The Unmoving Sky is Moving into Bookstores.

"Paperback Writer ..."   the song that's been ringing in my ears.


THE UNMOVING SKY now available in Paperback at Barnes & Noble 


And in one of my most favorite Indie Bookstores McNally Jackson Books!    ~ Yay!

I go a little cross-eyed when holding my books! They're real. 

If you don't see The Unmoving Sky in your local bookstore, please, pretty please Ask!
You can even ask your librarian. I have a lot of legwork ahead, and now without a publicist, I could use every little elf available.  

Now to sling word-count for my NaNoWriMo Draft!    

Happy Writing and Reading, friends. 

In Honor of World Poetry Day.

#WorldPoetryDay snuck up on me.  
Poetry was my first love and it brought me around to finally penning longer works such a novels. So, I'm jumping in!

Here's a flashback from when I met my partner, Alex. We've together over 20 years! The others are also older poems. I have many, but I'll spare you most. Here are a few randomly selected pieces:

First Sight

How does my merry mirth give rise to a single thought, now divided into two—me and you. Tied as one, we’ve begun to shine, shrouds of covers layer us in colors. Warm to the touch, burning fire to behold. Pure gold.

The magician's hand has brought the alchemist's touch and transmuted all my fears into the promising years, seen now through a gazing crystal clear.

Creativity

-->

I’ve tasted something which leaps from you, in droplets and bubbles. Offerings from your imagination, deities who give forth that which marks a passage closer to them. Whatever capsule one could find, a grueling task to define. 

Outside images, the mind illuminates through the test of time, solidify into concrete worlds of reality and form—not all you see but more. All that derives from the experience, all that pushes toward the future foundation you build upon, creates an immense fortress of solitude and happiness. 

Creativity II

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Creating through thought and creating despair. I see you with others and try not to compare. Maybe it was the words we said or the hopes we shared. Which caused my head to believe you cared. Childish, I know, but my heart will pretend to go till the end.

Come Together 

If it’s silence we want why create tears? In the hearts of millions, a thoroughfare of fear collapse under wishes received. no need of forgotten greed.

-->

Cast away the mask one wears to cover, the face of hate not shared by another.

Let the Productive Season Commence!

Summer is coming to an end and this always feels like the beginning of a new year for me. The cooler air stirs, change is on the way. It’s a very exciting time no matter what‘s happening because it makes me feel so productive. As opposed to summer with the heat, wearing heavy if not near water or cool breezes. And this year in New York City, we’ve had more 90-degree days than I can remember. Everything slowed. Publishing slowed. I had a YA book revision to get through and felt I was racing against time querying agents for my MG (SFF) since it was cancelled by Tantrum Books. Read about it here.There were Pitch contests online and forums, and I entered a couple. The Swanky Seventeen’s have been so encouraging during this time of limbo, offering suggestions that might help me, although I no longer have a book debuting next year. It’s still painful, but each day it becomes a little lighter.

Something’s you just need to do on your own. Like the writing—I love the writing and can become lost there, indefinitely – if it weren’t for the problem I have sitting any longer than 6 hours. Max.  
I’m searching for an agent for my MG book, or possibly a publisher—if my queries are returned as a pass. Patience has been my partner for months. I’ve kept my head busy revising a YA, Swing Era, “whodunit” and I started drafting a YA, contemporary—though it’s much too early to know what genre that baby will morph into.  I like to have one project in the pipe (drafting), one being revised, one being queried—which often comes with a few in the drawer.  J

Oh, and of course, my YA literary thriller is available on #Nook #Kindle and #iBooks. It's entered in the International Thriller Writer's Award for Best Short Story. That's what the novella qualified for. Wish me luck! Also, my publisher at Leap Books sent a few auditions for THE UNMOVING SKY to create an audio book. I totally dig the voice of Jackson. I think you will too.  Oh, and one more goodie I have planned, if it turns out well, is a song I recorded with the legendary sheriff of good times, Sheriff Bob! The song is from Brianna’s POV. It’s her story now.  Keep an eye out for updates and a mp3 giveaway!

Let the autumn commence! Happy New Year!  I’ve had enough of the summer limbo and ready to get back to productive!  What are your plans this autumn?

My Writing Process Blog Hop

Middle Grade writer Ronni Arno Blaisdell tagged me in this Writing Process Hop. Though I mentioned I was drowning in revisions and couldn't and wouldn't have the time--Ronni was very convincing.  She asked then sent me the link. Momma always told me--you have to make the time. Glad I did.  

What? You don't know Ronni Arno Blaisdell and about her book RENEE REINVENTED coming out by Aladdin, Simon & Schuster (Fall 2015) GoodReads When 12-year-old Renee learns that her supposed BFFs are only friends with her because her parents are famous celebrities, she finds a place as far from fake and phony Hollywood as she can get: a Maine boarding school.  I read an early draft. I loved it. LOVED it. It's a great story!

Interested in my writing process, are you?  

What am I working on?

Finishing up revision edits on a MG Light Sci-Fi/ Fantasy from last year's July CampNano. Working Title: Cltr+Alt+Delete: Boy genius, eleven-year-old Oznot, and his neighbor, nine-year-old, Theo, send ten kids into the world of FacePlace using the Top-Secret Polerizeroid machine. Theo must get everyone out, including his sister-- before they disappear, before they’re out of time. Then proceed with plan B. 

I can't wait to type up last year's NaNoWriMo YA Historical Suspense draft. It's still in still in comp books! ~ agh.  

How does my work differ from others of its genre? 

Well, my last MG, which was more teen, or Upper MG --I say was  because she is resting very comfortably nearby in a dark drawer. That manuscript is a realistic fantasy, or magical realism. I guess I like writing stories that blend the lines between what is real and something beyond us; unreal things, events, that might really happen. The possibilities. As far as this MG, I've never heard of a story about kids clamoring to get into an online social site and then clamoring to get out. 

Why do I write what I do?   

I've been writing since grade school. Then in my late teens and twenty's I wrote mostly poetry. ( A quick fix) I spent most of my time raising my teen boys, and spending much, too much time around kids. (I LOVED it--kids are the best. Ever!) I began with an image of deer in the woods calling to the MC. I wrote the story from the middle then backwards. Writer friends encouraged me to complete the manuscript. It became my longest commitment to paper at 80k words! 
My oldest son had dyslexia, so my husband or I, read to our boys every night.  A little sad when it stopped. I was thrilled this week, when son #1 asked me to read Macbeth to him for school. Ah, sweet bonding with my teen. It's been hard to come by lately. OK, next . . . 

How does your writing process work?  

I get up as early as I can, while the fog of sleep fools me that I'm still dreaming and write. When my boys were younger I brought my composition books around  to the pool or the playgrounds. Until I could revise on a computer and rest easy knowing the paperwork was safe. These days I run the family cafe, get in early, set up, and write. If it's not too busy, I can sling some words. I have an ideas folder for ideas that pop-up. I just tuck them away in a folder for later. I say "down girls (the muses)--let me finish what I'm working on first".

Sometimes I begin with a a scene, just to set the mood. Then I might list a few bullet point ideas, or a flexible outline. But so far, ever story I've written has had a little different process. I enjoy trying new POV structures, voices, and genres. In between beta reads I often enter short story contests to keep my mental muscle fluid. ~ Then I settle in. . . and write, and write. 

Let me welcome children's author Christina Daley. You can read all about her  Writing Process next Monday: here.

Christina Daley made her first book with neighborhood friends when she was four years old. They "wrote" out some semblance of lettering with crayons, cut up a cardboard box for the cover, and bound it all together with clear adhesive tape. It was brilliant.

Quite a few years later, Christina is trying her hand at writing "real" books. She lives in Dallas, Texas, with a pet plant named Herb.

And while I'm at it --Go and check out the writers of our group blog: The Kidliterati You will leave inspired and nourished, filled with ideas to get your kids writing and reading --along with helpful nudges to get yourself writing --even MORE.