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Tag: cover reveals

Weekly Recap

Published March 27, 2016

Hi, friends! I’ve been radio silent for the past few weeks dealing with an avalanche of deadlines and a tyranny of promotional events (including for the stellar A Tyranny of Petticoats anthology, in which I have a story)! So this weekly recap will actually be for the past few weeks. Mea culpa.

 

The Past Few Weeks In New Releases

 

The Past Few Weeks in Cover Reveals

(I know I missed a TON, so I apologize!)

 

These Past Few Weeks in Internet Reading

Moneyball for Book Publishing – Reader habits data and what it could mean for how books get produced down the line.

What Authors Can and Can’t Control in Traditional Publishing

On writing a “middle-finger book” from Nova Ren Suma. I feel this deeply.

“I just don’t identify with the character” – an in-depth look at how editors and publishers perpetuate homogenous identities and experiences in children’s literature, and how they can create lasting and meaningful diversity.

 

These Past Few Weeks in Writing

(ie, why I’ve sucked at blogging lately)

Finished line edits on A Darkly Beating Heart! This was a mad, exhilarating sprint and I’m in such a better place now about this book.

Finished up a slew of freelance work.

Loads and loads of fun promotional events for A Tyranny of Petticoats!

Write some fun bonus material for a forthcoming promotional effort for The Witch Who Came In From the Cold. More information soon . . .

Great progress on Ghosts of Grimley, my first foray into middle grade.

I’ve finished the outline and I’m full steam ahead on my next YA project, which will also be my Camp NaNoWriMo draft for April.

…And finally, I’m writing a Valentin POV story as a gift for everyone who signs up for my newsletter on or before April 19th, to celebrate the paperback releases of Sekret and Skandal! (There’s loads of other goodies in the #SekretSkandal giveaway too, so don’t miss out!)

P.S.: If you’d like to keep up with me and all my wild writing pursuits, plus use a great project tracker for your own writing, join me on My Write Club!

The Past Few Weeks in Reading

 

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Weekly Recap

Published January 24, 2016

This Week’s Releases

 

Cover Reveals

 

Tristina Wright discusses allowing male characters to show emotions in YA.

Riley Redgate wrote about female self-hatred in fiction and life, and the need for confident girls.

Jennifer Garam on how to keep writing when no one gives a shit.

And I shared my Further Thoughts on Outlining.

 

Accomplished in Writing

  • Added a chapter to rhymes-with-“fey hairwolves.” Revised outline from here to the end of the book (which is staggeringly close!).
  • Added a chapter to sithbaby trashfic. Plotted secondary trashfic with co-conspirator. Reveled in trash. Glorious trash.
  • Filled in the remaining scenes for the final episode of The Witch Who Came In from the Cold, Season 1! Just in time for Wednesday’s launch!
  • More progress on A Darkly Beating Heart revisions. Almost ready to start second pass on these edits.
  • Progress on freelance work.

Favorite line written: “We aren’t the only ones with monsters beneath our skin.”

 

Other

Winter Storm Jonas has buried husband, dog, and me under a couple feet of snow for the foreseeable future, but we still have power, so I’m not seeing the downside?

Snow sheltie. #dogsofinstagram #sheltiesofinstagram

A photo posted by Lindsay Smith (@lindsaysmithdc) on

I’m taking the opportunity to catch up on books, movies and TV shows that I’ve missed out on over the past . . . ummm . . . five months or so. Whoops. Reading Six of Crows and Last Song Before Night; watching The Martian and Agent Carter, Season 2. Wondering how many days I can get away with working from home next week, given that our car is currently little more than a bump beneath the dense blanket of snow.

 

Next week: everything you ever wanted to know about writing a serialized fiction adventure with some of the awesomest names in SFF, and probably plenty you didn’t! Subscribe to The Witch Who Came In From the Cold now so you don’t miss out on kickboxing KaGeBezniks, socialist socialites, spell-casting Brits, one extremely magically tormented CIA officer, and a station chief who once killed five four six men with a shovel in the Korean War.

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Weekly Recap

Published January 17, 2016

A weekly recap of reading, writing, and random nerdery.

New Releases I’m Excited For

Amazing cover reveals and book announcements!

DBH_finalart

(Oh, hey, that last one’s mine!)

 

Tristina Wright sold her “queer teens in space” saga to Entangled Teen.

Poe Dameron is getting his own comic book series.

 

Recommended reading:

 

Writing things accomplished:

  • Smoothed some emotional inconsistency in A Darkly Beating Heart. Still revising.
  • Completed sample chapter of potential YA proposal. Loved the spooky dark unstable exchange between heroine and villain. May have hugged my laptop on the train.
  • Started drafting Act III of rhymes-with-“fey hairwolves” project. Time to start answering questions (at least a few of them) about how all this wacky science fantasy works!
  • Realized I’d written myself into a corner on the dumb sithbaby fanfiction. Reaffirmed why yes, seriously, I need to outline. Beat head against wall for a bit.
  • Wrote lots of promotional material for The Witch Who Came In from the Cold and the A Tyranny of Petticoats anthology, both of which launch soon!

Still mainly in revising/promotional mode, so my 2016 word count isn’t doing too hot so far. February promises to be much better, however.

I wrote a detailed post on how I drastically improved my drafting speed and writing output in 2015, and people seemed to like it! Maybe you will, too!

 

Other Tidbits

The AMPAS announced their 2016 Oscar nominees and, with #OscarsSoWhite you need sunscreen, I’ve almost entirely written these awards off. Some smart people said smart stuff about it: Tu Books’s infographic on the (lack of) diversity in Oscars, incredible performances by non-white actors that were snubbed, responding to AMPAS’s “conspiracy” tweet. I will confess a tiny thrill that Mad Max: Fury Road (one of my top movies of 2015) got several nods, though none for that amazing soundtrack that fueled at least 50% of my 2015 writing time.

Adam Driver (Kylo Ren) hosted Saturday Night Live last night, and the Undercover Boss: Starkiller Base skit was everything I’d hoped for.

That Dragon, Cancer, an independent game created by a man coping with his own son’s terminal illness, released this week. I haven’t played it yet, but with the cancer-related deaths of greats David Bowie and Alan Rickman this week, I’m going to have to stock up on tissues to tackle this one.

 

How’s 2016 treating you so far?

 

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