I SURVIVED!

They really need the t-shirt to say "I survived NaNoWriMo!" because it's one heck of a rollercoaster.

Hello my dear readers! It is I, Angela. I've made it through the belly of the beast and have come out with VICTORY... sorta.

Good news: I have finished the first two novels in new series! Here & Here are the covers for those. IT's my handiwork so it's not the best but hopefully they'll peak your interest. This is a dark supernatural romance series that I've been working on for a awhile now. I plan on having four books and hopefully interesting an agent with them.

Bad news: Even so I only had written 45k and had to add 5k from previous writings that I didn't write in November.

In short, I cheated. Which is why you will not see the lovely icon of victory on this website. I still do feel like I won but I really want to write a fifty thousand word novel in a month. Eventually!

So now I'm taking a month off and celebrating the rest of my holidays with my family instead of sitting behind a computer cursing my slow typing. Yes it will be very hard not to give into the temptations of shredding my novels to pieces and putting them back together in a hopefully better way but I'm certain my hands will fall off (or I'll at least get carpel tunnel) if I continue another month into NaNoFinNo. Plus I will be following the advice of many people about letting your piece sit awhile before coming back to it.

Speaking of Holidays, how was your Thanksgiving? Mine was particularly splendid minus the stress of NaNo. Although I didn't stuff my face with turkey. (I'm not a big fan of the feathery meats) I'd love to hear about your family traditions!

Peace&<3,

Angela

Tis the Season to be NaNo!

NaNoWriMo to be exact!

Hi again my lovely adventurers! Are you excited as I am this year for NaNoWriMo? Probably not! This year I just know I'm gonna get the fifty thousand words. I'm pretty pumped to get started on my book. I've been planning it in my head since last year. If you don't know what NaNoWriMo is I'm pretty sure I explained it in last year's post.

In other news, I'm a finalist for the World Poetry Contest. This is rather surprising seeing as I really thought I failed at writing poetry. Usually I write a poem by opening up my heart and pouring on the paper. (That could be a bit gory depending on how you picture it.) Then I look back and realize what a big mess it is and clean it up a bit. I'm going to be published in the huge book that supposedly will "last through generations". Anyway I'm still kind of in shock. I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.

Hahaha sorry I had to. Oh, and I'm in another contest. It's for Seventeen magazine. I used to read this mag all the time when I was younger. I'd steal it from my sister's room and snicker at all the parts about "How to Kiss your man". Now I could possibly get published in it! Also when some much needed college money and get to talk to one of my FAVORITE writers, Maggie Steifvater!!!!!

Sorry, but screw the money; talking to her is the only thing that gets me excited to enter in this contest. The link for this contest is right here! You can join if you'd like. Or you can heart my little story on figment that's an entry. That link is over there!

I'm being a bit corny today. There's really nothing to do as I sit in Starbucks waiting for my shift at Subway to start. More on that in my next REALLY long post. Well, I'm going to play some random games now. Bye!

Peace&<3,
Angela

26 is my new favorite number!

Hello adventurers! So I has some fantastic news for you! I am rated #26 on TeenInk. I have no idea who's voting for me but KEEP DOING IT PLEASE! If you would like to check out the first couple of chapters of my handy dandy novel "I Know How You Feel" (whoa I went all Blue's Clues on you for a second) check out the cute little icon on teh webpage. If you can't see it, then I suggest some glasses or laser eye surgery or maybe, if you have a super cool macbook like me, take your two fingers and do the zoom in motion on your mouse track pad type thingymabob. Anyway, it's there and so is the fabulous book I have been talking about. Also I told you guys I'd give you the link to where you can buy the book with my story in it so
Lookie here: http://www.harpercollins.com/books/A-Midsummer-Nights-Dream-William-Shakespeare?isbn=9780062066008&HCHP=TB_A+Midsummer+Night+s+Dream

Also I attempted to dye my hair purple today and let's just say it is still red. DON'T BUY RAW HAIR COLOR!!! IT SUCKS! That's all for now!

Peace&<3,
Angela

Oh hey, a contest.

Lookie here my lovely authors of unpublished novels!

http://yatopia.blogspot.com/2011/09/pitch-contest-with-agent-mandy-hubbard.html

Tis a beautiful opportunity for those YA and MG authors. I'm entering. Why don't you?

Gone Forever? What are you kidding me?

Well hey there strangers! I really can't explain where I'm been without going into the long story of how I've been through hell and back so I'm just going to tell you the good things that you've missed.

My first partial! -- Though rejected it was by GINGER CLARKE!!! She's pretty awesome and I'm excited that she was at least interested by my novel.

My name is now officially in print! -- And by HarperCollins no less. If you're a fan of the old classic "A MidSummer Night's Dream", pick up the republished version coming out this October and look in the extras section in the back. There I am, first story. Several of my friends are wanting me to sign it. My excitement can not even be described in words!

My acceptance into SCAD-- Literally two days after I sent all the stuff they needed, they sent me an email. Talk about awesome!

Sadly I don't have much more to say except for I'm back. I'm going to be keeping you guys updated on the adventures from now on. I'm thinking I'll be sending out queries again (since regular jobs aren't wanting me) and trying to write some more. I can't make any promises but I'm definitely participating in NaNoWriMo this year.

Whoever stayed with me is awesome!

Peace&<3,
Angela

WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?!

Hi Adventurers! So let's just say this month has been a whirlwind. Literally. The storms here were really gross and the weather was so messed up BUT... now it's sunny and I couldn't be happier. :) Why is that you may ask? (Or may not but I'm telling you anyway.) You know that contest I've been gabbing about for the past three weeks? Well, I won. Yes, you read right... I WON :D Sorry if I'm bragging or anything but this makes me so excited. I've never won a contest in my entire life so this is amazing. They'll be launching the book in October and I'll be a published author. It's so weird to say that. Every time I think about it in my head, I'm amazed. Now to become a novelist. Which hopefully will be easier with this credential in my belt. Well, I'm off to go celebrate some more. Once the book comes out in stores I'll post the link on here.  I'm hoping to post more but I just got a tumblr and it's sort of addicting haha. Until next time!

Peace&<3,
Angela

Mysterious Contests and Bad Queries

Hey Adventurers! You could say I'm a bit down right now. The Shakespeare contest won't announce their winners. Instead they're going to call, email or send a letter. And I haven't gotten anything like that yet :/ I'm pretty sure I didn't win or I did and they're being mysterious lol. Also my query was torn into little tiny pieces on Absolute Write (another good site for writers) and I was told that it's not ready for prime time yet. Now that I look at it, I can see why but being told that is still a bit discouraging. Oh well! I'm going to keep moving forward nonetheless. Oh and if you've been with me since the beginning you'll probably notice that site changed a bit. Do you like it now or before? I took out the music because everyone was complaining about it and I found myself turning off my volume every time I got onto here. I also plan on trying to add some more to the site but I'm not sure what yet... Any ideas?
Until next time!

Peace&<3,
Angela

UPDATE: Shakespeare Contest

Hello adventurers! I can't remember when, but awhile back I told you about this contest I entered. Well... I didn't have much hope for it at first but after I made a group on Facebook, the votes slowly started piling up. It was amazing. In less than a month,  I got over a 150 votes and now I'm in the finalist stage!!! They're reading and judging the entries today! The results come out tomorrow, saying whether or not I made it to the final stage. I'm so excited and nervous at the same time. If I win this contest, I could possibly be published by Harper Collins! (or win an Ipod Touch, which I've been needing a new one(: )
Just thought I'd let you know(:

One more day of waiting! :D

Peace&<3,
Angela

Angela is currently: writing my arm off xD

Hello adventurers! I'm back with fabulous news. My short story, "Shattered" has been published on Teen Ink! (How about them apples?) If you want to see it just click here. I'm hoping it will be considered to be published in the magazine so I can FINALLY be a published author. Also I've been working on editing I Know How You Feel again and put the prologue and the first chapter of the second draft up on Teen Ink as well. (Yay for free time!) Another thing I finally got back into is writer's roleplay. If you didn't know, writer's roleplay is kind of like acting but instead of saying the lines and doing the actions, you write them. It's a fun way for me to practice my writing and it keeps me from getting bored with editing. A while back I joined a site called "Once Upon a City". It's a lovely site where you create a character that is the personification of a Children's Storybook character. (think Disney) At the moment I play Happy from Snow White, Anastasia from well... Anastasia and Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast. I really love this site and all the people in it.
I've also created a site called "Eternal Bonds". It's all about the Greek myth of the Creation of Love. You create a character who is a half soul and write about their life and another person creates their other half and when they meet and fall and love... they are whole again. (That's me and my hopeless romanticness) I'm hoping this site will pick up again so we can finally start having some cutsie romance (Yes I just said cutsie romance XD) Every writer should participate in writer's roleplay if they want to have fun with writing and gain more experience. Just make sure you pick the right sites (the creeperless ones) and choose the right plots.

Anyway, enough with the infomercial! I can't wait for this summer. 20 more school days! How many for you?
Bye for now!

Peace&<3,
Angela

Busy time over!

Hey there adventurers! Sorry about abandoning you for so long but I'm back! All of my life-changing experiences have come and past, and now I'm finally going to be settling back into a routine. Well... as routine as my life can be. Through all the busy days I did manage to find some free time to put together a group on Facebook for that little contest I entered! I have over 90 votes now thanks to all my awesome friends. I'll be sure to have the judges reading my little entry now :D I'm excited to see what happens but even if I don't win I've learned I still have a huge group of people who back my writing endeavors :) It's exciting to get feedback from the ones whose opinions I value the most.

I also have been working on I Know How You Feel and hope to finish the editing process by the end of this month. (A little bit of deja vu huh? (; ) If not then I'll keep on truckin'. After all it is 63,000 words and 419 pages printed. (Thanks Scrivener :D) I can't take this job lightly. I have to buckle down and get to it!

Also my other novel Energy has been getting some attention when I get an urge to write in it. I think when I get some free time I'm going to make a spot and post excerpts of each of my many novels just to have a portfolio so to speak. For now I'm off to make my to do list! Bye!

Peace&<3,
Angela

Vote for me?

Hey there Adventurers! It's me and guess what I did? I finally submitted my entry for the Midsummer Night's Dream contest!!!!

Check it ooout: http://inkpop.strutta.com/entry/156540

I'm really hoping you guys and my lovely writing friends on Facebook and Inkpop like it enough to vote it to the top five. I've probably said this before, but my dream is to be published by Harper Collins. If this works out, I can have my name in one of their books! It's so exciting!!! Also, this coming from a admin of Inkpop, having the fact that I'm published with Harper Collins on my query is a huuuuge flashing sign to literary agents. How's that for credentials?

Sorry for all the uber happiness and hope. (A slight change from yesterday's post, eh?) I'd fill this post with smileys but I feel like that would be a bit much. Anyway, I also have a new program to show you called Scrivener. It's a program made by an English man for writers. And let me tell you, it's pure genius. Everything is so easy to organize and edit with this program. At forty-five bucks, it's well worth it. I'm not going to go all infomercial on you but seriously, if you're a writer, check it out.

That's all for now. (I was tempted to say folks hehe)

Peace&<3,
Angela

Contests are my new drug

Thankfully most of them aren't a contest of luck (considering I have none even though I'm Irish) Here is a lovely one that you should try: http://yatopia.blogspot.com/2011/03/agent-pitch-contest.html
Yatopia is holding this super awesome contest with a literary agent but guess what? You don't have to write a query letter! Just fill out the form and hope and pray that the agent is interested.
Just thought I'd let you know!

Peace&<3,
Angela

March Madness!!!

No, I'm not that big of a basketball fan. (Personally, I don't get the obsession with sports) I'm talking about my March Madness. All of my weekends in March are filled up! Prom was awesome :D Next weekend I'm throwing a party and the weekend after that is Spring Break! And now it's getting warm, so I want to go outside. I'm worried I'll never get my story edited!!!!
Oh hi, Adventurers. Sorry for my rant. I really am a bit surprised by all of this. I'm never this busy! I'm thinking I'll have to move my writing schedule back a month. I am entering a pretty big contest though. I've got my awesome Creative Writing teacher looking over my work and giving me some advice. After that I'll post it here and hope and pray you'll like it and vote for it.
In other news, I didn't get accepted into Newspaper. (sadness) I'm good now though. At first I was moping around and grumbling about my Senior plans being ruined but I'm at the acceptance stage now. I'm realizing that rejection is inevitable. (not to be pessimistic) Not everyone is going to like my writing and probably more than seventy-five percent of my queries will be rejected this summer. But as the quirky movie "Meet the Robinsons" says, I have to keep moving forward! Well that's it for now. Question of the Day: What are your plans for the next six months for your writing?

Peace&<3,
Angela

I'm still here!

Hi adventurers! Sorry about disappearing! March has been waaaay busier for me then a planned. I'd love to say I got tons of editing done while I was gone but... I didn't. I did write though! So it's probably safe to say I WILL NOT be getting the editing done for I Know How You Feel before April 1st. My weekends are jam-packed. I'm pretty excited about this too. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only writer who thinks they'll be stuck behind typed words for the rest of their life. Even one of my best guy friends says whenever I tell him I want to be published, "But writers are lonely!" So tell me, what do you do to break the Writer's Curse? (hehe I just made a reference to my poem) Bye for now! I'll try to updated at least once a week. After March is over it will probably be daily again.

Peace&<3,
Angela

Wow, it's late!

Not as late as my other posts but still... So no editing today! Maybe tomorrow. (Is that procrastination I hear?) I've been working on another contest. (This one's pretty legit) If I when I'll have more things to put on my query and I'll have my writing published with Harper Collins. (cue girly screams) So I have been productive... just not in the way of editing. I'm hoping to get back on the editing bandwagon as soon as I finish this piece. Or during... it depends on how ADD I am tomorrow. So another short and sweet post by me! And my question of the day is: What helps you stay focused? Good night followers... I need a another name for you guys... Adventurists? Readers? Knights who say Ni? I'll work on it.

Peace&<3,
Angela

¡NO MAS COMPRANDO!

Yeah that's probably not correct Spanish but oh well...

Hello darlings! I'm back from a very busy day! My prom is coming up soon and I successfully found the perfect dress and jewelry after shopping for three weekends in a row. I'm not too fond of serious shopping so you can guess how I'm feeling right now. (Especially with another weekend of shopping needed to find shoes *twitchtwitch*) Though I did get to spend time with my mom and my best friend so that was nice. (Look at me, being all positive :D) I didn't get any writing down today but I'm certain I can get the ball rolling again tomorrow. Maybe I should only work on editing on weekdays... there's an idea. Anyway I'm going to keep this post short and sweet because my energy is at about ten percent right now. So here's my question to you: What is the most inspirational time of day for you to write? Mine is usually late afternoon to three A.M. ^^" Bye for now!

Peace&<3,
Angela

I'm entering contests now

Hello! So I saw this contest on Inkpop that I figured I should join because I needed to get some credentials and a contest sound fun. Sadly, at that time, I had zero inspiration. Then a peculiar thing happened. I opened up my blinds and saw a lamppost. Then suddenly, BAM I had a story. So here it is!

Shattered

By Angela T. Marie

I opened my blinds to see he was standing at the lamppost. Just like I asked him. The orange light revealed his silhouette looking towards my house. It was nearing midnight so I knew everyone was asleep. I slipped on some shoes and tiptoed down the steps and out the door. As I walked across the street to him, I thought of the first words that he would say when I got there. He'd probably comment sarcastically on my robe or make a joke about my choice of a meeting place.  He really wasn’t much of a romantic.

When I meet his gaze, I wasn't expecting him to look lovingly at me the way he did. I also wasn't ready for the amorous embrace he immediately pulled me into. No words just actions. His smell enveloped me and I relaxed in his warm arms. He slowly pulled me away and stroked my cheek. The whole world around me seemed to blur as we made our way back to my house. I entered a new realm of being when I pulled him into my room. I closed the door and he pulled me closer, kissing me in a way that showed love, not lust.

This much emotion from him was almost impossible for me to perceive. When he asked me to get together I thought I knew exactly what he meant. I thought it would be for one night only and then done. I hadn’t planned it to affect me in the least bit. I wanted him and he wanted me. That much was true. There didn’t look to be anymore until tonight. The way he touched me tonight, I felt like we could stay in this delusion of love forever. I felt we might never leave the realm of being we had entered. That was until a simple call broke the illusion.

"That's her," he said speaking for the first time tonight. I nodded and he answered the call. The illusion was shattered. The realm was broken. In the real world, he had a girlfriend. In the real world, I wasn't "her". In the real world, that girlfriend was my best friend.

So what do you think? I really need a critique before I submit it. The characters are meant to be faceless by the by. I like to make my short stories open to the imagination. Plus if I go into detail it usually turns into a novel heh. Bye for now!

Peace&<3,
Angela

EEK! Editing burnout!

Hello again everyone! I'd just like to celebrate because... this blog now has ten followers!!! YAY! -pops confetti cannons- Anyway I'm starting to become burned out by this whole editing thing! I don't know what to doooo! It's only March 4th! (the only day in the year that tells you to do something I might add) I don't think I can edit for an entire month! What was I thinking???
So here's what I decided: I have a nice little huge checklist of things to fix in this edit and I'm going to do that instead of going chapter by chapter. I'll go through and add little details every now and then but trying to detail my entire story might drive me insaaaaane. So far I've described the physical characteristics of my characters better and separated the big hug mess of Chapter Twelve. Now I have twenty-seven chapters. I'll post the list here(be warned it might all just be Gibberish)

List of Fixes needed for Draft Two

• Describe the characters more in the beginning: What does Sam look like? Who is Tyler and why does Olivia love him so much (THE CHARACTERS AREN’T SUPPOSED TO BE MYSTERIOUS) 
• TONS of detail in the first few chapters after the seizure: She’s seeing the world with super human senses. HELLO DETAILS???
• What wasn’t Olivia supposed to hate David but in the end grow to like him?: His dark eyes are actually navy… Probably should add that.
• Who are the Knoes? Describe Olivia’s family: Maybe write a few scenes where they have dinner together and watch T.V. And Liz…. Who is she to Olivia? Are they close?
• Plot Hints needed: Adding a chapter of the PAV on T.V. Maybe after Olivia throws her pyscho fit they make her watch T.V. to calm down.
• Talk about visiting the F.B.I building in Choir Class.
• Talk more about Richard and his new found love: He originally was going to fall for Olivia but that was a bit cliché. Fix the confusing parts where it looks like he likes Olivia.
• Perhaps include all the needed family, Richard and Wyatt details after Chapter Twelve: There’s a huuuuge gap b/w chapter 12 and 13. Fix it!
• Chapter Twelve is too long: 23 pages? Really? Separate the random parts. Maybe make the guy visiting after Chapter 12.
• Rethink the FBI Building scene: Is it really realistic? Maybe have them sneak in instead?
• Have Wyatt give Olivia the pep talk before the White House concert: Sam’s not supposed be good at those types of things.
• Sam doesn’t say “Right.” that’s Olivia: Sam says stuff like “Ummm,” “Wait,” and “Huh?”
• Make sure to fix the time setting inconsistancies: Maybe make a timeline to make sure it works…
• Have Tyler and Olivia work things out…sorta: Olivia doesn’t want friends but she still doesn’t want Tyler to not like her.
• When Olivia has the nightmare right before she goes home make it a new chapter: don’t have anything leading up to it so it will have more of the surprise effect. When she wakes up have it be slower.

See what I mean? Gibberish. (Especially if you haven't read it!) If you do understand it and want to add more just comment on here. I really need the feedback! Thanks. Goodnight(:

-Peace&<3,

Angela

Editing Status

Words:62,832

Things Fixed: 3/15

TGIF!!!

Hey there. I'm making a post just for the heck of it. I'm so glad it's Friday. Today has been a loooong week. Don't get me started about yesterday. Let's just say it was not a day I want to relive. I'm going to call it a sick day and apologize for not blogging or editing like I usually do. I did, however, start polishing my query letter. I think I'm going to send it to Query Shark after my wonderful English teacher edits it again. Even if she's too busy, I'll still send it and cringe whenever I go to check my email. If you're planning write a query, GO READ QUERY SHARK! It's got the best of the best querying advice. I can truly say my query has improved majorly since reading all of Ms. Reid's advice to other writers. Hopefully I'll be able to sound professional enough to attract literary agents! I'm aiming to make them surprised to hear how young I am.
There was a lot of discrepancy on whether an author bio should be included in a query. My opinion is if your a nobody in the writing world(like me :/) then you probably should keep it to telling them it's your first book. If you've won a couple of contests or awards then feel free to brag. Though I'm not a literary agent. This is just my opinion. I'll be back later tonight with editing updates!

Peace&<3,
Angela

There's hope for me yet!

Hello my followers! (Followers... such a weird word for blogger to use... why not stalkers? hehe) How was your hump day? Mine was loooong. I'll spare you the details. Speaking of details, that's my first thing to look at for my story. Everyone is telling me that I don't show enough. I went back through and realized... two of my characters don't have any physical description! (Yes, I had a small freak out attack over this but I'm better) So now I'm putting more show in my work and worrying it's too much. Oh well, it's easier to delete than to add. 
In other news, I've been researching agents! I've found about ten so far that look like they could suit my needs. At first, I was a bit hesitant on my ability to get an agent at my age, but, thanks to a wonderful agent, Tina Wexler, on Inkpop, I'm in the search again. She says:

"I think everyone has asked me about age, and if it matters, so let me answer now.  

I mean it when I say that the age of the author does not matter.  

Agents and editors want great stories. Period.

: ) "

With a nice smiley face too! So now I'm back on the search to find the perfect agent and write the perfect query letter. Right now, I'm at the first step. What's the second step? Sending my first letter. Even if its a rejection, I'm still going to throw a party! Why? Because I made it to the third step: getting a response! Yay for optimism! Bye for now!


Peace&<3,
Angela


Editing Status
Words: 61,904
Chapters Edited: 3/24

Yay for more editing!

Hi guys. So I'm starting to get all ADD again. I'm getting excited about Merkiss and not focusing on "I Know How You Feel" editing. I guuuess I could do both at once... I'm hoping to get a chapter of IKHYF done a day and finish by March 30th but I don't know. I've prom and my musical all this month so... only time will tell! I'll keep you updated though!
So today I was looking through chapter two and realized that since Olivia is looking at the world with much stronger senses that their should be TONS of meticulous detail. So I tried to fix it up a bit. Here's a description of a nurse when Olivia was in the hospital:

I turned my head quickly torwards her. She was small and skinny with blonde hair and blue eyes. I could see about a half a centimeter of her roots to know her hair wasn’t natural. Again I had to focus on the words she said and unglue my eyes from the very light birthmark right underneath her left eye.

How does that sound? Meticulous enough? I'm going to use this so you can see my main characters in your head. I wiiiill describe so much that you'll get sick of all the vivd imagery!!! Well, hopefully not. Bye for now!

Peace&<3,
Angela

Editing Status
Words: 61,053
Chapters Edited: 1/24

"Merkiss" Preview!!!!

Andrew:

 

The water feels different here. I can’t put my finger on it. Of course, it’s more polluted but there’s something else. Or maybe it’s just me.

I was sent to find my brother and kill him for abandoning our society. With all the death I had seen over the years, I never was ordered to kill my own blood. My father himself said it. It was the first time he talked of my brother since he ran away many moons ago.

Yes, it’s just me. I’ve never gone on a trip with this much on my mind. I’ve also never disobeyed orders. Though, I find looking for my long lost human friend much more cheerful than killing my brother. He was probably already dead anyway.

There doesn’t seem to be any abandon beaches in this place. Everywhere I look, there are humans. This must be one of those heavily populated places I’ve heard about. How will I get on land without being seen. The humans are very bothered by bare skin. I’ll have to find clothing. I could always take some. I swim some more without finding an empty spot. What was this place? Florida looked like it was infested with every human on the planet. The poor sea life didn’t know what to do. These waters are disturbed. I can see why my kind doesn’t like the humans. With the dying calls of the sea filling my head, I can see why some of my people wish every human dead.

The night approaches and I finally find a calm spot that seems hidden. I rest for the night.

And there you have it readers! The first sneak peek of "Merkiss". This is Andrew's chapter. He's very internal whereas Evangeline is more external(opposites attract right?). This is my first time writing first person with a guy character. What do you think? Does he sound like a guy? This will be the first of many sneak peeks that I'll post on here. If you want to be notified for when I reveal the project on inkpop just comment with your username and I'll add you to the list. For now, I need to prepare for an intense month of editing. TTFN!

Peace&<3,
Angela

Ooops :)

So I kind of forgot that February only lasted 28 days heh. So now I'll be starting my second drafting tomorrow! That's pretty good though because I was starting to feel a bit useless. Why, you may ask? Well, my new book is just starting and I have no idea whether or not it's good. My first book "Energy" is slowly slipping away because of my new book and on top of that, I have to edit "I Know How You Feel" and hopefully get more feedback for the second edit. "I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL" MUST MAKE TOP FIVE BEFORE NEXT SEPTEMBER!!! That's my inkpop goal! Once the second edit is up, I'll be swapping and advertising like crazy. I need a professional editor review!!! So if you could help me on my campaign, I'd love you forever.
Other then those things, my life has been pretty normal these days. I'm actually kind of liking it. I haven't had this kind of normal ever! Though I still feel a bit useless. Maybe I could donate money or something... I don't know. Speaking of money I have a question for you guys. If you were to become rich and famous, what would you do with the money you made? I'll be putting up a preview of "Merkiss" in my next post tonight. Bye for now!

Peace&<3,
Angela

(Actual) Time until next edit: 5 hours

Working on a new project :)

Hi there! So last night I got bored and couldn't fall asleep so I decided to start my new project. I'm not sure if its very good but when I finish the first chapter I'm going to post it on Inkpop. I might do a preview of it on here tomorrow. Would you guys like that? Here's the hook:

Merkiss

     

      He wasn’t just her imaginary friend the fish; he was a real person and a fish.

     

      Evangeline was schizophrenic. Or so she thought. That little boy she saw at the docks everyday was just a figment of her imagination. She knew that for sure; she had gone to therapy because of it. And after her dad died, she thought she was rid of the illusion forever. But what happens when he shows up at her college ten years later as man speaking in the same English accent she had finally lost? How is it that her friends can see him? After a decade of lying to herself, Evangeline had to face the facts. Andrew was real and he was a merman. 

And that's all I've got so far. This story is going to be told from Andrew and Evangeline's point of view. I can't wait to finish chapter one and post it :D Bye for now!

Peace&<3,

Angela

Time until next edit: 3 days

M. I. A. heh.

I'm here guys. I swear! Ha. Sorry for disappearing! After I finished editing, I decided to go shopping and not be a hermit for once so... I suddenly was reaaaally busy. I'm back now though! :) With a few new clothing items including a UK flag stamped tanktop! I'll let you know ahead of time that I have a slight obsession with England. I love the clothes, the authors (J.K. Rowling FTW) and especially the accents! I've been trying to perfect my English accent since I picked it up last summer. I'm learning some English lingo and talking in public. Though slightly phony (and embarrassing), it's pretty fun. I'm hoping to live in England and actually pick up a real accent (and of course some clothes). I definitely want to meet some famous authors over there also.

Okay enough with the England spiel. I realize that now that I'm finished with my book, my trips into bookstores will never be the same. Have you ever walked into a bookstore, looked at a shelf and imagined your book there? If so, then you know where I'm coming from. Whenever I'm in need of inspiration, a bookstore is my sanctuary. It keeps me motivated and hopeful. What inspires you?
I'll try to post daily from now on. Bye for now!

Peace&<3,
Angela

Time until next edit: 4 days

Finished...for now.

Good evening! So I finally finished the grammar and spelling edit for draft one!!! Now onto draft two! I'm not planning on starting until March so I've got some free time. (yea!) I got bored and decided to draft a query letter. Oh wow. It was soooo hard to do! Not only did I have to summarize my story in one paragraph but I also have to make it personal but professional. (I also realized I have no writing credentials heh.) I should have started working on this ages ago! Nonetheless, I have my first draft of it and I'll be making edits to it throughout the next couple of days. Maybe when I get it perfect, I'll share it with you. Then you can tell me what you think if you want(: I'm still having a hard time figuring out who to send my letters to. I need to research a bit more before I write a blog post on this. Still agentquery.com is an awesome place for finding agents and getting help with anything publishing related. My real dream is to get published by HarperCollins Teen but I'm not sure how I can get their attention besides Inkpop. At the moment, my story isn't doing so good on there. I'm hoping once draft two is up, more people will be interested. Only time will tell! Bye for now.

Peace&<3,
Angela

Editing Status
S&G Edit finished with 60,795 words
Draft Two starts in: 7 days

I'm So Happy!

Basically, they sounded like angry Youtube commenters with bombs.

A little quote from my story to start out the post. This one is describing what Olivia (my main character) thinks of the PAV or People Against Vanity.  They're a big terrorist group that Olivia has to join as a spy. Whenever I write parts about them, it freaks me out. They're just really creepy people. *shivers*

Hi there! I'm been a bit of a slacker lately and haven't gotten much editing done these past few days. Also my chapters are getting longer towards the end. On a positive note, I'm in a really good mood! I have no idea why. It could be that I'm choosing what classes I take next year. (SENIOR WOOOOT!) I have so many empty spaces that I could fill with anything! Next year is going to be awesome. :D Every time I think about next school year I think, "I could have my book published by then." It just makes me so excited!!! I've been looking up info on writing proposals and query letters and I'll share some good websites with you in my next blog post. For now I'm off to edit.

Peace&<3,
Angela

 

Don't Give Up!

Hi there! I'm baaack and I've finally found a topic to talk about. After looking over a few topics on Inkpop, I've found this one to show up all the time: "I feel like I'll never finish my book!"

Don't fret my dear writers; I've been in the same exact boat as you and I have your solution! Well they're more like tips but I'm positive they'll work.

Tip Number One: Don't multi-task!
So you're sitting on the computer chatting on Facebook, blasting your music, texting, doing homework and, finally, writing your novel. Yeah, I know you do it. I'm guilty of it too. And I know it's a helpful tool to help you reconnect with your long-lost friends, but--I have too say it--TURN OFF FACEBOOK! Better yet, turn off your internet! You know how I finished my story? A week and a half without any internet service. Yes, it was torture. Yes, I died, saw Dumbledore, and somehow came back to life, BUT I finished my story. You may think this is bull, but try it. You'll be surprised how much you can get done when there's only a document on your screen and complete silence.

Tip Number Two: Make references.
You're onto an epic (Yes, I said epic.) part of your super-villain novel, you get to the scene where the superhero comes in and then you blank. You sit there for thirty minutes wondering, "What is that dang catchphrase?" I strongly advise you to have a convenient little folder that holds all those little details AND a basic outline of your story because if you're like me (a writer with a thousand plot lines in her head) then, trust me, you WILL forget it. And then you have inconsistencies in your story and spend more time editing then actually writing and blahblahblah. Trust me, it gets baaad.

Tip Number Three: Friendly Competition is the best motivator.
Have you ever heard of NaNoWriMo? If not, basically it's where you write a brand-new story starting the beginning of November and then try to get fifty-thousand words by the end of the month. If you haven't tried this, you should. Sign up now at nanowrimo.org and when November rolls around, be ready for a heck of a ride. Until then, I suggest a smaller version of this event. We at Inkpop call them, (Imagine this being said as Wrestling Match announcer guy) "Word Wars." Word Wars are when you get a time limit (it can range from five minutes to an hour) to write as many words as possible. When the time is up, you tell your word count. The person with the highest word count wins. These are a fun and easy way to get your book going again.

Tip Number Four: Make EASY and REALISTIC goals.
I mean it! When you tell yourself you need to write your entire book THIS WEEKEND, then you're setting yourself up for failure. Start small and slowly, but surely, build up. When you reach your small goal, it still feels good and it's much better than being let down by not making it to your big goal. Fulfilling your quota for that week can make you feel amazing and a positive attitude is what makes you keep writing.

Tip Number Five: Don't Worry, Be Happy.
Whatever happens, this is your story. Let people say whatever they want, but the only thing that matters is that you just keep swimming. (Finding Nemo FTW) If someone tells you your writing sucks, ask them why. If they don't have a legit reason, then ignore them. (Haters gon' hate. Or however you say it heh.) If they do, then take it as constructive criticism and work off of it. Most likely that comment could make you a better writer.

So I hope this helps you on your journey. I've got to be off. I'll be back later!

Peace&<3,
Angela

It's Getting Better All the Time(:

'Ello my dear readers! I know it's a bit late, but I've been hard at work on my story. Well... that and Facebook is very distracting ha. As the title says (Yes, that's a Beatles quote if you were wondering.) my day did get a little better. Especially when I got to finish up the rest of the Nutella. That stuff is amazing! I don't know one person who's tried it and hated it. Anyway, editing! I have this weird ritual where, if I don't want to work on my story, I'll listen to music-ehm-Beatles for an hour and then somehow I just feel like jumping write in. What about you? Does a certain type of music get you motivated to do things? Maybe like homework? (I could use some music like that heh.) or just get you up and running in the morning? I'm going to head out before I end up passing out on the keyboard. Bye for now!

Peace&<3,
Angela

Editing Status
(Since I didn't do it this afternoon)
Words: 60,780 

Chapters Edited: 20/24 (Wooot! Four more :D)

Monday Blues

Hey guys...I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that just doesn't like Mondays. You go back to school, work, whatever. It just plain stinks. Especially when your flashdrve decides its not going to work at the very last minute and you can't edit during free period. Yep, that's me. After waking up late, having a cold shower and a lukewarm cup of hot chocolate, I'm just ready for this day to be over!
Don't mind my venting; I'm just mad because I can't give you guys an editing update. I'm pretty sure I'm on Chapter Nineteen today; or was it Chapter Eighteen? Ahhh, I'm nothing without my flashdrive! Well...you get it. What's something you can't live without?
I'm hoping for a better day. Bye for now!

Peace&<3,
Angela

Let's Preview!

“Olivia, I know,” she said in a low voice.

I know about Misty.

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t mean to,” she continued, “You just weren’t in control and you didn’t know what you were doing. You didn’t kill her. You only damaged her. Maybe a life like what she has now will be good for her. I heard her parents have been trying for another kid since she was little and never got one. Now they have a baby forever.”

As Sam rambled on and on, tears began to run down my face. She didn’t understand. You pain, the guilt, the fear. This curse was taking over me and I couldn’t stop it.

“I could hurt more people. I can’t control it sometimes. My mind just stops being sensible and imagines terrible things. It’s like a monster in the back of my head telling me what to do,” I explained. My voice was raspy and dark.

Sam looked up and frowned. “The voices.”

“I feel like one of these days there actually will be voices. I already know I’m insane but what if my mind goes completely dark and I loose all my emotion? I don’t want to be insane,” I whispered.

“You’re not insane, Olivia. You’re just scared,” she said.

She was right. Fear was driving me these days. Fear of what I am and fear of what I could become.

I wiped my face. “How could I not be scared? I’m seriously all alone.”

“You did that to yourself, Olivia. You pushed everyone away. I would have left too if I didn’t see Misty at the grocery with her mom before the trip started,” she said.

“No! You don’t understand!” I yelled, “I’m the only one! I’m one of a kind.”

Sam tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“There isn’t anyone here with me explaining what is happening and why it’s happening. I wake up everyday feeling weird and wonder why. I don’t have anybody I can talk to about that. I can’t talk to people about why people’s thoughts are in my head or why I can hear yours better than anybody’s. I’m just guessing. There’s not real answer, no rule. All my questions remain unanswered. I am alone!” I yelled.

Her face showed understanding and her mouth formed an O. I felt myself cry harder in realization too. I was alone. No one could sympathize with me. No one had the issues I had.

Well, hi! It's me again. I finish editing my quota for Inkpop! So guess what? Now you can read fifteen chapters of my book, I Know How You Feel, free of charge! It's like reading Midnight Sun except for I won't get mad and stop writing it because all my readers got a preview. (Wow I've been making too many Twilight references these past few days >.<). Please feel free to comment on this blog post... or on Inkpop, if your a member, and tell me what you think. Did you love it? Did you hate it? Do you want to throw Olivia in a hole? (I've had those feelings every once in awhile so I wouldn't blame you.) Also, could you see it on a shelf at your local book store? Would you buy it? Sorry, too many questions! ^^'
Anywho, I hope you enjoyed the little sneak peek and that you'll read more on Inkpop. And if not, no hard feelings! I'm just happy you're reading my blog :D

Peace&<3,
Angela

Slacking off on a Sunday

Well hello! I hate to say I got nothing done today but that's kinda what happened heh. Although it seems like I gained a few followers *waves at them* so that's good :) I've also been looking into other blogs to follow. I think I'm following five now? Anyway, I hope I'll get a bit more done this evening so I can share the preview to my story with you. As for the mini-series... I haven't gotten much feedback on that so I'm going to wait awhile before I start it. Also you may notice I've added some culture-ehm-music to the blog. I'm kinda Beatles-obsessed just to warn you. If you don't like it, the pause button is a wonderful thing. If you love them like me then YAY :D What's your favorite song? I love "Helter Skelter". Well I'm going to go for now. I'll probably post later. Bye!

Peace&<3,
Angela

Editing Status
Words: 60,543
Chapters Edited: 12/24 (Halfway Woot!)

Mini-Series Anyone?

“So what brings you to the library?” I asked.

“I am reading famous American fiction,” he said.

“Oh what are you reading?” I asked.

“Twilight.”

Haha, I know I wrote that, but it still makes me laugh. Hello again! I decided to write a little post before I went to bed. I was wondering if any of you would want to read a mini-series on here. I was thinking a little something that was light and funny. My idea is slowly developing but I think I'll just do a little story every week to peek some interest. What do you think? Maybe you guys have an idea for a good series. Or just say hi. Any kind of feedback is fine with me(:

Peace&<3,
Angela

Hello!

So I first I'd like to start out by telling you the reason for this blog. I told myself back in November that if I finished writing one book, I could start an author's blog. So here I am.

My name is Angela T. Marie and I am the proud author of I Know How You Feel. I never thought I could write a book in less than 6 months but I did. It started out as a NaNoWriMo idea and flourished into a full-blown novel. (Sadly I didn't win NaNo but I'm hoping to next year.) I'm hoping to get my novel published. It's crazy, I know. I'm only sixteen and nobody in my family knows anything about getting a book published (that's alive) but I've made it this far so why not go farther? So here's the beginning of my journey! Well, actually the beginning was November 1st, 2010. This is the third part: Editing and Publishing.   For the next couple of months I'll be writing little posts updating you guys on my editing progress. Every now and then I might throw in some writing and editing advice. Just keep your eye out. Oh, and if you plan on following me; prepare for a bumpy ride.

Peace&<3,
Angela

Editing Status
Words:60,544
Chapter Edited: 10/24