YA Forum Quick Update (wip,submissions etc)

Barb D

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I'm working on Spinning Coins, about two contemporary girls who time travel to 16th century Denmark. Polly is an atheist and a feminist loosely based on my 15yo daughter; Joy is an ultra conservative homeschooled Christian loosely based on my 16yo niece. The story is told from their alternating points of view, and includes themes of predestination and free will.

I'm working on this slowly in between constant migraines and child raising. Once I get the migraines resolved (with surgery later this month) I'll be going back to work full time, so the pace will still be slow.

ETA: The title comes from the game of chance the title characters play in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and because the means of time travel was by spinning a magic(?) coin.
 
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~grace~

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Hey Barb that sounds cool! major kudos for the Stoppard reference. :)

I'm glad you have a real kid to base your homeschooler on, b/c as a previously homeschooled kid I can get kind of tetchy when it looks like a homeschooler in fiction was written by someone who did no research.

oh right, and update:

NEW WIP!
untitled/Endgame: Death may seem scary, but it's Endgame you should be worried about. He's the one who sets up how you die. Except--Death seems to be grabbing at power that isn't his. And there's this dumb teenage boy trying to take down Endgame to save his girlfriend. What?

Beyond Yesterday: stuck at 15k, but will return to it after the first flood of Endgame inspiration wears off

Straight on til Morning: on hold while I work on BY and Endgame
 

Barb D

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Grace, I hsed my teenagers when they were K-7 (DS17) and K-5 (DD15), and DD15 is currently hsing herself using Keystone National Highschool. (DS17 loves public school, and DD8 does too.) The character based on DD15 is in public school, though, and hates it. My sister has 10 hsed kids. So I do have some experience with it. :)

Ros and Guil will make an appearance in my book, too.

Your book sounds like something my DS17 would like!

Hey Barb that sounds cool! major kudos for the Stoppard reference. :)

I'm glad you have a real kid to base your homeschooler on, b/c as a previously homeschooled kid I can get kind of tetchy when it looks like a homeschooler in fiction was written by someone who did no research.

oh right, and update:

NEW WIP!
untitled/Endgame: Death may seem scary, but it's Endgame you should be worried about. He's the one who sets up how you die. Except--Death seems to be grabbing at power that isn't his. And there's this dumb teenage boy trying to take down Endgame to save his girlfriend. What?

Beyond Yesterday: stuck at 15k, but will return to it after the first flood of Endgame inspiration wears off

Straight on til Morning: on hold while I work on BY and Endgame
 

Sage

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Cheering you all on!
Update:

Editing Love Sucks.

Contemplating a not-yet-named sequel for another character.
 

Shady Lane

my name is hannah
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I'm working on a new WIP, Invincible Summer, which is a family saga duely inspired by John Irving and Camus.
 

karo.ambrose

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Just finished the rough draft of a story about a boy, his grandma, and two friendly aliens who've come to share their message of peace and chalupas with the warmongering President Shrub.
 

Sage

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Working on Capital L: a Sucky Sequel, YA contemp fantasy about a lust-draining guy who's trying to figure out how to deal with his own lust and attraction (it's not as smutty as it sounds, I swear).
 

Zoombie

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Just got beta back, by Karo. Commence hyperventilation.

And Karo, I even do that when the comments are just "Hey, nice story."

I still hyperventilate. I'm sure its not healthy...
 

Inkspill

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Finished my first draft of SIGN HERE. =D
 

Shady Lane

my name is hannah
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Just finished the first draft of Invincible Summer, now I'm editing A La Mode, the sequel to Birthday Cake.
 

Dreamer3702

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EDITING:
The Super-Scary Werewolf and the Handsome Prince --- picture book
Eat Flies?! (formaly known as Deanli and Toad Boy) --- MG fantasy


REWRITING:
The Adventures of Davy Wishbone: The Sword of Emiza --- MG fantasy; 3rd person limited; book 1 of 7


WRITING:
The Fireflies --- 1st POV; my first YA!!! <3 <3 <3


PLOTTING:
Red Welling (working title) --- MG fantasy; 1st person?
Untitled --- YA urban fantasy involving psychics and werewolves; 3rd person limited?


ON THE BACK BURNER:
The Adventures of Davy Wishbone: When Swinephants Fly --- MG fantasy; 3rd person limited; book 2 of 7; 1/2 through the 1st draft
 

Alexandra Little

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Chapters six and seven beat into submission.

Chapter five is going to require thumbscrews and hot oil at the very least--a simple beating doesn't seem to faze it.

ETA: Nevermind--chapter five has been beaten into a bruise, broken, bleeding, suffocated pulp of a chapter that doesn't have a leg or arm to stand on. Now, about chapter ten...
 
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sharpierae

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UPDATE!!

Maya Rock at Writers House is repping Game Over!

And MUDLEVEL has turned into the second book in a trilogy (but intended to be read first, make sense? no?)
 
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~grace~

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update!!!

the corpses continue to fall fast and furious, folks, as Loki takes the runaway lead--but don't discount Endgame yet! he started late but could still be a strong contender for the win! it'll be neck-and-neck at the finish DON'T ANYONE GO ANYWHERE!

*thunk*

there's goes another body, folks, make sure you stand back from the railings!!



....
 

sharpierae

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got some fantastic agent notes back for Game Over with some hints on how to tighten the plot. a few chapters into revisions and it's FUN!

ETA: 45k in to it and it's NOT fun. :(
 
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alainn_chaser

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Editing:

Street Blood: While I'm not actually editing this now I will be in a few weeks when I finally lose my self restraint and open my word document before my one mouth hiatus deadline. I know with assured honesty that I will fail to keep to the deadline of September 19th.

Writing:
Despite being inherently lost for about two days, two incredibly long moping days of writers block where if you were in the musers thread while I was then you will attest to how annoying I was, I have gotten back to writing.

So, now I'm writing a book I was about 6k into during the writing of SB. It's called Hell for the Company. (For now. It was originally: Anti.) It is about a chronically depressed eighteen year old boy who's best friend is an Anti-christ (stress on the 'an') and that it is his duty as a best friend to follow him to hell.

Confused? So am I... So am I...
 

C. Lee Tocci

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Congratulations!

It's unofficially official... My agent sold my book to Delacorte yesterday! So now I'm waiting for the contract and the editorial letter!

ADDED 2/27/08 (From Publishers Marketplace): Trish Doller's UNBECOMING, a roadtrip across America that starts as a punishment and becomes a romantic adventure, to Claudia Gabel at Delacorte, in a nice deal, by Kate Schafer at kt literary (NA).

Congratulations! Keep us updated on the progress!
 

C. Lee Tocci

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Newbie Me!

Hi all,

I just joined this forum and it's cool to get to listen to all of you, where ever you are in the process of becoming Pulitzer winning journalists. It's so great to hear your success stories and to read what you're working on now.

As for moi...

PUBLISHED : nothing yet


SOON TO BE PUBLISHED :
My first YA fantasy novel Stone Voice Rising will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in the spring of 2009... 2 1/2 years after they bought it! I lost count on the number of re-writes on this one... somewhere around eight, I think. However, it's coming out soon... at last! Check out the website www.stonevoicerising.com

It was originally entitled The Road to Kiva and under that name, it won an Editor's Choice award at the San Diego State University Writers Conference.​

COMPLETED but in limbo :
Why Kill An Angel? A chicklit murder mystery romance that my agent says "is very publishable" but I should focus on YA right now.​


WORK IN PROGRESS:
Neophytes of the Stone (working title) I'm about 55k into the sequel of Stone Voice Rising. I'm pretty sure that Harcourt is interested in it, but they haven't made an offer yet, but I want to be finished when they do.​


Where Angels Fear to Dread Sequel to the Why Kill An Angel? mystery.​
 

karo.ambrose

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I am querying/betaing Of Grandma and Aliens.

I have begun writing the first draft for Lonely Lonely.
 
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