Teaser Tuesday - After the Golden Age

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

~ Grab your current read
~ Open to a random page
~ Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
~BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
~ Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

It's not surprising since I love comics so much, that I've really gotten into superhero novels lately. I enjoyed a few of Carrie Vaughn's Kitty series, so I was thrilled to see this title from her. Here goes:

"You're angry," Celia said, trying to prompt a response.
"Of course I am! This is like finding out you're...you're----" Evidently, he couldn't think what it was like. "I mean, you're with the Destructor--"
"Was," Celia pointed out. "Was with him. Briefly."


~pg. 136, 'After the Golden Age' by Carrie Vaughn

Check this one out if you get a chance, guys! Leave a link to your teasers below, or just type them in the comments if you don't have a blog. 

Since my fellow scouts have been discussing goal-setting for the new year, I’ll add yet another approach, a bit fantastical and keeping with the speculative theme.

After my college-age stepchildren stayed a week prior to Christmas and our festivities finished early, the holidays became a quiet time for me to concentrate on my writing. I cleaned the house and then settled into two heavenly weeks dedicated solely to my writing. I got the second book of my Enchanted Bookstore Legends turned in to my editor last weekend, totaling over 97,000 words, my longest work yet. In those two weeks, I

·         wrote 22,000 of that total;

·         completed my final edit on the entire book;

·         researched and added some cool html to streamline the connections between my blog and website;

·         spent 16 full hours proofing final galleys on Tortuga Treasure: Ciel's Legacy which releases at the end of this month;

·         set up connections for a blog tour and reviewers with that book;

·         created more marketing avenues for my last short story release, Le Cirque De Magie;

·         fully plotted books III, IV, and V of my Enchanted Bookstore Legends.

Well, that seems totally unbelievable and even makes my head spin to read the list. Of course, I liked the productive note I rang in the new year with, but seriously wondered what magical cloud was following me. Then, in some mindless web-surfing, I ran into a current yahoo news article about 2012 horoscope predictions. I often use astrology for a foundation of the magic my characters use, but not so much for myself. But, this prediction seemed uncanny. Oddly enough, this site has no connection to the writing/publishing world.

I’m an Aries and for my 2012 career the site gave this guidance:

With Pluto pulling rank in your career sector, your star continues to rise over the course of the year in your chosen field. Of course, with Capricorn involved, this is not without hard work. After all, your stamina is noble. Use the momentum of the first quarter of the year to launch your major projects.

With Jupiter bringing good fortune to your money sector for the first half of the year, you'll experience fabulous ease in attracting opportunities to boost your income. You're learning how important it is to value yourself and not sell any of your talents for less than they're worth. The summer brings fabulous opportunities for writing and publishing, so if you've been sitting on a book (or two) that you know needs to be written, this is your year to put pen to paper and fingers to keyboard! Chances are, you felt the initial impetus during the new Moon eclipse in Sagittarius in December 2011; 2012 demands that you finalize your copy. June's full Moon lunar eclipse in your house of publishing will bring the final lucky push to get your work seen and put into print!

So, it seems my super-energized productivity may be owing to the positions of Pluto and Jupiter. Can’t wait to see what happens to me during that lunar eclipse in June!

If you wish to check out your own 2012 horoscope as a way to guide your goals for the year, here’s the link. I hope your stars and planets align for a fantastic year!

http://shine.yahoo.com/page/2012-horoscope

~ ~ ~ Marsha A. Moore is a writer of fantasy romance. The magic of art and nature spark life into her writing. She is the author of the novel, TEARS ON A TRANQUIL LAKE, the first in a trilogy. Part two, TORTUGA TREASURE is contracted for release in January, 2012. Look for her first of an epic fantasy romance series, SEEKING A SCRIBE: ENCHANTED BOOKSTORE LEGENDS ONE, to be available March, 2012. For a FREE ebook download, read her historic fantasy, Le Cirque De Magie.

The Secret to Winning

We’re at point A, the first week of January and we want to get to point Z by the end of the year.  So how do we it?  It’s all about having the right mind-set and that comes from knowing what you want.  It’s pretty much what you do for your characters, isn’t it?  You give them a goal or they tell you what goal they want to achieve.  Then off they go, pole-vaulting over moving trailer trucks or dog paddling across an unknown stinky ooze that once was the Mississippi river to get to the other side. 

At first, they are ill equipped to do these things.  Why?  Because just like us our characters simply don’t know how.  Besides that’s what the universe does.  It sees how badly you want something.  So, it creates obstacles. And we just like our characters in our stories have to learn how to pole-vault to get to the other side.

That’s the easy part.  Stopping the little voice inside your head who insists you are not good enough to do this task, now that takes courage, faith and determination.  How do you do that?  By figuring out why your dream or goal is so important to you.  And I’m not talking about fame, money or lots of sex.  Not that those things are bad to have.  I’m talking about what feeds your soul.  What tears up your eyes while you’re smiling? And don’t tell me sex! Go deeper and when you have the answer to that, you have the secret to crossing the finishing line and winning.

Anyway, that’s my thoughts about the secret of winning.  Do you have one to share?

Till next time,

Elizabeth

Writer Interviews

I love to watch author interviews on their writing process. Below are two of my favorites by Robin Hobb and Garth Nix. Enjoy and let me know which author interviews are your favorite.

How do you want to feel next New Year's Eve?

That's the question I've learned to ask myself rather than focus on some ginormous list of things that I've had a lot of practice failing at.

Rather than the events, what kind of feeling do I want to have? Elation is one. Whenever I finish a story, either writing one or reading one that I like a lot, I feel elated. Buoyed up by both the success and the discovery of something wonderful in the world. Something to share.

Jubilant. That's a word a friend said fits me. I love having a lot of cool ideas and being able to explore them with knowledgeable people. The friend who dubbed me "jubilant" is deeply into bikes. I didn't know how fascinated I was with bicycle technology until I spent time talking with Rob. From there it was a simple trip into the world of Steampunk, where the beauty of mechanical engineering gets to shine. And innovation. Around here, Sacramento, I see people riding the funnest, coolest bikes. where the rims are colored and there are a bazillion spokes.

So, that's a couple of my words for the end of the year. What words describe the feelings you would like to spend more time with? Start feeling them now. Prime your body for the pleasure of them, practice feeling them a little bit every day and compliment yourself for the excellent job you are doing making the world a better place one moment at a time.

Your Story

In many ways, a new year shares the same excitement as starting a new story. Everything feels like a fresh start, and the possibilities are practically endless. I love breaking out a clean calendar and setting up a day planner full of all the goals I want to accomplish over the next 12 months. Writers everywhere are charting their yearly progress and renewing their determination to produce, promote and prevail. It’s truly exhilarating.

I find myself looking back on the successes and short-comings from 2011, and feeling good about the overall progress made in my writing life. I’m compiling all the classes and workshops that have vastly increased my craft knowledge, comparing the quality of my work from January 2011 to now, admiring the improvements I’ve made. It’s gratifying to review the evidence that my persistence has paid off and proving to myself that writing well is in fact a learned skill, not a blessing from the elusive muses.

Another important goal for me last year was to increase my social media presence, and I’m very pleased with how far I’ve come since that journey began. I was a complete newb on all the major sites, and I was honestly a little scared of the whole process. I needn’t have worried, because there are so many wonderful people on the web to help and support novices like me. Now, online networking is a lot of fun, and I’m proud to be in the company of all those wonderful bloggers and tweeters out there. Being in constant contact with other writers, and having the opportunity to share our experiences with each other has had an amazing and positive influence in my writing life. Thank you all!

On top of what I want to achieve on the page, I’ve got big plans on a personal level to contend with as well. Hubs and I intend to continue the search for a new home, probably out west and quite far from where we currently live. We’re hoping to finally find the right fit where we can settle down and grow our family. It’s a pretty daunting task, and we’ve been moving around regularly for the last eight years or so, but I think it’s time for us to pack in our rambling ways and put down some roots. Moving is stressful and expensive, so I’ll be happy to quit for a while, LOL.

Time to buckle up and launch into 2012 with uninhibited vim. We’re exploring new ideas for the Salon’s sophomore year, and I’m so very excited to see what comes next. No resolutions for me this year, just sailing on with my plans laid out and striving fiercely toward every goal. Whatever your story is this year, I hope you take the best of what comes and run with it.

I’d like to end with a super special CONGRATULATIONS to RJ and her family on welcoming baby Jackson into the world Christmas week.

Readjusting the Bar

As the first week of the new year starts off today, I wanted to reflect on not only the year, but also the Christmas that I had.  2011 was truly a special Christmas for me and one that my husband and we will never forget. 

This journey that we took part in this year has shown me that I can do anything that I put my mind to - whether its to finally finish my dark paranormal romance novel, send it to a publisher or agent with fingers crossed it won’t be rejected.  I’ve learned that I am much stronger than I ever gave myself credit for - we all are so much stronger than we think and just when you think that you have no more strength, there it appears to get you over to the other side.

2011 had not been my finest year for writing as the past years were overflowing with words, pages and characters.  I had a complicated pregnancy that left me feeling drained and unable to concentrate much on my characters or on the writing itself and despite beating myself up for the “failure in writing” as this was “supposed” to be the year that I submitted, I managed to finish NaNo but the writing wasn’t great (I still haven’t had an opportunity to go back and see just how bad it is).

Early morning on December 22nd, my water broke and my husband and I traveled to the hospital with the hopes of holding our baby in a few short hours, but he wasn’t ready to make his grand entrance just yet.  As each painful contraction occurred, I found myself searching for the strength to continue and each time, my plea was granted.  I’ve watched those birthing shows for the past six months and always wondered if I would be able to muster up the strength as those laboring women.  I received my answer.

Finally on December 23rd, after 16 hours of labour that turned into a cesarean section, our son, Jackson James came into the world at 1:35 a.m.  The sound of his first cry and  seeing him for the first time, I’ve never felt prouder or more emotional than I did at that moment.  I had labored, I had endured and now I have this beautiful baby boy to care for.

Being a mom for a little more than a week has been full of ups and downs, and already it has taught me so many things, including how to watch out for friendly fire when changing a little boy’s diaper.  I’ve also learned the greatest life lesson - you can’t be part-time with the things you love, with the people you love and things that you want in life.  And I’m looking at my life through a completely different set of eyes.  I can’t be a part-time mom and I don’t want to be a part-time writer anymore. 

It’s time to readjust the bar because it can be done.  The untapped strength that you need is right there, waiting for you to need.

May 2012 be the best year yet! 


RJ :)



P.S.  I had never expected to be one of “those mommys” that gushed and pulled out photographs of their babies...but isn’t he cute?  :)