My First Interview!

As part of my slow-motion effort to get the word out about FLICKER, I’ve done a couple interviews with my friends. The first to hit the intertubes is courtesy of my Novia Scotia buddy Richard Levangie.

Author Melanie Hooyenga Answers 25 Questions

Be sure to note how he got all clever in #8…

Action and Reaction

I have two separate but exciting things to share today. First the reaction:

I saw this idea on Pinterest and put it to use! I punched a hole in all my store member cards and put them on a key ring. Now I can keep them in nether regions of my purse, rather than in my wallet.

Now the action!

Right now you can enter to win one of three copies of FLICKER on Goodreads.

It’s set to be released next week Tuesday (November 13, 2012) and that’s the day the winners will be chosen. Go forth, enter, and share por favor!

The Next Big Thing

Thank you to my bestie Stacey for tagging me in the Next Big Thing meme, allowing me to officially announce that I’m self-publishing my novel! I’m two shakes from finishing the formatting, then I’m shipping it off to my awesome partner Natasha at eBook Artisans, then it will hit the virtual bookshelves!

(I also have an author page on Facebook. Please click the link, Like it, and tell your friends!)

What is the working title of your book?
Flicker

Where did the idea come from for the book?
You know how when you’re driving down a road with a lot of trees and the sun filters through, causing a strobe-like effect? Well it really messes with my head, to the point that I need to shield my eyes so I don’t completely wig out. Towards the end of 2009 I was driving to visit my grandmother in the hospital and the light — to steal a line from my book — “did its thing”, and the idea struck for a character who is affected by the flickering light and it makes her travel back to yesterday.

I’ve since learned that my gramma is affected the same way I am, so that makes it doubly cool that she was part of the inspiration.

What genre does your book fall under?
Young adult. Technically it’s paranormal because of the time-travel element, but aside from that everything in the book is “normal.”

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Oh my gosh, this is the most impossible question for me. I try really hard not to describe my characters’ physically because I want readers to form their own opinion. Putting an actor to them would totally undo that.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Seventeen-year old Biz uses sunlight to flicker back to yesterday.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I am self-publishing. I have a business designing covers for writers who self-publish, so it’s been fun sitting on the client-side of the computer. Which is still the same side, but you know what I mean…

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Two months. I wrote it for NaNo 2010, but because I was working full time knew I probably wouldn’t complete it in 30 days. I finished the first draft on January 1st, 2011. Since then I’ve spent a lot of time editing with the help of NUMEROUS beta readers.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Lisa McMann’s WAKE trilogy has a lot of similarities. I’d never heard of them until I told a fellow writer my idea (prior to writing) and she said it sounded similar to McMann’s. I’ve since devoured the series and worked very hard to make sure there aren’t too many similarities. In plotting out the trilogy (that’s right, there will be more) I had to decide what Biz will do in the next books, and the first thing I did was eliminate the idea of using her ability to work with the police, since that’s what happens in WAKE.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
See the question about where I got the idea. I will say I had a lot of inspiration to make this book better from my fellow writers, especially Erica Chapman. She pushed and pushed and pushed me not to settle with an okay story.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? 
A side effect of flickering is excruciating migraines. As a sufferer myself, I was able to include a lot of details that fellow migrainees will recognize. That may not seem interesting to everyone, but I enjoyed hiding details throughout the story that only some people may catch.

Oh, and there’s a really hot boy.

*****

Now I’m supposed to tag five writers, but I’m so pitifully out of touch with my blogging buddies that I feel bad adding work to anyone’s schedule. Instead, please answer the Next Big Thing questions if you are so inclined and please share the link in the comments.

Rules of The Next Big Thing
***Use this format for your post
***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (Work In Progress)
***Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing:
What is the working title of your book?
Where did the idea come from for the book?
What genre does your book fall under?
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Who or What inspired you to write this book?
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Even Hockey Needs an Editor

This past Saturday my grandmother and I helped my mom celebrate her birthday at the Red Wings game in downtown Detroit. This is the inaugural year for the Winnipeg Jets, formerly the Atlanta Thrashers. The original Winnipeg Jets moved Phoenix and became the Coyotes in 1996, but the new Jets team has been welcomed with open arms by everyone except Detroit, who beat them 7-1. (This has nothing to do with my point, I just think it’s interesting.)

With eight goals scored it would be an understatement to say it was an action-packed game, but what got our attention even more than the goals was how slippery the ice seemed to be. I’m sure you’re thinking, Duh, it’s ice. Of course it’s slippery, but no one seemed to tell the players. They were falling all over each other—tripping over teammates, slipping in the middle of the ice when no one else was near, and my favorite, toppling headfirst onto the ice while trying to start a shift. Falling is a part of hockey, but it was borderline absurd how often the players bit it.

The next morning I watched the game highlights on the news, eager to see the clumsiness repeated, but all they showed were the goals. Not a single stumble made the cut. At first I was disappointed, but that’s when it struck me that sometimes the parts that make you laugh the most don’t progress the story. They’re just bits of fluff that—while hilarious—have no place in the final draft.

A good reminder for me as I head into my own edits.

Being Thankful

I should have done this post last week and saved the NaNo update for the final day of the competition, but since when do I do things in the proper order?

Over the past week I’ve thought a lot about the things for which I’m thankful. Pretty much every aspect of my life has changed in the past year, almost all for the better, and I think I’ve finally closed the door on the chapter of my life that had dominated me for far too long.

In no particular order:

I adore my apartment. I’ve been in my place for almost six months and I absolutely love it. There’s a dog park for Owen, lots of trees, and soothing wall colors.

My new job is better than I could have hoped for. I’ve just started the actual work, but I love the atmosphere, the people, the perks… and the fact that it’s in Grand Rapids is icing on the paycheck.

I’ve gone public with my design business. Ink Slinger Designs is alive and kicking after YEARS of half-hearted freelance work. I’ve always known I wanted to specialize in something but couldn’t pinpoint my niche. Book covers feel like the perfect fit AND they’re fun to design.

The Book of Good is still going strong. I haven’t talked about here like I’d originally intended, but I’ve written in it just about every day this year. It’s a journal where I have to write at least three good things that happened each day. When things were especially difficult last winter, I decided that forcing myself to find even the tiniest good things would help me see past all the bad, and it’s really helped. I don’t allow myself to write anything negative (although I admit I’ve written “I didn’t kill so-and-so today” and “I survived today”), no matter how strong the urge. That’s what my regular journal is for.

My friends got agents, have been published, or are about to be! Including:
Stacey Graham – Girls’ Ghost Hunting Guide
June Kramin (as Ann T. Bugg) – Before Happily Ever After
Trish Stewart – Taking Lessons from Ernest
Jamie Mason – The Liar’s Margin

My mom gets to retire next summer. Her excitement is contagious.

I finally feel like I’m home and part of a community. When I first returned to the US, I didn’t have any intention of staying here. When I got divorced and signed a lease of my very own, I thought maybe I’d stick around for another year. Well I’m happy to report I’m slowly making real life friends (gasp!), I’ve joined activities away from the computer, and I’m looking forward to staying in west Michigan.

Writing. Unfortunately writing has fallen behind everything else going on, but I still consider myself a writer and have high hopes for my writing career in the next year.

This past year was just a warm-up.

NaNo Recap

There’s one week left in November, and it’s not looking good for this year’s NaNo. I started this month with high hopes, and even though I only wrote 500 words on day one, I figured I had plenty of time to catch up. It takes 1667 words per day to reach 50,000, so I’d just have to write a little extra.

Well… I’ve averaged 52 words per day.

Between finding a new job and launching my freelance business, I just haven’t been able to make time for writing. I’m happy with my five-page start, and I do plan to continue—just not at the pace I’d hoped. And I’m okay with that.

In the meantime, I plan to enjoy my Thanksgiving with my family (my gramma’s coming to see us for the first time since her surgery last year!) and celebrate my BFF’s upcoming baby.

There may also be some of this:

What do you have planned this weekend?

Like Slipping on an Old Pair of Jeans…

…that have been dried on high for five hours with a little too much starch.

I haven’t written anything (aside from blog posts and the random lengthy tweet) since this time last year, and it’s been harder to get back in the swing of things than I expected. I’m using NaNo as a way to get back into writing every day—or as close to every day as I can manage—but I didn’t begin until nearly 11pm last night.

The hardest part for me is always getting started, so I know once I open that vein the words will being to flow, but I always have an excuse: one more email to reply to, one more facebook notification to check, one more scrabble move to play. Maybe if one of you could come over and quit the internet for me every evening, say around 7pm? That’d be great.

I know I’m not the only one who faces this, so what are your tricks for forcing your butt in the chair and fingers on the keyboard? I think once I remember how much I enjoy writing this won’t be a problem.

At least that’s my plan.

The good news is once I DID start I quickly remembered how much I love these characters. Welcome back Biz and Cameron!

120-ish Hours to Go!

Do you hear that? It’s the slow moan of thousands of writers as they prepare for the most ridiculous writing competition of the year!

NANOWRIMO!

Yes, I’m doing it again.

I’d originally planned on writing a sci-fi young adult idea that’s been bouncing around in my head, but I’ve decided to write the sequel to Flicker, tentatively titled Fracture. I’m not completely sold on the title, but it works for now.

My lovely friend Stacey has created NaNo buttons for writers to post on their blogs, websites, or wherever. This one is my favorite.

So who’s with me? Do you already have a plot or are you throwing caution to the wind and pantsing your novel?

The Great Pumpkin Analogy

While perusing the pumpkin “patch” (shelves) at my grocery store last weekend, this one struck me as the roundest, cleanest, most pumpkiny pumpkin of the bunch. In fact, I was so pleased with nature’s work that I considered leaving it alone and letting its bright orange hue be all the decoration I needed.

So pretty. Why would anyone want to mess this up?

That thought lasted about a day. While there was nothing wrong with my pumpkin — some people might say it’s a damned good pumpkin and why on earth would you mess with perfection? — I decided to hack it up, scoop out the messy parts, and polish it into something unique.

Kind of like a novel.

Every writer knows the first draft is just that — a first draft. You need dive in headfirst to separate the solid guts from the gooey bits that are just gunking things up.

Adverbs, passive voice, and extra dialogue tags be gone!

Once you really get into it, you discover writing the novel — or picking the pumpkin — was the easy part. Creating something good enough to present to the world takes loads more time, patience, and knives… er, red pens. If you’re like me, you may be tempted to shove that baby out the front door while the guts are still cooling, but a third, or even fourth, pass is probably necessary.

Did you catch every goopy string? Cut away all the pencil marks? Grab the extra pieces off the floor before the dog ate them? (or text a photo to a friend to make sure it’s really as good as you think?) Because only then is your creation ready to be unleashed to the world.

Want more Halloween? My post A Smurfy Package is up at An Army of Ermas.

When Do You Say When?

I sent my first queries for Flicker almost seven months ago. In that time I’ve had a couple full requests, a few more partial requests, and several handfuls of rejections. I’ve avoided talking about the process here because I choose to keep that out of the public eye, but I’m reaching the point where I need some advice.

“They” say that at some point you need to put the novel away and start something new. I’m already planning my next novel (NaNo starts in less than three weeks!) and I’m ready to switch gears. What I’m not ready for is putting Flicker away. I’ve had so much positive feedback from agents and beta readers—including teenager—that I’m having a difficult time accepting that this is the end of the road for this story.

Yes, there are other options. I have quite a few friends who’ve submitted directly to publishers, and many more who’ve self-published. I’m not sure yet if either of those are right for me, but I’d like to hear your thoughts.

(And please no bashing one side or the other.)