Archive for the 'A Royale Pain' Category

February 18, 2011 | A Royale Pain,Dance Jam Productions,Road Trip Wednesday,Secrets and Kisses

Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival”, where YA Highway‘s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it in on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

You’re more than welcome to participate! Just answer the question on your own blog, and leave a link to it in their comments.

Topic #56:How do you pick our titles?

When I write books, I normally have a title and character names chosen. Titles always come to me first and then I write around that. Kinda weird, but it seems to work for me.

Simplistic as it is, if you read SECRETS AND KISSES and DANCE JAM PRODUCTIONS, you really will be reading about secrets, kissing lessons and a dance show. LOL. My stories tend to be like that. Now, the DA series is a little bit different. Kate Hart mentioned that her titles tend to have more than one meaning. I’m finding that the titles in the DA series are going to be like that. Book One, A ROYALE PAIN, refers to Draven’s first case involving a spa called The Royale Treatment Day Spa. But it also refers to what happens if you end up using a particular product from there. Book Two, THE FAMILY JEWELS, sounds like a porn movie—or an erotica novel—about male genitalia, doesn’t it? Yeah, no. In this case it’s just about a family of jewel thieves.

I think one of the best things about being writer is coming up with a title. What’s funny is that I have a list—somewhere—of book titles! They’re either a song title, a song lyric or a phrase I overheard that just stuck with me. But they all resonated with me somehow, so I wrote them down to use for later.

Now, if writing the actual story came just as easily, I’d be golden.

January 19, 2011 | A Royale Pain,Book One,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Road Trip Wednesday

Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival”, where YA Highway‘s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it in on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

You’re more than welcome to participate! Just answer the question on your own blog, and leave a link to it in their comments.

Topic #54:Give a blurb for your favorite book or one of your own!?

Here’s the back-of-the-book blurb for Book 1 in the DA series: A Royale Pain

A day at the spa can be a “royale” pain.

Sixteen-year-old Draven Atreides has just started a new gig as an FBI informant. Her To Do list includes: adjust to new life, make new friends, and try not to tell said new friends about her secret job.

A French chemist is peddling his “specially formulated” products to high class spas and his latest target is celeb favorite, The Royale Treatment Day Spa. Unfortunately, his products cause some nasty side effects and the results are so not pretty. Just when Draven’s first assignment seems to be heading south, she receives unwanted assistance in the form of Rader Deschanel. What does he want with Draven? Will she be able to solve her first official case without blowing her cover?

I recently decided to turn this novel series into a comic book series and I’m not sure if comic books have blurbs. But this would’ve been the one to go on the back of the book.

Technorati Tags: YA Highway

January 12, 2011 | A Royale Pain,Book One,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Road Trip Wednesday

Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival”, where YA Highway‘s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it in on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

You’re more than welcome to participate! Just answer the question on your own blog, and leave a link to it in their comments.

Topic #53:What is your favorite line from your WIP (or from a book you read recently)?

I haven’t done this in such a long time it’s nice to get back in the game. I don’t have just one favorite line from my WIPs. I have several:

~ I’m meeting two undercover FBI agents in Central Park today.

~ Yes, it’s true. She doesn’t laugh, she giggles. If she were a doll, she’d be Tickle Me Elmo’s kid sister.

~ Their physical prettiness just kind of, you know, slaps you upside the head.

~ Out of the whole school, small as it is, he ends up with her? She’s an embarrassment to the female species.

~ Someone needs to slap this guy with a Stupidity Citation.

~ “My Mercury must be in retrograde this week to get a break like this.”

~ “If you say destiny, or even Fate, I’m so going to spew.”

~ O…kay. Who pissed in his Cheerios?

The list goes on and on. These lines come from Book One in the DA series. Draven has a great sense of humor, doesn’t she? You can also check out her inner thoughts in the Fiction Project posts below.

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September 6, 2010 | 3rd Semester,A Royale Pain,Adv Children's Lit,Book Stuff,Book Two,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Life in General,Prescott College,School Daze,Summer 2010,The 4-1-1 on Me,Your Two Cents

Thanks to everyone who came by last month to provide feedback for the first 5 chapters of A Royale Pain. The project has ended and the posts have been taken down so that I can work on them. Your feedback was greatly appreciated and will help me make some much needed changes.

May 20, 2010 | A Royale Pain,Book One,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,How coolio is THAT?,Life in General,Random Thoughts,The 4-1-1 on Me,Writer Moment

On YALITCHAT, I submitted the first 25 pages of DA Book 1 for teen review. 3 responses so far and the feedback has been great. The best part is that one of the reviewers was a guy.

“…Through the whole story I just kept thinking. “Duuuuuude, I would love to read this book, it’s awesome!” I love how the Draven can relate to girls and guys (in a sense). Her life just seems exciting with even a few real details that some kids have gone through…”

Totally made my night.

What I’m loving about this group is that I’m not just getting a small paragraph on what the reviewer thought. I’m getting serious feedback. Feedback that could amount to a 1 or 2 pages worth of suggestions/comments, etc: what could be changed, what doesn’t make sense, what could be added. I LOVE it. These teens are serious about their reading and it shows in their comments. I wish I could submit more, but at least I know I’m off to a good start.

It’s been professionally edited and looked over by beta readers. Now I just have to insert all the feedback.

Technorati Tags: YALITCHAT