Blog Archives

How much do you want to be published?

30/10/2015

I received another rejection this week. To be honest I don't receive anywhere near as many rejections as I think I should, so that's gratifying, but it's still difficult to have something I've worked on for months, sometimes years, returned with a polite note that it isn't good enough.

Yet.

That's the message I received this week. It's not good enough - yet. That means it could be if I made some changes.

Sure, I've just spent three months rearranging the structure, removing a couple of plot arcs, writing out a couple of characters and changing the focus from two characters to two others. I've worked damned hard on this story, and they say it still isn't good enough.

What do you do?

Me... I plan the next rewrite.

That's how much I want this story to be published. I'll change whatever needs to be changed to make this story publishable. The characters will still be mine, the plot will still be mine, the world I created will still be mine. All the words written there will still be mine, they'll just be reordered and represented in a format that appeals to the publisher and matches their guidelines better than the previous version.

The fact that I've totally rewritten this story three times already is irrelevant. If I want it to be published, I have to make the structure and the characters work for the publisher I'm targeting.

That means I'll rewrite the damned thing as many times as I have to.

That's how much I want to be published.

0 Comments

Packmaster - Jess Buffett

22/10/2015

0 Comments

Author Name: Jess Buffett Book Name: Packmaster Series: Full Moon Rising Book: One Release Date: October 16, 205 Blurb: Kyan had never known true kindness, or what it felt like to be completely entranced by one person...until he met Blaise. When his life spins out of control, and a whole new world is opened up to him, he finds that the only human being he can turn to, may not even be human at all. Blaise has spent months trying to figure out the best way to approach his shy and nervous mate. As the Packmaster in the small town of Rowan Oak, he isn't used to having to show restraint or patience. When he finally makes his move a turn of events involving a forgotten note, a disappearing mate, and trouble with a group of hunters leads to disastrous results. When Blaise finally catches up to Kyan, what he finds and the answers he gets are nothing like what he had been expecting. Will the pair be able to straighten out their misunderstandings and find the happiness they both long for, or will the Packmaster lose the only thing he has ever had to fight for? Pages or Words: 20,710 words Categories: Fantasy, M/M Romance, Paranormal, Romance Excerpt: Kyan ran. His legs burned, his chest was tight and the fear that clogged his throat was so completely overwhelming that he just knew at any minute his entire body would give out on him. The heavy rain pelted down hard, and his small stature, with hardly any muscle or bulk of any form, quivered from the strain. He pushed himself through the pain, refusing to give up. The abhorrent idea of allowing the monsters that chased him, to catch up, was the only thing that kept him moving. That, and the small flutter he felt in his stomach. The reminder that he was not only running for his own life, but that of his unborn child’s. Even now, with the small protrusion in his lower abdomen, the thought almost sent him careening off course. Pregnant! How could a man be pregnant? It just shouldn’t be possible. Kyan swiped his auburn hair out of his face, so that he could see better. The normally spiky locks hung plastered to his forehead by sweat and rain. “There he is. Get him!” One of the many voices that had taunted him for the last hour, shouted. Alarm shot through him when he realized just how close they had gotten to him. A whimper broke free as he darted his way through the thick foliage and branches that stuck out and cut through his skin. He almost lost his footing over a protruding tree root, but luckily he was able to leap at the last moment, landing firmly on his two feet. Just as he regained his stride, a heavy mass ploughed into his side, sending him careening to the ground. He barely had enough time to twist so as not to fall onto his stomach. His entire frame ached, and all he could do was curl up into a ball, protecting himself and his child as much as possible. “Please,” he begged. “God, please.” “Shhh,” came a vicious hiss from above him. Firm hands clamped down hard on him as he attempted to shrug them off. “Do you want them to find us? Keep still and be quiet.” He froze at the menacing yet familiar voice, and only then became aware that at some stage he must have closed his eyes. Prying them open, Kyan stared at the hulking man above him in shock, confusion and not a little bit of fear. “Blaise?” A hand quickly covered his mouth as Blaise growled. “For the love of god, Kyan. Shut. Up.” Buy the book: Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Packmaster-Full-Moon-Rising-Book-ebook/dp/B016OM3TBO/ Are: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-packmaster-1907057-145.html Meet the author: Jess Buffett was born and raised in New South Wales, Australia. She is a mum of two, married to her high school sweetheart. Jess is a hopeless romantic who is a huge fan of M/M and M/F romance with a happy ending—anything with hunky men in all their glory, whether they be Shifters, Vampires, Cowboys, or the boy next door. A caffeine addict who shamefully can’t make a decent cup of coffee to save her life, Jess believes in soul mates, happily ever afters, and in love at first sight, but that sometimes people need a second or a third for the brain to catch up. Where to find the author: Facebook: www.facebook.com/jessbuffett05 Facebook Author Page: www.facebok.com/JessBuffettAuthor Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JessBuffett Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/jessbuffett/ Website: www.jessbuffett.com Blog: www.jessbuffett.wordpress.com Email: jessbuffett@gmail.com Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27210842-packmaster Publisher: Jess Buffett Cover Artist: Jess Buffett Tour Dates & Stops: Parker Williams, The Hat Party, 3 Chicks After Dark, Molly Lolly, Bayou Book Junkie, Full Moon Dreaming, QUEERcentric Books, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, BFD Book Blog, KathyMac Reviews, Havan Fellows, Mikky's World of Books, Bike Book Reviews, EE Montgomery, Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My, SiK Reviews, Wicked Faerie's Tales and Reviews, Jessie G. Books, Happily Ever Chapter, Carly’s Book Reviews, Hearts on Fire, Divine Magazine, Iyana Jenna, Louise Lyons, MM Good Book Reviews, Bonkers About Books, The Fuzzy, Fluffy World of Chris T. Kat, Nautical Star Books, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Inked Rainbow Reads, Redz World, Moonbeams Over Atlanta, Cheekypee Reads and Reviews a Rafflecopter giveaway

0 Comments

The Dreaded Synopsis

16/10/2015

0 Comments

One thing I really have never enjoyed with my writing is writing a synopsis. That could be because I always get it wrong.

The concept of a synopsis is quite easy. Leave out the detail. Hit the emotional highs and lows. Something that sounds so easy shouldn't be so hard to get right, but it is for me.

I recently submitted Warrior Pledge and of course had to write a synopsis for it. I started the way I usually do:
*Make note of all the emotional high points and low points in the story. Those are the things that get mentioned in the synopsis.
*Choose which character to write from. A synopsis is from one character's point of view only, and it's generally in third person, present tense.
*Describe how the character feels about and reacts to the emotional highs and lows.

Sounds easy. I generally start out okay. The first paragraph is filled with tension and pretty phrases and is 'synopsisey'.

Then it all falls apart, and I end up with four pages of chapter summaries.

Boring.

With Warrior Pledge, I tried something new. I wrote my usual chapter-summary-I-call-a-synopsis. It at least shows me all the emotional highs and lows. Then I took two pieces of paper, folded them in half lengthwise and put headings at the top. I wrote adjectives that described the personalities of the two major characters. Not what they thought or felt or did at any time, just their personalities. I ended up with something like the table below.

Then I used those words and qualities to describe why Checa and Heath were doing what they were doing at the emotional highs and lows.

The result? Every word a synopsis. So easy.

Oh shit! What if I can't do it again with the next book?

0 Comments

This week's random ready reads

9/10/2015

0 Comments

I have piles of books around my house, just waiting for me to pick them up and read them. Most often I'll only read parts of each book before I put it back on the shelve and choose a different group. I never intend to read all of them. I use them for ideas and to keep my mind busy.

This week's ready-to-read pile includes:

*Water Plants in Australia: A Field Guide by G. R. Sainty and S. W. L. Jacobs
*Gardener's Latin: a Lexicon by Bill Neal
*How Would You Survive in the Middle Ages by Fiona Macdonald, Illustrated by Mark Peppe
*Stained Glass by Marc Gerstein and Lynette Wrigley
*Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs: She Thinks I'm a Piano Player in a Whorehouse by Paul Carter

0 Comments

Shifting Projects

2/10/2015

2 Comments

I'm almost to the end of the editing stage with The Planet Whisperer and it's on the steep slope toward release, so I'm making plans for the next projects.

I always have more than one project open at the same time, with a number of projects also in a queue. I don't think I'll ever run out of ideas to write about. Today's queue looks something like this:

The Planet Whisperer is in the final stages of editing with Dreamspinner Press. I've made some significant changes during editing and I think the story reads tighter and 'fuller' than it did before. I'm really excited for this book to be released late this year. It's very different to anything I've had published before.
I have about half an hour of editing to do on Warrior Pledge and then it'll be ready to submit. I'll make those changes today and send it off. That means there'll be an empty slot in my queue.
I need to finish the book I was working on before The Planet Whisperer went into production and I decided to rewrite Warrior Pledge. It's two-thirds done, so I can have some real creative writing time, and just make stuff up.
Another book that's finished--No Evil Star--needs to be rewritten. I need to change the gender of a couple of characters, the orientation of a couple of characters, and create another character. Those changes mean a large number of scenes will have to disappear and new ones take their place. It's going to be a big job but I'll potter away at it for a while and see how far I get. I have other stories that need major edits as well. I'll tackle them one at a time in between new projects so that I don't feel like my whole life is nothing but editing.
NaNoWriMo is coming up in November, so I'll have another new book to start then. I probably won't finish it but I'll have the bones down so I can work on it next year. I haven't decided which one to write yet. I have ideas for so many. I could revisit an idea a friend and I worked on several years ago but did nothing with. It explores the impact chemical imbalances in the brain have on behaviours. There's also one that I've written as a short story, but I could use the world--post-alien-invasion earth, that combines things from America's slave history and Dr Who--to create a novel from. There's lots of potential and why waste a world when I've gone to so much trouble to create it?

2 Comments

How much do you want to be published?

Packmaster - Jess Buffett

The Dreaded Synopsis

This week's random ready reads

Shifting Projects

E E Montgomery

Archives

Categories