#FicFest

So some of you might be aware that earlier this month I entered a new writing contest called #FicFest. FicFest immediately drew my attention because it was a contest that gave an equal chance to all categories. Unlike other contests, that group picture books and adult books all into one, FicFest separates entrants by categories: Picture Book, Middle Grade, Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult. Each category has 9 finalists, chosen by a mentor that will work with their mentee for two months to get ready for the agent round (where participating agents look at the finalists' queries and first 3 pages for their writerly matches).

Entering this contest was some serious last ditch effort-ing; I had already decided to shelve my story and move on to the next. On a whim, or perhaps by the grace of that ever-so-pushy hand of fate, I entered the contest. After numerous form rejections and the general agent consensus seeming to be "I love the story but there's no market for it right now," I told myself my chances were nil, but that it sure as hell didn't hurt to try.

And, lo and behold, I'm a finalist!!

And my mentor Hetal is every mentee's dream! I can't even begin to describe how refreshing it is to have someone so genuinely invested in your journey. To have chosen you for YOU, because they truly enjoyed your story and believe it deserves a place in readers' hands. Her creative insight is invaluable and she's an endless spring of support and encouragement and wisdom and entertaining gifs (for which we both have an intense passion)!

With some amazing notes and suggestions and critiques from my mentor-queen in hand, I've finished the first coat of polish on my MS so that, in the final round, an agent might say "How much is that novel in the window? The one with the lively tale?" (see what I did there? Lolz)

Fingers crossed that #FicFest will bear the fruit of my loins. Wait... sow the seeds of my labor? Er... Something something wisdom something something philosophical point about hard work.

For now, I'll wait for my mentor-goddess' next batch of notes on this MS and get back to dabbling in paralyzing self-doubt and that abyss of insecurity. Or as some of you might know it, "writing."

~Be mindful of the chances you're not taking--you have to open a door to see where it leads.~

WIP it. WIP it good.

WIP= Work In Progress, by the way. Get my writer-joke post title now?... 

...YEAH, WELL, YOU'RE LAME! 

Anyway, I'm working on a NEW project! THANK THE MUSES! I can't even begin to describe what a wonderful feeling it is.

I think the most exciting part of writing a new story is getting to know the characters. And then getting to see how they interact with the world you've created and the dynamic they have with their fictional peers. I LOVE writing individual bios for each one with a list of physical attributes, birthdays, personality traits (good and bad, characters should ALWAYS be flawed. One day I'll write a post on a technique I use to make sure they have a balance of traits), and some backstory.

My new story has quite the character lineup. And because it's a dual POV (point of view), both of my MCs (main characters) have a group of people they're close to. And it's sooooo much fun figuring out how they fit into each other's lives and developing their individual voices.

There are nine in the main cast (right now) and one of my favorite character descriptions so far is "has some serious resting bitch face." And that's for one of my guys.

Only twelve chapters in and I'm already so in love with this story and these characters.
And, while I think this WIP could possibly run into the same issues as my last one, I'm having such a fun time writing it that I don't mind that it could be doomed to the same "hard sell" fate.
It's a YA Post-Apocalyptic story in the vein of Mad Max meets the Maze Runner and the dual-POV is really keeping things interesting for me as a writer. I'm so excited to give this story some grit and suspense and diverse characters and all the love I could possibly give it.

If you're curious, here's a little teaser for The Runners (this is a rough draft of a synopsis, but should get the story across!):

It’s been four-hundred years since civilization fell to the Pandemic and humanity has been spread thin. Isolated within walled cities, their only hope of survival is to remain behind their walls, exiling anyone who contracts the infection to the Wandering, the dead lands where the infected roam aimlessly in search of healthy flesh. Gas and oil have long since been depleted and the only way across the perilous Wandering is on foot. Each city in the Sierra Territory has a team of runners, brave, fast, and cunning, that runs across the Wandering with supplies to trade in the neighboring walled cities.

In the impoverished mining village of Stoln, seventeen-year-old Rook Haxley has her late father’s knack for finding ore veins and precious stones. The pay is decent and it helps to keep her and her six siblings fed. But when her older brother, Wren, one of the village’s fastest runners, is injured, her family is likely to starve without his income and the rest of the team is likely to die during the next Crossing, leaving the village with no resources to prepare for winter. Rook must take her brother’s place as a runner to keep her village and her siblings from a fate of human trafficking to survive.  

Across the Wandering, in the flourishing farming town of Bardeen, luxuries can be afforded. Their runners are treated like celebrities, and Beauregard Galloway has an ego to match. Coming from a long-line of runners, Beau has his family’s legacy on his shoulders. And while he enjoys the infamy of his family name, the horrors he sees during the Crossings are starting to turn him numb. Until he meets Stoln’s newest runner, a tiny bird of a girl with a sharp tongue and an instant dislike for Beau. Which attracts him to her immediately.

With another Pandemic season approaching and an unsuccessful harvest, Stoln and Bardeen’s runners join up to make the long Crossing to the city of Lux, where technology has survived but is selfishly kept for its city alone. There is where Bardeen and Stoln’s salvation lies. So long as Rook doesn’t take her pickaxe to Beau’s face before they arrive.  

It's not dystopian, I swear!! I'd love a few CPs (critique partners) for this story if anyone is interested! Must love: zombies that aren't really zombies, deserts, gore and violence, and tiny, kick-ass heroines (my stories will ALWAYS have some kick-ass women in them).

Happy writing, my fellow wordfolk! And may the muse be with you! 

~Be mindful of the characters inside you. Each one has a story waiting to come to life.~

April in Review

So, my favorite thing about April is... EARTH DAY! Though I can't say I enjoy the irony of celebrating the planet that sustains us only one day a year, it's still a wonderful chance to give back to the planet and reflect on the sort of impact you have on it. If you didn't get a chance to give back or want to understand why doing so is important, watch the movie Racing Extinction. It's a serious eye opener. But prepare yourself for some feels.    

This April I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo (see this post for more info) and, HUZZAH, was successful...-ish in meeting my (meager) word goals for my new WIP. Only thousands upon thousands upon thousands of words to go! *cries internally* 

It's also been an okay-decent month for my consumer heart! Finished two games in a week (not bragging, it's a shameful reflection of how much free-time I have, meh), saw some movies, and read some books. Without further ado, here's my April in review: 

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer. 

So, I have a few issues with Winter. 

1. I couldn't help but shake the feeling that a lot of this book was filler to make it longer. I have NEVER read such a long YA novel before. There was a whole lot of recapping in all the wrong places and I found myself skimming through much of the book (mostly slipping entire pages at times). I NEVER skim. I FROWN upon skimming! How DARE I SKIM? 

2. And then there was my realization that Wolf and Scarlet were completely useless characters in terms of affecting the plot. Literally NOTHING would change if their characters were removed. 

3. And then there's that moment when it becomes the Hunger Games. Poor people live in districts sectors where they do hard manual labor so the rich and extravagantly dressed people of the Capital Artemesia can live their luxurious lives. Teenage girls arrives, becomes the "face of the revolution," leads poor people in a rebellion against rich people. Love interest is captured, used as an unwilling voice against teen girl's uprising, underdogs triumph anyways, governing ruler is killed. The end. Sound familiar? Suzanne Coll--er, Marissa Meyer tried, unsuccessfully, to throw in some kind of political theme that just did not work against all the deeper themes  so successfully established in the previous books. The revolution became the focus in a Hunger Games-esque move that made me wonder whether this dark turn had been a poor suggestion made by an editor and not Meyer's instinctual course of plot. And I would've much preferred them to use guerrilla tactics, have a face-off at the end, and then have the entirety of Luna's people (poor and court alike) betray the psychotic queen who mistakenly thought she was loved and supported by the people she oppressed.

4. The lack of focus on Winter, the TITLE character of the book. Every book before had been centered around the title character, with a wonderful balance of moments that continued to tie the other characters into the plot and to each other. Not the case in this one. And Winter and Jacin were such deliciously wonderful characters that I feel we were horribly shortchanged by the imbalance of time given to them.

That being said, not once did I consider putting the book down. Which says something I suppose! The series has made me a definite fan of Meyer's writing. I'll await the release of her next book, Heartless, with baited breath!

Vicious by V.E. Schwab. 

This was my first book by Schwab, though she's been on my reading radar for some time. And I'm SO GLAD I finally sat down with one of her stories because it's made me incredibly eager to get ahold of the rest! The way in which Vicious' story was told is very unique, with seamless transitions from past to present throughout the book. The time shifts were never jolting and really added to the pace of the book.
I really enjoyed her fresh take on "superheroes" and "supervillains" (called EOs/Extra-Ordinaries) and how they get their powers. Many summaries and reviews boast the book's "moral ambiguity," the weight of which I never really felt as it seemed obvious who were the bad guys and who were the good (both MCs are sociopaths really, which made for a disturbingly fun read). It had a Frankenstein (though someone else has said X-Men) meets Count of Monte Cristo feel to it and I couldn't put it down. Really looking forward to reading Schwab's other books!

     

Non-books:

Infamous: Second Son (PS4): 6/10. In which a sassy Pete Wentz takes Seattle by storm--er--smoke. Lackluster character and story building. But clever Banksy-ish tags that you get to spray paint around the city.

Shadow of Mordor (PS4): 9/10. I'm a huge Tolkien fan, but have come to realize how little I know about the lore of Middle-earth outside of the books. Shadow of Mordor DEFINITELY filled in many of those gaps in my knowledge and understanding in a very immersive way. While the learning curve had me frustrated at first, once I got the hang of things (and changed the skin to female character and badass, Lithariel) I immensely enjoyed the game! It was also extremely satisfying to see the whole of the Orc army under my wraith-y control. Mwahaha >:)  

Jungle Book: 6/10. TORN. FEELINGS. OPINIONS. TORN IN HALF. On one hand I enjoyed it. Was a little trip down memory lane, but that lane just happened to intersect disappointment avenue. A dark plot, voice casting that missed the mark (Bill/Scar/Walken), and some painfully slow scenes took away from the greater moments. Will now go watch the '67 version to make all right with the world again.

~Be mindful of the things that precious time is spent on.~