Tales from the Raven

My YA novel The Popcorn Potion has been sent back to the kitchen with a request that the ingredients get a careful taste testing.  In its stead I’ve pulled my mid-grade, 13 Demon Days, back out and served it up.
Last summer I started the re-write before bootcamp, but was sidetracked by Popcorn and my write for hire [...]

The snow is almost gone, and the Ice Pirates are panicking.  They thought they had a pretty good hideout, complete with a mean billy goat watch dog, but it’s melting fast.
 
Now they’re scrambling to move their stolen goods before the warm weather comes.

I’ve suggested they try one of our hollow trees, but they plan to [...]

I still haven’t actually, quite, managed to start a rewrite on Popcorn that lasted for more than a day.  Every time I think I’ve had my Eureka moment I change my mind two days later when some part of the plotting equation proves to be so much sludge.
One part of the problem was that I [...]

Every year for it seems like an eon I’ve come up with new goals sometime in early January.  Sometimes even on the first.  And I’ve noticed a pattern.
Some of my goals will be met over the course of the year, but often the goals for the year change as the year progresses–which is a nice way to [...]

No pun intended, unless the reader is currently querying a humor novel.
After testing the waters with a few queries for The Popcorn Potion, I discovered a new and fascinating obsession: that of attempting to extract from a single nondescript sentence why oh why the rejecting agent would pass on my manuscript.  And without [...]

A favorite mantra in the writing world is that you have to ‘kill your darlings.’  The thought process goes something like this:  Whatever it is that you’re most attached to in your book or writing probably represents a phrase or scene in which the author took center stage, instead of the story.  This ‘darling’ represents [...]

Otherwise known as ‘the clippings on the cutting room floor after The Popcorn Potion has been through yet another round of edits.’
Today’s outtake comes from the first couple of pages, and represents a fairly dramatic redirection of my opener.  Some of you may recognize a reference or two, and make the logical leap as to [...]

I’ve been living and breathing the technical and business side of writing, of late.  Over a year ago I started a Master file on agents, now I’m going over that with a fine toothed comb as I sort out which agents I should sub Popcorn Potion to, and when.  My synopsis is taking way too [...]

The weather was absolutely gorgeous for a walk tonight, and check out this road in the sunset.  It put me to mind of the Gandalf song…not sure I’ve got the words, but the phrase running in my head is, “the road goes ever on and on…” and continues but I can’t pick out the rest.

At [...]

This is the blog in which I turn cartwheels and max out my exclamation quota for the year.  This blog anounces that last night, in the wee hours of the morning, I finished the first draft of Popcorn Potion.
Now, this is very exciting–even though I know I’m writing in a montone.  It’s only that I can’t whoop and dance [...]