'Connect' has been submitted X3

The story I started back during last year's NaNoWriMo, and have been arguing with since mid December, is finally done!  Turns out what I wrote during NaNo is quite possibly the second part of these character's lives.  Oops. :P  But I'm overwhelmingly pleased with the 15K that make up Connect, even if it is shorter than I'd hoped for.  Submitted as a response to LT3's 'If You're Reading This...' serial anthology call it's kind of a bizarre twist to the whole message in a bottle idea; which just happens to take place on a website called Message in a Bottle. XD

Full of puns, that's me.  Plus, it's got tornadoes in it!  And no, I couldn't resist making a Dorothy joke, so there's a comment in there about Elijah trying to ride a tornado...

Anywho, I've got all of my fingers crossed, and my toes, hoping the team there likes it.

And as a pseudo teaser, here's the little mini blurb I created for Connect:

Raised in a fiercely Christian town in the Midwest, Elijah has always had his family and faith on his side; until the day he tells his father he's gay. Shunned and abused by the town he trusted for his revelation Elijah takes a chance on an anonymous note, and soon discovers a website which seems almost too good to be true. Posting alongside thousands of others he finds the strength to accept that his being gay wasn't a mistake on God's part.

The Prince's Flower is also done, I'm just finishing up tweaking my query letter before I send that one out as well.  

Next on my 'to tackle' list are a series of vampire stories, and quite possibly a something featuring exotic dancers that I blame entirely on my trip to Vegas last week.  *hums 'save a horse, ride a cowboy'*

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

The Next Big Thing

So a couple of weeks ago I was tagged by the wonderful and amazing Eddie Louise in The Next Big Thing Blog Hop, and yes, it did take me that long to get this written, I'm a busy girl, so sue me. :P  Anyway, The Next Big Thing is a rather long running, world wide blog hop that takes people to a variety of author's, self-pub, unpublished, and published, blogs, and asks each author to answer a series of 10 easy questions. 

And these are my responses to said questions:

What is the working title of your next book?

Message in a Bottle was the initial working title, but recently I’ve taken to calling it Connect; of course, I’m also writing a short fairytale called The Prince's Flower at the same time. You know, to make sure I don't get bored. XD

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I’m what's commonly known as a pantser in the writing world. What this means is, I don't often have anything beyond a name, or the very foggiest of ideas when I start writing: that being said, Connect came into being when I tried to think of a different twist to the whole message in a bottle trope.

The Prince's Flower? That one was inspired by too much alcohol and a Grimm fairytale.

What genre does your book fall under?

The biggest genre any of my current writing falls under would be m/m fiction.  For the unitiated who have stumbled across my blog via this hop, or a lurker who hasn't figured it out yet; m/m essentially means what it looks like, it's a story that is about two men, and generally speaking, has a romantic twist to it.

 I write stories in a lot subgenres, fantasy, paranormal, contemporary, but they inevitably focus on the LGBT side of things; because, come on, everyone deserves their happy ending, don't they?

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I think I might be a freak of nature among authors because I very rarely find myself hunting down pictures of real people to play my characters.  That being said, I've got no clue who I would chose to play the part of anyone in a movie rendition.  Sorry *shrugs* just not my thing.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Connect:  17 year old Elijah struggles to come to terms with being gay, and being true to his faith, while living in a small Midwestern town.

The Prince's Flower:  Cursed by a witch for his callous behavior, Calliopsis laments ever finding someone worth the struggle of breaking his curse.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Both will hopefully be represented, if not by my current publisher LT3, by another of the LGBT friendly publishers out there.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

30 days; NaNoWriMo 2012 to be precise, for Connect; 2 days for The Prince's Flower, give or take.  

Now editing that first, initial draft?  So much longer. XD

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

With Connect, I'm not sure, I've yet to come across another that is attempting to go about it the way I am.  I don't mean that I'm all uber unique and special, but I really haven't seen anything quite like it in the m/m spectrum yet.  In more mainstream teen, and adult fiction, yes, but m/m?  Haven't found it.

As for The Prince's Flower, LT3 has a line called Fairy Tales Slashed which takes well known, and not so well known, fairy tales and kind of twists them around.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

One of my cousins and my two youngest siblings actually. My cousin is gay, and recently took his relationship with his boyfriend to the next level as much as he could in current politics. And my siblings, I wanted to write something that would show that you could be gay and Christian, and still whole heartedly believe in God, even when the world around you believed you were going to Hell.

This is all regarding Connect, The Prince's Flower was honestly spawned via a drunken Twitter conversation with LT3's CEO...nothing special or moving about that, just alcohol induced stupidity and her love for fairytales.

What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

Connect is definitely more of a coming of age teen-ish story, and I think it might be an easier drift from mainstream than some of my other work.  Kind of a m/m light story. ^^;;

Meanwhile, The Prince's Flower is a mostly lighthearted romp out in fairytale land where everyone is guaranteed to live happily ever after.

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I'm tagging Talya Andor, Sandra Bard, May Ridge, and Alessandra Ebulu.  Was going to tag Shayla Mist, but someone got to her first, but go check out her response to the 10 questions anyway. :3

Happy blog hopping!

**ps - check out Thomas Cardin's reply to the 10 questions too!

Obligatory birthday post

Yup, it's my birthday today, and what am I doing?  Well, I went to lunch with my Da and Granpa, had a slice of cake, got a whole pie to myself(which I'll be sharing...because I seriously don't need a whole pie to eat XD), got both my state and federal tax return direct deposited into my account(do you think it was on purpose? ;P), and now, now I'm putzing around online while working on an actual blog post for later this week.  Because I know reading my random babbling is not what you all want.  Right?

*nods*

In brief, writerly news, story #1 submission was rejected *sadface*, but I've got two more submissions going out this month, and am still waiting to hear back on story #2.  I'm hopeful that 1 out of 4 will make it further. ^^

Oh!  I'm also now part of an awesome weekly writing/critique group called the Barmy Drapers.  It's a new thing for me, since I've usually been a solitary sort of writer outside of NaNoWriMo, but since it's made up of fellow Wrimos it still carries some of that month's wildness.

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In regards to reading:

I really enjoyed all three of the KMaM stories I've thus far purchased. :3 How About a Boyfriend was ridiculously cute, and awkward. <3 TT!  The Glass Coffin made me squee, because come on, Rostislav and Jesse!  And Retirement was a lovely forced to work together couple. ^^

I've also reread Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, and The Warded Man by Peter V Brett.

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Now, back to writing, and enjoying my pie.

<3