Long Time No Blog...

Sorry about that. I could give you lots of excuses, but instead I'll give you...a BLACK ICE update! A few weeks ago I sent the first draft of BLACK ICE to my new editor, and now I'm working furiously on her revision suggestions. My due date for these revisions is May 13th--which explains the "working furiously" part!

At book signings, readers will often ask how much power or authority my editor has to make changes to my books. The simple answer is that my books are mine, and I ultimately get to decide what goes into them.  But (and this is a very big but!) I trust my editor's fresh eyes and keen insight, and except for a few rare instances, I've tried to incorporate her suggestions. Sometimes my editor's suggestions are a springboard for new ideas, and I end up taking the story down a path I'd never imagined. I love/hate it when that happens. I love making my story stronger, but like most humans, I'm lazy, and sometimes I dread the idea of writing lots of extra pages. Writing equals work, and don't you forget it!

With this first round of revisions for BLACK ICE, my editor sent me a twelve-page letter detailing all of her concerns with the book. Confusing character names, weak character development, plot problems, logistics of the crimes, and her suggestion to completely remove the small, albeit present, paranormal element. She followed up the letter with a three-hour phone call, where we picked apart my characters' motivations and tried to nail down what each character wants, and what stands in their way. By the end of the phone call, I think we were both very excited to see a glimmer of a darn good story floating out there on the horizon. And editing is the process by which I try my best to make that distant vision something real.

I am all about checklists (I have a love affair with crossing things off in pink marker), so one of my editing strategies is to print off all of my editor's notes, and as I go through my story making revisions, I rather gleefully check off my to-do/to-edit items. It's one way to keep things organized and to track progress. 

What about you?  Do you have any editing tips/tricks?

Becca 



  

Ta-da! Done!

Hi everyone!

Exciting news. I finished a first draft of BLACK ICE this week. Since then, I've been walking around with my shoulders set a little straighter, and I've had a goofy grin pasted on my face. I've also started going to the gym again, ha!  I know there's a lot of work ahead before BLACK ICE's publication, but I've just hit the first major milestone, and that is cause for celebration, yes?

Next week I'll send the manuscript to my editor, Zareen, and we will commence the editorial process, which lasts for several months.  She'll send me her feedback, including lots of questions about the characters, their motivations, and the story world, all of which will help me flesh out the story and make it more vivid. This is my first time working with Zareen, so I'm a little nervous--I don't want to disappoint her.  I think most authors feel this way.  We want to give our readers (editors included!) the best story we possibly can.  

Ironically, I brainstormed the climax, which takes place during a treacherous snowstorm, on my plane ride home from the Dominican Republic, where the weather was deliciously tropical.  But, lucky me, I got to write the final chapters at home here in Colorado, where my city finally got our first decent snowfall of the winter.  As the snow was coming down, I stood in my driveway letting the wind buffet my face, so I could get my story descriptions just right.  All in the name of research. 

I'll leave you with a few pics from my trip to the DR.
xo
Becca

Valentine's Day Surprise!

As promised, here is a little something romantic to kick-start your Valentine's Day...a lost love letter from Patch to Nora. It isn't often we get to see the softer side of Patch, which makes this letter particularly memorable and significant. The letter tugs at my heart, especially when Patch confesses the truth about the girl he originally fell from heaven to be with. Many of you have asked about her, wanting to know her side of the story, and now you hopefully understand why her side of the story isn't necessary. Patch's destiny was never leading him to her. Patch was always moving closer to Nora.

Happy Valentine's Day...and happy reading!

xo
Becca

Click to enlarge.

Valentine's Day Surprise

So, yesterday on Twitter I posed the question, "Do you love or hate Valentine's Day?" The overwhelming majority of my followers are not fans. Especially if they are single. I get it. It's not nearly as fun to celebrate love when you're not, well, in love. (Actually, it's probably worse if you are in love with someone, and they're not in love with you.)

In the spirit of romance, I'm going to share something special here on my blog on Valentine's Day that celebrates the love between my favorite fictional couple. Yes, that would be Patch and Nora. How did you guess? Whether you love or hate Valentine's Day, if you're a fan of the Hush, Hush series, be sure to stop by here on February 14th!

 

Black Ice Backstory

Hi everyone,

I've been getting a lot of questions about my new YA book, Black Ice. I'm so glad you're looking forward to it! This will be my first published book not set in the Hush, Hush world, and while both stories have many similarities, I've enjoyed trying something new and giving these characters, Jude and Britt, a chance to have their story told.

I had the idea to write Black Ice while I was on tour for Crescendo, but I knew it would take time to get to it—I had to finish writing the Hush, Hush series first.

Black Ice is about a girl, Britt, who backpacks the Teton Range over spring break of her senior year of high school, but things go terribly wrong. My own family moved to Pocatello, Idaho my senior year, where it was tradition to go on a big senior trip with friends over spring break. Most of these trips were planned a year in advance. Since I was the new girl, I got stuck planning a spring break vacation to Targhee National Forest with my family. As you can imagine, at eighteen, I was thrilled about this. 

For better or worse, I came down with an illness at the last minute and had to stay home alone, where I watched a marathon of horror movies. One in particular was about a woman who is abducted by a man and taken to a cabin in the woods. Actually, it's worse than that. The woman must seduce her captor to win her freedom--and he's not just any man, he has a part-robotic face, which, as I recall, he acquired after an accident when doctors tried to repair his damaged facial structure. I think I saw the movie on Lifetime, if that sheds any light.  Anyway, the robot-man is is afraid of the water, and in the end, the woman has to fake her own drowning to escape. Yikes! 

As you can imagine, watching this movie while I was home alone was quite terrifying. I've never forgotten it, and still occasionally have nightmares about it. I'm hoping to recapture that creepy, unsettling mood in Black Ice, while also weaving in an intriguing romance. So, yes. There will be one very scary man, and one man who makes our blood race...

Like Hush, Hush, the inspiration behind Black Ice comes from my own experiences during my teen years.

xo
Becca