Wow. Lionsgate bought Summit and is planning to extend the Twilight movies beyond the books.
I doubt they’ll get RPattz and KStew back, though.
Archive for the ‘paranormal romances’ Category
Even More Twilight?
Posted in books, movies, paranormal romances, vampires, wtf, tagged kristen stewart, lionsgate bought summit, lionsgate buys summit, Movies, Robert Pattinson, twilight, twilight movies on January 14, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Thanksgiving Update/American Horror Story
Posted in horror movies, paranormal romances, Television, writing, writing life, tagged American Horror Story, Francis Conroy, Jessica Lange, paranormal romance, Tate American Horror story, Tate Langdon, writing, writing life on November 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
It seems that I pour all of my writing energy into books now. And instead of social networking, I’m socializing. I miss blogging, though. I used to love it. I can’t believe that the whole Dating Amy project will be ten in 2012. Do you know some of those guys I dated still call? Mind-blowing.
I sent my first novel, a young adult paranormal romance (not about vampires), out into the wild a week ago. I had bragged that it only took me two months to write, but then it took me eight months to revise so I shut up.
Writing my first novel was incredibly difficult and one of the hardest things I’ve ever done creatively. I keep pestering more prolific writers (aka ALL of them) to assure me that the first book is by far the hardest and the response seems to be that they’re ALL hard, but I guess I went deaf in that ear.
Having said that, I love my book. It’s sweet and funny and rock and roll, and it rubs up against being almost literary, so yeah.
Speaking of young adults and paranormal stuff I love: Have you been watching American Horror Story?
Anyone who knows me knows I love horror movies. I see pretty much everything. So of course I checked out FX’s fall offering American Horror Story. I watched like two episodes but even the credits had me lying awake at night, so I declared a ban on it, ’cause I don’t need that shiz.
But my writer friends protested, saying I needed to push through because it’s the best new show out there right now. I asked if I could skip to a recent episode because I knew there was a huge event caused by the teenage character I like, Tate, and my writer friends vetoed that. They said I had to watch the whole thing. So I forced myself to get though it and now it’s my favorite show.
It’s incredibly good. It borrows from so many horror movies that it’s an original. Francis Conroy from Six Feet Under is the older version of the housekeeper that is also played by the gorgeous Alexandra Breckenridge–whether you see her as sexy or geriatric depends on the character’s mindset at the time. This is also Jessica Lange’s first-ever television role and it’s perfect for her. Most surprising is the troubled teenager Tate Langdon, her son. Somehow the writers have made him a sympathetic heartthrob, even though he’s a crazy murderer.
I told Mark, one of my author friends, AHS makes the characters so sympathetic and real that it’s tough for me to watch.
His answer: It’s the New Horror!
Bucket List Update: Write a Novel in Two Months
Posted in books, bucket list, paranormal romances, writing, writing life, tagged bucket list, how to write a novel, how to write a novel in two months, mad men bucket list, paranormal romance, write a novel in two months, write or die, writeordie, writing a paranormal romance, writing advice on March 11, 2011 | 2 Comments »
My mini bucket list is silly because 1) I am not including anything personal on it since I don’t roll that way on the Internet anymore. 2) It doesn’t have an end date and 3) It does have an end date, which is the nebulous “whenever Mad Men comes back on.”
Anyway, I checked a big one off today: Write young adult paranormal romance novel in two months.
Done.
I started writing this book (not announcing the title yet), my first novel, on January 10 of this year. It still needs a lot of work, but I did finish it yesterday. It’s currently 270 pages.
The most important thing I learned is that I can write like a fast mofo when I have to and that it’s really not that hard.
At first I was proud of myself for writing maybe 800 words a day, but now I see that 3000-4000 is not unreasonable at all, especially if you’re not doing other writing work.
I relied heavily on Write or Die and also having a writing buddy, Michelle. We met on twitter and wrote together mostly every Tuesday and Wednesday, with other check-ins throughout the week.
Twitter is great for this kind of thing. It is filled with writers who have nothing but time on their hands. Kidding, but it is a great hangout for writers.
Stephen King recommends that you don’t spend more than three months on your first draft because you lose the energy and enthusiasm for the story. Now I get what he’s saying. I felt really immersed in my novel’s world since I cranked it out so fast.
Not gonna lie, though. I couldn’t have done it if I had been working on other things. Writing a book is freakin’ hard.
Self-Published Troll Book to be Adapted by ‘District 9′ Scribe
Posted in books, movies, paranormal romances, publishing news, tagged amanda hocking, amanda hocking switched, books, district 9, ebooks, film, hocking switched movie, Movies, self-published books, self-publishing, self-publishing amazon, switched film, switched film adaptation, terri tatchell, trylle trilogy, young adult books on February 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Huge Hollywood news out of the getting-hard-to-ignore self-publishing realm.
So when she couldn’t get a traditional book deal, Amanda Hocking wrote and self-published the Trylle trilogy. It’s a cute, fast-paced paranormal romance about trolls and a seemingly regular teenaged girl who gets called back to become queen of their kingdom.
Minnesota twenty-something author Hocking is a true self-publishing success story, and has sold something like 500,000 of her books directly through Amazon in less than a year.
Today she announced that the first book in the series, Switched, which I loved, by the way, is going to be adapted into a screenplay by Terri Tatchell, who penned Best Original Screenplay nominee District 9.
This kind of independent, enterpreneurial stuff just thrills me.
Congratulations, Amanda, and I cannot wait to see über dreamboat Finn on the big screen.
Writing life update
Posted in paranormal romances, personal life, writing, writing life, tagged writing, writing life, YA writing, young adult writing on February 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
So I’ve been laser-focused on writing this young adult paranormal book. I started on January 10 and I have about ten of the twenty-four chapters done. I see that I’ve written in my calendar under February 16: “Have YA novel done.”
That’s cute.
I am planning on having the first draft done by the end of this month at least, though.
I can tell I’m serious about this book because I’m not hanging around on the Internet all day and not watching any TV at night. I’ve also quit drinking wine–at home anyway. I’ve been hanging out at a really nice bar where I can write and have a glass, but it is not the same, believe me. I’m more productive when I’m out.
Weird.
Deciding Which Book to Work on
Posted in Los Angeles Memoir, memoirs, paranormal romances, writing, writing life, tagged amazon, paranormal romances, publishing, publishing news, self-publishing amazon, writing, writing life, young adult books on January 14, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Just wanted to write a quick update before I hide my wireless router from myself for the day so I can get some book writing done.
I’m starting to feel more embarrassed than usual when people ask me how the book is going, because I keep falling in love with and then completely dropping manuscripts. I wonder if people are thinking, “Amy is really flaky.” I mean, they probably think that already. What kind of linear progress and constancy would you expect from someone who first got published for writing about going on 50 dates?
I also wonder if people think I can’t publish again. That DATING AMY was a one-time thing.
It wasn’t, or at least I don’t think it was. The thing is, it’s hard to know which book is going to be the most viable. Financially, I mean. I read this really brilliant quote on twitter last year that writing a novel is like filling out a lottery ticket for two years.
I don’t know what’s going to take off in the marketplace, but I can at least make an educated guess. The last two books I was working on (since 2008? Ish.) were memoirs, and even though I love them and other people love the idea of them, I am not completely certain I want to risk all my time and pin all my hopes on memoirs. As far as I know they’re not selling to publishers really well. By that I mean they’re not hot.
So I have switched yet again from my memoir about Los Angeles (which I LOVE, by the by, and have written 200 pages of since November 1), to a young adult novel about witchcraft, kinda. It’s my first YA and my first try at fiction. And… now I even sound flaky to myself.
Sigh.
I’m also completely enthralled with the idea of self-publishing, especially for paranormal books, because you could crank them out like an old-fashioned serial without the two-year publishing time lag. The entrepreneur in me gets all excited about selling books directly to readers through Amazon, etc. Also the 70% royalty rate is the bees knees. (The usual with traditional publishing is like 8-12%)
The Unfair Beauty of Being Shiloh Fernandez
Posted in celebrities, movie reviews, movies, paranormal romances, tagged Amanda Seyfried, ashley greene, Deadgirl, Movies, Red Riding Hood, Red Riding Hood 2011, Robert Pattinson, Shiloh Fernandez, Skateland, twilight on November 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
There’s this actor I’m obsessed with, Shiloh Fernandez. He looks and acts like Joaquin Phoenix and I mean that in the best possible way.
He was in this really inappropriate, really great indie film called Deadgirl a few years ago. He was also the dreamy boy-next-door in another indie film, Skateland, where he was the romantic interest of Ashley Greene (Twilight). I just love him.
Anyway, you probably don’t even know who this guy is, but he was the fourth choice to play Edward in Twilight. And I was thinking of how acting, like writing, is not so much unfair as uneven.
How being fourth in line for a role like the lead in a major franchise doesn’t net you for instance, one-quarter of the money and opportunities that Robert Pattinson gets.
It reminds me of writing. Because when some book gets 10 times the accolades mine did or sells 10 times as many copies, I expect to open it and see that the craftsmanship of the writing is 10 times better. That the author is literally and measurably 10 times funnier.
And sometimes that doesn’t happen. And yet hopefully things even out eventually.
Most people will first see Shiloh in the Red Riding Hood update March, 2011. He’s apparently the bad-boy woodsman who Amanda Seyfried’s parents don’t want her involved with. Also, maybe his big break is closer to his near-miss than it appears: from the trailer it looks like he may be a werewolf.
Free Twilight Series Book?
Posted in books, paranormal romances, reading, vampires, tagged bree tanner, bree tanner free, short second life of bree tanner free, Stephanie Meyer, stephenie meyer twilight, the short second life of bree tanner, twilight, vampires on June 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Apparently the online version of something called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer is available for free today at noon.
Fans of The Twilight Saga will be enthralled by this riveting story of Bree Tanner, a character first introduced in Eclipse, and the newborn vampire world she inhabits. In another irresistible combination of danger, mystery, and romance, Stephenie Meyer tells the devastating story of Bree and the newborn army as they prepare to close in on Bella Swan and the Cullens, following their encounter to its unforgettable conclusion.
