Today is my day

Over at Odd Shots. I raided Meljean Brook’s SECRET DELETED SCENES and uncovered a most interesting tidbit that I shared with the group.

(Meljean is such a good sport.)

Galleys

Just heard from my editor’s assistant – galleys for book 2 (and the final stage for both books — at least on my end!) are heading my way for a Thursday delivery.

Hmmm.

Work on galleys or watch Supernatural…?
Work on galleys, or watch Sam and Dean?
Galleys? Winchesters?

Oh decisions, decisions.

I can make you love me, little story…

For me, writing starts with a scene. I’ll see something in my mind so clearly that I won’t be able to get past it unless I write it down. And from there, the story spirals outward. Somewhere in the middle, I’ll outline to make sure I don’t forget anything, but overall it’s an organic process.

But with books under contract, this doesn’t always work. You have to turn in something early (sometimes months and months early) before the writing has even started. You essentially have to draft the story in short form (my synopses are usually less than 5 pages), sit on it for about 4 or 5 months, and then you get to write it.

This is troubling for me (and anyone else that is an organic/pantser writer). You can outline anything in the world that you want. Coming up with stories is sometimes the EASY part.

Getting enthusiastic enough about it six months down the line? Enthusiastic enough to spend 90k with it? A little tricky.

I’ve run into this situation before. Right now, actually. I promised to write a story about a certain topic (nothing contracted, mind you, just a side project) but that was MONTHS AGO, dude. And I’m not excited about the story. But it’s something I want to try, so I knew I had to give it a shot.

And now I’m 9k in and absolutely loving (LOVING) the story and the characters. But it wasn’t easy to get to that point. I had to break myself in.

First step: Visualize.

I’m a big fan of visuals. If I don’t have a mental image of the character already, I flip around the internet looking for something to associate with the character. Sometimes it’s a picture of really great hair. Sometimes it’s a hand holding a sword. Whatever. Doesn’t matter. It needs to be something that evokes that particular story with me. For a long time, I made Livejournal icons for different stories and went with those – well, until I stopped paying for livejournal (*shakes fist at paid accounts and all their goodies*). Now, I switch out my desktop background on a regular basis with different thematic pictures that represent my story, and I pick actors that might share mannerisms or a photo that makes me think of the character.

And okay, sometimes I use Dean & Sam & Castiel as inspiration. A lot. Don’t hate!

Next Step: Getting to know you.

If I’m going to write a story about these two chuckleheads, I have to know them. Again, not part of my normal process. I do astrology charts (even though I feel dumb for doing so), I pick a tarot card for them. I pick an archetype and flesh it out.
And then I write a long, tl;dr boring-ass essay about their history. The end. I’m not picking what kind of ice cream they’d like, or what kind of tree they’d be if they were a tree…I hate that stuff. But I find that if I write out a character’s history, it changes their personality. Maybe I wanted Olivia to be light-hearted and sassy, but when I write out her history…she is anything but the laughing type. That’s ok too. All you need to do is learn enough about them to wiggle your way into the story.

Third Step: Slog your way through the beginning.

There’s really no way of getting around the writing. The first two steps were mostly cat-waxing and author noodling. They’re a big waste of time except for one thing – they mentally prepare you to dive in. It’s kind of like sticking your toe in the pool. You know it’s cold and you’re going to hate that dive in, but you’ve got to do it at some point.

So you just start writing. And it sounds awful as it makes its way on to paper, and it IS. There’s no getting around the awful. But you have to keep writing. And keep writing. And somewhere along the lines, you’re going to get excited about these characters. They’re going to matter. You’re going to have FUN sending them through the wringer.

Just write. I guess I could have summed this post up in two words, right? But keep on writing, because if the fun doesn’t come to you, you have to go to the fun. Or something. You can still make it work, even if you have to come up with a different ‘method’. All that matters is getting the story down on paper.

And this is all very srs bzns stuff, isn’t it? Blah. For silliness, check out http://www.theoddshots.com.

Vacation (all I ever wanted!)

The past six days have been gloriously lazy. I had the time off work (just to use up vacation time) and have spent most of the past week napping, reading, re-watching old favorite movies, and a dab of writing.

Just a dab of writing, though. Not nearly enough. I told myself that I’d write 15k while on vacation, and if I am lucky, I will hit half of that. But probably not. That’s okay, though, because after days of poking and prodding, I’m starting to get into my new story. It’s just a novella  — another side project to keep me busy — but it’s in my Succubus Diaries universe featuring entirely different characters. It’s really kind of fun to play with characters from an entirely different angle, though I worry that the story is too serious for my tastes.

You know me, not a big fan of serious.

Other than that, I watched Pride & Prejudice (2005), Pride and Prejudice (1995) and Lost in Austen. I expected to hate Lost in Austen but I found it very cleverly done. I never knew where they were taking the story, and some of the characters had unexpected twists to them (Georgiana, you ho!). Diehard Austenites might not appreciate the story, but I did.

I am excited that all the TV shows are coming back this fall, and soon! My favorite TV night is Thursday night, in which we have the back-to-back of Survivor and Supernatural. The two best TV shows around, IMO. I’m also looking forward to the new season of Dexter, more Robot Chicken, and more Ghost Hunters. Oh, and Destination Truth. My husband SWEARS that he will not be caught dead watching it, but I love that show for its sheer silliness.

Speaking of Robot Chicken, if you are not watching it, you are missing out on some AWESOME stuff, such as this:

It’s all fun and games until someone tosses their cookies at the bar

I am excited to announce the arrival of…

(tadaa!)

The Odd Shots

Yes, a group blog with a heavy romance slant, and some urban fantasy  tossed into the mix. I’ll be blogging with Ilona Andrews, Meljean Brook, Nalini Singh, and Patrice Michelle. We’ll be giving away goodies, discussing our favorite drinks, chatting about publishing, and other things. No scheduled topics, no srs bzns, and just generally a lot of fun.

I hope everyone stops by! This week, Ilona Andrews is giving away a copy of the anthology MUST LOVE HELLHOUNDS.

Oh and…

Watch this space for important (okay, not really) news involving myself and a few other authors. You will either clap your hands with delight, or cry. I don’t care which one.

You know you are losing it when…

Conversation at the Myles house this morning:

Me, in a towel, hair wet: GAAAAH!

Husband: What?

Me: You didn’t open the door to the bathroom!

Husband: I wasn’t in the bathroom.

Me: Yes, you WERE. And now it’s all steamy in there because you took a shower and now I CAN’T FIX MY HAIR. I AM SO MAD AT YOU.

Him: I didn’t take a shower.

Me: YES YOU DID.

Him: No, you did. That’s why your hair is wet.

Me: …

Him: …and that’s why you’re wearing a towel.

Me: Oh. Well, nevermind.

Him: You know, I thought you were joking at first. That’s kind of sad.

Me: I need coffee.

Clearly, yours truly is running on empty lately. But! I have a present for the like, three people that still read my blog. I wrote you another zombie fairy tale!

This one features the Princess and the Pea. If you like it, leave me a comment and let me know. I’m needy like that.

Here you go: http://jillmyles.com/free-stories/the-princess-and-the-zomb-pea

Where I’ve been

So I’ve kind of fallen off the planet. Again. I have excuses, though! There was not one, not two, but three major projects at the dayjob. And then galleys. And I’ve been feeling buried ever since RWA Nationals.

And even though two of my projects have wrapped at work, I’m *still* feeling buried. So I’m going to give myself a bit of an internet vacation. No twitter, no message-boards, no blogging. For two or three weeks. And maybe when I come back, I will be feeling it and ready to go again!

In the meantime, go read the new Borders: True Romance blog. It stars two of my very favorite people in Romance blogging – Dear Author Jane and Smart Bitch Sarah.

Winnah!

Thanks everyone for the feedback on my half-assed were-bear contest. The verdict? It CAN be sexy if you play your cards right. Otherwise, it just might be scary. At any rate, I had my husband randomly pick a winner and he picked:

Kristine says:

1. Mantitty does make me happy as long as it’s not tacky. Or super hairy.

2. Yes, as long as the character himself is sexy, I don’t really caare what he turns into. As long as it’s not a bug oif some sort. I draw the line at having more than 4 legs.

3. Today, I am , more or less, foaming at the mouth, waiting for J.R. Ward’s Covet to come out. I want my fallen angels. I also can’t wait for Ilona Andrews’s On the Edge, Chrisitne Warren’s Big Bad Wolf, and Nalini Singh’s Blaze of Memory.

So yay Kristine! Please email me at jillmyles @ gmail dot com and we’ll talk.

Some great publishing links

Are you reading these? Here’s a sampling of what I’ve loved recently:

http://internspills.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-you-missed-at-this-mornings.html  << — The Intern talks about what was hot at their last editorial meeting. NUMBERS. Yes, everyone that was worried that vampires are in or out, worry no longer! 1001 Vampires are in (but not 365 vampires).

http://editorialanonymous.blogspot.com/2009/07/publishometer-how-to-tell-whether.html <<– Editorial Anonymous’s Publishometer. Hilarious. And works scarily well.

http://heydeadguy.typepad.com/heydeadguy/2009/08/frogs-and-bears-and-chickens-and-things.html << — Barbara Poelle used to be a stand-up comedian. Now she’s a literary agent. All of her blog posts (which you can access by clicking on her name on the right-hand side) are utterly side-splitting. Look for the one about dreams. I wept. Seriously.

http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2009/08/print-runs-for-serious-here.html <<–Moonrat brings the srs bizness when discussing print runs. Hint: They’re all made up.

http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2009/08/be-true-to-you.html <<– Jessica Faust points out what I’ve tried (and probably failed) to mention a million times. Write what you love, and write what calls to you, not what you think will sell.

http://waxmanagency.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/one-thing-id-love-to-see/ << — My agent. Still looking for YA. She loves voice in a manuscript. And she’s awesome.

http://romanticreads.net/2009/07/27/looking-for-an-intern/ <<– Dorchester is looking for an intern. Sure, it doesn’t pay cash, but it pays in KNOWLEDGE, my friends. Knowledge.

And that’s all I got. I’ll hold the drawing for the Amazon gift certificate tomorrow! (and we all know ‘tomorrow’ means ‘whenever i get to it’ right? right.)