Awake: A Fairytale

Publishing a book is a little like falling in love. It’s so amazing that once you’ve done it, you want all your friends to experience it too. Yesterday, my friend and Indie Jane co-owner Jessica Melendez (AKA Jessica Grey) published her YA fantasy novel, Awake, and I am almost as excited as she is.

It’s the last summer before college, and Alex Martin is looking forward to spending it… in a museum. No, she’s not a normal 18 year old, but she and her best friend Becca Ward have interned at LA’s Gem and Mineral Museum every summer. This year however provides one crucial difference—her childhood friend, Luke Reed, has joined the geeky rock squad.

Alex and Luke haven’t really talked since their freshman year of high school, when Luke’s status as a baseball star put him on a different social level than Alex. She is none too pleased by the thought of sharing her favorite place with him, especially since she was kind of hoping to catch the eye of their advisor, the dreamy Nicholas Hunt.

But when Alex finds Luke lying on an enchanted bed, trapped in a magical slumber, suddenly all her summer plans are out the window. She and Becca are joined by Lilia, a 12^th century princess who’s been asleep for 850 years. Yes, Luke tried to wake up Sleeping Beauty with a kiss, but instead, he simply took her place.

Now the three girls have to figure out exactly what the spell is, who cast it, and how they can save Luke from the evil fairy behind it all. To do that, Alex and Becca will have to come to terms with the fact that magic actually exists, and accept their own ability to use it.

Awake is a phenomenal story. It takes all the familiar elements of Sleeping Beauty and twists them into something that is both recognizable and new at the same time. The dialogue between the three girls sparkled, and the relationship between Alex and Luke was romantic and real.

The magic scenes were my favorite parts of the story. Jessica Grey invented an entire system of magic for her book, and it is brilliant and consistent. Even though I know diamonds and precious metal have no magical qualities, I could easily believe Alex and Becca were able to work spells with them. 

I read Awake in one day, which is not something I often do anymore. My brain usually starts to wander after about five chapters, and I’ll switch to another book or a movie. This time though I was too eager to find out how it all turned out in the end to put it down.

Grey’s style is smooth and easy to follow. Her characters are real, and her story is delightful. I can’t wait to read the next book in this trilogy. 

Awake is currently available from Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon. A paperback is coming soon.


Jessica is also giving away two copies over at Indie Jane. 

Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving. It's a tendency in the blogging world to take off major holidays (as blog traffic drops significantly, and... well, we'd like a day off too). However, as I thought about it this week, I realized I have so much to be thankful for, there's truly no excuse for me not to post.

1. I am thankful for my family. They gave me the love of books that has brought me to where I am today, and to a person, every one of them has loved me and believed in me in a way I know is rare and precious.
2. I am thankful for Chris Baty and National Novel Writing Month for giving me the years of practice it takes to become successful at anything.
3. I am thankful to all the people who've read my fanfiction over the years. Thanks to you, I wasn't nearly as nervous when I published my first book. 
4. I'm thankful for the amazing team of beta readers and editors who helped me improve His Good Opinion this year: Jessica, Kaydee, Mom, Rebecca, Haley, Jaymi, and Carissa. 
5. I'm thankful to Jess (again) for all the formatting help she gave over the last two weeks--right in the middle of moving and doing NaNoWriMo. 
6. I'm thankful for the amazing cover, designed for me by Ed Melendez.
7. I'm thankful for the tremendous amounts of help Jennifer Becton has offered as I traversed the unknown waters of self-publishing for the first time.

And I am so very thankful to everyone who has purchased His Good Opinion in the last week. It's an absolute thrill to know my book is in the hands of readers. You have made my dream come true--thank you so very much.

His Good Opinion can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, and Amazon FR. 

This Cover is DIMH Approved

"...Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien, and the report... The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening..."


Pride and Prejudice, chapter 3

When I started decided to go indie last spring, cover art was at the top of my concerns. (I've since learned there are other things far more stressful and less pleasant, but that's a post for a different time.) Despite all we say, people do judge books by their covers, and I want His Good Opinion to jump off the virtual bookshelf and scream, "Pick me, pick me!"  

Conversation between me and DIMH*: 

DIMH:  That shows a shocking lack of decorum.

Me: You'd better get used to it, Darcy.

DIMH: I beg your pardon?

Me: You're #hotdarcy. The ladies will be throwing themselves at you.

DIMH: ...

Thanks to some stellar picture finding by Jessica and the amazing graphic design skills of her husband, I now present #hotdarcy, in the flesh:

*DIMH: Darcy In My Head

His Good Opinion can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, and Amazon FR. 

What I Blogged On My Summer Vacation

I learned something about blogging this summer, friends: The entire blogosphere goes on vacation for two months. Comments slow to a trickle, new posts are few and far between, and site traffic goes way down. On the one hand, this made it easy to keep up with everything. After all, I didn't go on vacation (sigh), so I didn't miss a thing. On the other hand, I know there are a lot of good posts out there that people might have missed.

I'm going to highlight a few of mine, and then if you wrote an awesome blog post that got lost in the summer shuffle, please post a link to it in the comment thread.

The big news of the summer was the launch of Indiejane.org. Jessica Melendez and I started this site with the vision of it becoming a home for both readers and indie authors of Jane Austen fiction. As of tomorrow, we've been up and running for two months, and things are off to a great start. We're just wrapping up our read-a-long of Sense and Sensibility, and we have a Northanger Abbey event slated for the last two weeks of October.

Indie Jane also took part in this summer's Austenesque Extravaganza, a blog event put on by Meredith of Austenesque Reviews. In our post, we announced a new project, yet again aimed at connecting authors and readers. Dear Jane will link Jane Austen fans with a pen pal for six months. Sign ups go through September 15, so if you're interested, go on over!

And finally, in my posts for the Austenesque Extravaganza, I put together a blog series called Build Your Own Austenesque Novel. I led readers through the various elements of story and plot, and ended with an encouragement to participate in National Novel Writing Month. I've since brought those five blog posts together on their own page, Build Your Own Novel.

Now it's time for the rest of the class to share. Show us your favorite blog posts of the summer!

A Hot Man Is Hard... To Write

Earlier this summer, I decided I needed a hashtag for His Good Opinion. I wanted something short, and that summed up the book. My amazing beta reader (and Indiejane.org cohort) Jessica Melendez suggested #hotdarcy, and after several humorous tweets with suggestions for future books (#SexyFitzwilliam and #takeitoffWentworth, collectively known as #regencystriptease), #hotdarcy stuck.

To the confusion of some readers, this is not because there are hot, steamy love scenes in my book. Rather, the comment, "OMG hot!" is one of Jess' ways to let me know I've nailed Darcy's character. Let's face it--Darcy is hot.

Later, she read another story of mine from a different fandom and commented that I like to write from the male perspective, and it's true. The question that came in the following Twitter chat was this: "How do you, as a woman, write in a man's voice?"

The answer is deceptively easy, my friends. I don't think about writing in a man's voice; I think about writing in Darcy's voice. That's the same way I can write dialogue that sounds right for any character. After all, I've never been a nervous, easily agitated woman desperate to marry her daughters off, but some of my favorite lines are ones I've given Mrs. Bennet.

Voice is not about gender, profession, age, or nationality. Voice is about character. This of course is the difficult part. When you put a character together, you do need to know their gender, profession, age, and nationality, because those things are a part of who they are. However, you have to know this person, as an individual. It's that knowing, that intimacy, that creates dialogue that sounds genuine.

Of course, some gratuitous #hotdarcy action never hurt either.

101 Things: July Update

When I posted my list of 101 things, I said I would blog once a month with results. That day is today.

July was a very busy month. Jessica Melendez and I launched IndieJane.org on the 11th. Indie Jane is a website by and for indie authors of Jane Austen fiction. We're creating a community of writers who are connected to the larger community of Jane Austen fans.

For Indie Jane, I checked #1 off my list: Join/start a writing group.

Despite my constant need for caffeine (if you've ever wondered why everyone doesn't start a website, it's because it's hard work), I also chose the month of July to go without soda. Even though there are still five days left in July, I'm calling this one a win right now. I've got all of you watching me--I'd feel guilty if I caved when I'd come so close.

Also, as I mentioned here, I am far, far closer to knowing what my move to England will look like. I've spent time since that blog post thinking about it, and my target date is February 2, 2014. I sat down last Sunday and created a month by month calendar, detailing what I need to do in my writing career so I can afford to quit my job by then. It's a scary list, but it's doable.

This is the first time in months that I've actually achieved anything on the list, and I know it was largely because I had my blog friends keeping me accountable. So what am I going to do in August? August is FiNancy month. I'll tackle two of the financial goals: not making extraneous purchases and no eating out.

A reminder regarding Indie Jane:

We've got two giveaways open right now, and another opening tomorrow. Enter by midnight to win a copy of Charlotte Collins by Jennifer Becton. The Kindle drawing will be open until August 11. Another giveaway featuring an Austenesque writer's prize pack will go live tomorrow. It's a big month for us; swing by and take a look!

Indie Jane is Here

Presenting Indie Jane:

The Premiere Independent Austen Community

Today is the official launch of IndieJane.org, a community of both indie authors and readers of Jane Austen fiction. Jessica Melendez and I have been hard at work to create a site that will offer something unique for all Janeites.

For Everyone:

We are offering one giveaway a week during our inaugural month, including a Wi-fi Kindle with special offers. Check out IndieJane.org for more information on how to enter. 

For Readers:

In our chat room and on our message boards, you will have a chance to meet some fabulous self-published Austen authors. You'll find reviews of their books on our blog, and weekly posts about Jane.

We'll also run special events, such as read-alongs and movie nights in the chat room. For the reader, Indie Jane is a place to meet other Janeites and make new friends. 

For Authors:

Indie Jane celebrates the self-published author of Austenesque literature. Like you, Jessica and I are hacking our way through the undergrowth of the publishing world, forging our own path. This is something that's always easier done when you have a trailblazer ahead of you. We'll share self-pub hints and general writing  tips we come across, leaving you with more time to work on your story.

We also know how hard it can be to market your book as an indie author. Indie Jane offers you a chance to meet your potential readers in a casual manner. We all love Jane, so right away we've got something in common--readers and authors alike.

And one more thing for authors: Indie Jane has ad space available. We are currently running a special promotion; one month free or two months for $15. Yes, that is one month free with no obligation to purchase the second month. The space is 128p by 250p, or you can send your art to contact@indiejane.org and we will size it appropriately.

There is so much more to Indie Jane than I could ever put in one blog post. It's a community, it's a resource, it's a marketing opportunity. Whether you are a reader or writer of Austenesque literature, or just someone who loves Jane, there is something for you--so come on over to IndieJane.org and check us out!