The Charge has a release date!

Texas Empire Flag

I'm proud to announce that my debut novel, The Charge, will be released on 3/2/13 by Curiosity Quills Press! Selecting 3/2 was no accident, as it happens to be Texas Independence Day.

Of course in the alternate history world of The Charge, things are a little different. March 2 is "Texas Empire Pride Day." On March 2, 1836 the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed, which formally declared Texas's independence from Mexico and created the Republic of Texas. Then on March 6th, General Matthias Wilde led Texas to victory at the historic battle of the Alamo. The legend states that the General conjured a storm of blue lightning and killed hoards of Mexican soldiers using mysterious powers. They called him, "El Diablo Azul."

History quiz...can you tell when I deviated from the real timeline? :)

I'm very excited about the release and have lots of event and promotion ideas swimming around my brain. In the next few months, I'll be looking for early reviewers, blogs to host my cover reveal, and blog tour hosts. I'm happy to have gathered such a great network of friends in the writing community, I hardly know where to start! :) Talk about a champagne problem. 

P.S. My cover is almost done! You'll get to see it soon.

Like The Charge on Facebook.

Black E-Holiday Weekend Giveaway - Win 30 books!

My friends Dawna Raver and Courtney Worth Young have a massive giveaway going on. One lucky winner will win 30 e-books! Yes, that is a lot of books. I went ahead and snagged their Rafflecopter form, so you can enter right here, but make sure and stop by their blogs and say hello!

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! I certainly did. If I haven't responded to an email from you, that's because I'm having a great time with my family. I'll get in touch with you soon!

Here's what you can win:

Here's how you win it:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wildest Moments Blogfest - When in doubt, the answer is YES

My motto is, "When it doubt, the answer is YES." I'm a doer. I'm a risk-taker. When someone says, "Your mission if you choose to accept it..." I accept the mission even before they finish the sentence. That's how I got here. Writing a novel and submitting it to agents and editors is inherently a little wild. Yes, I will write that book in my head. Yes, I will share it with the world even though they may not like it. Yes I will!

As you might imagine, this philosophy has led to a life full of wild moments...and some Wilde moments. (Kate from The Darkness Falls series is distantly related to the Texas royal family from The Charge. At least I like to think so because they share the same last name). This blogfest has caused me to reflect on some of my wild moments, including the ones I really ought not to share publicly. At least I can say that I doubt that I'll have too many death-bed regrets.

The wild moment I'll share is when I decided to travel to Europe in college, even though I didn't have any money. At the time, the fact that I didn't have any money didn't feel like a problem. I had the opportunity to travel to Europe, so I said "yes" of course! I didn't think about anything else. I racked up debt on a credit card until I was maxed out and down to my last Euro. Because one Euro wouldn't help me much anyway, I played the Euro in a slot machine at a casino in Venice. With my last Euro, I won 80 Euro and was able to eat for a few more days.

Fortunately, I was there with friends, so I didn't really ever go hungry or sleep on the streets. But grown-up Sharon with a family and a mortgage is still in awe of my younger self, who did what she wanted to do regardless of financial consequences. And amazingly enough, grown-up Sharon thinks silly young Sharon did the right thing. I got the experience of a lifetime, and grown-up Sharon was happy to pay off that debt with her grown-up job.

Nowadays, I'm not quite so wild. You could even say I'm responsible. I'm quite proud to provide a stable life for my family, with just the right touch of wildness to make life interesting. But I still embrace the "yes" philosophy, and I'm glad I do. Without a little wildness, I would have never gotten a publishing contract. And I have plenty of wild experiences to pass on to my characters. :)

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It's not too late to join the Wildest Moments Blogfest!

"Share your Wildest Moment, and you might win a brand new Kindle Fire!

All you have to do is blog about a time you did something wild, something life changing. Jumped from a perfectly good airplane? Quit your job to write full time? I’m looking for fun, heart-pumping, or inspirational stories that you have experienced. “Wilde” things you’ve completed on your quest to grow up or move on.

Don’t blog? Put the cover of WILDE’S MEADOW up on your FB wall, pin it on Pinterest, or change your twitter avatar to the cover. Use the words “Wildest Moments” somewhere to go with the picture and link back to this post. (I will still enter you to win a $15 Amazon Gift Card–or B&N–and all three Darkness Falls books on December 5th.) 

Anyone who posts their Wildest Moments between November 12th-23rd can enter to win a Kindle FIRE ($199), Kindle Fire Skins, or a $15 Amazon Gift Card. Yes, this means I will visit each blog and read your “wildest” moments."

EVER Title Contest Winners!

What a fun contest! After writing pitches and queries, isn't it refreshing just to enter your title in a contest? So easy. I'll have to do this again.

This was tough, because we liked a lot these! But here are the winners:

Jessa's Winners

Winners:

Tendril by Rhiann Wynn-Nolet (Winner of EVER & a query critique)
Screamers by Connie Michael (Winner of EVER & a query critique)

Runners-up:
John Wayne Marshall's So-Called "Sex Life" by John Marshall (Winner of EVER)
Stricken by A.K. Morgen (Winner of warm fuzzies)

Jessa's analysis:

Obviously, you can all probably tell I'm a huge fan of one-word titles. (EVER and DIVIDE are examples of that.)

STRICKEN is such a powerful word in and of itself, that I would want to pick up the book just by that. I can't wait to see a cover to go with it!

TENDRIL just sounds so creepy to me, and it is such an un-used word, that the uniqueness alone would make me curious. I know it is a Rapunzel redux, but it could really go a gothic/creepy direction too. Love it!

SCREAMERS makes me picture a dark horror, or a Zombie story - but I could be way off there. I picture an artistic book cover with a drawing of someone screaming, but stuff is coming out of his mouth instead of sound. That makes no sense, I know, but hopefully you get the gist.

My other choice, JOHN WAYNE MARSHALL'S SO-CALLED SEX LIFE, makes me laugh, and just by the title I'd be curious. The title alone makes me think that this is probably a humorous take on the awkwardness of young love and the ups and downs of hooking up in High School and possibly beyond. We've all been there - those awkward moments we wish we could forget - so seeing them through someone else's experiences might make us feel a bit better about our own snafus. This title grabs my attention, and with an equally charming and awkward cover, I think it could make me pick it up and read more.


Sharon's Winners

Winners:

Once in Limberlost by Natasha Hawkins (Winner of a Red-Cross benefiting title & a query critique)
Broken Branch Falls by Tara Tyler (Winner of a Red-Cross benefiting title & a query critique)

Sharon's analysis:

ONCE IN LIMBERLOST has a great quirky fantasy feel. The word "limberlost" has "lost" in it and also makes me think of the word "limbo". It's a made-up word that reminds of real words and thus evokes real feelings, and that's great way to have a creative title that is still meaningful to people.

BROKEN BRANCH FALLS evokes a clear image and even some sounds and smells. Also it has some good conflict words, "broken" and "fall". There's also a double meaning. Is it a waterfall known as "broken branch" or a broken branch falling? :)

For the record, I also LOVE Tendril and Screamers. Even though I am limited on how many prizes I can give, I wanted to name some runner-ups:

Runner's up:

TENDERWOOD has a strong, epic sound to it. It's another great made-up word that sounds real. My only critique is that "tender" is a warm, fuzzy word and the story is dark. Can we go edgier?

THE GRAVE CLOTHES LAUNDRESS, I'll admit, is a mouthful. :) But something drew me to it, mainly it's sheer originality. It leaves me asking questions, in a good way. And of course "grave" is a great word which evokes an image and lots of emotions. Perhaps it could benefit from being shorter, such as just "The Grave Clothes." Also "laundress" feels somewhat old-fashioned to me, like it would belong on the cover of a literary historical novel, not a paranormal YA.

SPEECHLESS has been used for quite a bit of novels, movies, and albums, so it may be a good idea to find a way to add a new twist to it. However, I liked this matched with the Little Mermaid concept. Under water, you can't speak, and it just gives me a deep sense of the themes you take on in your Little Mermaid re-telling.

Popular Vote Winners

Props to...

Shattered Secrets by Krystal Wade (winner of warm fuzzies)
Heirs of War by Mara Valderran (winner of EVER)

Congratulations winners! 

If you won a copy of EVER, please send your email address to Jessa(at)curiosityquills.com so she can send it to you. If you won a query critique from her, please send it to the same address.

If you're one of my winners, email your query to sharon(at)curiosityquills.com and let me know which of these books you would like. Even if your query isn't ready, please send me your book selection by 11/16 so I can purchase it during the promotional period!

Haunted Writing Contest Winners!

Now for the scariest post of all....

WINNERS!

T. Loveless, The Air Maiden - Please send your full MS to andrew(at)curiosityquills.com

Yolanda Renee, Memories of Murder - Please send your full MS to andrew(at)curiosityquills.com

Brianna Schrum, Corrupted - Please send your full MS to kathleen(at)curiosityquills.com

Rhiann Wynn-Nolet, Tendril - Please send your first three chapters to jessa(at)curiosityquills.com

Natasha Hawkins, Ignite - Please send your first three chapters to jessa(at)curiosityquills.com

SUPER VILLAIN SUPREME:

It's a draw! Each of the winners came from a different team. But I'll give evil props to Thea Gregory, Mike Robinson, Gerilyn Marin whose minions received full requests.

I guess that means we're equally evil. Re-match, maybe?

And our winners by default...

Kelley Harvey and Cat Scully from The Dark Side won full requests from Jessa Russo in GUTGAA during the course of the contest so were not eligible to enter this one because they had already won the prize! The fact that they were both on my team may be evidence that I was cheating when I picked my minions. Well...I am a villain after all. But for the record, I only knew about Kelley's request and not Cat's. :)

Winners, please send your submissions in an attached word document.

I want to thank you all for your participation! Even if you didn't get a request, I hope you got some helpful feedback and gained some good connections. Perhaps a different project will catch our editors' eye, so you're all invited to submit to Curiosity Quills again in the future if you have something new.

For more opportunities to connect with other authors, I encourage you to check out my other site, The Blog Tour Exchange. I'd love to keep working with you as blog tour hosts!

EVER Title Contest - Vote for your favorites!

We have lots of great titles here to choose from! In comments, tell us which ones you like the most. Jessa Russo will be picking the final winners, but who knows, maybe you can convince her. Jessa's two favorites will win a free copy of EVER and a query critique. As an extra bonus, I'll also be picking two of my favorites and giving them a copy of the title of their choice from this list and and a query critique.

I didn't mention this rule earlier, but to make it even, I only put the first of your titles in the list if you listed more than one. If you want to switch which of your titles is in play, please let me know ASAP!

Extra super-duper bonus prize: Three published authors from Curiosity Quills Press wanted to jump in the ring (even though they can't win). The first person to tell me which titles belong to WIPs by Krystal Wade, Ayden Morgen, and Jessa Russo will also win a title of their choice from this list. Just put your answer in comments!

Dark One's Mistress, Fantasy

Elysian Fields, Adult Urban Fantasy

Broken Branch Falls, MG Fantasy

TENDERWOOD, YA, Dark Romantic Fantasy

The Grave Clothes Laundress, YA Paranormal 

Speechless, YA Contemporary/Fairy Tale Retell (Little Mermaid)

TENDRIL, YA Neo-Gothic Rapunzel retelling

Screamers YA urban fantasy

Shattered Secrets, a YA Thriller & Urban Fantasy

John Wayne Marshall's So Called "Sex Life" YA a comedic autobiography

Sibylline Nights, NA contemporary fantasy

Journey Through a Dark Forest: Lyuba and Ivan in the Age of Anxiety, historical fiction/family saga

Heirs of War, Crown of Flames, NA Fantasy (second book in the Heirs of War series)

Branded - NA Contemporary Dystopian.

Stricken (The War Scrolls: Book One), NA Urban Fantasy

Ocean Black, urban fantasy

Kentucky Rain, YA coming of age

DIVIDE, a YA mash-up of a fairytale redux and a gothic horror

The World Beyond the Window (YA Dystopic)

Once in Limberlost (YA Speculative Fiction)

Book Giveaway Supporting The Red Cross

To support victims of Hurricane Sandy and other disasters, my publisher Curiosity Quills Press is donating 50% of proceeds from select titles to the American Red Cross from 11/9/12-11/16/12. I've already purchased most of the promotional titles, but to add my support, I'd like to buy them again during the promotional period. So, who wants one? Enter using the Rafflecopter form for a chance to win the title of your choice!

Here are the titles benefitting the Red Cross:

  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Great Title Post

From betterbooktitles.com

I have to say, I'm somewhat of a book title aficionado, if such a thing exists. But no one ever asks me for feedback on their title. Queries, first pages, whole novels, sure. But why don't we talk about titles more?

It seems like an important oversight as titles are the first words of the book we read. They're the ones plastered across the cover. They should be flawless. 

Here is how to pick a good title:

Start by brainstorming. Write a list of all the important elements in your book, I included examples from my upcoming novel, The Charge.

• Themes: power, leadership, overcoming the mistakes of our ancestors, becoming a man, finding yourself, David vs. Goliath, freedom
• Things: storm, blue, electricity, energy, lightning, crown, bomb, destruction, flag, charge, legacy
• People: King, orphan, son, heir, traitor, President, leader, revolutionary, cowboy, dynasty, ancestors, father, tyrant
• Places: Texas, Empire, No Man's Land, alternate history, Alamo, United States, wasteland, anarchy

Now start putting things together. Write down some possible titles. Chances are, when you find the right one, you'll "just know." But for something more scientific, here are some points to consider.

• Originality - Search Amazon for your book title, and you might go ahead and search the whole internet too, just in case your title is also a brand of vacuum cleaner or something. There is no rule saying you can't share your title with another book, but if it's been used over and over, go ahead and cross it off the list.
• Evoke emotion - The words in your title need to cause some kind of reaction. There should be conflict implied or an image or feeling evoked.
• Be specific - Avoid vague concepts like A Hero's Regret or A Journey of Faith. It's too vague to mean anything really. Again, use words that we can see or feel and do something original and unexpected.
• Voice/tone/genre - Your title needs to fit your book. For example, "Game of Thrones" sounds great for an epic fantasy, but it's not right for a light contemporary romance. If your book is epic and serious, it needs a title to match (Atonement). If it's funny and quirky, your title should be too (The Last Condo Board of the Apocalypse).
• Bonus goodness - I love it when titles have double meaning (Empire Falls) or unexpected twists (The Devil Wears Prada, Lord of the Flies). 

After lots of thinking, I chose The Charge because it has double meaning - a responsibility one must take on and an electric charge, which fit my book perfectly. I am quite pleased with it. :)

Some of my favorite titles:

The Hunger Games - Atonement - Fight Club - Never Let Me Go - Game of Thrones - A Team of Rivals - The Tipping Point - The Grapes of Wrath - Of Mice and Men - All The King's Men - The Lord of The Flies - Lord of The Rings - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - The Devil Wears Prada - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - War and Peace - Brave New World - Empire Falls - Faithful Place - Ender's Game - The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - The Last Condo Board of The Apocalypse (shout-out to my friend Nina Post)

Title fails:

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling 

I love J.K. Rowling, but this title leaves a lot to be desired. It strongly violates the evoke emotion rule. Both the word "Casual" and "Vacancy" are the opposite of conflict. She should have called it Uptight No Rooms Available. Seriously though, I get no emotion from this title and no image. Boring.

50 Shades Freed by E.L. James

Despite what you might think about the series, I like the first two titles. 50 Shades of Grey evokes both the theme and has double meaning with the "Grey". Not too shabby. 50 Shades Darker - works well with the first book title and ups the tension. 50 Shades Freed? Um...free is not a color. This makes no sense.

Salmon Fishing on the Yemen

Ah, fishing...the conflict...the excitement...the passion it evokes. Okay, no. This title sounds like a boring day trip your dad made you take.

For some fun title fails, check out this article, "15 Most Ridiculous Titles" and a spoof on what books should have been titled, "The Best of Better Book Titles."

Fore more tips, also check out, "How To Title Your Book," by Rachelle Gardner.

If you haven't already, you can enter the Ever title contest here. But hurry, I'll post the titles for voting tomorrow!

What are some of your favorite titles? Least favorite?

EVER Title Contest

Today we have a fun mini contest, brought to you by Ever by Jessa Russo. 

You painstakingly edit all 80,000 words of your novel, but what about the words plastered across the cover? I think we can all agree that we DO judge books by their covers, and that includes the title. A good title (or a bad one) can make a big difference in whether or not your book attracts readers (or agents and editors). It's your first chance to set the tone for the novel and display your voice.

So, don't forget to ask your critique partners and beta readers for feedback on your title! 

To play, enter your title in comments on this blog post by midnight CST 11/7. You can use a title for a finished novel or WIP in any stage of development. In your comment, please also include your genre. A good title for romance and a good title for horror are different. :) (Example: EVER, YA paranormal romance). 

On 11/8, I'll post the titles and Jessa Russo and I will pick our favorite titles. They'll also be a place where you can vote for your favorite. The prizes are a free copy of EVER and a query critique by Jessa Russo. In addition to being an author, Jessa is also YA/NA acquisitions editor for Curiosity Quills Press, so her query critique is gold!

Later this week, I'll be posting "The Great Title Post," with all my tips on how to pick a great title.

I'll start with my analysis of the title, EVER.

Seventeen-year-old Ever's love life has been on hold for the past two years. She's secretly in love with her best friend Frankie, and he's completely oblivious.

Of course, it doesn't help that he's dead, and waking up to his ghost every day has made moving on nearly impossible.

Frustrated and desperate for something real, Ever finds herself falling for her hot new neighbor Toby. His relaxed confidence is irresistible, and not just Ever knows it. But falling for Toby comes with a price that throws Ever's life into a whirlwind of chaos and drama. More than hearts are on the line, and more than Ever will suffer.

Some girls lose their hearts to love.

Some girls lose their minds.

Ever Van Ruysdael could lose her soul.

"EVER" gets my title seal of approval. It's the MC's first name of course, but it's also reminiscent of "forever" a concept which fits well with romance, especially romance with a ghost. Although reminiscent of the word "forever", "EVER" is much snappier and much less sappy and cliched than using "forever" itself. Imagine how different it would be if she called the book "Forever Love" or similar. You want the reader to think "forever love" but it should be more subtle, like she did with "EVER".

The word "EVER" is also a pretty word. It's fun to say. It feels dramatic and epic and has that great "V" sound.

Good titles don't have to be short, but they often are. Unless you're going for something creative and quirky like Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, short and simple is a good bet. Short and simple is especially good for when you are going for dramatic and mysterious, which fits with EVER.

Kudos to Jessa Russo on a great title!