange happens. Everest starts to shrink because our original goal--Writing a book--is no longer what we hope to obtain, because we've very nearly gotten it.<br />
<br />
Our new and even far more difficult goal is to whittle a forest full of trees into two perfect toothpicks, both suitable for a Queen's martini, you know, in case she breaks one glaring at it. Yes, I'm talking about <i><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Writing a Synopsis and a Query Letter</b></span></i>.<br />
<br />
And of course, as we fine tune the two toothpicks, our forest is slowly smoldering around us. Because, you guessed it, our goal has shifted yet again. Some would argue our goal has evolved into a dream because you cannot force someone to like your writing--the exception here is loved ones, because we all have plots picked out for hiding their bodies if they should falter in their support of us. These same people would say that you cannot coerce an <i><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Agent to Represent You</span></b></i>.<br />
<br />
Right about here is where I laugh in the dreamer's faces, because yes you can coerce an agent to represent you! You just scaled Everest in ballet slippers AND you whittled a forest into two perfect toothpicks a Queen will enjoy until someone takes her head for said toothpicks. Drive and perseverance are a writer's methods of coercion.<br />
<br />
Once a writer lands an agent, is where we lose almost all control over our goals and they mutate to dreams...and now a writer must lean on the all the goals they've accomplished, and let someone else determine the how and when their dreams of <span style="color: #0b5394;"><i><b>Being Published</b></i></span> will come true.<br />
<br />
Late October / Early November 2012, a friend of mine landed an agent. Said agent ensured her dreams came true a mere three to four weeks after signing her. She's currently living in a shell-shocked state, slowly blinking at her computer screen and coming to the realization that she has conquered her goals, grabbed her dreams with both hands, and now she simply has to <span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><i>Write</i></b></span>.<br />
<br />
Happy Reading. Happier Writing...in the New Year.<br />
<br />
J<br />
<br />Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-12916278244388276132011-11-03T11:14:00.000-07:002011-11-03T11:14:09.085-07:00My Writing Partner/Blogger/Friend and Fellow Nerd is Published!!!<a href="http://debrincase.com/ahlvol3/stephanie-m-loree" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ygFiIFBZ09c/TrFjFFuB9kI/AAAAAAAACsE/l0RmJtmXCmI/s200/AHL3cover.jpg" width="132" /></a>She's been published!<br />
<br />
Yes, that's right, one of my writing partners can be found on the bookshelf.<br />
<br />
Stephanie M. Loree over at <b><a href="http://blog.stephaniemloree.com/">Scribbler to Scribe</a></b> has a short story The Skin Script, in the anthology: <b><a href="http://debrincase.com/ahlvol3/stephanie-m-loree">AN HONEST LIE vol 3: Justifiable Hypocrisy</a> </b>out from Open Heart Publishing.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="clear: left; color: black; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">I've read every draft of the story and you should all be very, very jealous because it is totally great. The world, the voice, the betrayal, Jules...sigh.</span><br />
<br />
I keep telling her Jules needs a bigger story, that it shouldn't end with The Skin Script, and I think I'm finally getting somewhere with it.<br />
<br />
So help me out people!<br />
<br />
Read the excerpt. It's just a taste, something to moisten your curiosity, and then go <b><a href="http://debrincase.com/ahlvol3/stephanie-m-loree">BUY </a></b>the anthology.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><b>Excerpt from Stephanie's <a href="http://blog.stephaniemloree.com/">blog</a>:</b></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zuErP0S3OJk/TrFp9erPCCI/AAAAAAAACtQ/R4VcyjNwSBQ/s1152/SS-Back-Final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zuErP0S3OJk/TrFp9erPCCI/AAAAAAAACtQ/R4VcyjNwSBQ/s320/SS-Back-Final.jpg" width="320" /></a><b><br />
</b><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A3nbNJF6bKU/Ti-AWrJHCMI/AAAAAAAACOA/MvMyPFmouo4/w399-h1195-k/SS-Front-Final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A3nbNJF6bKU/Ti-AWrJHCMI/AAAAAAAACOA/MvMyPFmouo4/w399-h1195-k/SS-Front-Final.jpg" width="106" /></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">She smiled. “I’ll try to keep my hands to myself.”</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">He caught himself grinning as he began. “Talk to me about you. I want to know it all.”</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">“You already do, limner,” she said, “but I’ll tell you anyway.”</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">As he filled in her future, she relayed her past. And when the pain ceased, they smiled. Together they whispered deeper truths under florescent lights. Skin against skin.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Twice Jules negated her death. Maybe his too, he couldn’t know.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Years would pass in guile and secret rendezvous. Mistakes that might have led to their discovery, simply erased. No taint of their love allowed on her neck, no exchange of passion interrupted by a curious father.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Her skin consumed him as he worked. The smell of iron and ink. The smooth delicacy of her touch. The flavor of peppermint lip-gloss. The heat. He might illuminate her body, but she carved a channel inside Jules. She liberated him from a prison of plastic walls and cold steel. Worse, she made him laugh.</span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Happy Reading. Happier Writing.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">J</span></span>Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-914012457856289442011-10-10T14:20:00.000-07:002011-10-10T14:22:36.985-07:00Pitch Isn't For Trees, Silly, It's For Books!<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-variant: small-caps; line-height: 18px;"><b></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-variant: small-caps;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: 800; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;">Book Pitches</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> fall into three categories: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: 800; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="font-weight: 800;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;">Elevator Pitch: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">is a thirty second to one minute spiel you do while walking the hall or riding from one floor to the next in an elevator. They typically consist of three sentences. You will get a quick yes, no, or, if you’re lucky, the agent will have questions and a little time to ask you them<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: 800;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: 800; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="font-weight: 800;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;">Longer Pitch:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> is a three to five minute pitch. You use these at a scheduled face-to-face appointment with an agent/editor/publisher. They typically consist of six sentences and are an expansion of your Elevator Pitch. Always try to leave yourself room at the end of the meeting for questions from the agent. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: 800;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: 800; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="font-weight: 800;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;">Query Letter: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">yes, this is a pitch, and the longest of the three at 250-words (or one single spaced, letter format, typed page). These can be an expansion of the previous two types of pitches, and include an author bio. They mailed/emailed to the agent and have the longest wait time for replies at about 4-8 weeks depending on the agent.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: 800;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: 800; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: 800; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-variant: small-caps;"><a href="http://jodilhenry.blogspot.com/p/pitch-formulas.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Find Pitch Formulas Here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: 800; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Walking into the<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: 800;"> </span><b style="font-weight: 800;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;"><a href="http://pnwa.org/">PNWA</a></span></b> 2011 Summer Conference, I thought I had a solid pitch and query. Then I started talking to other writers and listening to them practice their pitches. And for the first dozen or two of people who pitched to me, I passed on the chance to pitch mine to them, because everyone else’s pitch sounded so much better than mine. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I had pitch envy! Book envy! And more than anything, confidence envy!!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">And then something happened. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I decided I was a novice among other novices and I wouldn’t get any better if I didn’t pitch to my ‘co-workers’. And hell, at this point I didn’t even know if my pitch was rubbish or not, because I was the only judge of my work. Most writers are their own harshest critic, and that is so true of me. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">So, I sought out people who wrote in the Fantasy genre, both young adult and adult, and I pitched, and I pitched, and I pitched. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I quickly became one of the pitch-addicted authors of the conference that I had snickered at upon arriving that first morning.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">My pitch went through several rounds of editing before it echoed in an agent or editor’s ears.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">But yes, I did finally pitch to 4 agents, one of which heard my query letter beforehand, and one editor/publisher.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">And I can honestly say, I was disappointed to not receive one rejection </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">J</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Happy Reading. Happier Writing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">J <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: 800;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: 800; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div>Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-73025159020288155992011-09-29T15:57:00.000-07:002011-09-29T15:57:50.926-07:00Breaking the Number ONE Rule to Querying & Doing It With Permission From Agents/Editors/Publishers!<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The weeks leading up to August 3<sup>rd</sup>, 2011, I was a mess. Not because life was crazy, though it always is, but because I wasn’t ready to attend my first ever writing conference. It felt like a huge step to be networking with agents, editors and publishers who I dreamed of querying when my novel sparkled better than Edward Cullen on a summer day in Arizona.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Because the number one rule to querying is?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yes, you got it: never query an unfinished manuscript.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And, sitting at halfway through my second draft, my novel wasn’t finished.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I felt like I’d failed myself, wasted a substantial amount of money, and blew the opportunity to pitch my novel to agents whom I have on my ‘dream list’.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">With the encouragement and an assist prepping from <b><a href="http://blog.stephaniemloree.com/">Stephanie Loree</a></b>, a friend and member of my writing group, I went with the intent to learn everything I could, take notes vigorously to share with others, and yes, even pitch my novel every at chance that presented itself. <span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So multiple copies of my query letter, my three sentence “elevator pitch” ready and semi memorized, sample first pages, sample first five chapters, business cards, and frazzled nerves, I walked into the Pacific Northwest </span>Writers<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Conference<b> <a href="http://www.pnwa.org/index.cfm">(PNWA)</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And was greeted by 500 hopefuls such as myself. Seeing everyone just as nervous as me, helped calm my nerves, but I still felt like a traitor to our cause because my novel wasn’t finished.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Everything in me said ‘cancel the two appointments you have with your dream agents and let someone else with a finished novel have the chance’ but Steph wouldn’t hear of it. She pushed me to pitch, because cons are “a time to learn and hone your pitch/querying skills. Agents are there to give you guidance so when you’re ready to query, you nail it!” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So I kept my appointments. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One the second day of the con both the agents and the editors/publishers did separate panels to TELL us hopefuls what EXACTLY they are looking for RIGHT NOW. Afterward, someone asked the question that was killing me, and the question I wasn’t willing to ask myself, because I’m a chicken: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">How do you feel about pitching an unfinished novel?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The response was unanimous from both panels: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">PITCH IT NOW because we are here to TEACH you so when you’re ready to query you NAIL IT.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Steph is a genius (because she’s an avid con attendee and knows her shit when it comes to them.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Writing Conferences are the ONLY place you can break the number one rule to querying, and do so with the permission from the people who open the doors to your career or keep them dead bolted shut: agents, editors and publishers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Writing Conferences are stuffed full of <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">opportunities, </span>and I’ll be sharing my discoveries in the next few posts to come.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Happy Reading. Happier Writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">J.</span></div></span>Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-68007750883379919282011-05-16T00:46:00.001-07:002011-05-16T00:46:00.318-07:00Putting a Question To Bed.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">I’ve been hit with this question more than once in the past two months, so I’m going to answer it for you all here.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How did you get here (regarding my writing)?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I wish my answer had roots in my childhood, but sadly it does not. My mother wasn’t the type of parent who encouraged anything to do with reading or writing, aside from what was necessary to get through school … and even then, it was more of suggestion that I do my school work than anything else. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So I can pinpoint the exact month and year, and book that threw me into this fantastically crazy thing we call writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">April of 2009 I was all set to attend the University of Washington’s civil engineering program and then I read <u>New Moon</u>, by Stephenie Meyer. Take a minute and breathe. Go ahead and let your chin rest on the desk top, just don’t let it sit there too long. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Pick it up now, or I won’t continue. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I started on the second of the series because I’d already seen the movie. After finishing the last three I read the first book. I always do things a little fucked up and backward, but hey, that’s me and it works. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Upon completing the series, I decided, well, fuck I can write crap like that. So I set out to write my first novel. I also changed universities and majors: now majoring in English. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But the novel is what we want to hear about. It's about Vampire Half-breeds...because we write what we know...blah, blah, blah. And of course I pantsed my way through it. Finished the thing in eight months, found an online critiquing website and started submitting. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Where I met <b><a href="http://jwparente.blogspot.com/">JW Parente</a></b> who is now one fourth of my writing group. *waves* <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This is the first three lines EVER written by me in an attempt to formulate a novel:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The sun hadn’t broken the horizon and there I lay, awake. Another day awake before the alarm had a chance to sound. How I longed for that antagonizing beep.</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 115%;">Down, people. Put your red pens away; nobody wants to ruin their computer screens by correcting those lines. Put. Them. Down. Trust me, I know it’s bad, the rest of the novel will NEVER see the light of day, or the dark of night. I've thought, and not just once, about printing it out and burning it in the backyard, but I value trees more than my own satisfaction of destroying my fledgling attempt at </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">perfection</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 115%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You tell anyone how bad it is, JW and I will…well, you can guess what I’ll do ;-) <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And there you have it: the catalyst that jolted me into the game, and the first lines of creative ever written by me. The rest is, well, history in the making. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Do you remember your first…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Book?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">or</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Lines?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I mean </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">J</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Happy reading. Happier Writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">J<o:p></o:p></span></div>Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-2058978812697236432011-05-02T16:34:00.000-07:002011-05-02T16:34:34.469-07:00Deadlines Are Suffocating ThingsOh, how I hate deadlines. And I have so many of them. <div><br />
</div><div>2 Full MS to read...A partial MS read...An Outline to read...A 2nd Draft to Write... Cassie Clare<u>'s City of Fallen Angels</u> to read...Blog posts to post...Blogs to read...Comments to type...(Let's not mention LIFE to live)<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>And all of this provokes the procrastinator in me like a child with a sharp stick pokes an earth worm. I wish I could split myself in two and regrow the other half of me...</div><div><br />
</div><div>Can you imagine--two of me. </div><div><br />
</div><div>It would even the playing field of chasing two kids around. My husband would probably take vacation and never return. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Four sets of eyes reading a manuscript would make the full reads fly by. My writing group would LOVE that. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Two of me writing. Gah...scratch that idea. I'd kill me for sure. </div><div><br />
</div><div>How do you people put up with me, the pushy bitch that I am?</div><div><br />
</div><div>Oh right, you hardly see me anymore. Sorry for that. Just know I love you all. I read your blogs even if I don't comment. Really I do. I have most of them loaded into the blog app I have on my phone. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Face to phone walking through the mall. Yes, you all are the cause of my bruised shins. But I still love each and everyone of you. :)</div><div><br />
</div><div>But the deadlines are still suffocating. They come in many forms.</div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://elenasolodow.blogspot.com/"><b>Elena Solodow's</b></a> novel is the noose I am loosening as I type this. She's been very patient, as I have been on hiatus from everything reading/writing related. My month long slackfest is over and I am nearly done reading her novel, thus the ability to breathe again. </div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://jwparente.blogspot.com/"><b>Justin Parente's</b></a> outline is on my plate, keeping Elena's novel company until I am finished with it. A good friend, Joe is awaiting my notes on his partial MS. Also on my list is the second draft of <b><a href="http://mistydwaters.blogspot.com/">Misty Waters'</a></b> NaNo project. All are patient friends and are probably so happy my slackfest has come to a close. </div><div><br />
</div><div>But the suffocation doesn't end as May comes in like a plastic bag around my head. For in May I have big plans. Draft Two of my NaNo project will be finished BEFORE the end of the month.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Yeah, so now I am off to finish reading Elena's novel -- lovely piece of writing--and then to write. Anyone want to adopt a husband and two kids for May? Taking applications RIGHT NOW.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Happy Reading. Happier Writing. </div><div><br />
</div><div>J</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div> </div></div>Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-32869435897054659562011-03-30T08:23:00.000-07:002011-03-30T18:18:14.103-07:00Sex, Drugs--wait, stop there I need a title.<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">I am working my way through my 60% rewrite of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">light</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">, but I am also giving the title an over haul.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So rewrite update: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve written 7K of new material and transferred w/ revisions 2K from L<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ight</span> v1 into L<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ight v2</span> for a total of ~11K words thus far. Not so bad for taking almost—almost—a whole week off for vacation last week. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Oh, yes Arizona was nice, sunny and hot, but the weather practically killed my writing flow. Just sayin. Rainy Washington suites my creativity much, much better. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On to titles:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In L<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ight</span> v2, Jax personal nemesis is his addiction to cocaine. It’s the thing that kicks him when he’s winning but (for reasons unnamed here) he must keep doing it. Without it, accomplishing his goals would be impossible. Tease. Tease. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The title of the book was always meant to be the name of the particular blend of coke Jax uses. In L<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ight</span>, not all coke is created equal. Tease. Sorry, I’ll stop teasing you with tidbits. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Now, I’ve done research on the names people give illegal substances and, for the most part, they are highly suggestive and very indicative of the high one will experience when using them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><a href="http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/streetterms/bytype.asp?inttypeid=3"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This is a good site for slang terms for cocaine hosted by the US government </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">J</span></a></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><a href="http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/streetterms/bytype.asp?inttypeid=3"> no less. </a></b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Cocaine names are a little different. There are quite a few slang terms that are F<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">emale</span> and hardly any that are M<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ale</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You can imagine the convos with friends this brought up. I will spare you the funny, or you can follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/JodiLHenry"><b>twitter </b></a>where I totally tweeted the funny.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Some of the titles I threw around follow and ultimately decided against are:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;">Blow Me</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;">Heaven’s Rush<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;">Pink Champagne <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;">Red Rush<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;">White Lady<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;">Pink Lady <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;">Paradise Falling<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;">Falling Pink<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;">Pink Salvation<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps;">Pink Heaven<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Those are catchy, and they all have a slang name of cocaine in them. Some have pink, the color of the coke in <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Light. </span>And there’s <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Blow Me</span>, the drug as named by the dealer in the book. They all are indicative of the ‘reason’ Jax has to keep doing them, of the high, but I don’t think they are ‘street drug’ worthy, if that makes sense. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So the new title which shall remain so until, well, an agent gets their hands on the manuscript and wants it changed is…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And I’ve signed this in blood…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I think we need drums…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Drum roll…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant: small-caps; line-height: 115%;"><b>Paradise Pink</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell me what ya think. Like it? Hate it? Too girly for a male pov dark urban fantasy book?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Really, be honest, you won’t hurt anyone’s feelings. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Happy Reading. Happier Writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">J<o:p></o:p></span></div>Jodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5780510492901683811.post-35210260155465106512011-03-27T09:02:00.000-07:002011-03-27T09:02:08.847-07:00ABNA Quarter Finalist--Elena Solodow<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Yes, you read it rightt--My critique partner <a href="http://elenasolodow.blogspot.com/"><strong>Elena Solodow</strong></a> is a quater finalist in the Amazon Breakout Novel Award contest. </div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1EAPmLwINjM/TEcXE4mPsUI/AAAAAAAAAAs/LCpwLgD3E5Q/S220-h/bi+1.bmp" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="My Photo" class="photo" height="109" id="profile-photo" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1EAPmLwINjM/TEcXE4mPsUI/AAAAAAAAAAs/LCpwLgD3E5Q/S220/bi+1.bmp" width="150" /></a>I've read <strong>the</strong> novel.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I know <strong>the</strong> author. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">And yes, you should be jealous becuase both are spectacular. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Quick witted dialogue.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Rich Characters.</div><br />
An overall smooth read.<br />
<br />
A premise to die for.<br />
<br />
Well, you shouldn't take my word for it, go check out the free Kindle download <strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Whip-Slip-ebook/dp/B004TEYTUU/ref=br_lf_m_1000669141_8_206_ttl?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&pf_rd_p=1291986942&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_i=1000669141&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0J88ENWE9EHZ521G633D">HERE</a></strong> or download the FREE Kindle app for PC or MAC <strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=sa_menu_karl2?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771">HERE</a></strong>.<br />
<br />
<strong>From Elena's Blog over at You're Write, Except when You're Rong:</strong><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>The powers aren’t the problem – it’s Left-Hander.</em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><em><br />
</em></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>Sixteen-year-old Thea Vans has always hidden her ability to heal or infect with a touch, but when a voice in her head named Left-Hander steals the powers, Thea’s more worried about giving someone the Black Death than her GPA. Unfortunately for Thea, Left-Hander prefers hurting to healing. </em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><em><br />
</em></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>Thea hoped to graduate without a criminal record and keep her best friend Sully in the dark about her freak status, but that was before Left-Hander gave the Queen Bee a coughing fit, the attendance lady heart palpitations, and a dose of projectile vomiting to the field hockey team. Now the cops want her for questioning and Sully’s trying to set her up with a good exorcist. </em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><em><br />
</em></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>It’s time to figure out who – or what – Left-Hander is, where the powers come from, and how Thea can get her life back. But the soldiers of Life and Death find her first. In their secret, war-ravaged world, having both powers means Thea’s either a threat to eliminate, or a weapon to exploit. </em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><em><br />
</em></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>It would be easier to run, except Sully is injured. Only the soldiers of Life can help. If Thea pretends to be as pure as them, maybe she and Sully will make it out alive.</em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><em><br />
</em></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>As long as Left-Hander cooperates. </em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em></em></span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">If you don't love Elena already, you should. Spread the word and support your fellow blogger and my fab critique partner. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Happy Reading --Elena's excerpt. Happier Writing. </span></div><br />
JJodi Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216373059861459896noreply@blogger.com5