PYXIS is "a spunky, original YA idea"

Feedback for PYXIS, from a traditionally-published fiction author and editor:

"You've got a spunky, original YA idea here, and I had a lot of fun reading..."

"Corinne is a spunky, quirky, compellingly flawed heroine, who has just enough about life figured out to be interesting and sympathetic while still offering opportunities for growth."

"The conflict revs up right from the beginning when the students begin showering unwanted attention on Corinne."

PYXIS is currently in the editing stage, with a release date tentatively planned for June. You can read the blurb here.

Will You Date My Book?

For the first time ever, last week I asked someone I don't know IRL if she'd be interested in beta-reading something I wrote. In a Goodreads group, she and I had chatted a little about writing, and she expressed interest in my blurb for The Pyxis. I was curiously anxious as I waited for her answer, like I was trying to set up my book on a blind date with one of the cool girls. Lucky for me and my book, she responded with an enthusiastic "Yes!"

It's rather remarkable, really, that a near-stranger would agree to take such an interest in my story, with no promise of anything in return. To N: Thank you for being willing to do this. You rock!!

A Perfect World

This is my new theme song, written and recorded by my husband and his friend Sauce. A good one for anyone who's frustrated by the status quo, or aspiring to something that sometimes feels impossibly out of reach....

The Nervous Wait

So much for only having 2 people read my Book 1 draft.... I have the entire manuscript out with 2 editors, the first 3k or so words with another editor, and I have yet to give it to 2 beta readers... which means I'm going to be hit with an avalanche of feedback in the near future!

This is the first time I've ever sought feedback on a novel-length chunk of writing, and it's a little, um, disconcerting. In my "day job," I get edited regularly, so I suppose in a sense I'm accustomed to seeing my writing all inked up in red. But the writing I do at work is nonfiction and technical. How will my stories stand up...?

While I wait for feedback on Book 1, I'm writing Book 2. My goal is to finish this draft before all the editor and beta feedback returns to me. I have a new appreciation for the writing part of the process. It suddenly feels so simple and safe compared to asking for critiques and doing revisions.

Book Nerds Unite

Remember those reading challenge things in grade school? Where you had to read so many pages or books in a week or month, and you'd get prizes? Well, I have to confess something. I lied on my reading challenge book logs. I know! Shocking. But I'm coming clean today: I used to under-report the number of books I read. Why did I do this? More than once, my extensive book logs were met with suspicion from my teachers and classmates. It just became easier to lie.

Fast-forward a couple of years (okay, decades)....

I joined Goodreads several weeks ago on the advice of authors who said it was a great place to connect with potential readers. I don't have any books to offer yet, but even if I never published a thing I'd keep hanging out there. I love my groups! I've met so many funny, interesting people, and I love knowing that there are so many thousands of obsessive readers out there. People who have been moved and changed by stories, who stay up way past their bedtimes because they have to see how it ends, and who are so eager to talk about the books they read.

As my Goodreads friend Jo would say, obsessions are better when shared with friends.

(Wanna be Goodreads friends? I'm here - send me a request!)