Alright, writers–it’s time for another installment of WIP Thursday, where you leave comments discussing your latest projects, or providing us an update on your previous comments. Tomorrow, I’ll feature one commenter’s WIP in the blog!
Chloe’s WIP: This weekend, I plan to start work on the draft of the third book in the Chicagoland Vampires series (assuming we can finalize the deal on that one). In the meantime, I’m drafting the first three chapters of a new, grungy, urban paranormal series. Fun!
What are you working on??
UPDATE: Check out Romance Divas today! They’re hosting a Writing Paranormal YA workshop for the next few days with me, Rachel Caine (my favorite paranormal author!), Rosemary Clement-Moore, Alyson Noel and others!
Right now I’m working on two WIP’s: my ever-loving, ever-frustrating and ever-evolving novel about Alsea (I’ve only worked on this for 11 years. Eventually I’ll be happy with it…maybe. not so certain. I finally got the first 5,000 words done! and I’m happy with them and haven’t changed them in over a month now).
And a new shorter work about a girl who can see a person’s sins as dark shadows surrounding them. Mostly harmless (if annoying little buggers) that tend to create mischief more often then now, some have begun to evolve and kill the sinner in ironic ways. The story picks up a year after Jessie is sent to a ‘house for mental reconditioning’ (ie: insane asylum) and the battle she faces against herself, the new breed of shadows and being a college student in general. I’m about 3,000 words into this one.
I just finished sending out 25 Queries last week. Out of that I have had 6 Form Rejections and 1 MS request. (How that makes sense, I’m not sure, but I’ll take it!)
I’ve also got an idea for a new book, but I haven’t quite figured out enough details to get it started.
And Lexie that sounds super interesting!
I'm probably making a huge mess of my first attempt at writing something big, but its been a good few days of writing, i've done two chapters this week on mine. Not really got a name for it yet, but i like "Silver & Sunlight".
It follows a vampire Nikolas from his very first awakening moments in sunlight, through his first few years as a vampire as he looks for revenge against his Sire that abandoned him, and killed his family quite quite horribly.
It's kinda set in a Lord of the rings type worldy, where the ancient vamps control the mortal world unseen by mortal eyes.
28 chapters done, 100,000+ words and plenty more to come! (If i continue to ignore the work i should be doing!)
My current WIP is a paranormal romance series (I’m still writing the first book though) about vukodlak, which is a cross between vampires and shapeshifters and will feature the story of Siobhan, the future queen, and Torin, the unofficial leader of the Pack’s protectors, which are true alphas in every sense of the word. I have a thing for alpha males. 😉
It’s currently at 48k. Probably will be somewhere around 100-110k when I’m finished with it. Been an awesome week for writing. I’ve polished off 4 chapters this week so far.
I’m about to start work on the third book in a paranormal romance fiend and mage series. I’ve been brainstorming but now need to get cracking on the writing part. Heh. The hero is a fiend and assasin and the heroine is a human who’s been damaged by a mage and is out for revenge.
Sheesh. These things always sound so lame to me when I try to condence my big story idea into a few sentences.
Let’s see: Working on the rewrite of Misery, since I can’t see to get my muse to agree with one of the middle sections. Poor Mis is gonna get beaten up.
Then there’s a new Null story percolating in the back of my brain. Sharon thought she could stay retired, but she’s wrong…
~Jana
I’m polishing my 300k epic fantasy featuring a love triangle between Edan, leader of a powerful fae clan, Rose (halfbood) and Jonathon, the adorable boy next door whose always appreciated and defended Rose’s distinctly different nature from those who’d like her lynched.
I’ve split it into three books but can’t help feeling the end of the first two is well, not the end. So, I perpetually polish, trim and rewrite.
You’re all very busy bees, with SO many words out there! Just pulling 60-70K on my first YA novel was a bit of a challenge. 🙂
Fun!
My current WIP us a sci-fi novel tentitively titled Under a Dark Star. I’m on draft number I don’t even know what, writing some new material to fill in plot holes, and just had my first beta-reader hand back the draft they have telling me they couldn’t finish because it wasn’t their style.
I’m honestly very worried about that. Even though it is just one opinion.
I started out with the intent to write military sci-fi with layers of political intrigue and betrayal. I have that. I also have some characters who got out of hand and started some heavy-artillery flirting across a political no-fly zone. Bujold, Campbell, and Moon all pull of serious sci-fi with romantic angles and I love them for it.
I’m just worried now that I didn’t get the balance right.
@liana: I had two friends hand back the manuscript for SOME GIRLS BITE with basically the same comment; they read it, but it wasn’t their style. SciFi/Fantasy does tend to be a love-it-or-leave it genre.
Well just the other day, I hit past 70,000 words on my "hope-to-be-a-novel-someday-soon". I need to work on the ending still. Then probably add in some other kind of subplot. I'm too good with those. It seems to take me awhile to figure out a good plot with the conflict that a subplot tends to get forgotten until later.
Of course after all that I need to try to find some critique group who is basically into the same thing. My family always nags me that they never get to read what I work on, but I don't know how I feel about them reading something that I am not 100% happy with yet. I guess I'm afraid they won't like it or they won't be honest because they're family.
Harder still is that my friends tease me in a joking way about the books I read. The urban fantasy genre, vampires and werewovles, necromancers, witches, etc, etc, so I don't feel real keen on letting them read anything yet because of that factor too.
Although with strangers I fear more judgment and not in a good way. Then again if they are into urban fantasy like I am, it won't be so much of a problem.
In a class I took last fall semester in a short story & poetry class, my first initial group really liked my stories and said that they could've been longer, even though I was over the 5 page limit or whatever, and they still would have wanted to read them.
Okay I think I wrote enough! 🙂
I hope its OK to pop in like this-
Jessica,have you ever heard of Critique Circle? Its an online crit group that runs on a point system. You post by genre so people who like/read what you do will be the ones critiquing you.
I recently joined and haven’t yet posted, so I can’t say personally how its been; but I was sent there by a writer friend who loved it and is now about to be published.
I’ll look into it. Thanks!
@susiej – Absolutely! Drop in any time. 🙂
Chloe- that’s encouraging to hear :o)
I have a bad habit of quitting in the middle of editing and running off after a new idea. I’ve decided to tough this one out, polish it up, and see what happens.
Sort of.
I have a new book outlined and ready to be written come NaNo time. :o)