It’s cold, so freaking cold. I curl my knees into my body, wrap my arms around tight. Sit very, very still. I’m almost afraid to breathe. They’re staring at me, I know they are. Hunting me. Faces in the wall, bursting out and grabbing at me with long, fleshless fingers. They’re all out to get me. Devour me. I scrunch down into the tightest ball I can manage, trying to disappear.

Something brushes against my neck.

My body shivers, and I rock, rock, rock, keeping my eyes tightly closed. “No, no, go away! I can’t see you, I can’t.”

A voice. “Kaylin?”

They know my name. They’re trying to trick me. I can’t look, I can’t look. They might snatch me into the wall if I do. “No. No! NO!!! La, la, la, I can’t see you.” I start to laugh, rock even faster.

They won’t win. I’m too smart. I’m too—

“NO!” My hands whip up like claws to scratch at whatever is touching my neck, but I keep my eyes squeezed shut like my life depends on it. Oh, God, are there bugs crawling on me? I shake violently, slap at my arms. Maybe if I peel off my skin, they’ll go away. I start to scratch, and I can’t stop. Deep down, a part of me knows I’m shredding the fuck out of my arms, but I don’t care. I want it to go away. I want everything to go away. My skin is dirty, but blood is clean. Blood will wash it all away.

“Jesus—KAYLIN! STOP!” Strong hands manacle my wrists, yank my arms behind me.

It’s a trick. It’s a trick. It’s—

My eyelids flutter open. A figure, kneeling before me, dark hair dripping like chocolate across his forehead. Not a wall face. Safe. “P-Patrick?”

Relief rushes through me in a wave of liquid joy. My fears melt away. But something is wrong. I can see it, there in the downward arch of his mouth, the pain radiating behind his dark blue eyes.

Dear Agent Awesomesauce:

Spiking a guy through the skull isn’t sixteen-year-old Summer Chance’s idea of the perfect party trick, but it is the best way to exorcise a Stage One Possession—and join the Demon Guard Academy . The archaic Academy and its snobby students symbolize everything Summer despises about her world, a place where a genetic quirk—immunity to demon essence—makes you superior to other humans. But somewhere inside those forbidding walls is the key to curing her mother’s mysterious illness, and Summer will sacrifice anything to nab it.

Summer’s plan is simple: get the answers and get the hell out. Oh, and maybe bring down a few enemies—like the girls who trashed her reputation—along the way. Unfortunately, brains in lockers, a brewing power struggle, and her growing connection to an unstable ex complicate the search. And then there’s the teensy matter of a sinister plot involving Stage Three demons. Summer’s mom may be next in line for a monster make-over, and that’s one rescue she can’t tackle alone. But she must choose alliances wisely. In her world, trusting the wrong person can trigger a disaster of hellish proportions, for Summer, her mom, and the entire human race.

Believe it or not, I actually had a pretty decent request rate on this sucker.  Of course, my lovely agent never even read it. 

*ponders the meaning of this fact*
*gives up and eats a cookie*

RHYMING QUERY?

It’s sparkly! It’s shiny! It’s pure genius! One look at this bad boy, and I bet my request rate would have skyrocketed to, like, 252%! Or maybe even higher!

Drumroll, please….

Check out my 90k words
on Demon Guard school
C’mon, say it with me
DEMON STORIES RULE!

Yes, demons are in my novel
Ex-boyfriends and meanies galore
My MC gets super darn pissed
When they call her a big fat whore boar.

Her mom is in a coma
And that is just the pits
Her mom is in a coma
It’s enough to give anyone the shits fits

So Contact me! Contact me!
When you’re ready (OR EVEN NOW!)
Cuz we both know what you’re thinking
This query’s made of WOW!

Well, what are you WAITING FOR? Go write a shiny new rhyming query of your own, and WOW agents everywhere!** You know you want to!

**DISCLAIMER: Intended for mature audiences only. The writer of this blog is not responsible for any amount of agent mocking, snickering, anger, or blacklisting incurred as a result of using the RHYMING QUERY system. All blame should be placed at T.H. Mafi’s bloggy door.

Where do stories comes from?  That’s easy. Two simple words:  my butt.

Now that's what I call bootylicious

Yeah, I was just dying to say that—unavoidable consequence of hanging out with a 6-yr-old boy. Sorry. But it’s pretty much true. I mean, prepping? What’s that? Does grabbing a chai latte and booting up my computer count?

Prepping, here I come!

I’m a pantser, through and through (although I’m trying to reform. Ask me how well that’s going once I’m halfway through my next novel. And don’t hold your breath.)

As much as I’d love to be different, I’m just not one of those fancy schmancy plotters—you know, those writers with the cute little outlines and the plot boards and highlighters and note cards. My novel ideas typically come to me randomly: while I’m in the shower, while I’m driving (sans kids, of course—the only thing that comes to me when I’m in the car with them is a serious need for Calgon and the Super Nanny). Oh, and hugely, when I’m running. Although I usually can’t write with music on, many, many a scene has been created while running to my favorite songs. Basically, an entire scene pops into my head. I hear the dialogue and feel the emotion, and then, run home to jot it down on paper.

My first novel Tainted was written almost entirely by madly typing out scenes that came to me while running, then piecing them together. And I didn’t even start at the beginning. Nope, I started with a scene about 2/3 of the way in (I think I just heard Laura McMeeking wince all the way from England.)

Seriously, though, I’ve been trying to change. With my WIP, I’ve been pondering things a great deal in my head before plunging recklessly on (I’ve got about 10k right now). It’s really challenging to nail exactly who my MC is, and I want to get it just right. So I’ve been putting her through some mental drills. I have a feeling, though, I’m not *really* going to know what she’s all about until I commit her more to paper. Writing is a pretty organic thing for me.

Wow. Organic Coke? Really?

In Plot and Structure, James Scott Bell talks about both the non-outliners (NOPs) and the outliners (Ops).

Of the NOPs he says:

The joy of being a NOP is that you get to fall in love every day. The heartache comes when you look back and see nothing resembling plot.

Admit it. All you outlining types are gloating just a little right now (and stroking your note cards lovingly—STOP THAT!) But not so fast. Here’s what he has to say about the Ops:

The value of the OP approach is that, with experience, one can virtually guarantee a solidly structured plot. The danger, however, is the lack of freshness and spontaneity the NOPs are known for.

His solution? Try a little of both. Use structure/attention to plot prior to writing, yet give yourself freedom to vary from your outlines or note cards. But whether you’re a NOP or OP, the two things he definitely recommends doing before starting to write your story are:

1) Use the LOCK system to flesh out your story. LOCK stands for Lead, Objective, Confrontation, and Knockout—a set of principles he thinks guides all successful novels.

2) Write the back cover blurb

Hope this was informative helpful didn’t totally put you to sleep! Thanks again to Corrine Jackson for her great prompts on the writing process! Don’t forget to visit her blog and the other 8 writers who posted on this subject. Plus, PRIZES–YAY!

Admit it–you’re totally dancing right now. And seriously–I wonder if that Lord of the Rings director got some of his ideas here. Um…

Anyway, although all of the singer’s dance moves are pretty impressive (cough), my favorite is that karate chop move in the middle. Which made me think of this:

Yes, that’s really Elisabeth Shue.

If it were a Three for Tuesday, I’d post the trailer for the brand new Karate Kid movie, coming out this summer with Jackie Chan as Mr. Miyagi.

What do you mean, am I going to see it? Do you even have to ask?

Hey, and you got off easy. I was tempted to find a video of dancing condoms as my second item.

Twitter gives us that up-close-and-personal experience, but is there such a thing as taking that casual façade *too* far, especially with publishing people?

Watch it...the bird bites

Ha, you got me—I’m sure I violate personal Twitter-space all the time. But, even my less-than-reserved self can give you examples of Bad Tweets: places you just shouldn’t go with agents on Twitter.

The I’m-Bitter-and-Oddly-Bipolar Tweet:

Agent Awesome tweet: I’ve just finished reading queries through March 1st. If you haven’t heard from me, it’s a pass. Sorry.

Bad tweet: @Agent Awesome WHAT? YOU FOOL! You will RUE the day, RUE IT, I tell you! And oh, how about those Bears?

The Gushy, I’m-a-Total-Kiss-Ass Tweet:

Agent Awesome tweet (to another agent): Let’s meet at the cupcake shop in an hour!

Bad tweet: @AgentAwesome OMG—cupcakes? I LOVE CUPCAKES! I’m soooo there! I’m wearing a pink shirt and purple Uggs—see u soon!

Bad tweet #2: @AgentAwesome Really? You like cupcakes? I can totally bake you some and send them—what are your faves? Oh, and can I send my query with them?

The You-Should-Really-Do-Your-Homework-and-Not-Rant-About-Other-Writers, Especially-When-They’re-Rep’d-By-the-Tweeting-Party Tweet:

Agent Awesome tweet (to editor, who pub’d book mentioned): Wow, just finished Why Donkeys Fly—amazing! Loved it!

Bad tweet: @AgentAwesome Oh, man! Why Donkeys Fly sucked lime green donkey balls! But you should really, really read (names rival house’s novel) so, so much better!

The TMI Tweet:

AgentAwesome tweet: I’m having a bad day.

Bad tweet: @AgentAwesome (((Hugs)))) And, OMG, me too! I have total cramps and ran out of tampons and had to change my pants TWICE already—UGH!

Bad tweet #2: @AgentAwesome NOT ME! I had just had the BEST SEX EVER with my friend’s boyfriend! Wow, am I WIPED!

Okay, all joking aside-here’s what I’ve figured out. Just be yourself. Have fun. Basically, because life’s too short not to, and because, guess what? Social media can also help show YOU which agents might best suit YOUR personality. Chances are, if your personality offends an agent on twitter for whatever reason (unless you’re doing those tweets listed above, and if so—Stop. Now.), then you’re probably not going to be the best fit ultimately anyway. And when it’s all said and done, you want both an agent who LOVES your novel, and also one who you CLICK with.

 
While THIS song is one I love every time I hear it:

 
Anyone?  Cuz I’m really drawing a blank. I mean, both are dance songs, both totally about bootay shakin’, but the Tootsee Roll one make me roll my eyes, and Rumpshaker makes me, well, shake my rump. Even if the main chorus is “All I wanna do is zooma zoom zoom and boom boom.” Or maybe because of it. I honestly don’t know.

Wait—you mean our characters have to be deep? Um…

Joking, of course. Characters need to have layers, and almost more importantly for me—they need to have flaws. I’m sorry, but being that I’m about a bazillion degrees away from perfect myself (shocking, I know), it’s really hard for me to relate to flawless characters. You know, the ones that are beautiful, rich, have superpowers, get the guy, and gosh darn it, are just flat-out nice. All. The. Time.

All that and she bakes, too? Kill me now.

Barf.

In fact, I’ll even go a step further. I would much rather read about a deeply flawed character than one without any imperfections. Why? Because the deeply flawed character is a heckuva lot more interesting.

If you don’t believe me, check out Justine Larbalestier’s novel Liar, where her MC Micah is a pathological liar, or Courtney Summer’s Regina in Some Girls Are. As a former high school bully, Regina was hard to relate to at times, and had some major issues. Heck, I didn’t even really *like* her half the time. That said, I finished that book in one sitting and still teared up at least three times.

When I think of some of the most memorable film characters—from Scarlett O’Hara to Forrest Gump to Hans Solo—I can see that they all have flaws. Perfection just isn’t exciting. But character flaws, and how they deal with conflict IN SPITE of them, is.

Smokin'.

So, a complex character is one who has both strengths and flaws, good and bad. Just like a real person—except when it comes to our characters, we get to torture them. Legally.

Ah, torture. That brings us to the book I’m reading, Plot & Structure, and what it has to say on character. Because you can create the most interesting character in the world, but the reader will never know unless you make that character struggle—and change as a result. The character arc, so to speak.

When James Scott Bell talks about characters, he has this to say:
What makes a plot truly memorable is not all of the action, but what the action does to the character. We respond to the character who changes.

To him, I think the heart of a complex character is the ability to change.

Time for the second week of Corrine Jackson’s writing process series on how writers do it. Today’s topic? Getting Into the Zone: What goes into the creative process of writing a novel? (i.e. Author’s mindset, the writer’s environment, etc.)

Lots and lots of junk food…whoa, what? Who said that? Actually, I don’t know if I’ve upped my junk food intake so much as I’ve maxed out on caffeine—one of the hazards of writing at Starbucks/Boudin.

Yeah, I’m one of those weird writers who doesn’t get much writing done at home unless it’s late at night. (read: kidlets are all locked up straight-jacketed asleep in their beds, and dogs are valiumed dozing on the couch). During the day, the house just distracts me. There’s always so much that needs to be done around here—and unless I want my MC seething with guilt over three-week-old dirty clothes piles or toilets that could be breeding the next super-bug, I tend to vamoose.

And then of course, if I sit all day at a coffee shop, it would be wrong not to buy drinks. Wrong, I tell you! Hence the caffeine.

caffeine yum

Weirdly enough, I typically can’t listen to music when I write, but I can tune out conversations, background music, etc. I think I *love* my music sooooo much, that all I want to do when I hear it is sing along. I do brainstorm up a bunch of new scenes while I listen to my iPod and run, though. And I just totally digressed there, didn’t I?

Let’s see. So far, we’ve got caffeine and Starbucks. What else goes into the creative process for me? Tons and tons of desire. I mean, there are so many distractions and other things begging to be done, you’ve really got to have that fire. For me, I have to want, no, NEED, to get my story down on paper in order to make time to do it. And the best way to make that happen is to both a) start writing the darn thing and see what comes (which sounds slightly contradictory to what I just said but trust me, it makes sense) and b) think about my story/characters A LOT.

What doesn’t go into my creative process? Outlining. I’m a total pantser. One who is trying to reform but will probably fail miserably, given how I repel all things organizationally-related.

James Scott Bell doesn’t really talk about the creative mindset so much in Plot and Structure, but he does suggest ways to brainstorm Shiny New Ideas. Examples include:

- making up a cool title and then dreaming up a story to go with it

-list mental pictures from your past and come up with little stories to describe them

-listen to music and come up with a story for the song

- scour the obituaries and recreate an original character from the biographies (As Cordelia might say–morbid much?)

-write an opening line and go from there

-mind-mapping (Something to do with writing down a word/concept that intrigues you, then doing free association to come up with a bunch of words/ideas to go with it. Honestly, it kinda scares me.)

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, there’s a small section in the book on how NOT to get ideas:

Drugs, alcohol and stress

Drugs and writing = badness...unless you're Stephen King

I know, I know—what a major killjoy! But note the conspicuous absence of caffeine from that list. Which obviously means it’s okay to tank up (hey, I had to tie this post together somehow!)

So, that’s my creative process in a nutshell—caffeine, somewhere that’s not home, and desire. What’s your creative process like?

Back in January, I received an email from Taylor Martindale, a new agent with the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. Her colleague, Natalie Fischer, found the awesome Karla Calalang’s query after poking around on Absolute Write (the best writing site ever!) and thought it sounded like a great story. Karla, in turn, referred her to some of her fellow YA writers’ blogs. Apparently, Taylor enjoyed my teasers on The Demon Guard and invited me to email her the first 50 pages. At that point, I was still finishing up, so I told her it might be a little wait. Just from those initial email interactions, though, I could tell she was friendly, approachable, and super nice. In fact, everyone I knew from AW who interacted with her was very impressed.

When I finally finished DG in February, I sent the first 50 pages to Taylor.

She checked in a couple weeks later to let me know she was looking forward to reading my material that week. On Thursday, she emailed me in the morning to tell me she’d finished my pages, and that she loved them, and would I please send her the full?

Four hours later, my cell phone rang. I saw the call was from Del Mar but didn’t think much about it, until the person on the other end said, “Hello? May I speak to Debra? This is Taylor Martindale, from the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.”

Gulp.

I think the rest of our conversation went something like this:

Me: Um?

Taylor: Is this Debra?

Me: *almost chokes on own tongue* Yes?

Taylor: Hi Debra, how are you?

Me: Um, fine. *panics* Before you say anything else—can you please just tell me one thing? You aren’t calling to say my book sucks, right? Because I think I would cry.

Taylor: *laughs, probably wonders if writer she is talking to is a crazy person* No. Actually, the opposite. I was calling to tell you how much I love The Demon Guard, and to offer you representation.

Me: *mumbles something incoherent, tries not to faint* Really? *laughs like a crazy person* Wow! You totally caught me off-guard.

Taylor: *laughs like a normal person* I’m sorry—I was afraid that might happen.

Me: *mumbles something even more incoherent* Wait—did you finish reading it yet?

Taylor: Not yet, no.

Me: *ponders, tells herself not to say something stupid. Says something stupid anyway* But, are you sure? What if you, I don’t know, totally hate the rest?

Taylor *laughs, probably now convinced writer she is talking to is indeed a crazy person, probably eyes phone like it’s a ticking bomb* I’m sure I won’t.

I can’t really remember the rest—just little bits about how she used to intern at Bliss Agency, where she worked with other authors like Hannah Moskowitz, writer of the amazing YA novel Break. I think I selectively blacked out all the parts where I sounded especially lame—essentially, most of the conversation.

On the following Tuesday, I got to tour the office and meet Taylor in person. She finished my book, and believe it or not, didn’t hate it (YAY) and even better—she GOT it. She really, really GOT my vision for Demon Guard. I can’t even tell you how huge that is.