Monday, July 30, 2012

Monday Mishmash 7/30/12

Happy Monday! Here's my mishmash of thoughts today:
  1. Branding  I had a really interesting talk about branding with my agent. It really made me think. I'll be blogging about it later this week.
  2. Dual POV  My next WIP will have a dual POV—one female and one male. I've never written a dual POV before but I'm excited to give it a try. The manuscript really can't work without it, so I need to figure it out. ;)
  3. Touch of Death FB page  Kendra Saunders, my awesome marketing coordinator at Spencer Hill Press, set up a FB page for Touch of Death. I'm sharing teasers, songs from my playlist, and other cool stuff there. Like it here.
  4. Back-to-school shopping  I'm getting my daughter set for full-day kindergarten. She starts at the end of August. I miss her already. :(
  5. Editing  I've been editing for clients in between doing edits on my own books. Something about editing just makes me smile. I guess it's because I know I'm making the manuscript better.
That's it for me. What's on your mind today?

63 comments:

  1. I LOVE dual POV! Cant wait for it. My daughter starts kindergarten next Monday, Im not ready yet!

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    1. I know what you mean, Nereyda. I'm not ready for my daughter to be in school full-time either. :(

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  2. Some exciting things there. I have liked your FB page.

    On my mind today is keeping my children busy over the holidays while attempting to finish the first draft of my WiP.

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    1. Thanks for liking my FB page, Fi. :)

      Good luck finishing that WIP!

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  3. Dual POV should be lots of fun! In one class, we had to come up with an odd character and write in their 1st person POV. I picked a homeless man. Dang that was hard, but fun like you couldn't imagine.

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    1. That does sound both difficult and fun! I'm sure you did an amazing job. :)

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  4. Dual POV can be very difficult, but very effective. I recently finished a middle grade historical in two POVs, and itntook me a long time and a lotnofnwork to get it right. When you are done, a reader should be able to read any random page and know which POV it is. You really have to develop unique voices for each. Good luck!

    On my mind is getting enough hours in at work to keep everyone happy, getting one daughter ready to move back to college, getting another ready to start her junior year of high school, my mother's upcoming hip replacement, querying agents with my finished novel, and getting a draft of a novel ready to share by SEPT. 1

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    1. I completely agree about unique voices. One of my tests during revision is to read a line of dialogue at random to see if it's clear who said it. Personality must come through.

      Good luck with all you have going on. Sounds like a full plate!

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  5. I liked your page! I want to know what's up with that zombie deer.

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    1. You'll meet the zombie deer in the first chapter of Touch of Death. ;) Thanks for liking the page.

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  6. I write in dual POV and it's the one thing that comes fairly easily to me. I think the key is to make sure your POV changes are clear, and it works best with chapter changes. Looking forward to your thoughts on branding.

    I've got more editing this week and going to be doing the BTS shopping as well. Fun!

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    1. My agent actually talked me into writing a dual POV because she likes the way I can get my male characters to sound so authentic. She has a teenage brother, so she judges my male characters based off him. I never back away from a challenge, so when this idea came to me and I realized the dual POV would work best, I decided to go for it. I hope it goes well.

      Good luck with edits!

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  7. Gosh! You are a busy one! Seems a long time ago since my daughter went to kindergarten (she's now 28, marrying in Dec). I guess what's on my mind is my current failure to upload to Amazon Kindle successfully! (Mild swearing coz this is a family blog). How come it's supposed to be soo easy? It ain't. If you check out my blog post today - you have the link, you can see and laugh at the lack of progress - Oh and PLeeaase leave a comment on the cover! : )

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    1. Hi, Carol. Just left you a comment. Your cover looks great. Sorry Kindle is giving you such a hard time. I wish I had an answer for you. Good luck!

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  8. Good luck with the dual POV! I hear publishing industry folks are always worried about that, but I personally like it.

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    1. I've never tried it, but this WIP is really calling for it. I do enjoy reading books written this way too, so we shall see. :)

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  9. I'm looking forward to your post on branding. But the big thing on my mind today is SLEEP. That beautiful little girl I brought home two months ago is killing mommy!!!!!

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    1. Aw, sorry to hear that, Beth. I remember those days well. Get some rest.

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  10. I can't wait to read your post about the branding conversation.

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  11. Looking forward to hearing the agent related conversation. Branding is always evolving nowadays.

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    1. Yes. Happy to share what I've learned. Stay tuned for Friday.

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  12. Your branding blog is on my mind. Cannot wait to read it!

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  13. Duel POV is fun. I love writing from different perspectives. For me, I'm trying to organize all my work. I suddenly find myself with less time during the day.

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    1. There's never enough time in the day, is there?

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  14. Getting back to translation after 3 days of working on my own book (I spent Friday with my editor/publisher talking about the changes, Saturday making those changes, and Sunday checking it all out again before sending to the publisher). I'm still sort of dizzy. :)

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    1. I hope you get a chance to relax. Sounds like you need a little breather.

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  15. I enjoy reading dual POV books. I love how authors create distinct voices and characters with them.

    I look forward to your branding post.

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    1. So far I'm just planning, but already my two MCs have very distinct voices and personalities. It's funny to see how they work together.

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  16. I'm glad you are going to be writing about branding this week, Kelly. It is something I have been thinking a lot about lately, as I continue to work on my Bibliophiles' series. Can't wait to read it.

    I cannot believe it is time for back-to-school shopping already. I have one going into junior high and my oldest is on his way to college--yikes! Our shopping for his dorm room starts later this week.

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    1. I'm glad you are looking forward to the branding post.

      Dorm room shopping. That can get expensive. I hope he has a roommate to share some of the expenses with.

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  17. Hi Kelly, Thank you for your comment on Grammar and the rules. So it looks like you would be an expert editing, writing, and a degree in English. I majored in Engineering. Alas, English grammar was not the focus. Any good hints or tips since you edit? I am amazed at what you can all get done. Good luck with all day school. My daughter goes to daycare due to the day job I have, and well, it's miserable.

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    1. Michelle, I'd say to remember that as much as you want your grammar to be good, your characters won't speak with perfect grammar. Don't be afraid to let your characters be real people even if it means using imperfect grammar. If you want help with specific grammar rules, feel free to email me. :) khashway(at)hotmail(dot)com

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    2. Thanks. I might take you up on that. For now I am writing as I always have. If I get too caught up in editing I stop writing.

      Too many critiques out there stopping creativity :-)

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    3. Yes, just write and get the ideas on paper. Worry about editing and grammar later. And feel free to email me with questions.

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  18. Oh, great mish mash. I look forward to your post on branding. I LOVE stories with Dual POVs. My YA sequel will be dual POVs. I've armed myself with YA written in dual, or most of them are male POV.
    Ah, what's on my mind... my children travelled to Turkey for seven day holiday. I'll miss them :( the bright side in this, I'll catch up on editing. no distractions. but I already miss them :(

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    1. I hope your children have a safe trip. I'm sure you miss them a lot, but take some time for yourself. Mom's rarely get that.

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  19. I am looking forward to your post about branding. It sounds like it will be interesing. I love reading a book with dual POVs. I read Flipped and enjoyed reading the story from the guy and girl's point of view. Very fascinating. Good luck!

    This week I have a lot of writing that I want to get done on my ms. Hopefully lots of progress will be made!
    ~Jess

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    1. Flipped is a good book. Mine will be a male and female dual POV too. It should be fun to write.

      Good luck with your manuscript!

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  20. You are one busy mama!!

    I have not attempted dual POV's yet but maybe someday. I have a hard enough time concentrating on just one right now. And I'm not sure I like to read dual POV's either. Oh I don't mind dual I guess but when you have 4, 5 or more, I find it really confusing for this old lady to keep track of what is going on! Goodluck writing yours though, I'm sure it will be fun and challenging!

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    1. Yes, more than two POVs can be very confusing! I do enjoy the occasional dual POV though. It should be fun to write.

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  21. I look forward to reading your branding post.

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  22. Ooh, I'm looking forward to your branding post too! And yay for dual points of view!

    :0)

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    1. I'm so glad everyone is excited for this post. I hope it lives up to everyone's hopes. :)

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  23. Branding is a very interesting topic. The more I look into the more I understand why some authors use different pen names for different genres.

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    1. Yeah, I never thought about it much before I talked to my agent, but it makes sense now.

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  24. Looking forward to your branding post. I use different names for my adult and YA works. Heading to your Touch Page. You're starting early on this Kelly, so this will be good for the series. I have Dual POV on my runes series...will see how it works.

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    1. I hope you'll share your thoughts on Friday's branding post, Ednah. I'd love to hear how you decided to use a different name for your adult and YA works.

      Looking forward to your runes series.

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  25. I spend my day job in marketing and branding and building social media sites, campaigns, for clients. I'm sure Laura imparted the importance of branding at the author level (which is likely amazing and something most of us have limited domain on). As existed as everyone else to learn more. Unlike you, I am getting prepared to let my girl go-again. She's a sophomore in COLLEGE! When did that happened. She has 3 1/2 more weeks at home before we drive back to Santa Fe. Do i really have to let her go back?

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    1. Aw, I know you'll miss her. Enjoy those 3 1/2 weeks. I'm not ready to give my little girl up during the day. I can't imagine having to send her to college.

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  26. The dual POV sounds interesting, and I'm looking forward to your post on branding. Good luck to you and your daughter as you move into this new & exciting phase! Echoing Brenda, my baby girl will be heading off to college for the first time this year!

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    1. Good luck with the transition to college. I hope you and your daughter handle it well.

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  27. Okay, it's Tuesday, but...I was thrilled to meet yesterday (Monday!) with a client who is seriously committed, open, and raring to go on the edits that will make her manuscript fully blossom. It made me smile ear to ear!

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  28. Must have a look at your FB :-)

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  29. I enjoy dual POV books. Have fun with it! =)

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  30. Sounds like you've been quite busy again. I'll look forward to your post on branding.

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  31. I've gone with multiple POV, so I have no problem with it. My two main characters still dominate the book, even with the extra POVs.

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    1. I've never tried that, but kudos to you if you can do it. :)

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