Playing at Literary Lagniappe + Giveaway!

Hey guys! I'm hanging out with Lisa and Emily at Literary Lagniappe today, talking about what inspired my short story "Lured" for the Nocturnal Embers anthology. You won't get this behind-the-scenes peek anywhere else!

Also, I'm giving away a digital copy (format of your choice) to one lucky commenter!

Remember, Nocturnal Embers is available at:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Smashreads

Steampunk Appreciation Week!

Guess what week it is!

If you guessed, "ZOMG TRUE BLOOD'S BACK" then yes, you'd be correct. But it's also Steampunk Appreciation Week here at Going from Nobody to Somebody. I wanted to put together a week of fun steampunk-inspired posts for you guys to celebrate this uber-fun genre that's been, in my opinion, sorely underrepresented.

So, what is Steampunk? Well, apart from awesome, steampunk is a sub-genre of speculative fiction that normally takes place in Victorian times, or in the American wild west (like that atrocious movie), when steam power was still widely used.  It utilizes a lot of fun technology, different stuff, COOL STUFF. Mostly steam-powered, hence the name.

Steampunk can be used in a variety of ways and can be combined with a variety of genres to make a unique experience for the reader. I personally enjoy mixing steampunk elements with high fantasy elements (elves, magic, dragons, you get the picture). You can do a lot with it.

This week, I'm hosting some guest posts from my dear friends Leanna Renee Hieber and Janne Childers. Will *hopefully* have an interview with the awesome Claire E. Smith, artwork from Ricky Payne, and a few surprises here and there. At the end of the week, I'll be doing a steampunk-inspired giveaway, so keep your eyes here for your chance to win goodies!

Sky Pirates Unite!

Like most people, I'm totally enamored with Steampunk. I love the ideas of it, and how it combines my love of the Victorian Era with my love of crazy science-y things. And like most people, I don't exactly know what Steampunk entails.

That's why I'm calling on my Steampunk-loving, Steampunk-writing, gear & steam enthusiasts to help me celebrate this awesome genre. 

This is the official call for guest posts, and I'll be promoting it for a while. I'm planning on doing a giveaway myself at the end of Steampunk Appreciation Week, and any authors who participate and want to do giveaways of their own are absolutely encouraged. If you'd like to participate with a guest post or interview (or both!) then please email me at c (dot) peace (at) live (dot) com! Please include topic, what on date you'd like to participate, if you plan on doing a giveaway (and of what), and the appropriate links for any sort of promos. Thanks!!!!!!!

Let's have some fun with this! ;)

A Touch AWESOME Blogfest WEEK ONE

OMG YOU GUYS! It's FINALLY HERE!

The A Touch AWESOME blogfest has officially begun!!!!

Katelyn and I are so excited to be hosting this. Don't forget to check out her blog for her answers and Leah's blog for important info regarding A Touch Mortal's sequel, A Touch Morbid.

Just a reminder of what we're doing:

Week 1 (1/21-1/27): Anytime during the week make a post about your top 5 favorite quotes from A Touch Mortal.

Week 2 (1/28-2/3): Anytime during the week make a post about your top 5 favorite swoon-worthy moments from A Touch Mortal.

Week 3 (2/4-2/10): Anytime during the week make a post about your top 5 favorite characters from A Touch Mortal

.

Week 4 (2/11-2/17): Anytime during the week make a post about your top 5 favorite ANYTHING. This is a free week to post your top 5 favorite randoms from A Touch Mortal.

Week 5 (2/18-2/24): Anytime during the week make a post about your top 5 favorite moments from A Touch Mortal.

So let's get on to this week's fun!

For people who haven't read A Touch Mortal: 1) Shame on you! Getting ready for this blogfest has reawakened my absolute love for this book. And I'm excited to be able to gush about it for FIVE WEEKS. 2) I've tried to keep my choices spoiler-free. But I'm not making promises.

Onward to this week's topic. My five favorite quotes from A Touch Morbid. 

1. "The water's not even blue, jackass." ~Eden. Admittedly, when I first read this line, I snorted. But the best thing is that it's available on a T-SHIRT (and other assorted apparel).
2. "You're going to regret me." ~Az. Sure but without him, we wouldn't have much of a book.
3. "You're nothing but a rumor now." ~Kristen. I know it's on the book jacket, but when I read it in the text I got chills.
4. "Az trying to cook breakfast." Gabe smiled. "The bane of chickens everywhere." ~Gabe *sigh, Gabe*. I lol'd at that too.
5. "Your boyfriend's heartstrings make such a lovely melody when they snap."~Luke. Oh, Luke is so deliciously eeeeeeeeevil. 

Peeps, keep in mind that with every pre-order of A Touch Morbid, Leah is giving away a super-awesome gift: a signed and numbered 8x10 of Morbid's cover, which is awesome. It looks like this:

*Gorgeous, right????*

Phew!

It's taken me this long to recover from Christmas. I wish I was kidding, but I am not.

Landra at Rise of the Slush and I have been busting our butts to ready our new review site. And it's almost complete! *Insert maniacal mad scientist laugh*

Also, I got Batman Arkham City and Assassin's Creed Revelations for Christmas, so y'all might not see me again for a while *j/k, though not really*

How was your Christmas?

Tis the Season!

First of all, hope everyone's having a fantastic holiday season! I know this is the high-stress time of year, when everyone's frantically scurrying around, trying to find that perfect gift for friends, family, and/or that someone special. For your sanity, and for that of your family, friends, and someone special, please take the time out to enjoy the season, because believe me, those same people you're with now may not be around this time next year. Love them while you can.

Second of all, I want to go ahead and let y'all know about some changes coming up. My dear friend Landra at Rise of the Slush and I are starting a review blog at the beginning of the year for books published through a small press or self-published. We're covering EVERYTHING (including YA) as long as it's through a small press or self-pubbed, so keep your eyes open. It's called Indie Books R Us for right now because I suck hardcore at titles, but I'd love it if you guys checked in every-so-often. Landra's already a highly-experienced reviewer and I just like excuses to read. However, this means I'll be blogging even less frequently here (like the 2-3 times a week I manage are really that tough), but I hope to see some familiar names over there :)

Third of all, I'd like to share with you a website that I found via The Bloggess. It's called Wish Upon a Hero and it's an effortless way to change someone's life in time for Christmas. There are a lot of families who won't be able to provide for their families during the holiday season due to unemployment, cutbacks at work, illness, or a variety of other seasons, and this website allows you to chip in to whomever you want. It's. Freaking. Awesome.

I think that's everything. Anyone got some good news to share????

I haz an award, again!

Thanks to Beckah-Rah I haz a new award ^_^ Also, today I'm a zombie. I *think* I got about 2 hours of sleep last night *thanks Jasper*.

Anyway, on to awards!

"The purpose of this award is to ask bloggers to identify their own blog posts in certain categories." Simple enough, I guess.

Hrm. Maybe not...

1.  Most Beautiful Post:  Puppies!!!! Because...well...puppies! What more do you need? Or any of my MANic Monday posts, Jon Snow in particular (Kit Harrington is effing gorgeous)

2.  Most Popular Post: Thinking Outside the Box - Or: Other publishing options besides agent + editor + waiting forever. I think it's solely because I talk about Jennifer Armentrout.

3. Most Controversial Post: ...I don't really have one. Apparently I just don't stir the pot enough or something...

4. Most Helpful post: Well, since I'm here.... Granted, it's more gratuitous talking about Julian Sands, but it's also a helpful reminder about the importance of perseverance  on our writing journeys. 

5. Most Surprisingly Successful post: Thinking Outside the Box. Seriously. I still can't believe it's that popular...

6. Post that Didn't get the Attention it Deserved: Um...all...of..theeem? Oh? I have to be specific? Hmm... I'd have to go with my interview with Phoenix Sullivan or Xakara's guest post. 

7.  Post I am Most Proud of: At this point, any of them that make sense. OK, there's one that I'm really happy with, which is Worldbuilding: Fantasy & Society because I get to talk about 3 of my favorite things: creating new worlds, Dragon Age: Origins, and Game of Thrones (Jon Snow *sigh*)

And now I get to tag 3 more blogs! W00t!

Quick stats update

OK. Since I haven't done this in a while, I'm gonna just share with you where I am in this whole crazy business.

I received my *expected* 13th rejection last week. Even though this was an agent that I'd LOOOOOVE to work with, I'm still relieved because I've found some places in the MS that need some serious TLC.

In other words, I figured out why The Island of Dr. Moreau is written from the POV of someone not even involved with the experiments: IT'S FRIGGIN' HARD. And let me tell you, writing from someone who now thinks and acts like an animal is even harder. A lot of nuances, a lot of opportunities for cool stuff, a lot of headaches. I'm not kidding. This is my.....6th (?) round of revisions. And I'm still finding stuff to improve upon.

That being said, I'm also trying to improve my word count. When I started thinking I was ready to query Duality, my word count was close to 118,000. Which is way too high, especially for a debut. That alone may have earned me a few Rs. (That and the sucky query that I sent out.)

As of right now, my word count is....*drum roll please*

.....................................................

...............................

....................

..........

.....

111,096.

I have written a new beginning and new ending, cut scenes, cut paragraphs, cut stupidity. This is a MUCH MUCH tighter draft than I had before, and I'm so glad that no agent requested pages because it would have been an embarrassment. No joke.

Now, I must return to my writer cave.

Also, just FYI, there are some fun things in the works. Hoping to get a few newly-pubbed authors to drop by ye olde blog for some interviews (and maybe even giveaways!). I'll keep y'all posted, as always!