QUERY CONTEST OVER AT NEVERENDING PAGE TURNER
THE QUERY CONTEST ENDS FRIDAY
Associate Agent Kathleen Ortiz is hosting a query conest to launch her new blogsite. You can get the details here – NEVERENDING PAGE TURNER CONTEST
Excerpt Monday is tomorrow
That’s right, check it out at www.excerptmonday.wordpress.com or check out my site at www.catehart.com
See ya tomorrow!!
New Contest at Kidlit.com
I love contests! And Mary Kole of Andrea Brown Literary Agency is holding a ‘first 500 words’ contest at her fabulous site Kidlit.com.
go here to checit it out :Kidlit Contest
It’s Excerpt Monday!
What’s on my iPod – Dummy by Portishead
It’s once again Excerpt Monday over at my website. Check it out here – Excerpt Monday December. Or you can head over to Mel and Bria’s site by clicking the lovely box below!
A Little Rant
What’s on my iPod : Beautiful Day by U2
Rarely do I rant about the writing and publishing world, but today, I had to get this off my chest. On Tuesday, I zipped over to Best Buy to get my copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on Blue-ray. While I was at my favorite little shopping center, I decided to run into VERY BIG DISCOUNT BOOKSTORE (I’ll refrain from completely lambasting particular bookseller since I usually find no complaints with them). I was there to pick up debut author Lauren Kate’s paranormal YA, Fallen. I’ve been anticipating this book because the subject is fallen angels, and though it doesn’t sound like my plot, I’m itching to see what the competition is writing. Well, after foundering for about twenty minutes looking for the book that was scheduled to release that day, I went to the front to ask. And I did recieve GREAT customer service, but nobody could find the book. Their system said they had seven in stock. After another fifteen minutes, the general concensus was I could order the book on-line, but it just wasn’t available in the store. As a writer and a hopefully soon published one, I was angry for Lauren Kate. A snafu like this is horrible. How gut-wrenching to discover that your debut novel can’t be bothered to be placed on the shelf of a major retailer!
So, I decided that I would post a link to Amazon. There are other places you can get it (I hope). And check it out; it looks fascinating.
Pinning down an angel part 2
What’s on my iPod : Billie Jean by Michael Jackson.
Continuing with last week’s post, I chained Sarah to the hot seat to force some answers out of her. It seems she is extrememly reluctant to sit still for any length of time and even more antsy answering questions about her self or her angel, Caleb. Too bad for her, good for us!
Cate : First easy question, favorite season and why?
Sarah : Fall because I love the change in colors of the trees and how the mornings and the evenings get colder. I’m from the South, and when I was little, we used to travel every autumn to the Appalachain Mountains to see the trees.
Cate : Nice, my favorite, too. What about favorite subject in school?
Sarah : Art, hands down. Even though my father doesn’t think it’s a worthy subject to pursue in college.
Cate : Do you like to draw or paint or designing on the computer?
Sarah : I like playing with art programs on my laptop, but what I really love is drawing – sketching.
Cate : Any particular subject?
Sarah : (blushing) hmmm, I gues that would be Caleb.
Cate : Any Titanic-esque sketches?
Sarah : huh? Oh, no,no, no,no. (blushing bright red)
Cate : So, what exactly attracted you to Caleb?
Sarah : Oh, I wasn’t attracted to him at first, more like repelled. But I guess, I started to see behind his poser attitude, and what I saw was a pretty remarkable guy.
Cate : So what was your reaction when you realized what Caleb was?
Sarah : I wanted to beat his head in – oh, strike that. I was really, really mad at him for not telling me the truth and then lying to keep it from me.
Cate : And then once he did tell you?
Sarah : Relieved that I wasn’t going crazy.
Cate : Last question. Caleb’s a musician, inspiring some pretty famous people and writing his own incredible songs. So your impression of his music?
Sarah : Wow, I’m not the best person to ask questions about music. I like all kinds. (deep breath and sigh) But his playing is moving and his singing, his voice – it’s incredible.
Cate : Awesome, thanks. Next time, I put Tristian on the wire.
Pinning down an angel
What’s on my iPod : (ironically) Iris by Goo Goo Dolls.
I’ve decided that I will keep this blog up and running as a place for my crazy brained ideas. A place where I actually commune with the Muse. My other blog I’ll reserve for more professional posts. That being said, I thought that I might sit down and have a one on one with my MC and Hero of BROKEN.
~~Disclaimer~~ This is just a fun exercise to get into deep character development and see what really makes my characters tick.
So, getting my characters to cooperate was a little harder than expected, but once I finally sat them down and strapped them to a chair, I got some intriguing answers.
First up in the hot seat is Caleb…..
Cate : So, tell me a little about yourself.
Caleb : (with a smirk) I’m an angel.
Cate : Uhm, besides the obvious. Why don’t we start with simple questions like what’s your favorite color?
Caleb : (the smirk widens) Black.
Cate : That explains alot. What’s your favorite food? (Why do I feel suddenly like I should just hand him a Slam Book?)
Caleb : French Fries. And anything that can be eaten with French Fries.
Cate : Have you ever had Tater Tots?
Caleb : No, what’s that?
Cate : You’ve never had Tater Tots? You’re missing out. But on to the next simple question, or let’s get a little more complex, shall we? Favorite musicain and why.
Caleb : I could say there are too many, but I have a feeling you won’t let me get away with that.
Cate : Nope.
Caleb : (deep sigh) The first musician that really struck me and drew me into his music was Mozart. I remember hiding in the eaves of the German opera house with Az, listening to The Magic Flute and thinking this guy has raw talent, a little off, but still amazingly talented. His music moved me, and that’s saying a lot.
Cate : wow, see how ease it is to open up. So, what about recent musicians?
Caleb : There really are too many to mention.
Cate : Nice try.
Caleb : (another deep sigh) How far back am I going?
Cate : the past twenty years?
Caleb : Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Roger Waters, Madonna, and recently someone special turned me on to the Blues and Jonny Lang.
Cate : Really. So, why play the guitar? It seems like you’ve had years and years to choose any instrument you wanted? And why are you the lead singer?
Caleb : (shifts uneasily in the seat) Az would say that I like to be in the spotlight – all the time. And that’s just not true, that’s Az’s fantasy. But ever since these fools banded with me, I guess I’ve just taken the lead. So, I guess it was natural that I front the band, and since most frontmen don’t play drums, I chose to play the guitar.
Cate : What about the others? Why did they band with you, oh so long ago?
Caleb : Now, you’re asking deep questions. The Fallen tend to find those not fallen in hopes of redemption. I’m not able to provided that for my brothers, but at least, I keep their noses clean until they are redeemed.
Cate : Now for a really deep and revealing question. What was it about Sarah that caught your attention, changed your ways, and made you break a gazillion rules just to be with her.
Caleb : (doubling over with laughter) I always break the rules. there’s nothing new with that one. This time I just chose to break some new ones. And Sarah ( a deep sigh) well, she didn’t put up with my crap, for one, and second, her soul makes the most beautiful music. When she sings, it’s even more beautiful.
Cate : All right, I’m going to let you off the hook now.
It’s Excerpt Monday!
Once a month, a bunch of authors get together and post excerpts from published books, contracted work or works in progress, and link to each other. You don’t have to be published to participate–just an writer with an excerpt you’d like to share. For more info on how to participate, head over to the Excerpt Monday site! or click on the banner above.
Check it out at the above web address or you can go straight to my post -HERE.
It’s Still Excerpt Monday
Even though I’ve moved my blog to www.catehart.com , you can still check out Excerpt Monday here…..
Once a month, a bunch of authors get together and post excerpts from published books, contracted work or works in progress, and link to each other. You=2 0don’t have to be published to participate–just an writer with an excerpt you’d like to share. For more info on how to participate, head over to the Excerpt Monday site! or click on the banner above.
I’m Moving
Yep, it’s true. I now hove a super-duper, fantastically designed new blog page. But I will keep this one up till everything has been moved over. So the new place to check it out is …
check it out…it’s still a work in progress…but I will be adding everything from here asap.
