#IWSG What do angels, universities, and diseases all have in common?

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Remember, the question is optional!

May 3 Question: What is the weirdest/coolest thing you ever had to research for your story?

The awesome co-hosts for the May 3 posting of the IWSG will be Nancy Gideon, Tamara Narayan, Liesbet @ Roaming About, Michelle Wallace, and Feather Stone!

Hi,

It's May and that means I have only one month left of school!!! I have the first grade teacher May crabbies. That means I'm impatient and tired of reminding the kids to walk and be quiet in the halls. And I'm most tired of reminding them "Kleenex, not fingers."

What do angels, universities, and diseases all have in common? I've researched them for the young adult stories I've written. My characters are often 17-18 and considering which college to attend, so I've researched universities that specialize in music (which an editor told me was cliché) and the surgical field, mainly organ transplant surgery. For NaNoWriMo 2015 I wrote 'my grief book' and included a lot of details from my own journey through losing my mom, but didn't want to write about her specific illness, so I researched an alternative.  Most recently I researched the nine choirs of angels for my contemporary fantasy novel. In addition to using the information in the story, I created a quiz for readers, What kind of angel would you be? and most recently created a page for my author website about the types of angels in my story and about the characters who play them.  That page is here if you're interested in reading it.

I'm sure today will hold many, many interesting answers to read about! And now that book two (out May 31) is with my editors' team of beta readers, I actually have time to come around and visit more of you! I know, promises, promises. You'll believe it when you see it!  Sorry for being so MIA.

Christy

P.S. I just have one word for you: Vellum. I'm madly in love with Vellum. I recently purchased (for $1 per hour) mac in a cloud so that I could download Vellum and use it to format my e-books. I couldn't love it more! Only a month or two before Vellum comes out for formatting paperbacks! I CAN'T WAIT! (Need it now!)

So, if you've yet to try it or have been on the fence... DO IT! You won't regret it.

Cover Reveal: When Smoke Rains Down

Available May 31, 2017

Pre-order Your E-Book Copy Today!

In the aftermath of an explosion and Homecoming battle, Julia tries to form some semblance of a routine: work, study, visit her brother. Unable to confide in anyone about her double life of being both human and angel, and fearful she'll bring death and destruction to those she loves, she pulls away from her family and best friend.  When demons once again start to show up at every turn, seemingly bringing about her brother's deepening depression, she demands her sword from Nicholas. Ever the stern Guardian Angel, he forbids her from using it. Isolated, she takes protecting her brother into her own hands.  

Thrust into a dark world of conspiring demons, Julia is in more danger than she ever imagined possible. To stop evil from spreading and overtaking those she loves, she’ll have to seek out the one person she mistrusts most. 

Enter a complex world where humans, demons, and angels collide, all battling to rule the Earth. For readers who enjoy young adult paranormal romance and dark fantasy. Fans of City of Bones, Hush Hush, Unearthly, Halo, and Hidden Wings will be captivated by this unique take on angels and demons.  

When Smoke Rains Down is Book Two in the Kingdom Come series. Book Three, the final installment, will be out Summer 2017. 

“An AMAZING sequel that leaves me DYING for the next one!” ~ early reader of When Smoke Rains Down

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#IWSG April...It's always the same complaint from me....

I'm seriously like a broken record on these days. I always end up blaming time for everything. Looks like I'm not giving advice, but I'll take some!

Learn more about #IWSG and join the fun!

The IWSG posts the first Wednesday of each month. We answer an optional question or share insecurities, successes and advice. It's a blog hop. Click the image above to find the other participating blogs.

April 5 Question: Have you taken advantage of the annual A to Z Challenge in terms of marketing, networking, publicity for your book? What were the results?

The awesome co-hosts for the April 5 posting of the IWSG will be Christopher D. Votey, Madeline Mora-Summonte, Fundy Blue, and Chrys Fey!

Years ago, Erica and I participated in the A to Z Challenge, but then we fell off the face of the blogosphere and I'm just recently trying to bring us back. I hope Erica joins me again some day!!! Erica, I miss you! At the time, we had nothing to promote, but man, we loved getting to know everyone!

So...no.  But I look forward to learning more about how this all works!

Is it too late to join in this year? I think that it would do me wonders to blog every day and to do so in terms of my series. The creative look into my world and characters would be a ton of fun. Even if it's too late, maybe I'll try to catch up anyway for the fun of it!  I think I have a little fear of blogging. What do I say? Who will care? What should my topic be? So...the A to Z challenge kind of takes care of that part for me. It would help me conquer my fear and help me establish a blogging routine.

It would also help me with reaching another goal. One of my biggest goals right now that keeps getting put on the back burner is making and maintaining connections. I need to establish a routine that adds time in my schedule every day for blogging and visiting other blogs. Huge question: How much time do you spend doing these things each day?

The way I handle my to-do list is that I go full force with the top item until it is complete, then move onto the next in the same way. Meaning, I don't know how to make time each day for other priorities. If I have a manuscript due, then that's ALL I work on until it's done. I can't critique for others, blog, visit blogs, read novels for enjoyment, etc. I can only focus on one thing (for the most part) at a time. Mainly, I think this is because I only have short amounts of time outside of work and parenting to devote to my writing and publishing life. I just turned a manuscript into my editor, so the next priority was getting my third quarter report cards finished (due today). Though, I did take a night to read a book I'd begun forever ago. Next up: critiquing for critique partners who worked hard to get feedback to me before my deadline. After I spend the next 3-5 days critiquing, my editor will have my ms back and I'll work on revisions for the next round of edits. While that's being critiqued, I'll need to finalize my cover and work on getting it up for sale. I can only focus on one thing per day. Advice for me?

Anyways, one of these months I'll post something informative and helpful! But this was not the month.

Tell me, please, how much time each day/week do you devote to writing blog posts and visiting other blogs?

Have a wonderful month. It's finally starting to warm up here in Wisconsin. It's always a refreshing time of year. I'm looking forward to summer and it's only two months away!

Christy

Ten YA Fantasy Spring Break Reads

I'm a teacher on spring break this week. My "final" revisions and edits on When Smoke Rains Down (out this May!) were due to my editor yesterday. I didn't make my deadline. She gave me a one week extension. So now I have this week to finish fleshing out some additional chapters and readingthe story through to make sure I'm happy with how it flows, to make sure my characters are consistent, and to add in sensory and setting details. I wouldn't be as far as I am without my gracious critique partners who read and provided feedback quickly for me. I went through each section of my manuscript 4-5 times in the past two days to incorporate all their suggestions and tidy up the messy parts. I even skipped sleeping.

In addition to finishing those revisions and hanging out with my three kiddos (and maybe taking a nap!), I plan to catch up on some VERY overdue reading. My spring break reading list includes these fantasy titles. As I finish them, I will come back and let you know my thoughts!

(I'm being overly ambitious, as I tend to be in all that I do, but what I don't read this week, I'll read over the course of the next few months. In addition to several other titles on my TBR list. Some I've added to my pen name's Goodreads shelf if you want to see what else I'm looking forward to reading soon!)

What books are on your TBR for this spring and upcoming summer?

#IWSG Post: Be a Writing Pack Rat

Sign up here to join the fun and to find a list of all participating bloggers!

New to IWSG? Here are the details:

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Remember, the question is optional! 

March 1 Question: Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it? Did it work out?

My Post:

I haven't, and by really old I'm thinking years and years. Since I've only been writing since 2010 (which, I guess, DOES feel like a really long time) it seems hard to say something I've written is really old. I did write two novels after the one I "pulled back out" to publish two months ago, so may be that counts? 

And when I'm "done" with the series I'm publishing, I look forward to going back to the other two contemporary young adult manuscripts. They really do need a reworking, one way more than the other. I miss those characters and the writing style I used in them.  Hopefully that will work out, too. My plan as of right now is to query them to small publishers, but it seems that more and more are now requiring agents, so I may have to take that route first. We shall see. It may be a while.

Like I tell my first grade students, never throw any writing away. Even if it's not exactly what we're trying to write (I have a student who's struggling to make the switch from our personal narrative unit to our non-fiction text unit) and even if it's not the text you're choosing to publish, KEEP IT. You may choose to go back to it and revise and edit it for publication later!

My very first manuscript (that I will never, never go back to) had a million different beginnings and I'm quite certain that I saved every. single. one of them. Anytime I cut a scene or rework a chapter, I always save the old version somewhere.

I'm GREAT at saving, not so great at being organized about it. My documents folder (and kitchen counter) is a MESS!

So...the lesson here: Save everything. Be organized about it right away, because you WON'T really go back later to clean it up. And you never know when an old muse will come calling. You may want to dust off that ol' ms and spruce it up. It may end up being the most successful piece you've ever written! OR you'll have great outtakes to give away to your readers for free. :)

The awesome co-hosts for the March 1 posting of the IWSG will be Tamara Narayan, Patsy Collins, M.J. Fifield, and Nicohle Christopherson!