Results are in...

...and they were what I needed to progress to the next level. :D Once the graduation ceremony is over this weekend, I shall officially have a degree from Cambridge and will be moving on to my Post-Graduate Certificate of Education. Hehehe.

To continue on from the previous blog post, my sister and I have now sent off our competition entries. They'll start their journey through the post tomorrow, and should be there by the Friday deadline without a struggle. Good to have something out there. Maybe it'll inspire me to get on with other things too.

To say that today has been a stressful (waiting for the results, which didn't arrive until around 4pm!) and unproductive day is fairly accurate, although I have made a little progress, at least, with something. I started to look through Between Time, to give it another edit before I start researching agents for it. It's always surprising how much you can edit something when you leave it to sit for a while. I want to get submissions out for it before the end of the summer.

Still no Zack related news, of course. Seems like I'm doing everything I can to avoid it. Oh dear, oh dear. Still, tomorrow is a new day!

Competition!

A few weeks ago, I had a dream in which I was writing this blog post. In my dream, I hadn't edited Zack, but I did have a new novel.

Reality doesn't have such an achievement. I have written a short story, though. I was doing a little research for my newest novel on the Jacqueline Wilson website and I noticed there was a writing competition there. The winners are published in an anthology and there's an award ceremony at her Literary Festival in October.

I figured I might as well give it a shot, because to have ANY published credit has to help, even though I wouldn't get paid for it. I didn't mind that I'd lose the rights to the story as I would write it entirely for the competition.

Short stories are a pain to write. It took me about three months to think up an idea. Or at least to develop my initial idea into a coherent story. I think I've managed now, though... With some extensive editing, I've managed to keep it to the word count of 2000 words. Yay!

The story continues from where Zack left off, but from the perspective of a character with only a cameo in the novel. It's very different from the original novel!

Now all that remains is printing it off and sending it to the competition. I would have liked to have ran it past Critique Circle, but there are only a few days remaining before the competition closes! My little sister is currently writing her attempt, too. We'll be in separate age categories, which is fun. :)

Anyway, Zack is still unedited. But I'll hopefully make a start on it tomorrow. There's still plenty of the summer left to get it sorted.

In other news, exam results come out tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Meeting Garth Nix!

As the euphoria slowly wears off, I sit down to record an amazing experience and as it's writing-related I thought I'd share it here.

Tonight, I met Garth Nix.

This, for me, is like meeting David Tennant for Doctor Who fans. Or ... I don't know, David Beckham for football fans? Anyway, if you don't know who he is and you have a vague interest in reading children's fantasy, you must order his books NOW: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garth-Nix/e/B000AQ01XU/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0. I would happily recommend them all, particularly the Abhorsen series for teens and the Keys to the Kingdom for younger teens. Oh, and the amazing Shade's Children. And the Ragwitch.

Anyway, he has been a childhood inspiration for a long time. Many times I've been battling away at my own writing and turned to admire his prose not without a huge twinge of jealousy. I've loved him just as much as J.K. Rowling or Philip Pullman. They're my top three authors of all time.

So I was incredibly excited to hear that he was coming to Cambridge, and even better, on the night after my exams finished! I've been his friend on Facebook for a while and recently he has started putting up fairly frequent updates. That was how I found out about the event (Facebook has made life so much better, in certain ways!).

Anyway, I went, I saw, I left awestruck.

He was amazing. He did an hour talk, involving some fun facts about himself (yes, his name is his real one and not a pseudonym) and a fun fantasy story about a magical ring that gave him nine years success, which he then gave to the first person who put up their hand (unfortunately I was too slow, though I did put mine up very quickly). Then, he read aloud a bit of a novel that will be coming out next year. There was a question and answer session and finally a book-signing session.

I was far too star-struck to say anything very coherent when it was time to meet him, but it was still amazing. I did manage to request a photo with him and it turned out okay:

He was just as incredible in flesh as he is on paper.

I would have liked to have asked him to read something of mine, but of course, I know he would be too busy to accept even something short. My mid-grade fantasy Between Time is strongly influenced by the style of his Keys to the Kingdom series. I can dream and think he might read this, though; that would be amazing!

Anyway, all too soon, the evening was over and I was trembling in a corner, putting my signed book away and getting ready to cycle back. I think I must have looked rather mad on the way back with the huge grin on my face.

I don't think there's much more to say than that. Read him. Love him. And see him, if you have the chance.

Here's the signed book too:

*excited squeal*

Back to the grindstone...AKA freedom

My exams came to a finish at 12 noon today, which means I have a few months of freedom now to dive back into the writing, editing and proofreading (the latter is for a friend, who'll be releasing some new ebooks soon and I'd recommend them without hesitation: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jody-Kihara/e/B004Q28H7G/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0).

It's good timing, because the final chapter of 'Zack' is going through Critique Circle this week, and once that's finished there will be nothing to stop me from editing. Other than the paralytic thought of opening my crits and viewing the comments and actually doing the editing. Uh... this is always the worst part, mentally working myself up to a state where I actually dare to look at the comments. I'm fine once I'm actually doing it...

In other writing news, I've been formulating ideas for a new novel. Well, it's kind of an old novel idea (years old), which I've never seriously worked on until this year. But I've written a couple of thousand words. The main issue was that while I had a strong sense of the protag and her initial adventures, I didn't have much of an overall PLOT. The more I thought about it, the better sense I had of her entire family and her close friends...but even then, I was drawing blanks for the final climax of the novel. Thanks to a short brainstorming session with some friends, though, I think I've developed a climax for the novel that will work really well and tie a number of things together.

I'm amazed how much it has progressed in the last week, really. Especially considering that I should have been using that time revising for the last exam (but it was soooo boring). I now feel pretty much ready to write it. It shouldn't be too difficult to write. It's a mid-grade novel, of a similar genre to Jacqueline Wilson. The only tricky part is that I want the novel to span at least ten months, and I've never been good at sustaining a novel over a period of time. The last novel, for instance, spanned a period of about 3 weeks. Still, a challenge is always good.

Anyway, that's where I'm at right now. I feel I really need to get a book out electronically this summer, but I don't know which one to choose. The one I originally considered 54321 is only 30,000 words in its current reworked stage, and still needs a lot more rewriting before it'll be finished. I could epublish my old fantasy novel, and I thought up a neat idea for that the other day which I'm quite interested to implement, but that would be quite a major overhaul, too.

Hmm! Too many projects all vying for my attention. I can only deal with two at the most. So I think I'd better stick with 'Zack' for editing, and the new novel because writing something new is always indefinitely more satisfying than rewriting.

Tchüss!

New Record!

Wow, my A-Level revision website finally broke the two-hundred hits a day barrier, and did it in a fantastic manner: 330 hits! It was on 22nd May and a huge proportion of those hits were people wanting information on Philip Larkin, so I'm betting there was an exam the next day! Ha. It must be making a difference. :D

Just thought I'd have a quick brag, anyway. I need to get back to revision because I have my second exam this afternoon. *gulp*

Interviewed!

I have been interviewed, which is one step to being famous...hehe. Well, it's only for an interview for an online writing circle. Critique Circle. Their annual(?) newsletter. But it's still quite an honour to be featured. Enjoy:

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: The Fantabulous Lizzie!

We love you guys, honestly. Without our members CC would be nothing, and we have some of the best people in the world here. From time to time we like to highlight one of our members. Momzilla sat down with Lizzie, a long time member and asked her some questions.


Lizzie is a familiar username here at CC, both in the Children's/YA Queue, and in the Forums. She's always willing to lend a hand, is passionate about learning and in turn, always share what she knows. Liz has written well over 1000 critiques in her time here, no surprise as she's is one of our 'oldest' members, joining CC as a teen in August 2004.

What more can I say about Lizzie? I think she's a living, breathing example of the perseverance and strength it takes to be a writer! So, sit back and read on to learn more about who she is and how she does it!

1) Since joining CC, how many novels/stories have you written? Are any of them on the query road with agents or publishers, or been published?
I've written another three completed novels, and rewritten one of my old novels from scratch using all the valuable feedback I'd received from fellow critters. The first novel I wrote after joining CC was written using CC's Paragraph-A-Day tool, which I found worked quite well. I've queried a couple of my novels, although I haven't so far grabbed an elusive agent. Over the last couple of years, I've been less active because of time constraints with uni, but this summer I graduate and I hope to send out a bunch of new queries for two of my novels.


2) What genre do you tend to write and what types of characters do you like to write about? Do you find common themes reoccurring in your books?
Tricky question! I've experimented in quite a few different genres, though most of my completed novels are some form of fantasy. I have a YA and MG fantasy, and I'm currently calling my latest dark conception upper YA 'dark fantasy' because I really don't know what else it could be: possibly speculative, perhaps even literary. I've tried out adult fiction, and I have completed one adult crime novel, though I think I feel more comfortable in the children's market, in general. Whether that'll change as I grow older, though, remains to be seen.

3) What are your writing strengths, and how do you apply them to your critiquing style?
I've always been excellent on the grammar front, and I tend to be a rather nitty critter. I'm also quite logical so I'm good at noticing plot holes and logic flaws in other critters' stories.

4) You've been a member since 2004, close to when CC opened! What has kept you here all these years? How has CC helped you develop as a writer?
CC has helped me on so many ways. When I look back over my early works (even the novel I wrote as a Paragraph-A-Day), I can see such a difference in my writing style. It feels so much sharper and more concise, even in the first draft. Thanks to all my critters' help, I've been able to develop a style that really suits me, and because I'm still learning new things and still receiving so much useful advice, I'm still here. I would never sub a novel to an agent without running it past my critters first! As well, I always enjoy critiquing other peoples' stories, and I've made some really good friends here on the site. I can't imagine life without CC now.

5) Give us a blurb of your latest WIP! Is it in the queues now or will it be soon?
Haha, are you sure you want to know? It's a very dark and twisted novel... I blame my uni course feeding me far too much Greek and Shakespearean tragedy! It's currently in the queues, about halfway through, though I'm always happy for people to jump in. A blurb in a sentence or two: Zack (MC) thinks he is has an extreme case of something called photophobia, which would result in his death if his eyes were exposed to smallest ray of light. But when a bully grows suspicious about the condition and pulls off Zack's goggles to torment him, the truth is far worse than either of them could ever imagine...

6) You live in the UK but have traveled quite a bit. What was your favorite place to visit? How many CCers have you met in person?
I travelled to Vancouver last summer, which was an absolutely fantastic experience. I stayed with my closest buddy on CC for two weeks - Helen (Bookish). We had an amazing time and met up with Loralee and Roy (Grampy), two other Canada-based CCers. Loralee now has an agent and it was so fab to hear all her stories and soak in knowledge about life with an agent. I've met a few other CCers over the years, including Emina when I visited family in Chicago, and an old CCer Fiona (350spider) when she was in the UK. I've also introduced a couple of writers to CC including Kirsty, a good friend of mine from uni.

7 ) You juggle so many things-university, a job, family, friends, a social life, travel.and yet you still find room for writing. Give us an idea of how you manage it-walk us through a day in LizzieWorld.
Well, don't blame me if it's quite mundane. At the moment, I'm not really doing much writing, but I'm hoping to get a bit more done in the Easter hols. It's all work work work at uni. However, this term I've made a real commitment to CC, because I want to get my latest novel edited this summer. After a hard day's work of reading and writing essays, I'll spend an hour or so on CC, critiquing. It's a much more productive usage of time than watching online TV!


8) How long have you been writing, and when did you get serious about it? What advice would you give other teens looking to focus on becoming a writer?
I think all writers have stories of the little books they produced as small children, and I'm no exception: I think the earliest stories I ever wrote were about dinosaurs, which I co-wrote with my younger brother. I started on my first novel when I was ten, and I really don't know what possessed me to do that! But I kept at it and eventually finished it around three years later, got a couple of lovely rejection letters to deflate my dreams and then discovered CC. I've been here ever since, and it was at that point when I started to take writing seriously and to consider myself a writer.

What advice would I give to teens? Just to keep at it, I guess. It's a long slog unless you're really lucky, but don't be disheartened. You'll get there eventually. We all get piles of rejection letters, but don't let that stop you! I may not have an agent yet, but I know I'm a much stronger writer now.

9) Do you have a web site or blog where people can find you? Do you tweet?
I have a blog and I'm always very happy when people take a look in and leave a comment! Unfortunately, I don't blog enough to get much of a following, but I'm trying harder to do it a bit more frequently! I've yet to understand the Twitter thing: it just seems like Facebook but with fewer options...

10) Share a window into your soul.tell us something that most people don't know about you-maybe a special talent, a hidden superpower, something you fangirl over?
Hmm, I spent a few years as a vampire in my early teens...and I still have an aversion to sunlight. That was long before the current vampire craze swept the imaginations of YA readers. I was a PROPER vampire--I didn't glitter.:)


Thanks for the awesome interview, Lizzie, and for sharing a bit about who you are! I hope folks will keep an eye out for your work and check out your blog, as you have a lot to offer other writers. Good luck in all that you do!

Angela (Momzilla)

Life update

I sometimes have ideas for blogs and then never get around to following them up...but this isn't going to be one of them!

I'm back in Cambridge at the moment, for the final term! I'm in the run up to exams, which means revise until you're insane (mostly with boredom)...and the exams start on 26th May. Which is soon. Very soon.

In other news, I have a place on a PGCE next year (if I get the required grades, fingers crossed!), which means I won't be a penniless writer next year as I feared. I'll be on a Post-Graduade Certificate of Education, which means teacher training...for secondary English (11-18 years). Perhaps I'm mad. Indeed, I'm pretty sure I'm mad, but I don't see what else I can do at the moment which doesn't cost more than I can afford. You can't simply get a job after doing a degree, these days, but you need internships (a year of unpaid work with the *hope* of a job at the end).

Zack's still making its way through Critique Circle, but I only have two more chapters to submit. I should have received all my feedback by the end of the exams, a perfect time to start editing. *shudder* I stopped writing 54321 when I got too guilty about the lack of Uni work I'd been doing, but I did get it to around 30K, which is fairly impressive. I then started writing a different novel, but guilt dissuaded me from that one too. I may pick that up after the exams, though, because it was quite fun...

Anyway, that's the life update. I need to cycle over to the English Faculty and return a DVD right now. Bleak House on audiobook as I cycle, methinks! (that was another blog idea...because Dickens is VERY good at character).