My releases are as follows:
- Prada & Prejudice (Available now from Razorbill/Penguin)
- Driven (June 2010, Harlequin)
- You Wish (August 2010, Razorbill/Penguin)
- Shattered (Written as Amanda Grace, 2011, Flux)
Please visit me at www.mandyhubbard.com
Once upon a time, I thought revising meant using spell check and fixing punctuation. I slowly learned that's not the case, and eventually came to understand the basics. Through revising THE JETSETTER'S SOCIAL CLUB, that ill-fated novel that got me my first (and second) agent, I learned about audience, about conflicts, about dialogue tags, about how to say what you mean in six words instead of ten.
Through revising PRADA & PREJUDICE, I learned about story arcs and tension. While revising YOU WISH, I've learned about plotting, bringing each story arc together at the same moment.
At some point, I really thought all these things I was learning was going to make my first drafts better. I imagined myself penning a masterpiece, lightly revising, and consdering it fit for the world.
I've come to realize it's the opposite. The firmer my grasp becomes on this whole writing thing, the more aware of flaws I am. Instead of finishing the first draft and thinking I just have one or two things to do, I have a laundry list of things to fix. There was a time I could share a first draft and get valuable feedback. Now, I see *SO* many holes in my drafts that i know I must fix them before sending them off for feedback. I mean, would you slap paint on your house in various, random spots and then ask someone what they think of the paint job? Probably not.
I don't know I've I'll ever become a better writer. But I know I've become a better reviser. And you know what? I'd rather be a really crappy writer and a fantastic reviser than vice versa.
My point? Try not to get down about your first, second, or third draft. Know that writing is a process, not something that just happens. If you can just get to the finish line on that first draft, you'll have something to work with. Something to build and sculpt and perfect.
Resist the urge to write and then just delete everything you wrote becuase it's not good enough. First drafts don't have to be good. They just have to be *THERE*.
Um, so, thanks to Alex Bracken, i discovered that Penguin's catalog for Summer 2010 is out--- and it has the YOU WISH cover in it! So, I guess I can share!
I don't think this is final-final, but here's what's in the catalog:
( Clicky for summary.... )
Coming to stores August 5, 2010!
I was just joking with someone that I’ve had a deadline or two looming over me since May or June. And then the laughter dried up when I stopped and realized, uh, that wasn’t a joke. From June 8th until this very moment, I’ve had almost ZERO time free of deadlines. There were those glorious four days between October 1 and October 5th. And then there was those twenty-six minutes on October 22nd.
And now, before I even turned in YW, I’ve got a SHATTERED revision letter in hand.
So while it can be overwhelming (and I think I might have to look up the definition of “free time” in Websters, because I don’t remember what it is), I am so proud and thankful for the opportunity to even HAVE deadlines. 18 months ago, I would have killed for deadlines.
Here’s what my year has looked like so far—I’ve worked on some non-contracted stuff here and there (Mostly RIPPLE and adding/fleshing ideas on my master idea list)-- but these are the official projects.
March 6th: Receive “bible” that details my NASCAR book (characters, conflict, and continuity elements that I must incorporate). Need to write full synopsis and first chapter.
April 1st: Turn in DRIVEN proposal
April 22: Receive revision notes from my editor on DRIVEN proposal. Due back by May 22
May 18: Turn in revised proposal
June 8: Receive notes on proposal from NASCAR, to incorporate while writing the full Novella (30K), which is due September 1.
June 24th: Receive the greenlight on my book 2, YOU WISH, for Razorbill. Discuss it in depth with my editor, and am instructed to write the full and turn it in by October 1.
July & August: Divide my time between writing DRIVEN and YOU WISH and trying to promote PRADA & PREJUDICE. Minimum weekly word count: 8,000 words+.
September 1: Turn in full novella of DRIVEN to Harlequin, then continue working on YOU WISH.
October 1: Turned in Full book (60K) of YOU WISH to Razorbill
October 5: Receive DRIVEN revisions from Harlequin
October 22, 1:01 PM: Turn in DRIVEN revisions to Harlequin.
October 22, 1:27PM: Receive YW revisions from Razorbill (Due November 19th).
November 10: Receive SHATTERED revisions (Due, happily, March 1 2010).
November 19: (next week!) turn in YOU WISH to Razorbill.
Good thing revisions come one at a time. The list like this looks really overwhelming.
- Mood:
accomplished - Music:Sober (PINK)
You can add it here.
I'm not sure who put it up on the site, but hey, someone is just as excited as I am! :-)
Also: SQUEEE! I totally love this Icon made by the talented
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
anywherebeyondIt's Teaser Tuesday! Here's a short teaser from SHATTERED, my Flux book that will be written under Amanda Grace. I believe its a 2011 book. It's about a 17 year old girl's year spent with an abusive boyfriend, told in reverse chronological order.
Even with all the things he’d told me about his father, I’d never actually seen the monster. He existed in stories conjured up by Connor. He was a mythical thing, the villain in a twisted fairy tale.
I know right now, as I watch the flames dance and lick at that pretty white lattice, that I never fully understood it. I never really believed it.
I do now. It is real. And all of Connor’s stories have come to life. My doubt is gone.
His father has lost his mind. His mom is sobbing, curled in a ball in the middle of their front lawn. I am glad they live in the country, where people can’t see this from the street. Otherwise I think we might all be arrested.
“I paid for this and I can tear it down!” He rips another piece of lattice off the porch. It cracks and splinters and pieces of it shower down on the flower beds. Nancy’s pot of roses falls too, shattering on the cement walkway. It is just another thing he will take from her and never apologize for.
The splintered lattice goes on the roaring pile with the rest of it. The flames grow, ever skyward, gobbling everything he gives it.
Connor and I are at the edge of the yard, hidden in the shadows of the big oak tree. Jack knows we are there but he’s so lost in his own fury I think he may have forgotten. I want to grab Nancy and pull her into the shadows with us, but she is so close to him. She is begging him to stop. I don’t know how she can do that; I am afraid of him.
He seems bigger today: taller, thicker and stronger. There’s something almost inhuman about him.
He has to be drunk, though he’s not stumbling. A sober person wouldn’t burn down their own front porch. A porch he just built a month ago. Nancy spent a whole weekend painting it, and they sat on it in lawn chairs and admired their work.
And now it is in shambles.
So, for the last few weeks, I've been coordinating with
sjmaas, lazy_iris, and seeyouupside , among others, for a whole new site. See, the group of us all started, once upon a time, at Fictionpress.com. It's a website that hosts millions of original works of ficiton and poetry.
I became a writer in 2003 solely becuase of this site. When I found it, I intended to only read the fiction, never to write it. But after several weeks of reading, I began to get the itch to contribute something of my own. So I started a piece called "WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?" which was loosely based on my first ever boyfriend as well as a Garth Brooks song. HA.
It was terrible. It really was. But thanks to the site, I continued to learn and grow as a writer, and knowing there were readers waiting for my next chapter, it kept me motivated. It saddens me that I can't continue to post over there (becuase I can't give away my books for free if I want them to be sold for actual money to traditional publishers), but I have wanted to continue with the sense of community from that site.
So now, I've partnered up with a handful of other FPers who are also hoping to leap from Fictionpress to Publish-Land.
Visit our brand new blog, where we'll be chronicleing our journeys. Some of us are writing first drafts, some are querying agents, and others are agented and on submissions to publishers. We hope that by having such a great and broad range of experiences, you'll idenitfy with the advice and trials of our contributors.
I posted the first entry today, and it's about my very favorite subject: THE CALL.
I know I am not Jane Austen. *checks driver's license.* Nope, still not Jane Austen. Also, I know Prada & Prejudice is not Pride & Prejudice. But just so you know, never once while writing Prada did I pause, tap my finger on my chin, and say to myself, "Wow, I think this is better than the classic! And readers will think so too!"
Really. I know that you're not going to think Prada & Prejudice is better, is going to replace the original. I'd be batshit crazy or ridiculously arrogant to think that a time-travel romantic comedy is going to replace a 200 year old classic. So really, it's not neccessary to preface your reviews with something like, "I really liked it but it's not as good as Pride & Prejudice."
Signed,
Mandy Hubbard
*~*
Dear Real World / Road Rules Challenge,
You have redeemed yourself for the watching-paint-dry entertainment value of last season.
Mandy
*~*
Dear Avril Lavigne,
Will you come back please? I have been listening to your music all morning and I would like some new stuff.
Kthxbai,
Mandy
*~*
Dear Editors,
It was really nice of you too coordinate your efforts. Maybe next time you can give me a whole hour free. Because those twenty-five minutes yesterday that I had no deadlines? They were beautiful.
Thanks,
Mandy
*~*
Dear Cinnamon Rolls,
Must you call my name? I'm on a diet. Go away.
Mandy
26 minutes later, I received my revision letter for YOU WISH.
I guess there's no rest for the ambitious.
SHATTERED is a book that means a lot to me. There's something about sharing it that scares the crap out of me. I feel like I'm baring my soul or something. It's *SO* different from Prada & Prejudice that it's like debuting all over again. I'm just so thankful for the opportunity to put it out there!
Things I am also thankful for:
*Having a whole new publisher to work with! I can't wait to get to know my new editor. I have learned *SO* much from my editor at Razorbill, and I really credit her with helping me become a better writer. It should be really fun and educational to go through revisions with Brian.
*Having an amazing relationship with my agent. Sometimes I wonder if I drive her absolutely crazy becuase I email so much. But she puts up with it and supports me in all my endeavors. I feel like we have a wonderful relationship built on mutual respect, and it's a beautiful thing.
*Getting fan mail for PRADA & PREJUDICE. The ones from teens are especially adorable.
*Having a healthy, beautiful two year old. It cuts into my writing time like WHOA, but man, does she crack me up. Especially when she says, "One more time!" and shakes her finger very sternly at me. I also love how much she loves reading. Her bedroom is a picture book explosion.
- Mood:
thankful
I am absolutely, incredibly, completely, over-the-moon excited to announce that I have accepted a two book deal with Brian Farrey at Flux for SHATTERED, my book about a girl's year with her abusive boyfriend, told in reverse chronological order.
The book will be written under a pen name (Amanda Grace), which means I get to keep working with Razorbill on my fun, light-hearted books, and build a new darker brand over at Flux. It feels like the best of both worlds! I love Razorbill and they put so much into Prada & Prejudice and I'm looking forward to more "beach read" type books with them. On the flipside, FLUX is a really amazing, diverse little imprint and I think SHATTERED fits perfectly there.
( More about how it went down.... )
I am still stunned it went so quickly. My publication story with P&P happened in a matter of months( and months and months)-- not weeks, and definitely not days. But I can not imagine being in better hands and I can't wait to move forward and see this book to publication!
- Mood:
excited
(FYI, I am still planning to work through more queries from last Monday.... so if you submitted your query, don't fret, I still hope to get to them all!)
I have been HORRIBLY remiss in my blog tour, but it will soon be rectified. Starting now!
Today we have a special guest, Sydney Salter. Sydney's first book, MY BIG NOSE was SO funny I still giggle when I think of some of the things this poor girl went through in the quest for a perfect nose. That book was SO MUCH FUN. Now, Sydney has s second book on shelves-- JUNGLE CROSSING.
( Sydney's 5 Word Answers )
Don't miss out on all the cool book related loot!
If you would like help with your query, post your best shot at the perfect query here, as a comment on this entry. Anonymous queries are okay if you're shy.
Eiher I'll massage your ego and tell you it is indeed perfect, or I'll post some feedback for you.
Disclaimer: I will do my best to help every query, but since I have no idea if I'll get 5 queries or 35, I can't guarentee it. I'll go through them in the order received!
Queries must be posted by 5PST (8EST) today to be eligible.
NOTE: I am closed to new queries, but I still intend to finish critiquing those who entered before 5 pm PST! If you haven't gotten feedback yet, expect it tommorrow!
1) Wow, I can't believe it, but YOU WISH is now on Amazon!! You'd think it wouldn't be so crazy the second time around, but nope, still kind of crazy. this time, though, i am resisting ordering it myself. ha. And WOOOHOO, the release date is August 5th!! So it's not late August, like i had feared. Now I can make countdown widgets.
2) I am going to be at Portland's WORDSTOCK Tommorrow! If you live near Portland, Oregon, Please come see me! I'm at the Target Children's Stage at 4:00. Sarah Rees Brennon is right before me. Please say hi!!
3)I am hard at work on DRIVEN revisions. i am still amused that those two words rhyme so nicely.
4) I got a preliminary version of the cover for YOU WISH!! And I completely, totally love it. And it might be pink.
5) Don't forget! On Monday I'm going to spend as much time as I can spare on critiquing query letters. I'll post an entry here, and then you can comment with your query, and I'll try and help steer ya in the right direction.
6) I am adding a sixth, becuase I just noticed YOU WISH is priced at $9.99, a dollar more than PRADA & PREJUDICE. Yes, people, I am now worth more money. BOOYAH. (Also, I find it really amusing that I just said BOOYAH, but also that I have learned so much about my own book from Amazon.)
So, I've been playing with RIPPLE lately, my story about a Siren who kills the first boy she's ever loved. I was thinking about doing a prologue, so I wrote it, but then decided I liked the original (chapter 1) beginning better.
So here's the prologue, in it's entireity, that sets up the book. The book itself picks up two years AFTER this prologue.
( They don't know what I do after midnight..... )
I received my revision notes for DRIVEN yesterday, so now I'm getting back to work on that....
Here's a snippet:
Despite the good and the pee-pee, this is not a book to take ROCKETS. (((Mandy's note:Honestly, my book doesn't take ROCKETS?? ARE YOU SURE??))
Although it is rather hard on the uptake for the irrational, must admit it: you have traveled back in time.
Welcome to London 1815, where the Dukes are still bossy, TAG rules, prevailing prejudices, arranged marriages are the order of the day and women are slightly less than nothing. Now the main concern of Callie will survive this ordeal SURREALISTA.
As expected, it succeeds.
That yes, posing as a distant cousin and a TODO list that includes:
- Save your new premium from a wedding in concert with a man who could be her father.
- Unmasking the evil of his cousin Alex, a sexy DUKE drink on the winds if it were not a scoundrel.
- NO love with Alex, not fall in love with Alex, do not fall in love ...
- Headfirst stop everything.
If Surealista is not already a real word (is it spanish for surreal?) I'm TOTALLY USING IT. Maybe I'll just drop "surrealista" all over in YOU WISH. Also, "a sexy duke drink on the winds" sounds wonderful. I'll take two.
Okay, people! It's time to start polishing up those queries.
On Monday, October 12th, I'm going to post a call for queries. Those of you who want help on your query letter will post it in the comments, and I'll post some feedback.
If the query needs more than a cursory tweak or two, i may rewrite it for you.
Now, keep in mind, I may have received my revision letter(s) by then, (yeah, I might end up getting my notes for DRIVEN and my notes for YOU WISH at the same time! EEK!) so I can't promise I'll be able to give feedback on every query. I'll get as far as I can until it's time for me to do something else. I may go back and continue through later in the week if I've got the time.
The only condition is you're okay with the fact that your query will be public, becuase I think it's important you let others read and learn too, to see what works and what doesn't.
My next post on my "road to publication" series is on query letters, so if you're still wrestling with it stay tuned for that post!
When last we left off, you had a killer idea, and you had your character(s) figured out, and then you finally went and wrote the book.
But just because you typed "THE END" does not mean your job is done. No, far from it. It's time to revise.
And trust me when i say this: EVERY. SINGLE. PUBLISHED. AUTHOR. REVISES. Every single one of us. So if you're hoping to get published, then you'd best get used to this step in the process. It's the only way to succeed!
Most people know I'm a reviser. I don't write shiny novels, I revise really crappy novels into shiny novels. It has taken me quite some time to figure out a good way to approach revisions. I used to just sit down with my novel and start revising and fixing things as I went, but it was a kind of hodge-podge approach.
Here's why it didn't work. Let's say you're cleaning your house. You start out by grabbing the hairbrush you left on the coutner and you go to put it in the bathroom but then while in the bathroom decide to brush your teeth and then when you're done and looking in the mirror you realize that your shirt has toothpaste on it and so you go to change and while in your bedroomm you decide to fold the laundry sitting on the bed and watch TV at the same time but halfway through you get sucked into the TV and forget about the house.
Yeah, I used to revise like that. You start out reading and get distracted by chapter three, and you spend all kinds of time perfecting chapter three and then when you get to chapter 7 you realize that Chapter 3 doesn't work at all, and you have to go delete it.
There's a better way to approach revisions. I call it the "Make it look a lot worse before it can get better" approach.
SKIP line editing. Completely. Instead, Read-thru your novel once, and DO NOT CHANGE A SINGLE THING. Instea
The goal here is to just make note of what you're thinking as you read. It's very easy to get lost once you start changing stuff. But if you can NOT change anything but rather, just get your thoughts down in an easy to use manner, it'll be a huge difference.
It's sort of a forest for the trees kind of deal. While you are reading and just typing thoughts, it's easier to keep your ideas straight. But once you delve into line editing things and writing new lines, your mind is no longer on the overall picture but on the small details.
Some things I have been known to write in my manuscripts:
**INSERT WITTY DIALOG HERE. H/h have not been in the same scene for three chapters now...put them together.*
** Too much whinienss for the last dozen pages. Give her something to do.**
**What happened to the best friend? Haven't seen her in five chapters. Give her some face time.**
**Would she really do that? Maybe think of a way to have her react that fits her character better.**
**Tension just took a seroius downturn. Redo this scene to bring it back up.... I could walk away right now and not even care.***
**BLAH. This dialog sucks.***
***Expand this scene... no detail, not enough meat.***
So, you see, once you have written yourelf a bunch of lovely comments, you can go back through and actually do that.
You're no longer revising the whole novel, but you're approaching the changes one comment at a time. Like a to-do list is buried right there in your novel, and you just have to follow it.
Start over again at the beginning, and start reading. When you get to your lovely *** marks, tackle that scene with gusto, focusing on how to really make it better.
By the time you get to the end of the manuscript, you'll have a ton of great changes. Then you can start the line-editing stuff.
Part three in "Writing and Publishing Novel" is all about how to actually write your book.
When last we left off, you had a killer idea, and you had your character(s) figured out. Now you just have to write it. Easy peasy, right?
I am SO amazed at how many people ask "how" to write a novel. They find out I'm a writer and they look right at me and they say, "How did you write a book?"
I mean, I sat down at the computer and started writing words and they became a story. But that's apparently too obvious. I think they'd be more impressed if I explained a complext system of spreadsheets and color-coded index cards.
I think what they are really asking is this: How do you get started and stay motivated when you know you have 200+ more pages to write?
I'm not gonna lie. It helps that I write quickly. If it took me a year+ to write a novel, maybe my tips would be different. Instead it takes me 8-12 weeks for a rough draft.
In the beginning, I'm in love, toatlly enamored by this fabulous idea, and the first 10,000-15,000 words pour out. But then it turns into a grind, and I push myself through to the middle.
But then I get to the middle and the enthusiasm wanes, and I can spend a few days opening the word document but not writing. Instead i play on twitter and refresh my email.
Maybe this is what writer's block is. I don't really understand writer's block. Is it supposed ot mean that you're just totally stuck and can't move forward?
When I feel myself losing interest, I just force through it. Basically, I just choose any scene that sounds interesting-- even if its the climax or the ending--and I start writin git. I can write five or six of those. But watching the word count grow gets the momentum back. Then I start filling in the blanks, teh stuff I skipped.
Usually, in the end, I delete most of those scenes I skipped ahead for. They generally don't fit anymore, sincne i"m not a big plotter and the story changes as I go. But the fact that I got moving again and the story began to flow makes it worth it.
The thing about rough drafts is they are meant to be rough. I can't stress this enough, but You can not fix a blank page. If you have words on it, then you have something to work with. Just write the freakin first draft and stop worrying about how much it sucks. Do you think when someone is making a scuplture-- let's say a bust-- that they start out perfecting the nose before they even have the rest of the head carved out? There is on reason for you to dawdle on one chapter or another.
Just sit down and type. Move your fingers on the keyboard. Fill the white space with words. If you have no idea where you are going, just type nonsense. Bad dialogue, long scenery descriptions, and mechanical day to day motions. Eventually you'll find your story.
So what does BICHOK mean?
BUTT IN CHAIR, HANDS ON KEYBOARD. It's the only way to get the thing written!
The Latest News:
Prada and Prejudice is in its Fourth Printing!
Time Magazine mentions Prada & Prejudice in their July 13th issue! Actress Abigail Breslin is reading it and says, "I love fashion and am fascinated by history. This book combines both."
School Library Journal calls Prada and Prejudice, "A fun and charming read, sure too be popular with fans of humor and romance."
Publisher's Weekly calls it, "Part comedy of errors, part romantic-fantasy, this fast-reading, playful novel takes the idea of feeling out of place to a hilarious extreme"
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