I am kind of flailing with excitement because Amazon.com have done that 'Look Inside' thing on THE ETERNAL KISS... And um... because my story is first in the anthology, that means you can read the first 6 pages of 'Falling to Ash' for free!!

You can check it out here.

By the way, Amazon are still listing the anthology as only 12 tales, when there are in fact 13. My friend dina_james has an awesome story in there. :)

Amazing, I know... But I am totally going to join Holly Lisle as she asks: Want to write a book with me? Do I want to write a book alongside Holly Lisle as she writes hers? Of course! Thanks to Marjorie Liu for the link.

Check out Holly's post, but basically this is not a challenge or something where you might be chastised in any way for not meeting targets. This is Holly offering herself as the 'rabbit' that you can keep pace with as you write your next/current project. She is aiming to write 250-500 words a day, 5 days a week. I know I was writing a lot more words than that when I was racing through the second half of BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS, but this new project is going to be slower. I can feel it in my bones. ;)

So the London book is looking like an adult book. I am wary of this, but I have to finish one adult ms just to see if I can. (The Norse project is still sitting with a couple of chapters done, and I don't know when I'll write that.) I still don't have a title for the Shiny!New! project, but sora_blue has declared it to be: Kaz's Awesome London Book: Now with 20% More Robots!* Which makes me smile. I'm going to start on Sunday, and just try to keep to a page or two a day, while also finshing up the revisions on BG.


*Please note, there are NO robots in this book. Chandra is a bit mad, but don't tell her I said that...

I can't believe how quickly this year is passing. Does anyone else feel that way, or is it just me? Half the year is gone...

Life is very busy for me right now. The Day Job in particular is taking a lot of time/energy, but at least I managed to start revisions on BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS. I've changed a lot of it from 3rd to 1st-person POV (though I've stuck with the more traditional past tense) and it's working. I really like it. Maybe this book needed to be written in 3rd-person - I think I write best that way - but now I'm seeing how I can drop deeper into Moth's head with the POV switch. It's good. Although I still have a lot of work to do, especially on the ending.

Yesterday I posted a giveaway at the Deadline Dames. It ends on Saturday.

I've been reading a lot of Marjorie M. Liu stuff lately. I'm loving her prose; she writes so beautifully, while still telling kick-ass stories. Looking forward to getting my hands on her new release, Darkness Calls.

Other new releases I can't wait to read? Prey by Rachel Vincent, and City of Souls by Vicki Pettersson. There are many more... July is a great month for fantasy, urban or otherwise.

The Day Job is taking up a lot of time. In fact, so much time (and energy) that I was very tired this weekend and just wanted a break. I didn't start my revisions on BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS as planned.

But! I did start researching and planning my next project. I've decided that while I'm waiting, waiting, waiting to hear news from the distant Land of Publishing, I can at least keep writing. So as well as digging into the revisions on Moth's book as soon as I can, I already know what I'll be working on next. I've done some research and my main character is starting to tell me interesting things.

I think, though, that this book will take longer to write. The first draft may need a more gradual process - I can feel it, somehow. It's going to be the first London novel I attempt, and it's exciting making lists of all the places I have to check out in the name of research. Research trips = the fun part of being a writer! :)

Agent M said that she'd "love to see a London book" from me (huzzah!), so now I just need to find the perfect LJ icon for it. And a title...

I've been very busy with the Day Job, so am a bit late with the update on my recent question about short stories. So! I had some amazing answers to the question: What's your favourite short story of all time? If you want to see the answers in detail, I suggest you go through the comments to that entry (and thanks to all the people who contributed) - there's some great feedback and it's worth a look. Some people included direct links to where stories can be read, for free, online.

But for easy reference here's the list of the individual stories that were recommended. I am going to make it my personal challenge to read every single one of these before I die. Um... hopefully that won't be for a while, but I am going to start soon just in case! ;)

( Short story goodness under the cut - in no particular order... )

Several stories came up more than once, for example: 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson (which was my choice), 'Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand' by Vonda McIntyre, 'The Veldt' by Ray Bradbury & ‘Roman Fever’ by Edith Wharton. This certainly wasn't a scientific survey, but it was a lot of fun and very informative. I've only read a handful of the stories on this list, although I've heard of at least half of them.

I know that people who read my ramblings over here love to give recommendations, so tell me... what's your favourite short story of all time? Yes, it's a TOUGH question, but nobody said life had to be easy - right? ;) You're not allowed to name a collection (unless the collection is linked and has to be read all together), just a single short story in any genre. I'm looking for recommendations and am also just curious.

Mine is this:



'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson is utterly chilling; a story that is timeless and encourages us to look into the dark heart of humankind. I could read those few pages every week and not get bored.

What's yours?

ETA: I'm getting some great suggestions already (keep 'em coming!), so I'll put up a list of them tomorrow for anyone who's interested. Thanks!

I have finished the first draft of my third YA manuscript. Looks like I'm making a habit of this writing biz, yeah? *g*

Excuse me while I just dance around the room for a minute. Heh. Maybe that's not such a good idea as I had a terrible migraine (AGAIN!) last night. But anyway...

Thanks to all my LJ-friends for cheering me on to the finish line. Although I was supposed to be giving up wordmeters, for what it's worth my final total wasn't as big as I thought it would be:

BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS

62305 / 60000 words. 104% done!

Though I did break it. ;P

I still need to write an epilogue, but I can't do that until I make some significant changes during revisions. Not least of which is going to be a shift to 1st-person POV. I think I'll be leaving it in past tense, although I love present tense and am hugely grateful for all the feedback and recs on my previous post. I've already ordered a couple of those YA books narrated in 1st-person, present tense! I still have birthday vouchers to spend...

I will be taking a writing break until the weekend - revisions begin on Saturday. *goes in search of chocolate*

ETA: I just checked, and I began this draft on May 5th, so it took exactly 7 weeks to write. Not bad, what with Day Job stuff & migraines to contend with. ;)

I'm almost done with the first (pretty raw) draft of BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS. Of course, now that I've almost finished it in 3rd-person, past tense, I am thinking of switching to 1st-person, present tense during revisions. Heh. I always do this...

Just wondering if anyone has thoughts on 1st-person, present tense POV? And especially any recommendations in the YA field - any subgenre of YA is fine. Doesn't have to be paranormal.

Cheers!

After my major 7k writing day, I sort of crashed on the word count for the next few days. Mostly, I hadn't expected to write much anyway because of the Day Job - I wrote a couple of pages each day, except Thursday when I went out with lilifae after work - but I was struggling. Last night, despite feeling under the weather, I had one of those breakthroughs you only dream of as a writer.

I would call it an epiphany but I think I overuse that word, and you can only have one or two epiphanies in your life. ;)

I was kinda stuck, wondering how I still had so much story to tell. But then it hit me: I had already written the two chapters that should precede the finale/climax. Only I'd written them far too early. And I'd recently written two chapters that were more quiet - though necessary - but really belonged back where those earlier, faster-paced chapters were.

I simply swapped them over. It's like a miracle, because they fit perfectly - apart from fixing the transitions, which I'll do during revisions - and now I think I only have two chapters to write and I'm finished! I'm hoping to do that on Monday as I'm working overtime at the Day Job next week, so that's the last day I'll be able to spend a whole day writing for a while. Today was a family day (my brother likes it when I call them that, and he reads my blog - *waves to bruv*) and tomorrow I'm out with Liz and Ana for more birthday stuff.

So, yeah... Monday is the Big Day and I really want to get this first draft finished. Wish me luck!

Five things that I love:

1) Reading great books like this:



A Princess of Roumania by Paul Park. Complex, alternate world fantasy. Awesome and beautiful and strange.

2) Knowing wonderful people like lilifae, who takes me to cool bookish parties and forces me to 'network' and pimp myself. Thanks, Liz.



3) Awesome people like the beautiful Ana from The Book Smugglers. It is Ana's birthday today. Happy Birthday, my friend! :)


*ninja*

4) My fellow Dames. All I can say is, I ♥ you all. Big time!



5) My boys:


'Nuff said. *g*

Happy Friday!

...is that you have to estimate the total words for your project. If you guess WRONG, you then have to move the goal posts; but it feels like taking one step forward and two steps back. *sigh*

Of course, I am very happy with my overall progress but it just feels like I could constantly shift the upper limit of words. Like this:

Exhibit A:

55604 / 60000 words. 93% done!

Exhibit B:

55604 / 65000 words. 86% done!

I think I will throw out the word meter until I finish BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS. Or maybe I'll just record my total words and forget what the goal might be. I don't know if this first draft needs to be 65k or even 70k. I'm just not sure, because there's still quite a lot of story to tell. I'm still hoping to finish soon, though! :)

KAZ: Brain, oh brain, please tell me why you are so tired...
KAZ'S BRAIN: *grunt*
KAZ: Hello? Are you in there? You have eleventy-thousand emails and LJ comments to answer. Could you help me out with that please?
KAZ'S BRAIN: No.
KAZ: But... brain! THAT IS YOUR JOB. I demand you reply to comments and start thinking about the Day Job tomorrow and maybe even reply to an email or two.
KAZ'S BRAIN: I cannot, for I am all used up and worn out.
KAZ: Don't say this to me, brain. I have need of you! What happened??
KAZ'S BRAIN: I wrote 7,012 words today. 7k. I have never done such a thing before. Ever. In my whole life as your brain.
KAZ: O.o Really? 7k?! But brain, we have never written that amount of words in one day before!!
KAZ'S BRAIN: That is what I just said. Which is why I am the brain and you are just the person carrying me around.
KAZ: Um...
KAZ'S BRAIN: I rest my case. Also... *thud*




*Inspired by Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius because, yes, I am a geek. :)

Okay, so a little late (sorry - I was busy celebrating my birthday *g*) here is the winner of my ARC of the US/UK edition of The Eternal Kiss.



Thanks to Random.org, comment #15 came up - kind of appropriate as it's the 15th June:

phoenixfirewolf!!

Congrats!

'Phoenix' - I really hope you enjoy the whole anthology, not just my story. Though of course, that would be nice... *ahem* Email me (kaz.mahoney at gmail.com) with your full name & mailing address and I'll get your ARC in the mail. Oh, and let me know if you'd like it signed and who to sign it to.

A big THANK YOU to all the people who entered - it was fun reading the many comments on the different covers I posted. I think I'll do that again, only there might not be a prize attached every time. ;)

So today I turn 36. *takes a minute for that to sink in*

Right, I'm fine now. ;)

Had a pretty good day with family yesterday, and today I'll be sitting in the sun for a while before going out for dinner. Keeping it pretty quiet as usual, although I am planning a (small) joint birthday celebration next weekend with the fabulous Ana from The Book Smugglers.

I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has already wished me a Happy Birthday - whether on LJ, via personal messages or email. Seriously, each and every one of you ROCK! I intend to reply to everyone individually, but if I acknowledge you all here you at least know I've read your lovely comments & emails. Thank you. :)

At the risk of sounding big headed and possibly embarrassing deebles08 (who works in the Land of Publishing), I have to quote this particularly cool comment:

everyone here at work totally loves your piece in The Eternal Kiss. They're saying that its not suprising yours is first in the book, coz its pretty much the BEST!! ..
And I'm like well duh.. I could have told you that!

Picture me with a HUGE grin on my face.

I've tried to write each day, despite getting a little derailed by birthday stuff. Here's where the Birthday Word Meter stands for BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS:

48000 / 60000 words. 80% done!

Of course, that looks like I'm getting very close to The End. I'm feeling very nervous about wrapping up all the loose threads in just 12,000 words. Heh. Not sure that's going to happen - probably this first draft will be a little bit longer than planned...

1) I am making reasonable progress on BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS, despite Day Job stuff. My new goal is to write 1,000 words on Day Job days, and so far I'm managing to do that by taking my AlphaSmart with me and writing for an hour or so after work in a coffee shop.

2) It's my birthday on Monday. I have mixed feelings about this: I'll be 36, and I can't believe I am going to be the 'wrong' side of 35. I said to someone recently that I always intended to have a book published by the time I was 35, so it looks like I missed that... But not by too much if I count my anthology story. ;) I look in the mirror and see myself getting older, but I honestly still feel anywhere between 5 and 25. I wonder where the time has gone.

3) Did a tarot reading for a dear friend last night. It was an incredible experience - crazy transpersonal stuff came up and I felt that we were sharing a sacred space. I so rarely feel a spiritual connection, but this renewed the little faith in... something that I still have.

4) I have a ton of research books to read, a lot of them focused on London because I really want to write a 'London novel' one day. Maybe next. I don't know; I have so many projects I could write, but London is calling to me. If I do write a novel set in 'my' city, it'll be the first time I've written a longer piece of work set here. I've always wanted to live in the US - specifically Boston/New England - but lately I've been appreciating home a little more.

5) Summer is approaching - finally - and I dream of a publisher buying THE IRON WITCH. My manuscript is still with some amazing editors and I haven't given up hope, even though my creative energies are very much invested in my current project. I feel more settled about things. :)

Have a great weekend - and don't forget to enter my giveaway for an ARC of THE ETERNAL KISS!

*plus a giveaway.... stay tuned!

So here's a fun game, which I will sort of attribute to British blogger and bookseller Wondrous Reads. I say 'sort of' because it's something I like to do anyway, I just haven't thought to post it on my blog before. Luckily for me, the lovely Jenny doesn't mind me getting in on her action. ;)

Rather than highlighting just one cover, I've been looking at several. This was inspired by the cover art for Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, which seems to be just about everywhere online right now. Here are the US and UK covers:



                  US                                     UK

And it seems logical to look at the first book again:


                  US                                   UK

( More covers + giveaway under the cut )

I'm loving writing BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS so much - I really hope I can keep this up all the way to the end. Um... Having my doubts about that now, as I already have a huge plot hole that I know needs filling. ;) I had an epiphany re. the Big Bad, though, and let's just say... s/he isn't quite what I expected. But I think that's a good thing, as long as I make it surprising-but-ultimately-logical.

BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS:

40135 / 60000 words. 67% done!

--
Thanks to the lovely lilifae, I am reading an early UK copy of this:



Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters is everything I'd hoped for in the sequel to Generation Dead. I'm already almost halfway through and am totally in love with a new POV that has been added for this book. Oh, I can't say anything because of the huge spoilers for Book 1, but I think Mr. Waters might just be a genius. *g*

How exciting for you all... ;)

Just a quick post as I'm busy with errands & RL stuff today. Then I'm off to Sarah Rees Brennan's book launch in London. Huzzah! (Scroll down to the end of Liz's review at the link for details of the event.)

Progress on BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS was brilliant yesterday, I wrote over 4k to add to the other bits and pieces I'd managed to sneak it, so here's where we stand:

36023 / 60000 words. 60% done!

I'm also discovering yet another new writing process for this book. I am actually WRITING SCENES OUT OF ORDER. Please excuse the overuse of caps, but really... this is a major change for me. I never, EVER write scenes out of order. Hmm... Whatever next? Maybe I will write an entire first draft by hand. Or perhaps write the ending first... Heh. Okay, let's not go toooo crazy. *g* But yeah, this is interesting for me - it just shows that shaking up the way you approach a particular project can really help you to make fast progress.

The fabulous Jordan Summers is guest-blogging at the Deadline Dames today. Please drop by and comment - you could win a signed copy of her book, RED! :)

Jordan's 'Dead World' trilogy is definitely worth trying - it has a dark & gritty post-apocalyptic setting, with characters you can't help but love. I recently talked about how much I enjoyed SCARLET, and highly recommend her work.



(Comments disabled here just for this annoucement-only post.)

I know wordcount updates aren't always the most exciting, but I am so happy with my progress I have to keep a record of it. I'm well into the Dreaded Middle of the Book, but so far it's still flowing. I had a short list of things that needed to happen, but am unsurprised to report that I've deviated from that list twice now. Both times in a completely MAJOR way. *sigh* Ah well, it keeps things interesting. ;)

YA Urban Fantasy: BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS:

30125 / 60000 words. 50% done!

Tiny snippet that made me smile...
( v. raw & first-drafty )