(format stolen from EMMA THERIAULT, find her here)
WHAT I'M DOING:
-WRITING- I finished the first draft of Novella #1, am currently working on Novella #2, and fleshing out RED QUEEN BOOK 3. Also tinkering with other shiny ideas when I have time.
-TRAVELING- I head to MONTANA at the end of the month to celebrate the 4th of July in truly American style. I'll be roadtripping from California with friends, then spending a week fishing, hiking, horseback riding, relaxing, eating, deck living, and exploring. I absolutely adore the Mountain West and can't wait to be back in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Jackson Hole, and Big Sky. Afterwards, I fly straight from MT to SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON. I've always wanted to attend, but now I'm going as a panelist and I get to call it work. I'm honestly freaking out. If you see a girl latching onto Storm Troopers, don't worry, it's just me. Then it's back to the grind for the rest of July, before hopping the pond to SCOTLAND. I'll be staying in the motherland for two weeks, mostly in Edinburgh, Fife, and Skye. Stay tuned for events we might have in store for UK readers....
WHAT I'VE READ RECENTLY/AM READING*
A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES by Sarah J. Maas - Team Tamlin. I will be begging across the stars for Book 2 ARCs.
THE WRATH AND THE DAWN by Renee Ahdieh - I've screeched about this enough to fill everyone's
Twitter feeds. Obviously I love it.
WINTER OF THE WORLD by Ken Follett - A GoT approach to WWII? Hell yeah.
*THE WITCH HUNTER by Virginia Boecker
*SIX OF CROWS by Leigh Bardugo
*EDGE OF ETERNITY by Ken Follett
*MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS AND THE ISLES by Margaret George
WHAT I'VE READ ONLINE
Fanfiction. Not for RQ, but continuing to read my favorites.
I also keep up with Deadline/Variety/Hollywood Reporter for work. And pretty much everything that crosses the front page of Reddit.
WHAT I'VE WATCHED - TV
Game of Thrones - we all know my feelings about this. I'm a kicked puppy continuing to return for more. Just don't....don't ask.
iZombie - HOW WILL I LIVE UNTIL NEXT SEASON?
Veep - Dan x Amy 4ever.
The Jinx - finally started this.
Hannibal - IT'S BACK.
WHAT I'VE WATCHED - MOVIES
Mad Max: Fury Road x2 - *sprays chrome on teeth, drives War Rig down the center of the highway*
San Andreas - *never returns to California*
Pitch Perfect 2 - "The pride of Wisconsin, the Green Bay Packers!"
Avengers 2 - Very meh for such a blockbuster.
The Longest Ride - the worst movie I've ever had a great time in.
Furious 7 - *returns to War Rig, drifts through downtown LA whilst evading a drone*
and...seeing JURASSIC WORLD tomorrow!!! I go to the movies a fair bit.
WHAT I'VE GOT ON REPEAT
The MAD MAX: FURY ROAD soundtrack and What Kind of Man by Florence + The Machine. Readers know why. :)
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Currently
This will be the first installment in a 'Currently' series that I may or may not continue. Onwards!
Currently I'm watching/have been watching over the past year:
Agent Carter
Fresh Off The Boat**
How To Get Away With Murder**
Nashville**
Rookie Blue (THE BEST SUMMER SHOW IN EXISTENCE)
Scandal
Arrow
iZombie
Reign**
The 100**
The Flash**
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Empire
New Girl
The Mindy Project (thank Jesus for Hulu)
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Sons of Anarchy (goodnight sweet prince)
The Americans
The Strain
Game of Thrones
True Detective
Veep
Daredevil**
House of Cards
Orange Is The New Black
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt**
Hannibal
Halt and Catch Fire**
Black Sails
Outlander**
The Royals
Vikings
Real Housewives
Southern Charm
Keeping Up With The Kardashians
Shark Tank
**behind but slowly catching up
Now that it's in list form, I realize I watch a lot of television. Yikes.
Currently I'm watching/have been watching over the past year:
Agent Carter
Fresh Off The Boat**
How To Get Away With Murder**
Nashville**
Rookie Blue (THE BEST SUMMER SHOW IN EXISTENCE)
Scandal
Arrow
iZombie
Reign**
The 100**
The Flash**
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Empire
New Girl
The Mindy Project (thank Jesus for Hulu)
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Sons of Anarchy (goodnight sweet prince)
The Americans
The Strain
Game of Thrones
True Detective
Veep
Daredevil**
House of Cards
Orange Is The New Black
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt**
Hannibal
Halt and Catch Fire**
Black Sails
Outlander**
The Royals
Vikings
Real Housewives
Southern Charm
Keeping Up With The Kardashians
Shark Tank
**behind but slowly catching up
Now that it's in list form, I realize I watch a lot of television. Yikes.
Monday, May 18, 2015
Update
I'll be at the Pasadena Loves YA book festival THIS SATURDAY, May 23rd. More info here: http://www.pasadenateenbookfestival.com/ There will be panels and signings!
*GAME OF THRONES SPOILERS*
*GAME OF THRONES SPOILERS*
*GAME OF THRONES SPOILERS*
*GAME OF THRONES SPOILERS*
And I personally think *that scene* from last night's Game of Thrones was kind of garbage. I was willing to roll with the Sansa in Winterfell story change, and thought it was going well. And yes, there were so many other avenues the writers could have pursued in the Winterfell arcs, so many I can't even list them. First off, Sansa's rape did not happen and, based on GRRM's "if you want to see where Sansa's story is going in the books, check out the new chapter" response, she probably won't end up spending her wedding night with the absolute worst character in a pantheon of sociopaths.
But we knew a bedding would happen as soon as they married. We knew it would not be pretty. I was ready for another not-great stop on the Sansa Train to Queen in the North Station. But reducing the scene to Theon's pain and Theon's character shift was downright bullshit. Westeros is a brutal, cruel place, and nothing is sunshine and roses. But would it kill us to show a little agency on Sansa's part? The show seemed to be setting up her shift from pawn to player, and last night was so many steps back, in my opinion. As evidenced by the Cersei/Jaime debacle, the show is developing a serious problem with women and sexual agency. I'm not advocating for Sansa to go full on seductress, because she's not there yet (in the show, at least. Her new TWOW chapter is another story). But come on. One shot of determination, resolve. One shot of her drawing strength from the stones of Winterfell like Daenerys drew strength from her dragon eggs.
Instead we get Reek crying, beginning his shift back to Theon, because a woman was brutalized in front of him. I don't doubt this moment is also a catalyst for Sansa's character, and will be part of her arc later on, but the scene didn't play that way. It was Theon's scene. Somehow the show managed to take Sansa's rape away from her and it's very, very off-putting. And we're starting to see the seams in Game of Thrones. Setpieces are choreographed poorly. Storylines are getting shaky. The train is rattling on its rails. I'm hoping as things tighten up and characters find their way back together, things will improve. Or, we might be going the way of Sons of Anarchy, a terrific show that ended not well. It developed a reputation for violence and brutality, like Game of Thrones, and in an attempt to improve, I think, it leaned too far into its wheelhouse, giving us a mess in an attempt to be a bloodbath. Here's hoping Game of Thrones won't become the same bloated caricature of itself.
It's an odd day when Reign handles a storyline better than Game of Thrones, but here we are.
All hail Stannis Baratheon, the One True King of Westeros.
*GAME OF THRONES SPOILERS*
*GAME OF THRONES SPOILERS*
*GAME OF THRONES SPOILERS*
*GAME OF THRONES SPOILERS*
And I personally think *that scene* from last night's Game of Thrones was kind of garbage. I was willing to roll with the Sansa in Winterfell story change, and thought it was going well. And yes, there were so many other avenues the writers could have pursued in the Winterfell arcs, so many I can't even list them. First off, Sansa's rape did not happen and, based on GRRM's "if you want to see where Sansa's story is going in the books, check out the new chapter" response, she probably won't end up spending her wedding night with the absolute worst character in a pantheon of sociopaths.
But we knew a bedding would happen as soon as they married. We knew it would not be pretty. I was ready for another not-great stop on the Sansa Train to Queen in the North Station. But reducing the scene to Theon's pain and Theon's character shift was downright bullshit. Westeros is a brutal, cruel place, and nothing is sunshine and roses. But would it kill us to show a little agency on Sansa's part? The show seemed to be setting up her shift from pawn to player, and last night was so many steps back, in my opinion. As evidenced by the Cersei/Jaime debacle, the show is developing a serious problem with women and sexual agency. I'm not advocating for Sansa to go full on seductress, because she's not there yet (in the show, at least. Her new TWOW chapter is another story). But come on. One shot of determination, resolve. One shot of her drawing strength from the stones of Winterfell like Daenerys drew strength from her dragon eggs.
Instead we get Reek crying, beginning his shift back to Theon, because a woman was brutalized in front of him. I don't doubt this moment is also a catalyst for Sansa's character, and will be part of her arc later on, but the scene didn't play that way. It was Theon's scene. Somehow the show managed to take Sansa's rape away from her and it's very, very off-putting. And we're starting to see the seams in Game of Thrones. Setpieces are choreographed poorly. Storylines are getting shaky. The train is rattling on its rails. I'm hoping as things tighten up and characters find their way back together, things will improve. Or, we might be going the way of Sons of Anarchy, a terrific show that ended not well. It developed a reputation for violence and brutality, like Game of Thrones, and in an attempt to improve, I think, it leaned too far into its wheelhouse, giving us a mess in an attempt to be a bloodbath. Here's hoping Game of Thrones won't become the same bloated caricature of itself.
It's an odd day when Reign handles a storyline better than Game of Thrones, but here we are.
All hail Stannis Baratheon, the One True King of Westeros.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Back At It
So it's been almost a year since I last posted here. A fair bit has happened since then, including but not limited to:
-saying my last good-bye to my childhood home
-saying my last good-bye to my grandmother
-lots of traveling, from Scotland to Lake Tahoe to Seattle to Texas to Harry Potter World
-finishing the second novel in the Red Queen series
-releasing the first novel in the Red Queen series
-somehow debuting at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller and subsequently gaining an epitaph for my future tombstone
-making some real writer friends/realizing I don't have to be friends with everyone
-meeting more people than I ever thought would read something I wrote, let alone pay to do it
-and I learned a whole hell of a lot about myself, the publishing industry, and how I fit into it
*I also spent and will continue to spend the majority of my time freaking out over Star Wars VII*
I'm hoping to keep up with this blog a bit more than I have in the past (how many times have I said that). I think the best way to do so is to keep to short blogs, little updates about me and whatever I'm obsessing over at the time. Feel free to ask any questions here, Twitter, or Tumblr, and if they require long answers or it's a common question, maybe I'll do a post. I say maybe because I'm a flake and I don't want to misrepresent.
Currently: hungry, recovering from Sunday's episode of Game of Thrones. RIP Barry.
Reading: just finished Winter of the World by Ken Follett. Will be starting the sequel Edge of Eternity.
Working on: copy edits for book #2 submitted, drafting novella #1, fiddling with things
*there will be spoilers for Game of Thrones (the show)*
Summary: thank you thank you thank you for tolerating me, reading Red Queen, and loving it the way so many of you have!
-saying my last good-bye to my childhood home
-saying my last good-bye to my grandmother
-lots of traveling, from Scotland to Lake Tahoe to Seattle to Texas to Harry Potter World
-finishing the second novel in the Red Queen series
-releasing the first novel in the Red Queen series
-somehow debuting at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller and subsequently gaining an epitaph for my future tombstone
-making some real writer friends/realizing I don't have to be friends with everyone
-meeting more people than I ever thought would read something I wrote, let alone pay to do it
-and I learned a whole hell of a lot about myself, the publishing industry, and how I fit into it
*I also spent and will continue to spend the majority of my time freaking out over Star Wars VII*
I'm hoping to keep up with this blog a bit more than I have in the past (how many times have I said that). I think the best way to do so is to keep to short blogs, little updates about me and whatever I'm obsessing over at the time. Feel free to ask any questions here, Twitter, or Tumblr, and if they require long answers or it's a common question, maybe I'll do a post. I say maybe because I'm a flake and I don't want to misrepresent.
Currently: hungry, recovering from Sunday's episode of Game of Thrones. RIP Barry.
Reading: just finished Winter of the World by Ken Follett. Will be starting the sequel Edge of Eternity.
Working on: copy edits for book #2 submitted, drafting novella #1, fiddling with things
*there will be spoilers for Game of Thrones (the show)*
Summary: thank you thank you thank you for tolerating me, reading Red Queen, and loving it the way so many of you have!
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
RED QUEEN cover!
So as most of you know, the cover for RED QUEEN was revealed last week. For the .01% of you who missed my avalanche of tweets on the subject, here it is again:
Sorry, I started to drool. I'm so in love with this cover. It's everything I wanted, and then some. The folks at HarperCollins were really open to my original idea of a cover, and then ran away with it and made something better than I ever imagined. So who wants to see my original thoughts (because I procrastinate by designing covers)?
Back in the day when I was first penning the RED QUEEN manuscript, I would dip into Photoshop whenever I hit a roadblock. I designed symbols and covers or just manipulated photos until the ideas started flowing again. Here's the first real RED QUEEN centric image I made (and stupidly included on the first page of the manuscript):
Pretty basic, but definitely gets across a clear message. Girl, crown, chess piece. Bam. And then I started to simplify even more, and tried my hand at a minimalist (hard to understand) cover:
The symbols are nonsensical until you read the book, and even then, they're kind of hard to figure out. Also, I very clearly made this with rudimentary paint tools in Photoshop. Well done, me.
This is the final sketch I made when I knew a cover would be a real thing, and I wanted to jot something down so I had a better chance of explaining it to Kari Sutherland, the editor of RED QUEEN:
Not too bad, but definitely nowhere near the level of beauty we ended up with. And to illustrate exactly how easy the cover process was for RED QUEEN, this was what I told Kari when she asked about cover ideas:
"Uh, simple? I figure a crown upside down to show the world is not quite right. I'm big into simple, symbol covers." And then I sent her a bunch of covers I liked, including:
Kari had the idea to add dripping blood and the Harper art wizards translated that into our first comp cover. It was a rough draft, but I still loved it, and leagues ahead of where I thought the cover would start:
first cover second and final cover
So close to the final right? It only took Harper a single comp to nail down the cover of my dreams. A true miracle, if all the cover horror stories I've heard are true. A giant thanks to Kari, Suzie Townsend, Kristen Pettit, Jennifer Klonsky, jacket artist Michael Frost, jacket designer Sarah Nichole Kaufman, and the whole team at Harper who made this a real thing.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
More About Eternal
So in addition to writing YA novels, I also write feature screenplays. The one in question, ETERNAL, was written last fall under the guidance of my reps, and sold this past January. News of the sale has finally broken, so I can finally say it happened!
Like everything that's happened with THE RED QUEEN, this is definitely a dream come true, albeit it a different one. I majored in screenwriting, and I have five features and two television pilots wasting away on my computer. So finally selling one has been kind of surreal to me, let alone the one I wrote fastest and without the crutch of a classroom. I won't lie, getting ETERNAL completed properly was hard. Going from novels to screenplays is a real pain, and kind of like relearning a language. But it's also amazing to have two projects going at once, in case you need a break from one.
Things are still developing, but very much moving forward with my awesome producers and Sony Pictures. I can't say much about the script yet, but I will say it concerns Greek gods in modern times, and finally allowed me to put my mythology knowledge to good use. The 8 year-old girl with her nose buried in Edith Hamilton is finally vindicated!
Like everything that's happened with THE RED QUEEN, this is definitely a dream come true, albeit it a different one. I majored in screenwriting, and I have five features and two television pilots wasting away on my computer. So finally selling one has been kind of surreal to me, let alone the one I wrote fastest and without the crutch of a classroom. I won't lie, getting ETERNAL completed properly was hard. Going from novels to screenplays is a real pain, and kind of like relearning a language. But it's also amazing to have two projects going at once, in case you need a break from one.
Things are still developing, but very much moving forward with my awesome producers and Sony Pictures. I can't say much about the script yet, but I will say it concerns Greek gods in modern times, and finally allowed me to put my mythology knowledge to good use. The 8 year-old girl with her nose buried in Edith Hamilton is finally vindicated!
Friday, February 7, 2014
Español!
Somehow the languages keep coming in. And even though this is the extent of my Spanish:
I'm still over the freaking moon. The Red Queen will be published in Spanish, and my roommates who are way better at the language keep saying La Reina Roja. Me gusta!
Muchas gracias to Kathleen Ortiz and the rest of New Leaf!!
From PM:
I'm still over the freaking moon. The Red Queen will be published in Spanish, and my roommates who are way better at the language keep saying La Reina Roja. Me gusta!
Muchas gracias to Kathleen Ortiz and the rest of New Leaf!!
From PM:
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