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Monday, December 3, 2012

WIP Madness Week 1: December Check-in

Happy December everyone! I don't know about you, but I've already got my holiday (AKA CHRISTMAS) treats set and ready to go! I'm making my favorite microwave fudge and magic popcorn (popcorn, almond bark, and M&Ms. So simple. So delicious).

The upcoming holidays have me thinking a lot about world-building. What holidays or festivities are your characters celebrating in your WIP, if any? Something traditional, or something made-up? (Holla to all my fellow fantasy writers on the latter.)

Anyway, let's strive to get our writing goals in now before the holidays consume our lives!

And, since this is the season of giving, we certainly should have a giveaway, right? What should it be, what should it be...

Ah, yes.

I recently read this book and really enjoyed it. So let's give away that.


Look! I found a good version of the cover!*

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...



Poison Study will go to a commenter chosen at random. :)


So, what are you working on this week?






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*Unfortunately, the winner will be receiving the much lamer cover version.



32 comments:

  1. Happy December!

    This past weekend I finally got some good writing in, after a few weeks of hating everything about my WIP. So that's my goal in December - write! I'm not aiming for a certain amount of words or pages, I just want to get scenes and chapters down.

    Sadly, no holiday celebrations in my current WIP, but I can already imagine how it would go. My MCs father and uncle would be outside deep-frying (and burning) some big slab of meat, while her mom would fix sides in the kitchen. They'd probably end up laughing and eating pizza in the end.

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  2. Hi Charlie! Thanks for hosting this month.

    Hmm, holidays. I don't think so. My WIP is set starting late March and it may hit Easter, but I don't think it will factor into the ms.

    I'm just over 35k after this morning's backwards then forward writing spree. I hope to finish this draft by the end of December. That's my goal!

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  3. I've just been working on scenes from my book's mid summer rose festival. A huge town wide celebration. Now if I could just figure out their aristocrat titles...

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    1. A rose festival! I can imagine a town suffused with sweet fragrance! That's very appealling in light of all the brown decay in my winter garden.

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  4. Thanks for hosting December, Charlie. I'm working on keeping my sanity as I pack up and move to Arizona. Life can change in a heartbeat. I'll look forward to seeing all the Wipster progress this month. ^_^

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    1. Life sometimes throws nasty curve balls, but I hope you'll find new opportunities within the challenges you're facing. Don't give up on your writing, even if it's just journalling. It's good therapy.

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    2. Wow, Angelina. Moving again? Good luck with all that entails. I agree with Carol about journalling being good therapy. And you can hoop for relaxation/meditation. *hugs*

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  5. Thanks for hosting, Charlie! Read POISON STUDY and loved it! Great series.

    Got my copy edits last week. My goal is to finish them by this weekend.

    Also trying to read at least 1 Cybils book per day(I'm going to post weekly recaps of my reads/a sentence or two blurb).

    Plus going to finish this sequel. My goal is one scene per day. I was hoping to go back to my other revision but right now want to finish sequel. My other program is the one I hope will catch the eye of an agent so I want to make sure it's so polished, it shines!

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  6. Thanks so much for hosting for December, Charlie!

    I finished a revision of my next nonfiction book last week and sent it off to my agent. I'm now diving into a revision of an older novel of mine and hope to get done by the end of December.

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    1. Congrats on getting the NF revisions away! Your dedication to projects is inspiring and somehow I have no doubt you'll get the novel revision done, too, despite the intervention of Christmas. LOL!

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  7. Hi Charlie! Thanks for hosting this month. Well, I started with a bang...literally. Wrecked my rear bumper in the Walmart parking lot on the first day of December ((sigh)).

    But, I'm not letting that dampen my holiday spirit or squash my wip madness. I'm not sure if I will be including a holiday, yet. Mine is a fall story, so Thanksgiving could end up in the mix. It might actually add a touch of irony. ;-)

    I'm still banging out bits of plot and character and starting to craft chapters.

    Party on and happy holidays, Wipsters!

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    1. Ouch!!! Your poor bumper! I hope it wasn't anything too damaging for it AND for you. No whiplash?

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    2. Thanks, Carol. No whiplash for anyone. We weren't going fast enough. Seriously, we were idling back out of our respective parking spaces. But oh what damage can be wrought by a 2-ton hunk of metal at a snail's pace...

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  8. December??? Really??? I was sure I'd be ready for December when it arrived this time, but it managed to sneak up when I wasn't looking again. ::sigh:: It does that *every* year, so I shouldn't be surprised. Thanks for hosting us this month, Charlie. It's bound to be a busy time.

    My NaNoWriMo words last month didn't quite reach 50,000 but I made significant progress on a new ms, which was my intent. For December my plan is to let it simmer a bit and return to a final polish of a previous ms, plus work on one magazine article proposal. That may not sound ambitious, but with everything else that happens in December I think it's realistic for me.

    I think it's important not to let holiday activities squeeze out the time we need for our writing, but we also want to give appropriate time to the other priorities of the season, too. So, happy balancing, fellow wipsters! :)

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    1. I forgot to answer your question. It hadn't occurred to me, but I realize a Christmas scene plays a significant part in both my WIP and the revision of a previous story. Nostalgia and melancholy are so easily portrayed amidst a backdrop of Christmas festivities!

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  9. Happy December, everyone! I have been stalling on my WIP out of mental NaNo protest, but I'm feeling some lightning bugs today, so hopefully it will be a good one. Good luck to everyone else! :)

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  10. So far, only "New Year" has appeared as a "holiday" in my series. I've got a couple others in mind, but probably need to do a little more worldbuilding! Oh, and if you have any leftover M&Ms, I can provide you with an address where they can be sent. ;-)

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  11. Such a good book :) I sent your fudge recipe to my mom and we're going to make it when I'm back for Christmas! Yum.

    I am editing, editing, editing, which I'm sure you're already sick of hearing about!

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  12. Thanks for hosting! I don't have any big goals for December. There won't be a lot of wipmadness going on here, at least not on the surface. But things are mulling, brewing, steeping...pick your beverage metaphor, lol. I'm excited about getting back to a project that needs an overhaul. (The only holiday celebration in this ms is a spring equinox event -- it's the book set in the north, where signs of winter receding are definitely worth celebrating!)

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  13. Outstanding book choice! I already have copy so no need to enter me. My goals this week are to flesh out a new book to work on and read a mg novel a day (or more?)so I can keep up with my Cybils reading. That be it---

    You have me thinking for this yet to be fleshed out novel that I could set it in December...include christmas treats n stuff. Thinking, thinking!

    Good luck to all you wipsters!

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  14. Thanks for hosting, Charlie! I almost missed the check-in today, but here I am. :-)

    I'm trying to get back into revisions on my WIP this week after struggling with it for a bit last week. Taking the weekend off (my first days off since, um, a really long time) was a good idea and I'm hoping to get a lot done this week.

    I was thinking I didn't have any holidays in mine but after reading Shari's comments, I remembered the summer solstice, so hopefully that counts.

    Have a good week, everyone!

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  15. I managed to win Nano on the last day (I'm very much a slow and steady writer--no big word count days for me) but my novel is not quite over. I have about four chapters to go. I've trimmed back my daily goal to 1500--we'll see if I can maintain the pace without nano to push me. Hoping to finish the first draft in Mid-December, then get feedback from betas on a different YA.

    I've already read Poison Study and agree it's a great book.

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  16. I haven't ever written a Christmas scene in any of my books... although being a fellow fantasy writer, I wrote briefly about a dream festival in the islands for my MG fantasy.

    Poison Study sounds super original and cool!

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  17. I love this time of year! I totally get inspired to write at the new year... there's an extra portion of magic in the air or something. And the book looks fab! :D

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  18. Maybe I will try out the microwave fudge for my Christmas treats this year. It looks really easy and delicious too!

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  19. Thanks for hosting, Charlie! As for holiday scenes, the closest I've got in my WIP is a summer solstice party.

    This week I'm working on my latest batch of editorial notes. I've got to get through another round of macro edits by Feb. 1st. Right now, I'm in the totally overwhelmed, 'can-I-do-this?' stage. Deep breaths...

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  20. I loved that series! Good choice! I'm feeling a bit of a failure in my writing. Balance, essential yet elusive. I need some of it!

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  21. The week got away from me. Again. I forgot to check in!

    Poison Study is an awesome book. As are its two sequels. (I own all three, so count me out of this draw, please.)

    This month I am focused on revisions. My number one beta-reader / critique partner gave me awesome feedback in October. After SIWC, I have three requests for partials from agents. All of them have agreed to "take the time you need to send a good piece rather than sending it sooner". November was of course the month of insanity. Still, I think following this round of revisions to SOTS I'll be ready to send. And this time if I get rejected from all three, I'm going to keep sending.

    Besides that, I have some more beta-reading to get done, too. But my focus is going to be the revisions. In January, I hope/intend to start querying in earnest.

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  22. Oh, and holiday scenes - well, in Sign of the Star, in Janni's world, there are eight sacred days in the year. The first book covers Summer Solstice, Heatswen (think like August 1st), and Autumn Equinox. Deathswen (like October 31st) is at the start of the second book, followed by Winter Solstice (Xmas). All of the holidays have traditions associated with them. Winter Solstice, of course, does involve some gift exchanges. (That being said, her story is set in the southern hemisphere of her world, but for my sanity's sake, I'll just keep the date analogies as is.)

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  24. Sorry, first comment was posted by mistake from my rose-girl email. Here it is again:

    Ack, it's been months since I participated in wipmadness. I've missed the chatting, support, and challenges. Since I last checked in, I drafted an adult mystery romance, two picture books, and started on a middle grade story collection. One of the PBs is being considered by two agencies at the moment, along with 3 of my other completed picture books. Needless to say, waiting is the hardest part! So far in December I completed a first draft of another picture book, and I've started yet another larger project. Holiday scenes haven't played a huge role in any of my wips. Interesting now that I think about it. Looking forward to checking in with y'all weekly. Happy writing!

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