I am Twitter...pated?

I'm kind of loving Twitter...

...Which could be a problem...

I watched a webinar this afternoon with Barry Cunningham of Chicken House (publisher of JK Rowling's Harry Potter) and the author of Breaking Butterflies by M. Anjelais which was hosted by the great people of NaNoWriMo.  It was fun and informative!

But the best part of the webinar is that M. Anjelais offered to answer questions on Twitter after the webinar.  So naturally I followed her and then answered one of her tweets:

@anjelais "PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE. I would like to know what all writers out there are currently working on. Tell me about your current ventures!"

So here is the *Twitter Pitch* of my current work in progress:

@writerkristie "Relationship-scarred fangirl breaks all her own rules as she becomes the muse of her substance abusing rocker crush. NA Contemp"

And guess what?!?  M. Anjelais responded by favoriting my tweet as well as gave me a very nice response:

@anjelais "Would definitely read this! Breaking rules and substance abuse are themes that I like seeing explored in fiction."

Obviously I am stoked that my *pitch* was received well, but that she liked the sounds of my novel too!  Gives me the oomph to get the story of Jemma and Jordan on paper so that others can one day read it.

Thanks M. Anjelais for being kind - it means a lot to us little people :)  Now go and buy her book!

clicking on the photo will take you to Amazon where you can happily purchase a copy!

"The closest he will ever come to happiness is when he's hurting her. Will she let him? A beautiful and twisted story of first love and innocence lost -- written when the author was just eighteen.

Sphinxie and Cadence. Promised to each other in childhood. Drawn together again as teens. Sphinxie is sweet, compassionate, and plain. Cadence is brilliant, charismatic. Damaged. And diseased. When they were kids, he scarred her with a knife. Now, as his illness progresses, he becomes increasingly demanding. She wants to be loyal -- but fears for her life. Only the ultimate sacrifice will give this love an ending."

Character Inspiration

I've been a member of a book club for about six years now and one thing I always enjoy is when one of the gals tells us which actors/actresses she pictured as the main characters of the story we had read that month.  As a writer, I think we all do this with our own novel, it helps us keep our characters in check.  At least that's what I think.

So, when writing my current work in progress, the New Adult novel (NA is characters between the ages of 19-24), I spent a while looking at actors and found who I thought would portray my vision the best.

Here they are:

Teresa Palmer

20-year-old Jemma Bowers,  lives with her cancer-plagued Gran on her 40-acre ranch where she maintains the property and has become a live-in nurse.  Jemma is trying to figure out life and how to get over a traumatic, secret miscarriage that happened when she was seventeen.  She's afraid to let anyone get close to her and vows to steer clear of relationships.  But when she accidentally stumbles upon the rock star she's had a crush on for years after his concert one night, everything in Jemma's life changes.

Ryan Guzman

24-year-old Jordan Capshaw is the lead singer of world famous rock band who has a drug/alcohol problem.  He and his band made it big when he was eighteen and he has since lived a reckless life that included alcohol and drugs wherever he turned.  When Jemma finds him drunk and high, walking barefoot down a dark street, he has no clue how much this spunky yet timid girl will come to mean to him.

Scott Eastwood

 23-year-old Vic Harper is a fireman by day and a farmer by night, or is it the other way around?  He and Jemma meet at a club and hit it off.  Will he be the one to win Jemma's heart?  Or will he come on too strong and scare her away?

Kathy Bates

Gran, the name says it all, right?  Gran is witty, old fashioned with a little leeway and totally loveable once you get through her tough exterior.  She's been diagnosed with cancer and needs the help of Jemma, her grandaughter she's raised since she was four.  Despite the experimental drugs Gran is on, the outlook doesn't look good.  With the sudden arrival of the rocker Jemma has had a crush on since she was fourteen, Gran will have to try to pave the way for Jemma to become self-reliant and self-assured.  But can she do it before the rocker swoops Jemma off her feet?

The name of this New Adult book is still undecided which bothers me.  I like to title my novels sooner rather than later, but I guess something will stand out soon enough.  I'm currently running with Chasing Forever but it sounds a little corny if you ask me.

Alright...so it's Februrary

It seems history repeats itself in the world of my writing.  I gear up for Nano (which this year, well Nov. 2014, I won!!!) and then take a couple months off of writing seriously.  I have a couple stories in the works and am having fun writing here and there on them.

One story is a YA novel about Faeries and I'm excited to see where it goes.  The other is a NA (New Adult) novel about two people coming together in a unique circumstance and ultimately falling in love.  Not my typical genre and a little out of my comfort zone, but it's a challenge I'm looking forward too.

So as far as writing goes, my goal is two write between 5,000-10,000 words per month on either or both stories.  It doesn't seem like much compared to writing 50k+ in November, but let me tell you, that takes a toll on the family.  My poor husband said at one point, "I didn't know I wasn't going to have a wife for an entire month."  I felt bad, of course, but continued writing until I met the 50K!!

I will do my best to keep updating here about my novels and writing process, and who knows, this could be the year I find myself represented by a Literary Agent - wouldn't that be amazing?!?!