Friday, July 15, 2011

Meet my Critique Partners!

Three things for Friday:
1. Lately instead of using any regular old curse word I have taken to exclaiming, "blogger!", both because it makes me laugh and because Blogger has been infuriating.  My pages take ages to load and I am unable to post comments, even on my own posts.  (So, Jenny and Rena look for the answer to your question at the end of this post.)
2. I stayed up until nearly 4:00AM revising the first two chapters of An Unexpected Kingdom.  Admittedly and naively, I thought that since I was in a query-ready place that there were not large-scale revisions to be made (until an editor at a publishing house got his/her hands on it).  THEN I got some wonderful criticism from CP Rena that will not change my story but will change the ease with which readers understand Ava.  Thus the late night/early morning.
3. Now that I have received official permission, meet my two new Critique Partners Rena and Jenny!  For ease, we can pair them with a theme from their novels- so Rena= dragons, Jenny= angels.  Rena (rhymes with Bean-a) is my YA CP.  Her novel is From the Blood of Dragons and here is a short summary:  Allyson just found out she's half dragon, and someone is kidnapping people descended from mythical creatures, using their innate abilities to power a super army. With her best friend, a half troll named Beth, Allyson sets out across the southwestern US to track down the kidnappers and free their friends.  Jenny will be critiquing Ben Q. and a quick summary of her The Guardian Tribe: Kella never tells anyone what she is, a freak, to be dissected. She did once and her drug addict mom went crazy. Her secret…her best friend, Gabrielle, is her guardian angel. That’s not all, Kella can fuse her body to Gabrielle’s angelic form and they become one being. Words never pass between them, only feelings and powers. These angelic powers allow Kella to fly, kick the crap out of boys, and sometimes bring people back from the brink of death.  I am really excited to work with them and to continue to read these two novels!   **To answer Rena and Jenny's question my life has not been exciting as maybe my profile makes it seem (sad but true).  My jobs as a lifeguard and a waitress overlapped (long ago) and my jobs as a waitress and attorney overlapped (more recently), but it seemed catchier to put them in the order I did.**

7 comments:

  1. Jenny S. Morris said...
    It will not let me comment as myself. BOO..
    Thanks for the awesome intro. It looks so cool up on your blog. I am super excited as well.

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  2. I'm laughing about blogger and it's strangeness.

    I know it sounds silly, but you guys are trying to post while you're signed in, right(as in email up in one tab, and blogger in another)? I know that blogger likes to sign into my other accounts randomly, so I always have to stay on my game or I'll post as one of my internet pseudonyms...

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  3. Jenny Said...
    I am signed in everywhere I can think of. At the top of this blog it doesn't show me signed in, but I am in another tab. I don't seem to have this problem at home an my mac. And it's not all blogs. Some I can post comments to. It's just very strange.

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  4. Found you from a comment on Chantele's blog. Anyone who loves The Blue Sword is sure to be a friend of mine!

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  5. Those books sound so awesome! And Blogger is such a pain in the butt sometimes. Hopefully your comment dilemma gets sorted out soon! lol ;)

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  6. Blogger still won't let me comment as myself- even on my own blog. Geesh! Thank you to everyone for your comments and a big thank you to Rena and Jenny for letting me post about you- I hope we share long, productive relationships!
    Kayeleen- so nice to meet you! Harimad-Sol!
    Chantele- great to hear from you again. Huge congrats on hitting 50K with your WIP!!

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  7. am trying to comment today by signing in as anonymous. keep up the good work. Great things dont come easy but with hard work. :)
    love pat q

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I love to get comments! Please keep them PG as I am writing for kids and young adults and hope some of them will find their way here.