Posts Tagged ‘Americana Fairytale’

  1. The End And The New Year

    December 31, 2011 by Megs



    Once again, I grossly miscalculated. This time the miscalculation worked out in my favor! I’m so much closer to the end of the book than I thought! While exciting, it’s going to take some elbow grease on my part. I have to write the last seven chapters from scratch, and unlike when I wrote the final 7k the first time, I don’t intend doing it in a day.

    College is back in session on the 10th, and I intend finishing the first round of revisions on the 5th. It’ll be great having it out of the way! By my initial calculations the revisions would take eight months. I’m pleased that I’m finishing three months ahead of schedule! Once I bucked up and resolved to revise 7k a week things really got going!

    My critique group, provided nothing comes up between now and then, will finish going through it around February 14th. Accidental perfect timing on my part because it’s the exact date of the 20 year anniversary. I might need a cupcake. ;D

    Overall, I like the new direction Darkmore went in. I’ve said before the first draft wasn’t bad it just wasn’t the right. Of course, that’s just conjecture on my part. Darkmore has drifted from straight up romance and naughtiness all the time to a bit more of a action-romance still with the same naughtiness. ;D Instead of things concluding with a mere whisper of a warm fuzzy, I’m hoping that the new conclusion reads with the same emotional punch I’m visualizing. I want people cheering with the new ending instead of settling down with a ‘oh isn’t that nice….’

    I’m also kind of tired of being totally spoiler-free with talking about my stuff. I want to tell the world with all the tasty bits! I realize in the game of publishing that’s not a good idea. Alas!

    Also, I’ve busted out my calendar and blocked out my writing schedule for the new year. The table breaks down as follows:

    January 5th Darkmore Revision 1
    January 19 Darkmore Sequel Synopsis
    January – End of April 10-9 Revision 4
    May 12th 10-9 Sequel Synopsis
    May – July Draft Grow
    June 6th Submit Darkmore
    End of July – Mid September Expand Pawn Takes Rook
    October – First Week of December Revise Americana Fairytale
    December 5 Submit 10-9
    December 22 Americana Fairytale Sequel Synopsis

    Table Code Here

    Posting it here for accountability sake, plus I’ll stick it up on its own page so I can have a check off list as I go. I’m happy about it. I’ve managed to fit everything in I wanted to do in 2012. I guess it’ll be the Year of Revision and I can only imagine 2013 will be the Year of Writing.

    Happy New Year everyone! May you accomplish all of your goals!


    Category 10-9, Americana Fairytale, Darkmore, Grow, Novellas | Tags: ,,,,,,, | No Comments

  2. And They All Lived Happily Ever After

    July 26, 2011 by Megs

    Americana Fairytale Final Tally

    As of 5:17 PM Americana Fairytale is complete! Man, has this story been a blast! Once I got over the ‘Geeze, this is so stupid’ frame of thinking and realizing this is a story that doesn’t take itself seriously at all I was good to go.

    I had realized if I thought something was stupid it was likely funny so it got put in.

    AF over all was fairy effortless save the actual setting the ambiance. I swear I think I can practically tell you anything about the Roadside Americana locations in the book. Now, I kind of want to go on my own Americana Fairytale Road Trip. I never thought I’d really love the crazy kitschy things America has to offer. There’s a Corn Palace people! A palace of corn! Niblets!

    I know for certain this isn’t the last we see of Taylor, Corentin, and Ringo. I call the characters affectionate nicknames that ended up working into the story. Taylor became Tay-Tay and Corentin varies from Cor, to Cor-Cor, and the ever so adorable Cory. They will have many, or at least a handful of other adventures throughout this crazy world we live in.

    There’s a few things I know already I need to tweak or flat-out alter. But right now I’m in the glow of now being Miss Four-Time! Woohoo!

    Now on my plate is to edit Darkmore and get that tidied up. Plot the thing I’m going to do next. And… Oh yeah. Take on 10-9 again.

    The short and sweet of it with 10-9 is I got word back from Publisher #2. It was a no, but it was the nicest no ever.

    Publisher #2 was nice enough to give constructive feedback of things to address. Things that I had been too blind to notice after six years of constantly staring at it. Honestly, I was too excited for the feedback to feel bummed out about the rejection! They made sure to mention they loved the concept and while they don’t want it right now, it doesn’t mean they won’t later.

    So yeah. 10-9 I think is going to sit on a shelf for a little bit while I think of what a naughty child it’s being and what I’m going to do with it.

    In the case of Americana Fairytale… Which was kind of shot in the dark at well… Everything. I was kind of digging writing in the Young Adult swimming pool. I might be onto something…

    For an absolute dare to do this book was a riot. Thank you for daring me to do it. You know who you are. <3


    Category 10-9, Americana Fairytale, News | Tags: ,,,,,,,,, | No Comments

  3. What We Got Here Is A Convoy

    July 20, 2011 by Megs



    Well, as long as I don’t get too many hiccups along the way, I am eleven chapters away from the end of Americana Fairytale. I really have just spit this book out. Usually when I’m aiming for the 95k range it takes about three months to get it done. This one being shorter, and actually going to end up under the designated range, I’ll only spend five weeks on.

    I started a week early of Camp NaNoWriMo and yet I’m still scraping and scrounging to keep the pace. That epic 10k lead pretty much amounts to a hill of beans when the wordcount requirement starts climbing. I aim to write 1k a day, every day, but NaNo requires you write nearly double that. So even if I’m on track I’m not by NaNo standards. As it stands, it’s debatable at this point if the book is going to end short of 50k or just barely make it. I have a few action-heavy scenes coming up where I could make up for the deficit. However, the book is done when the book is done. I’m not going to tack on useless filler for the sake of filling the space.

    Anyway, nuts and bolts aside… This book is awesome. It definitely is one of those feel good things that even makes me feel good while putting words to the page. AF is the first book I’ve had to take into consideration that the protagonists are a trio and I’ve noticed at times where I’ve had to go back and make one of them not sitting by like a passive flower vase. 10-9 had a Sort-Of-But-Not-Really-Trio of Ahimsa, John, and Ryan with Ryan more or less being the wingman of the century. Ryan also knew when to make himself Busy™ so Ahimsa and John could do their thing.

    With AF, they are a bonafide trio. Taylor, Corentin, and Ringo all have something of use to one another and they’re all equally strong characters. While Ringo is pretty much a sidekick, he also has his opportunities to be a rock star and he’s interesting. There’s more to him than the scruffy hair and silly butterfly wings. While the book is about Taylor’s quest, Ringo offers notes and makes allusions that pixies are just like normal people with screaming kids, mortgages, and high divorce rates. Corentin is typically impressed with the idea that pixies don’t spend their days under the tropical palms and drinking the wine of the gods.

    Corentin’s kind of become my surprise darling. I had a vague idea for what I wanted him to be like, but he kind of blossomed as the story progressed. He’s unlike my previous heroes where 10-9′s John is a Grade A Jackass, and Darkmore’s Jack is Predatory and Suave. Corentin’s the kind of guy that’s spent so much time alone in his own head and making his own way in the world that people are a bit of a mystery. Girls are a mystery. He understands the fundamentals of the Female of the Species but he is at an utter loss when it comes to opinions other than his, emotions other than his, and various fussy things Them Wimin Folk Do. Still, he’s tough, but it’s all a front. He’s only strong because That’s What Men Are Supposed To Do. He’s gets scared, but he’s just learning how to express it and that it’s okay to be afraid. In making his way through this story, he’s uncovering parts of himself. I think he’s the bee’s knees because he’s an utter dork with his faults and foibles.

    Taylor’s had her own ups and downs, breakthroughs and setbacks. Her stubbornness is her greatest asset as it’s her greatest flaw. She never gives up in the same way of she really never knows when to give up. Her sense of fierce independence clashes with Corentin’s at every turn. It’s her independence that’s her protection of letting anyone into her head. It’s her opinion, and only her opinion that matters. She gets mad and embarrassed when she cries and in turn that only makes her cry more. And she always has the last word and she’ll fight you on it until she does. In the same way Corentin is baffled by her, she’s baffled by him. Men are strange creatures that watch football and beat their chests mightily. All men are the same, Taylor is certain. Then comes Corentin and Taylor can’t understand why she can’t fit him in a neat little box stamped SILLY MANCHILD.

    Meanwhile, Ringo just sits off to the side and rolls his eyes because humans are dumb.


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  4. By My Calculations… Whups!

    July 12, 2011 by Megs



    For those of you that have no idea the point of any flavor of NaNoWriMo is to write 50k in a month. No prob! 50k is a ‘shorter’ young teen novel (Think Sweet Valley High or Babysitter’s Club), or the length of the Great Gatsby if you prefer.

    So I’m plugging away on Americana Fairytale and I cross into 25k and do my happy Snoopy Dance. But as I’m drifting off the peaceful land of sleep, I realize, AF is going to be short of it’s 70k ideal. By a lot. It stands a strong probability of falling short of 50k. Kind of need 50k to ‘win’ NaNo. It’s the rules.

    By my current calculations I’m starting Chapter 19 tonight out of 33 with 14 chapters left to write. I’m more than halfway through the story. And even if the final fourteen chapters run around 1.5k like they typically do that only gives me 46k. Oops. That’s not bad but is potentially limiting to only the eBook Market. Which that isn’t the end of the world but I’m going to have to dig around the market a little bit for leads.

    Overall, AF is a fun little goofnut of a story. It makes me smile. I like the cast. I even like the villain unlike Darkmore’s Dominic who creeped me out. Out of all of them, Corentin’s kind of a welcome surprise in his development. As much as it’s Taylor’s story, it’s his too. Considering for the last three, technically four chapters Taylor has been a bit indisposed so Corentin’s had to be a strong enough character to carry the scene.

    And while the easy answer is ‘He’s your character! You can do what you’d like with him!’ True! Wholeheartedly agree. For me, the possibility of a character being able to behave a certain way has to be with them from the beginning even it’s not obvious in their introduction. More like the trait to do X, Y, Z thing has to be in your head somewhere in some measure before your character says their first line. While you may not totally know what said trait is at the time it does rise from the stew of the story. Hello, Character Development.

    I’ve never been a believer that characters are separate entities of me and they do what they like. I created them. I put words in their mouths. I march them about on a grand adventure while linked to marionette strings. You may not have a full character concept in your head at the time of the first draft, but it evolves as you go. It’s not your character sitting across from you telling you their story. It’s from within you. Besides, an apparition of a character whispering to me innermost thoughts is kind of creepy idea.

    Corentin’s kind of had an Evolve As He Goes character concept. For having a fairly ridiculous Romance Novel style name that I was feeling iffy about– after all I had picked in in three seconds consideration… Now I can’t imagine him with any other name or attitude.

    Back to the trenches for me. Even if I’m likely not going to be down there much longer. *laughs*


    Category Americana Fairytale, Writing Tips | Tags: ,,,,, | No Comments

  5. Over The Hill And Through The Woods…

    July 1, 2011 by Megs


    Americana Fairytale Progress

    13371 / 70000 19.1% Done!


    As it stands I just finished Chapter 10 of Americana Fairytale and man do I have the shakes. D: More like Exhaustion Shakes instead of Low Blood Sugar Shakes which could be both! Camp NaNoWriMo has begun as indicated by my Twitter exploding. While I had intended to keep my participation low, I kind of failed by a lot. Now I’m tweeting during the event, doing wordsprints with fellow tweeters, making connections with fellow ‘Campers’ as we call it. Because it’s Camp NaNoWriMo see…

    All in all I’m having a great bit of fun! And it’s encouraging! One of the aspects of the Camp NaNoWriMo site is you can send ‘A Letter Home’ like we all did when we went to summer camp as kids. I sent one to my family and my Mom just thinks it’s a hoot. This morning she says to me ‘Going to camp?’ as I’m on my way to my office to write. When I finished Chapter 10 I came out of the office and flopped on my parents’ bed proclaiming ‘I’m home from camp!’

    As for the book Americana Fairytale had a rather dangerous brush with nearly becoming Erotic Romance and no longer remaining YA. Luckily, good sense, and a few folks that are reading the book as I go whacked me with a clue-by-four.

    See… Either I’ve been looking at the wrong material, or there is good stuff out there, but my opinion of Erotic Fairytales lately is the Erotic aspect is played up more for shock value than anything. Most books seem to have the theme that Brother’s Grimm Fairytales were dark and disturbing so the romance aspect has to be dark, disturbing, and twisted too. Maybe that’s how it’s done but it just…Isn’t my thing oddly enough. You’d think an Erotic Romance writer wouldn’t be huzzed out by such things in their own genre.

    That kind of fueled my decision to keep Americana Fairytale light, fluffy, and funny. My interpretations of the fairytale themes are more Disney Princess than Brother’s Grimm. My reasoning behind it is even if I’m playing fast and loose with the fairytale characters I still want the settings to be believable. Because trust me… The protagonist ends up in some crazy places. Chapter 10 takes her to the Wigwam Hotel in Holbrook, Arizona.

    Courtesy of Richard Sharp

    Pretty freaking amazing, am I right? Wait until I get to the other locations!

    Chapter 10 so far is my favorite. My protagonist Taylor is turning out to be somewhat of a sassy loudmouth. She’s sarcastic and cheeky, it’s kind of hilarious and Corentin plays off her well. In my head they’re like Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas’ verbal sparring in Romancing the Stone for a new generation. Taylor’s fairy godfather Ringo is just a born star. He really keeps things lively and is a joy to write.

    Overall, this book is fun and I hope it comes off as fun to others. :D


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  6. Let Me Tell You A Story…

    June 20, 2011 by Megs


    Americana Fairytale Progress

    4101 / 70000 5.86% Done!


    Over the last couple of days, I’ve sat down and just cranked it out for a new book I’m tentatively calling Americana Fairytale. Initially it was just a title in my notes for something to label it but the title is seriously starting to pick up some sticking power. It can basically be summed up as ‘Once upon a time, a princess left a prince at the altar in the pursuit of her own happily ever after.’ And of course… Hijinks inevitably ensue.

    I’m aiming to keep this story shorter than my usual 95k draft maximum. This time I’m aiming for 70k or under considering it’s a romantic comedy and it’s a little heavy on the comedy. You don’t want to outwear your welcome with 95k of laughs.

    I realize, much to my chagrin, after I had the first chapter down, Americana Fairytale is pretty much an Older Teen book. Say… 16+ range. Granted there’s language but nothing a teen doesn’t hear in high school. So gasp… I guess this is The Year Megs Goes Young Adult considering in fall Grow will likely be Young Adult.

    I can safely say I’ve cracked up to Chapter 4 in this thing and I really adore my characters right out of the box. My protagonist, our star of the show, Taylor Clement is an odd duck in her Ever So Perfect Family. Just… How can you even compete when your older sister is the latest incarnation of the Best Princess That Ever Princessed also known as Snow White? What exactly do you do when your fairy godfather is a bit of a cynical reject among all the pixies and is a Ken doll sized version of the older Jeff Bridges?

    Taylor’s companion on her noble quest to find happiness is Corentin Devereaux. Likewise from an enchanted lineage, he is not the most perfect and noble of heroes. A penniless roustabout and obsessive about keeping lists, Taylor gets more than she bargained for when with every seven days he loses his memory. Is he penniless just because he never left himself a note on where he left his earnings? Just who is in his enchanted family tree?

    Only way to find your happily ever after is to find yourself.

    Into the woods and around the bend…


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