Juliana Haygert

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Archives for 2012

Categories: Beatsheet, Craft, Movies

Sinbad in 15 Beats

Blake Snyder’s beatsheet is my new blog feature. I’ll try to have posts like this every two weeks or so, Name of movie or book in 15 Beats, and I hope this helps you too.

Two things to keep in mind: I watch most of these with my kid and that means most of the movies will be kids’ movies and I’m not paying 100% attention to the movie. Second, I’m sorta new to the method and still struggle with the Theme, the All is Lost and Dark Night of the Soul beats. In case you have better suggestions, please do so on the comments. We can discuss the points and, if I end up agreeing with you, I’ll change my beats. Deal?

 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas in 15 Beats

1. Opening Image: Eris causing some chaos around the world.

2. Theme Stated (4.5%): About trust and friendship. I think something Eris says to Sinbad about he being as bad as she and that he cannot change affects this.

3. Set-Up (1-9%): Sinbad steals the book from Proteus. Quick talk about childhood together. Boat attacked by sea monster.

4. Catalyst (10%): Eris makes a deal with Sinbad.

5. Debate (10-22.5%): Does he accepts Eris deal? Does he steal the book?

6. Break Into Two (22.5%): In Syracuse, Eris frames Sinbad and Proteus stays on his place while Sinbad has to go find the book.

7. B Story (27%): Sinbad and Marina.

8. Fun and Games (27-50%): Sinbad and Marina arguments while on adventures: sirens and an island that’s actually a huge fish.

9. Midpoint (50%): Proteus chooses not to escape, placing all his trust on Sinbad.

10. Bad Guys Close In (50-68%): Eris sends a giant hawk. Sinbad saves Marina from it. Arriving on Tartarus.

11. All Is Lost (68%): Eris makes him a question. He loses the book.

12. Dark Night of the Soul (68-77%): Sinbad is without the book, without the girl, betrayed Proteus. He’s way worse than he started.

13. Break Into Three (77%): Despite everything, Sinbad goes back to Syracuse.

14: Finale (77-100%): Sinbad saves Proteus and is about to be killed. But then Eris comes and returns the book (he didn’t lose the question after all).

15. Final Image (100%): Sinbad, Marina and crew sailing away from Syracuse.

*Note that the percentages are approximate. 

Cheers,

Categories: Covers, Crescent Moon Press, New Adult

Cover Love: VIOLET MIDNIGHT

Welcome Lynn Rush and the gorgeous cover of her upcoming book, Violet Midnight.

Violet Midnight (Violet Night, #1), by Lynn Rush

Release Date: October 15th, 2012

Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Crescent Moon Press

Back Cover Blurb:

Let the Hunt begin…

Blending in with her college co-eds proves difficult for vampire Hunter, Emma Martin, considering the mystical tattoo on her wrist glows whenever Vamps are near. And after three months of silence, the glow is back with a vengeance.

Jake Cunningham witnesses Emma, a violet-eyed beauty, using unimaginable powers to fight off a fanged creature. Finally, after two years of searching, he may have found out what he’s become—a Hunter, like Emma.

Thankful for an ally in the fight against the Vamps, Emma finds hope and comfort in Jake’s arms. As she learns more about her new love’s family and its dark heritage, she may be forced not only to hunt them but to sacrifice her life to save Jake’s soul.

Book Trailer by the amazing Rachel Firasek:

 

 

What people are already saying about Violet Midnight…

“Buffy had better watch out…Emma Martin is one hunter to watch!” –Cynthia Eden, National Bestselling Author

“Lynn Rush does it again!” –Lynda Hilburn, author of Kismet Knight, Vampire Psychologist series

“Violet Midnight had me at the start and wanting more in the end. Love, danger and excitement plus so much more we love in a paranormal read! I loved it and it’s a for sure read of 2012!” –Paranormal Book Club

Add Violet Midnight to your Goodreads list and pre-order on Amazon

Find Emma Martin on Facebook and Twitter

Find Lynn Rush on Facebook and Twitter

***A portion of all proceeds donated to American Cancer Society***

 

Cheers,

Categories: #ROW80, NTS

#ROW80 and NTS check-in 09/02

Hello friends! It’s ROW80 and NTS update time.

My goals for last week and how it went:

  1. Writing: since my MIL will still be here, I’ll try to squeeze writing when I can, though I’m not sure how that’s gonna go. I wrote about 800 words Monday, another 700 words Tuesday, and about 1500 Wed. Got a full request on Thur from an awesome agent and freaked out (lol). I’m not even querying the thing yet! Fri, talked to that agent and she told me to take my time with revisions, then send the full to her when it’s ready ;) So I spend a couple of hours of Fri revising …
  2. Reading: read book #50. Read #50. Started #51, gave up on it when it was about 35% (with kindle). Then started a new #51, and I’m at 22% on that one.
  3. Social media: blog at least twice and hop on Twitter from time to time. Done.
  4. Exercise: 3x at least. 5 times.

My MIL left this morning. It was a fun time, even though I didn’t get to write much. I always enjoy her company, and her support about my writing is always touching. Also, the daughter loves playing with her grandma ;) The daughter cried a lot saying goodbye to grandma, poor thing.

My hubby seems to be enjoying his Executive MBA. Seeing he and daughter on school makes me want to go back to school too. Maybe I’ll go for that MFA in Creative Writing lol Well, someday …

 

My goals for next week:

  1. Writing: revising Amber Energy. Giving myself until Sept 15th.
  2. Reading: finish book #51.
  3. Social media: blog at least twice and hop on Twitter from time to time.
  4. Exercise: 3x at least.

I confess I don’t like holidays very much. It means I won’t be able to write since daughter and hubby stay home LOL but I do enjoy spending time with them! It’s a shame there no kid’s movie on the theaters to take the daughter.

But I’ll be on full writing (actually revising) mode on Tuesday!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Have a great week, friends!

Cheers,

Categories: Blog Hop, RTW

RTW: Best Book of August

Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway‘s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This week’s topic:

What was the best book you read in August?

 

Without a doubt, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

From GoodReads

 

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king’s council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her… but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. Then one of the other contestants turns up dead… quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined. 

 

I gotta say though, I prefer the UK cover:

From GoodReads

 

I write UF and PNR and contemporary fantasy and plain contemporary, but my dream is to write high fantasy. I love Kristin Cashore’s books and now I’m in love with Sarah J. Maas’ books too. One of my best friends, my “Megan”, has read everything I wrote. EVERYTHING! Even my very first manuscript (poor girl, I know). Once, I wrote a high fantasy. Accordingly to my “Megan” it is my most creative book so far, the one with a very different story and twists.

Anyway, if you haven’t read Throne of Glass yet, YOU HAVE TO!

What was the best book YOU read in August?

Cheers,

Categories: Me, My writing

Maybe I Shouldn’t Apologize, But I Can’t Help It

Most of you know English is my Second Language. It’s my preferred language.

I came to live in the USA back in 2004 and I knew English very well, but not nearly as well as I know now. Of course, practice and going through college here and speaking with other English speakers made (and still makes) my English better and better.

I’m proud of being bilingual, but it’s a pain in the @$$ sometimes. For one, I’m getting worse with Portuguese. I keep forgetting words when talking to my family, and Portuguese went through a huge orthographic change a couple of years ago, while I was already living in the US, so I didn’t follow the change, not completely. And second, my English will never be perfect. I know this. In ten years—and I’ll have several books out by then I hope ;)—my English won’t be perfect still. I try to comfort myself saying that it’s impossible even for an American to know all words in the English language.

So sometimes it feels like I’m losing Portuguese and not gaining any English …

After all, what triggered this post, you may ask. Well, I just participated of a few contests and online critiques and people always commented about some preposition problems (oh, I hate prepositions! They are evil!) and awkward phrasing. People have no idea English is my second language when they comment like that, and, obviously, they are going to critique what they see. Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate people showing me where my mistakes are. (you can read my short story here or here by the way and see the mistakes for yourself).

I know this, but honestly, I don’t know how to fix. I don’t even spot these “errors”, not alone at least. That’s why, a couple of times, I paid freelance editors for line-edits and copy-edits, because they can fix those “errors” … but, they are expensive, and, if I pay them for every draft I write, I’m gonna have to sell my house. Can you imagine? I finish a draft, then hire an editor. Then, along the way, the opening changes or something in the middle changes, or a subplot is cut or enhanced … and I have to send it back to the editor to do their magic again.

Other thing about freelance editors is that some of them have a full schedule. Right now, the ones I like to work with are scheduling for December/January … so, besides having a lot of money, you have to have time … to wait.

So, what am I to do?

Not enter contests because I’m ashamed of not having a perfect English? If I do that, then I have to stop writing on my blog and my group blog, NA Alley, because I’m sure that all my posts have awkward phrasing and a few grammar errors. I can’t help it. I can’t SEE them … Sorry my NA Sisters for making errors on our beautiful blog.

And I should stop tweeting too. Since tweewing is “automatic” and spontaneous, I just write what comes to mind and only after it’s posted and way down my feed I realized there was a typo, or a concordance error, or a wrong preposition. Ugh!

But I can’t expect to be forgiven. I don’t expect to be forgiven. I mean, what the agents I send my manuscripts to care if I’m ESL? They want perfect grammar (or almost perfect) and beautiful writing. They won’t pat my head and consider me with a different eye/mind because I’m an ESL. And I really don’t expect them too, don’t want them to. That would make me feel worse, as if they were selecting me for pity.

Still, I have to say, I’m sorry. I wish English was my first language and that I had studied it all my life. I wish my grammar was perfect and that none of my phrases were awkward.

Moments like these, reading the comments on contests and critiques, make me want to give up writing. Not of writing in English, because honestly, I can’t imagine writing in Portuguese (and let’s not talk about the industry, because books in Brazil is a whole different thing). I’ve been writing in English since 2008. The ideas come and flower in my mind in English. I dream in English, I think in English. Though I make mistakes, English is my official language. And because I make mistakes, the idea of giving up of writing crossed my mind. Though I assure you it’s nothing serious, because I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I didn’t write. I don’t want to do anything else.

Sorry about the long rant. I’m not expecting pats on the head or compassion or whatever. I just … I needed to take this off my chest, because it was really bringing me down and I was tired of feeling blue because of it.

And to finish this, I want you guys to know I’m taking yet another grammar workshop that started last Thursday.

Cheers,

JH signature_small

Categories: Covers, Entangled Pub, Young Adult

Cover Love: NATURALS

Welcome Tiffany Truitt and the cover of her new novel NATURALS, coming April 2013 from Entangled Publishing.

Tess is finally safe from the reach of the Council, now that she is living in the Middlelands with the rebel Isolationists. With James having returned to Templeton, she easily falls back into her friendship with Henry, though her newfound knowledge of Robert’s chosen one status still stings. Even surrounded by people, Tess has never felt more alone. So she’s thrilled when James returns to the settlement, demanding to see Tess — until she finds out that it’s because her sister, Louisa, has been recruited into Tess’s old position at Templeton, and that the dangerously sadistic chosen one George has taken an interest in her.
NATURALS is the second book in The Lost Souls trilogy, and follows the dystopian hit CHOSEN ONES.

 

About Tiffany:  Tiffany Truitt was born in Peoria, Illinois. A self-proclaimed Navy brat, Tiffany spent most of her childhood living in Virginia, but don’t call her a Southerner.
She also spent a few years living in Cuba. Since her time on the island of  one McDonald’s and Banana Rats (don’t ask) she has been obsessed with traveling. Tiffany recently added China to her list of travels (hello inspiration for a new book).
Besides traveling, Tiffany has always been an avid reader. The earliest books she remembers reading belong to The Little House on the Prairie Series. First book she read in one day? Little Woman(5th grade). First author she fell in love with? Jane Austen in middle school. Tiffany spent most of her high school and college career as a literary snob. She refused to read anything considered “low brow” or outside the “classics.”
Tiffany began teaching middle school in 2006. Her students introduced her to the wide, wonderful world of Young Adult literature. Today, Tiffany embraces popular Young Adult literature and uses it in her classroom. She currently teaches the following novels: The Outsiders, Speak, Night, Dystopian Literature Circles: The Hunger Games, The Giver, The Uglies, and Matched.

 

Cheers,