Showing posts with label novel anthology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label novel anthology. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Surprise! A New Collaborative from the Authors of Fractured Glass

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Boy, do I have some news for you. I hope you have your knickers on, because this announcement is a big one. Ready? Grab your cup of Jo and let's get going.

If you remember Fractured Glass, it's one novel with five sections written by five different authors. Yeah, we told a complete story, each of us writing 20k then passing it off to the others for further storytelling.

This title won't be done that way. No, I'm not giving you spoilers and telling you what we're doing. What I can tell you is this:
  • Nothing like this has ever been done before. We're flipping things once again.
  • We'll all be sticking to one genre (Paranormal Fiction), but we're changing the construct of the story and the definition of collaborative fiction once again.
  • Yes, I'm teasing you. I want to know if you're intrigued.
  • We met, once again, at Utopia this past June, to hash out this title and nail down the plot and specifics.
  • Our character bios are complete.
  • There have been many words written already.
  • A blurb is coming with the cover reveal in October.
I bet you want to know the working title, huh? Well, here it is:


On Amazon, it'll be titled 7. Is it vague? Yes. This story is meant to keep you guessing until the end. Even we don't know what will happen once our characters come full circle.

What do you think? Have any guesses?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Preparing to Co-Author

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I have a little writing tip for you about writing with someone else (or many people). I hope you’re all ready to dive into the awesome. Grab those pens and notebooks and let’s get going!

Recently, I published a book titled Fractured Glass (get a copy here). This is co-writing at its finest. Nearly every reviewer has commented about how seamless the writing is from one author to the next, how well the story flows, and how amazing the character development was (see the lovely image Casey L. Bond made from some of our reviews).

Why do you think that is?

If you’ve been around the blog for a while, you’ll know I put out a call for collaboration in an anthology around December of 2013. What I was looking to do was upset the common thought surrounding the definition(s) of an anthology: 1.) a book or other collection of selected writings by various authors, usually in the same literary form, of the same period, or on the same subject. 2.) a collection of selected writings by one author.

Usually, an anthology is a collection of short stories. I wanted a collection of novellas. Once I got with the other ladies involved, we went a little bananas. I’m not sure who it was, but someone shouted out, “What if we used the same characters and drove them through five different genres, or five different stories, in one novel?” I was floored. It was unlike anything that had been done before. Yes! But how to do that? Well, we needed a world that would support changing genres. That’s how the fractal universe was decided upon. It gave us freedom while setting certain boundaries or rules for what the characters could do. Once we had that down, we came up with our main characters, Harley and Sloan Glass. Then, we had our title.

We decided to give ourselves a month to think about those characters and the world they’d live in, and (after copious note taking) we high-fived one another and split.

Cut to a month later. We met online via Google Drive with the free PDF on character development (get it here) open to edit. Here’s where the magic really began to happen. Via the chat feature, we threw ideas left and right, filled out the PDF, and the first person in line was ready to kick us off. A month after that, and we had our first 20k word (approximate) section by the one and only Tia Silverthorne Bach. Of course, she left some room for expansion and revisions.

She uploaded her section and shared it, we set a date and time where we’d get together and discuss the story, plot, characters, and flow, and we got to reading.

Once everyone had read the first part, we met with a new document open that listed the following:
  • What we liked.
  • What we didn’t like.
  • What we’d like to see changed.
  • What can't be changed no matter what.
  • Suggestions, tips, and thoughts for section two.
Editing of that document went crazy. Once again, the flow of ideas was incredible. I felt very at ease with everyone, and creativity had no bounds in our meetings (neither did critique—this is one tough-skinned group of women). Every section after the first was treated the same way. It helped us see our strengths, weaknesses, and holes.

But what held us central and firm was excellent preparation. We discussed our characters to death and knew the journey they’d embark upon before the first word was written.

One thing we didn’t do was go back and add any kind of foreshadowing for upcoming sections. Everything you read was off the cuff and based on what the folks before had done. It kept the surprises real and twisty, while keeping the characters the same from page to page.

During editing, all we had to work on was consistency of speech of the characters and where the worlds were connected. Writing styles were left intact, and each author had their unique voice preserved. Choosing co-authors was the most grueling, and enjoyable, thing I did. I adore these women!

Shout out!
Tia Silverthorne Bach
Casey L. Bond
Kelly Risser
N. L. Greene

Those are their Twitter pages. Go give them a follow!

So, if you’re thinking of co-writing a novel, remember that excellent planning and communication (liking the other people involved doesn’t hurt at ALL) are the cornerstones of success.

Next Tuesday I’ll go into how co-editing in Google Drive works. I think you’ll be shocked.

Grab a copy of Fractured Glass on Amazon here. See what the buzz is about!

Thinking of co-writing a novel? Do these tips help? Tell me about your project!

Well, that’s all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

New Release - Fractured Glass

Happy Wednesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today is the day you've all been waiting for! Fractured Glass is officially for sale over at Amazon. $2.99 get it here. I know, I know, you can barely contain your excitement! *grin* But I have some awesomeness for you all today I can barely contain. Hold on to your horses and let's get going!

First of all, if you buy the book, please go to the Facebook release party here and enter your order information on the relevant post for a shot at a $100 gift card, courtesy of the authors.

Next, if you haven't entered to win a paperback, pop on over to Goodreads and do that here.

For the special on the blog today, I have some of the characters for you to get to know!


Calix is dark and sexy. He’s a product of cross-fractal species breeding, and no one knows his true age. There’s one thing everyone knows: Diego is insanely jealous of Calix spending time with Sloan. Everyone wonders what it is the man is truly after, but he’s not talking, and he has possession of Sloan in the fractal universe.


Diego is a seventeen-year-old who is adopted. His parents are workaholics, but he enjoys the freedom they give him so he can browse the internet, geek out over science, and spend every free moment at the Glass sisters’ house, studying the advanced science and mathematics their mother teaches them.. He has a deep crush on Sloan, and he happens to be a technology wizard.

Harley and Sloan Glass are sixteen-year-old twin sisters with the ability to traverse what are known as fractals. Harley is a soccer player and loves dancing, hanging with her sister, and running. Sloan plays guitar and enjoys school, spending time with her mother, and reading books. Both girls are excellent students and are homeschooled.  

 
Elba is ageless and comes from a realm deep within the fractal universe. No one really knows why she’s offering to help the Glass family, but the sisters have their suspicions Elba isn’t what she seems. Darkness follows her. She’s a mystery they’re all determined to unravel.


Yurit is a wise and elder gnome from the realm of Spirit. He’s part of the council protecting the fractals; a group of folks banded together to put an end to tyranny. Able to see the future, he knows a guardian needs to be found, but is hesitant to pass that amount of power to a single person. He’s short, sweet, and loves his daughter, Heema, very much.

Now that you've met a few of the awesome characters, let's get on to information about the book, shall we? 



Title: Fractured Glass: A Novel Anthology
Author(s): Tia Silverthorne Bach, Jo Michaels, Casey L. Bond, Kelly Risser, N. L. Greene
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction (paranormal, horror, fantasy, magic, romance)
Length (print): 325 pages
Buy Links: Amazon Kindle $2.99  ~  Paperback $14.99

Synopsis:
What if other worlds existed alongside your own? What if you could travel through them and truly escape reality?

Sloan and Harley Glass were born moments apart; but, despite their differences, the sixteen-year-old twins couldn’t be closer. They’ve held their tongues each and every time their mother has uprooted them—often moving across the country with little notice. They’ve learned to accept change. But what is Mom running from?

They discover they’re travelers—half-descendants of those who can traverse an entire universe of parallel worlds known as fractals. When the past catches up, Harley is kidnapped and taken to one of those distant worlds. Now, Sloan must garner her courage and find a way to rescue her sister. Traversing the worlds isn’t the hard part; it’s surviving the elements and the creatures lying in wait to destroy everything in their path.

Will the Glass sisters be able to save the fractal worlds from the kidnapper, or will everything fracture and crumble around them?

What are you waiting for? Go get yours! Now!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo 

Friday, November 14, 2014

Fractured Glass - Pre-order Signup Form and Goodreads Giveaway

Happy Friday, everyone! Wow. What a crazy week it was, huh? Well, I have a little something that just might brighten your day. Not only are we taking signups for folks willing to help us announce the awesomeness that's releasing for pre-order around Thanksgiving, we're also giving away a couple copies of the book over on Goodreads (INTERNATIONALLY). So, get your clicking fingers ready and let's get into it!

First up, a little information about the book:

Expected Release Date: December 24, 2014
Pre-orders: November 28, 2014
Title: Fractured Glass - A Novel Anthology
Author(s): Tia Silverthorne Bach, Jo Michaels, Casey L. Bond, Kelly Risser, and N. L. Greene
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction with five sub-genres (paranormal, horror, fantasy, magic, and romance)
Length: ~100k words

Synopsis:
What if other worlds existed alongside your own? What if you could travel through them and truly escape reality?

Sloan and Harley Glass were born moments apart; but, despite their differences, the sixteen-year-old twins couldn’t be closer. They’ve held their tongues each and every time their mother has uprooted them—often moving across the country with little notice. They’ve learned to accept change. But what is Mom running from?

They discover they’re travelers—half-descendants of those who can traverse an entire universe of parallel worlds known as fractals. When the past catches up, Harley is kidnapped and taken to one of those distant worlds. Now, Sloan must garner her courage and find a way to rescue her sister. Traversing the worlds isn’t the hard part; it’s surviving the elements and the creatures lying in wait to destroy everything in their path.

Will the Glass sisters be able to save the fractal worlds from the kidnapper, or will everything fracture and crumble around them?

Sign up to help us out here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15qWiXB2UT85p-L7y-FqdUBrarbtMawKtAebZunf48CU/viewform

Now, I know you're ready for the Goodreads giveaway entry form, right? Yeah! Okay, here ya go:



Goodreads Book Giveaway

Fractured Glass by Jo Michaels

Fractured Glass

by Jo Michaels

Giveaway ends December 31, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win

It's not live yet, because they haven't approved it. But it will be. So add it to your shelf and, when it goes live, enter to win it!

What do you think? Would you like to help us out?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo