Sunday, January 15, 2012

My First Book...


Precious Polly by Emmie Harrison
(published by Breathless Press; Naughty Nursery Rhymes line)
Release Date: TBD

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Some Updates

Well, I've turned in the second round of edits to my editor, so things are definitely moving along at a steady pace. I received a mock up of the cover art for "Precious Polly" and it is just so absolutely lovely. Honestly, the portrayal of the main characters is just exquisite and I love the details included that are prominent in the story itself. It's all so subtle and just beautiful. The colors, the font, everything was put together so nicely that I honestly couldn't be happier with it. It's as if they stepped into my mind and pulled out my own vision of everything.

I've also been diligently working on my next project, the series I have planned for the Naughty Nursery Rhyme line (though, I'll be focusing on the fairytale aspect with this series). I have the basics figured out for each of the prominent characters (be they for a specific book or books or the series in general) along with some basic plot summaries. Of course, I'm leaving room for artistic freedom since who knows what might happen as the story unfolds as I write. Presently, I have indeed started working on the first book and have the first chapter completed. I have to say, it's rather motivating to finish up a chapter given my hectic schedule with my kids and other responsibilities. So, I feel rather accomplished and quite happy.

Needless to say, however, I shall indeed be busy. Probably happy at times as well as frustrated at times. But, such is life. Right? So long as I keep at it, I'll be happy and proud of myself. It's all one can do after all. :)

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Big Plans

So, as I've already mentioned, I've turned in my first round of edits to my editor as well as have submitted my cover art form to my publisher. While waiting to hear back about those, I've been trying to tackle another story or two for the expanded idea of the Naughty Nursery Rhyme line. My initial goal was to write a story based on either Little Red Riding Hood or Beauty and the Beast since I knew I wanted to write stories based on both fairytales. Unfortunately, I found myself coming up against a block. I had real life frustrations interrupting my time, making it hard to concentrate and just... write.

As a result, I took some advice and took a step back. The new plan being that I tackle a small amount at a time. If that meant outlining the characters or a bit of the plot, so be it. The writing would come more easily once those little details were worked out making me more efficient with my time when I actually had some.

Oh my did this ever work!

Now I find myself tackling what looks like it'll be a six book series! Never did I expect such a thing to occur when I started this outlining process. But, for whatever reasons that be, it is indeed what happened. At first I went with the story that seemed a bit more prominent in my thoughts and that happened to be Beauty and the Beast. So, I started to outline the characters for that. Just some rough ideas since I wanted to keep artistic freedom alive and well for when the actual story writing is to occur. Anyhow, in doing that, the story itself bloomed. And not just for one story, but for five additional stories. This was partially due to the setting I envisioned for my first fairytale-based book. I've no doubt about that. Anyhow, in the end, each book in the series will focus on a very particular fairytale. However, all the books together will be a singular story revolving around various character arcs. Never did I expect this to happen, but now I find myself facing it full on and loving it.

At present, I've worked out a rough idea of all the characters involved. Who they are, how they affect each other and the story (both in the individual stories as well as the series overall), what pairings will occur, etc. I've even started writing out some basic plot summaries for the books so that I can keep track of the core essence of what I'd like to see occur in each book (and thus my take on each fairytale) as the series progresses. Right now, I have a decent idea on how the first three books will go and interweave and build upon each other. And, I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how that's going. Yet again, I'm still leaving room for artistic freedom and I fully expect changes to occur here and there. But tackling this project as I have has allowed my creative juices to flow and come up with a base for the series as well as a means to tweak along accordingly, should I have to, so that I can keep any inconsistencies down to nil and make the entire thing flow as it should.

Yes, I'm very excited and happy and eager to actually start writing the stories themselves. I can already tell that this is going to be a fun project, though daunting. However, by taking all of these steps, I think it's helping to make this whole plan more manageable and less scary. A good thing indeed. That said, back to working on my series! :)

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Working Through Frustrations

So, I've submitted my first round of edits back to my editor and am awaiting a second round. I was hoping to get started on my next story, the one I plan on being based around the 'Little Red Riding Hood' fairytale (and by the way, I have a 'Beauty and the Beast' story idea churning in my brain as well). But, it looks like my day was against me there. My kids were in rare form today, making it impossible to do any sort of writing this morning. Then, once the kids finally went down for a nap I was so agitated and frustrated from my morning that writing was out of the question. Now, all I have left is to write a bit this evening. I probably won't get a whole lot of time to do so, but I will do what I can. After all, I have to try my best to make the best of what time I do have. So, wish me luck with that... And, I thank you in advance if you do.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Exciting Things

So, I'm going through the editing process right now with my novella. It's quite a process to say the least, but a necessary one. Honestly, I'm rather enjoying it. I love the chance to improve my writing and being shown various things to help in that arena. This is definitely doing that and I love that it is! Also, I love that it's causing me to think a bit more on things. How I present them, word choices, etc. It's quite awesome really. And I just adore my editor! She truly is wonderful and so very helpful.

I also got my cover art form this morning. Reading through the form, I couldn't help but get so very excited. It was almost as if receiving that made this become a bit more real. So far, it's been rather surreal, like a dream that I can almost touch, but never quite grasp. Yet, here I am. Pursuing my dream and getting published. Really, I couldn't be happier. I'm so very excited and anxious to see how the cover art looks once I get the form filled out. I do have my ideas so far for my first story, so seeing it come to life will be amazing!

I also found out that the line I'm helping to pioneer with Breathless Press (the publisher I'm publishing my story through) is going to expand. Originally, it was for 'naughty nursery rhymes' only. But now it's expanding to include fairytales as well. The joy I felt at learning this bit of news! OH MY! I have so many ideas for this it's just crazy. I already know the first story I plan to write for this expansion since I'm really liking these 'twists' for nursery rhymes and fairytales. My current story to be published is based on the nursery rhyme 'Little Polly Flinders'. It delves into the arena of BDSM and Master/slave. As a hint for my next story, the one that will be fairytale-based, will be 'Little Red Riding Hood'. But, don't let these clues give away my stories. Oh no. I assure you that there are twists and such in how I view my own take on these childhood stories. That said, I do hope whoever reads the story I'm currently having edited will indeed enjoy it and thus look forward to the next one.