Pay it Forward - Awards

Last week I received two awesome awards from a brilliant writer/marketing consultant/blogger extraordinaire. If you don't know Shelli Johannes, you really should check out her blog and get to know her. Not only is she a well-connected, agented author who writes MG and YA, but she always has great blog posts, author interviews, agent interviews, and book give-aways. Seriously, check her out.

The two awards Shelli passed on to me were:

The Circle of Friends Award

and

The From Me to You Award

Thank you so much, Shelli!

As is tradition, I'm passing these awards on to five wonderful people who are kind enough to constantly visit and comment on my blog. The general rules are that the recipients pass the awards on to five more bloggers, link back to the giver of the award, and let the awardees know you gave them the award.

So without further ado, here are my Pay it Forward recipients:

Gina at Insatiable Readers
Tahereh at My Literary Wonder/Grab A Pen
Medeia Sharif
Shelli Howells at A*Musings
and
Lacey Boldyrev

A big thanks to them! And now, since I've reached 100 followers, I'd like to give this award to all of you who visit my blog. I really appreciate all of you.

Interview with Valerie Kemp

Hello, everyone. Sad that the weekend is over? Me too. But let's brighten up our Monday by having a chat with wonderful writer Valerie Kemp.

Welcome, Valerie. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I come from a fairly small town in Michigan. I moved to LA for college because I wanted to make movies and I ended up working in pretty much every aspect of the business and loved it. I eventually made a film, A Change Is Gonna Come, that won several festival awards and aired on television. I moved back to my hometown a couple years ago to be closer to family and to focus on film and writing. I now freelance doing music videos that I direct, shoot, and edit as well as some graphic design and whatever else sounds fun, and the rest of the time I write. I’m hoping to do another short film sometime next year.

Wow, you've had quite an exciting career already. What drove you to make the jump from making films to writing YA novels?

Writing was actually my first love. I always knew I would write a book one day. I was ten when I started my first YA Romance novel. When I discovered filmmaking I was drawn to the idea of creating a visual representation of something I wrote so to me it was really still about writing. I decided to finally give novel writing a try when going over an idea that I’d tried unsuccessfully to turn into a script for years. It finally hit me that there was too much story for a film. It was actually a book. So I said, why not? As for why YA? It wasn’t even really conscious. Pretty much all my film ideas focused on teens. I guess I just never grew up!

What are you working on now and what are the stories about?

I’ve got two projects that are my main focus right now. IMAGINARY HEART is a YA Paranormal Romance. Here’s the blurb: 

All sixteen-year-old Rain Miller wants is to find out who murdered her best friend so that she can move past the guilt she feels for not being there when Jenna needed her most, but the sudden reappearance of her childhood imaginary friend Ben has her questioning her sanity, and soon she's too distracted to focus on the killer - too bad the killer's busy focusing on her.

And SLEEPER, a YA Contemporary Sci-Fi: 


When 15-year-old Caitlyn Moore is attacked by a substitute teacher who claims she has to pay for what she did, she discovers that not only does she have serious unexpected martial arts skills, she also shares a mysterious connection with the hottest guy in school. What she doesn't know is, why?

They both sound extraordinary. I'd love to read them. Tell us, are you a planner or a pantser?

I’m definitely a plantser. I usually know the big moments in my story, but not the stuff in between. When I get an idea I try to write as much of it down as I can in a sort of free-write. I find I usually know everything through the Inciting Incident (as in I know my MC, and the details of what happens in their life that kicks off the story). Now that I use the awesomeness that is Scrivener, I will make up a few index cards for the other events that I know are going to happen but how I get to them is pretty much all pants. I can’t outline my whole book before I start writing; it takes away the excitement for me. And I’ve found I can get stuck trying to figure out a plot point that if I was just writing the book, I probably wouldn’t even end up using because the story would go in a different direction. I also sometimes write out of sequence. Putting down all the scenes I know for sure are going to happen, and then piecing them together. That comes from my film editing days.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Writing! Or I should say, not writing, but the part right before you start writing, where you open up the file and look at that empty white space and think, I have to come up with stuff to type in there again? Pretty much every single time I write, I have to psych myself up to do it. It seems insurmountable until I actually start typing. Then it’s fun.

Yes, sometimes we just have to take that first step, and then it flows. Who are your inspirations?

So many. I think Stephen King is probably the first writer I read when I was a kid who wrote the kinds of things I wanted to read. He opened my eyes to the world of paranormal and fantasy and on top of that he’s an amazing writer. The way he can create a character in like two sentences, and you feel like you know this person, and then two paragraphs later, that person dies and you’re sad because you actually know what the world just lost? Blows my mind.

I think Christopher Pike was probably a big influence on me because he was the first author I read who let teenagers do really dark things. And then on the other side of the coin there’s JK Rowling who built such an amazing world, and characters I loved and connected to. If I could do just 1% of what she does I would feel accomplished. Also, she’s what got me back into reading YA!

Let’s get to know you on a deeper level. What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

In the mornings, COFFEE. I drink way too much. In the afternoon or evenings, I’ve lately developed an addiction to Trolli Brite Crawlers, which are neon-colored sour gummy worms. Last night I ate them for dinner. It’s a sickness. I need help!

LOL, let's not get into coffee and food addictions; we'll be here all day. ;)

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: microphone, chocolate, and flashlight.

For my latest documentary, I took my trusty flashlight and a microphone to scope out the cave where the Easter Bunny hides his chocolate.

Excellent! And, um, make sure you share that chocolate, okay? Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Whom would you like to give a shout out to?

My Sisters In Scribe, Lacey and Kristi for being the best, most supportive crit group out there, as well as awesome writers! (And for letting me ramble on and on about whatever is stressing me out about my book that day.) My crit partner Natalie for being all kinds of awesome and sharing her awesome work with me (and for letting me ramble on and on.) My mom for not having wireless internet and letting me come over to her house to write so I can actually get stuff done! (And also for letting me ramble on and on as I hash out plot ideas that she knows nothing about.) Are you sensing a trend here? Anyone who has put up with my rambling about my writing deserves an award!


And also, the YA writing community who are some of the most encouraging, generous, friendly, and informative people in the world. I feel so lucky to be a part of it!

And finally, where can people find you online?

You can find me at my blog: http://valeriekwrites.blogspot.com
My crit group’s blog: http://sistersinscribe.blogspot.com
Twitter: @valeriekwrites
Facebook
And coming soon on my own website: http://www.valeriekemp.com

Thank you so much for letting us get to know you and your work, Valerie. I'm excited to see your books in print one day. Good luck!

Author Update

Hello, everyone. You may remember an interview I did last month with a brilliant aspiring writer named Lacey Boldyrev. Well Lacey has just had a short fiction of hers published in REBEL MOON, An Anthology of Supernatural Tales, which is being released by a UK publisher. Lacey's magnificent contribution is called PARALLEL, and she gives us all an intriguing sneak peek on her blog. Be sure to check it out.

Congratulations, Lacey! That totally rocks. And I look forward to seeing more of your work published in the future!

Interview with Lacey J Boldyrev

Happy Friday, everyone! Let's get an early start to the weekend by having a fun chat with a fantastic aspiring writer. I've seen her around the blogosphere and was immediately intrigued by an excerpt of one of her stories. The talented Lacey J. Boldyrev is sure to be a hit.

It's nice to have you here, Lacey. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a 25 year-old wife and mom. I grew up in Pennsylvania but spent most of my adolescence in North Carolina. Now I reside in NY. When I’m not writing, I’m doing the mom thing. My kids are young, so if I manage to get *me time* I spend it reading. I’m so exciting!

How long have you been writing?

Funny you should ask. I feel bad admitting this, but I just started writing seriously in February 2009. Within 30 days I had a rough (like #50 grit sandpaper, rough) first draft of a YA historical I call FATED. I’ve revised it for over a year and it’s still not ready.

What is the name and genre of your current manuscript?

I have a number of them stashed around my house and on a few hard drives (and thumb drives and disks), but the one I will be seeking representation for in the near future is titled GREYSKIN. It is a YA paranormal (my favorite kind of book) but it’s not heavily saturated in paranormal.

Perfect title, I love it! Here’s the part where you pitch it. What’s your story about?

When sixteen-year-old Charlie Waite falls for Jack O’Donnell, an older guy and a bounty hunter for the supernatural, she decides the only way to get close to him is to start salting bones herself. But things go wrong fast when Charlie tags along on a dangerous greyskin hunt. The bokor, a voodoo sorcerer who hired Jack to catch the greyskin, sends hell hounds after him. When Jack goes missing, Charlie knows if she ever wants to call him hers she’s going to have to hunt down the bokor herself.

Awesome. And having seen a quick peek, I have to say I love the voice in your manuscript. How did the idea of the story come to you?

The first line--There’s a dead girl in the trunk and all I can think about is how white the trees are—came while cruising down I95 and passing a bunch of trees that were, well, white. No, I did not have a dead girl in my trunk. Promise. When I started writing it, the voice of my narrator, Charlie, really came to me. More so than with any other character I’ve written. Charlie is me in a lot of ways and she and I really connected.

What point are you at now?

I’m going to submit to my critique partners for their input and probably do another round with my readers, and then it will be ready to query agents. I hope.

Do you rely heavily on critique partners and beta readers, or do you do a lot of self-editing?


I do as much self-editing as I think I can before I send it to my critique partners, Valerie and Kristi--the Sisters in Scribe. We can be found at our shared blog sistersinscribe.blogspot.com.
With the first manuscript I wrote—FATED—I sent them a very rough draft. And I still apologize for it, even though they never complain.

I polish the manuscript and then when my turn comes up with the group, I send it and wait about a month for their notes. I have amazing critique partners and they catch everything. After I’ve filled in my plot holes and readjusted some sentences or whatever else needs fixed, I feel comfortable submitting to my beta readers. As of right now, I have two. One is a very good friend and fellow YA writer, A.J. Spindle, and the other is a book blogger. Her name is Jess, formerly of bookreviewsbyjess.blogspot.com which is now thecozyreader.com.

Sounds like good detailed process. What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Aside from trying to write while I have a toddler at my side pretending she’s a cat, it’s writing the bad guy showdowns. Action scenes are so hard to get right! You want to convey the right amount of emotion, but at the same time it’s got to be fast paced and concise. And it’s tempting to allow the villain to break into a monologue to explain his evil plot.

Yes, I have the same problem, lol.Any tips you’ve learned about writing you’d like to share?

Simple is usually best. Don’t use big words or lengthy sentences to explain simple thoughts. Just spit it out the way your character would.

Do you have an idea of your book’s cover art?

GREYSKIN is very new so I haven’t toyed with that yet, but I did mock up one for FATED. I don’t own rights to the image so I’ll just explain it. It has a white background with a (very pretty) eye in the center. Inside the eye I put a reflection of the Nazi flag. Underneath it reads FATED in blood-red.

GREYSKIN would be cool if it had Charlie holding a sawed-off shotgun with her Bull Mastiff, Odin, standing beside her and Jack’s 1966 Chevelle convertible in the background.

Sounds great. Who are your inspirations?

Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse books were what really made me think, Hey I want to do that! But there are so many great authors I look up to and admire. Two name a few: Maggie Stiefvater, Carrie Harris and Richelle Mead.

Let’s get to know you on a deeper level. What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

Coffee. So stereotypical, I know. And I have a small metal elephant (I love elephants and I have a lot of them scattered around my house) that my husband bought me at a motorcycle event. He’s about 3” high and he flips open to reveal a small compartment inside. When I get stuck I flip him open and closed. Somehow it helps. And I chew on my red pen.


With GREYSKIN, I need a giant bowl of Good & Plenty candy. When (not if) you read it, you’ll know why.

Ooh, I'm intrigued (and I love Good & Plenty).

Okay, quick writing test: Use the words funnel, chipmunk, and encyclopedia in a sentence.

In one sentence? Wow, lol!

The crafty chipmunk made a funnel out of the torn pages of an encyclopedia, and used it to pour the nuts into his burrow.

Clever! Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Who would you like to give a shout out to?

My husband, because without him I wouldn’t be writing. He pushes me to follow my heart and he believes in me every step of the way. And he works hard so that I can spend my time doing what I love.


Also, my family for not locking me away when I talk about my characters as if they’re real people. My friends, both writers and non. My critique partners and beta readers and the endless support I’ve gotten from the writing community.

And finally, where can people find you online?

I can be found in a myriad of places under the name L.J. Boldyrev.


www.ljboldyrev.com
Twitter.com/ljboldyrev
Ljboldyrev.blogspot.com
Facebook.com/ljboldyrev


And I am also a member of the Blue Boards, SCBWI, and the YAlitchat community.

Thank you, Lacey, it was so great talking with you. I'm really crossing my fingers for you on your publication journey, and I can't wait to get my hands on GREYSKIN!