Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Wednesday's Writing Update: Be Inspired and Look, a Sale, and Once Upon a December Nightmare

 

Happy Wednesday!

I was recently tagged in the Be Inspired meme by L.G. Keltner over at Writing Off the Edge and in the Look meme by Christine Rains. Thank you, ladies, for tagging me! For the Be Inspired meme, I'm supposed to answer some questions about my current writing project. In the Look meme, I'm supposed to share the first place I used "look" in my work in progress, so since I plan to start editing Starred in September, I've decided to use this novel for both.

What is the name of your book? Starred

Where did the idea for your book come from? Back in high school and college, theater used to be my life. Although I don't act anymore, I wanted to write an ode to that previous life, thus Starred was born.

In what genre would you classify your book? YA Contemporary with romantic elements

If you had to pick actors to play your characters in a movie rendition, who would you choose? Oh, I'm terrible at these things. I do, however, see Josh Hutcherson playing a good Jason "Jace" Matthews. I'm not sure about the other characters. I really haven't given it much thought.

Give us a one sentence synopsis of your book? Former sixteen-year-old movie starlet Rose Handell must hide who she really is to live a life she never wanted.

How long did it take you to write your book? The first draft took 12 days.

What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or readers of which books would enjoy yours? Another really hard question. Readers who like books that are touching, funny, a tad self-deprecating and sarcastic, and want a behind the scenes look at high school theater would enjoy Starred.

Which authors inspired you to write this book? Although they aren't books (well, there are Glee-inspired books), the television shows Glee and Hart of Dixie really inspired this book between the small Southern town from Hart of Dixie to the musical aspects of Glee. I would also like to give a shout out to Christine Rains and my sister Kara. When I write my YA novels, I keep my sister in mind. She's my ideal reader for them because even though she likes to read, she's a picky reader. She enjoyed Starred. As for Christine, she's my critique partner and the first one to finish Starred. Even though Starred isn't in a genre she typically reads, I think she enjoyed it and it touched her, so to go from my ideal reader to an unlikely reader and get 'thumbs up' was really inspiring to keep working on this novel.

Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book? This book is really personal to me and features quite a few scenes that actually happened to me while in theater.

And now the first place "look" appears in my manuscript:
My fingers stroked my hair and pushed it further over the left side of my face. If I could’ve pulled off Cousin It, I would have, but showing half of my face—the good half—would have to do. It was hard enough being the new kid, or returning kid, to a small school. It was worse to look like a monster.

Now anyone who wants to do the Look meme or the Be Inspired meme, you have my blessing. I find each one of you inspirational in your own way.

And I have two other brief things to mention for the writing update.

Women of Foxwick is on sale through Labor Day (September 3rd). I have it half-off, so it'll be $1.49.

To purchase: Amazon US / UK / DE / FR / ES / IT  Smashwords  Nook 

Reviews of Women of Foxwick:
"Each tale works on its own, but they also tie together nicely to weave a tapestry of a well imagined world." - Aubrie Dionne, author of Paradise 21

"...a rich and wonderful fantasy world..." - Christine Rains, author of Fearless

"I give Cherie's fantasy collection five stars out of five. If I still played Dungeons & Dragons, I would want to have a game based in Foxwick. It was that real to me." - Michael Offutt, author of Slipstream

"Women of Foxwick is a must read for any fantasy reader." - Cher Green, author of Seduced by Darkness

Also, you may have noticed that Once Upon a December Nightmare has disappeared from my sidebar as well as the cover art from my websites. On August 24, 2012, my two-year contract with Wild Child Publishing was up, so I got my rights back. I'm working on editing it for a September/October re-release date. I am also adding the short story of the monster's origins, originally titled "Freak Show" (published in Bloody Carnival by Pill Hill Press, September 2010) but now titled "Nightmare at the Freak Show" (to keep with the Nightmare theme) to Once Upon a December Nightmare.

So what are you working on?

11 comments:

Terri Talley Venters said...

You are one busy lady, Cherie. Your upcoming short story, "Nightmare at the Freak Show" sounds interesting. I'd like to know more about the monster from "Once Upon A December Nightmare." This time, I won't read it outside on my patio which faces the woods! I'll miss having you as a fellow WCP author. But I'm glad we're still friends.

My WIP is Silver Lining (Carbon Copy 3) I'm about 6k into the 60k-70k novel. But I know what happens (mostly.) It's kinda sad writing the last book with these characters. I'll miss them. =(

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Twelve days?! Whoa...

Aubrie said...

Great pick for Josh Hutchinson or whatever his lat name is to play Jace.

I can't wait for the new cover reveals! Woohoo!

Emily R. King said...

Starred sounds like a great read. I love me some YA contemporary romance!

Golden Eagle said...

Interesting excerpt--it sounds like the character has a complicated backstory!

And 12 days . . . wow.

diƤtplan said...


very good comment

Heather Murphy said...

I think I need to check out Starred. Twelve days? Did you eat? Sleep? WOW!

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Cherie, how do you accomplish so much?

Tracy MacDonald said...

Wow, I really liked that excerpt. I'd love to know her back story and the Cousin IT reference was great. Does that make me old???? LOL!
A2Z Mommy and What’s In Between

Mark Koopmans said...

Aloha Cherie,

Just stopping by to say thanks for the follow, and look ('scuse the pun:) I get to know more about you and your writing to boot :)

Rachelle Ayala said...

I think I'll enjoy Starred as well as Virtuoso. Keep them coming! :)