Gabriella Hewitt

Literary agent Laura Bradford of the Bradford Literary Agency gave an interview to Southern Sizzle Romance. What interested me the most was hearing her take on paranormal. She certainly doesn’t see it as being saturated, though she sees a preference for darker works. I know a year or two back there were whisperings that the paranormal market was tightening up. It’s good to know that isn’t necessarily the case. Secondly, at the end of the interview she offers a fairly optimistic take on the publishing market for 2010, which is more good news. As a writer, I’m always looking for those little silver linings.

Libarary Journal has a post up by John Klima called Steampunk: 20 Core Titles. If you’re already a fan or just getting your feet wet, this is a page you’ll want to bookmark or print out to have handy when you make your next book purchase.

Read through the list and you’ll find a remarkable breadth for this niche genre from sci fi, to mystery, to romance to the absurd. I’m itching to get my hands on the reprint of Infernal Devices by K.W. Jeter. The premise seems rife with comedic promise. The League of Extraordinary Gentleman stands out for being a graphic novel. I would think steampunk would be particularly suited for graphic novels and I’m curious to see how it is handled here. Another book to catch my eye is Boneshaker. It’s got all the ingredients of a steampunk novel, plus zombies. What more could you ask for?

I have read Soulless by Gail Carriger. You can find my almost review here. This book only just came out, so it’s cool to see it made the list. Her second book in this series is coming out soon and I plan on picking it up.

Steampunk is hot right now. Read blogs by editors and agents and a lot of them say they are looking for a steampunk read. In a few years it’ll be interesting to see which books stay on the list and which books get pushed aside. However it shakes out, I hope it means that the genre continues to develop in the entertaining and fascinating way that it has so far.

The British newspaper The Guardian interviewed an array of authors to get their top ten rules for writing. Authors responses ranged from cheeky to serious. I got a kick out of reading it. Part I is here and Part II is here.

I particularly recommend Margaret Atwood’s take on the writing experience. She made me laugh and nod, as did others. I’ll leave you with her rule #7.

7 You most likely need a thesaurus, a rudimentary grammar book, and a grip on reality. This latter means: there’s no free lunch. Writing is work. It’s also gambling. You don’t get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but ­essentially you’re on your own. ­Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don’t whine

Go read the whole thing.

Sent in a novella for a call out. There was good news and not so good news as the editor put it. The not so good news is that the novella wasn’t chosen for the anthology that is being put together. The good news is the editor is considering my novella as a stand alone story. She’s promised to get back to me in the next few weeks. So, I hope to have good news and to be able to top a post with the words: SOLD!!!

It feels good though to be back in the groove and to be focused on my goals. I expect 2010 to be a breakout year. I’ve got several terrific storylines in development and concrete targets for getting them done. I’ll keep you posted.

Never try to do a blog post after 11 pm at night and three glasses of wine. WordPress hates me. It totally deleted two paragraphs worth of text and I am so not happy about it.

This was going to be a totally awesome post on Valentine’s Day as it is celebrated in the US and Japan, but not gonna happen. You’ll have to settle for the short version since WordPress ate my first draft.

On Valentine’s Day in Japan you will have wives buy something special for their husband or girlfriends for their boyfriends. But, you also have this interesting twist called giri choco, which translates to “obligatory chocolate.” In other words, don’t forget to pick up some chocolate for your boss and all those male colleagues you work with. Nowadays, it isn’t as obligatory as it used to be (depending on your company and how traditional it is). Chalk that up to women’s power and equality in the workplace. But, it still happens a lot and female workers do complain even as they fill their shopping baskets with chocolate box after chocolate box. And if you didn’t catch it, Valentine’s Day is all about the women giving to the men.

But, there’s payback. Word has it that the candy companies didn’t want the chocolate makers to have all the action so they created “White Day.” On March 14th, exactly one month later, men are supposed to return a gift of cookies or candy to those who gave them chocolate.

What’s interesting is the new variation called tomo choco, which means “friend chocolate.” Young girls don’t need to bother giving chocolate to a guy. They make chocolate and give it to their girlfriends. I have yet to hear of guys doing the same, and frankly I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

As for me, I got chocolate for all the men in my life. It isn’t obligatory. It’s just ‘cuz I love ‘em!

On one of my writer’s loops someone posted a link to 100 Essential Tips & Tools for Writers of the Future. It looked pretty cool and I wanted to pass the information on to others.

The List is divided into categories: Markeing and Branding, Organization and Project Management, Business and Career, Collaboration, Brainstorming, Finding Work, Web Tips and Tutorials, Niche Writing, and lastly, Staying Cutting Edge. For each category there are anywhere from ten to twenty links that lead to software programs to help you write and stay organized, or to blog posts aimed at boosting your writing confidence and skills. With 100 tips to go through, there is bound to be something you can use to enhance your own writing. I want to check out the links on the list to Ubernote (#24) and Wridea (#25). They sound like good tools for organizing stuff. I’m always looking for ideas on organizing because I am terrible at it!

Check it out. Tell me what you think.

I read Soulless by Gail Carrriger over the Christmas/New Year’s holidays. I intended to put up a review but since Suzanne Lazear over at Steamed beat me to it with this fabulous post I decided to link to her review instead.

In Soulless you have paranormal meets Victorian age meets steampunk. It all blends together in an intriguing plot with quirky, likeable characters.

And if you enjoy Soulless, get ready for Changeless, the second book in this entertaining series, available March 30th.

I’m relatively new to the term Steampunk. Yes, I grew up watching reruns of the Wild Wild West with their funky gadgets. I even read a novel set in late 18th century Britain this Christmas that was full of similar inventions and atmosphere. (I’ll have to do a review of that book soon.) Still, I had no idea the term steampunk existed to define these types of stories.

I then ran across this Steampunk for Beginners post that laid it out quite clearly. And by the way the whole blog behind that post (Steamed-Writing Steampunk Fiction) is dedicated to all things steampunk. Check it out. I’ve bookmarked it.

Have you tried googling the word Steampunk? The hits go on and on. I had no idea so many people were into not only the stories, but the fashion, inventions, and so on. In my search I ran across a jeweler, Simply Willow who makes Victorian and steampunk jewelry. Take a look at these examples of her work. Aren’t they gorgeous? These two in particular caught my eye. I encourage you to click on her name and check out her pieces.

In Japan, it’s tradition to watch the first sunrise of the year and then visit a temple to offer prayers and wishes for the year ahead. I’m fortunate to live near the sea. It makes for a spectacular sunrise.

I just spent 30 minutes agonizing over this post, going over every little word, writing and rewriting. I tried to post my fabulous letter to all of you (and it was fabulous, take my word for it) and it disappears into cyber oblivion. Do you think that’s an omen for 2010? Okay, let’s not go there. I’ll keep it short instead!

May all your dreams come true this year and all your resolutions be met!

And for whatever challenges you set for yourself: THINK BIG