WIP Wednesday!

So props for this post go to my amazing #FearlessFive pal, Jenni. I first saw "Works In Progress Wednesday" on Jenni's blog, and thought, Holy cow. If I had a blog I would so be doing that! Well I have blog now, so what the hey. I'd love to tell you about the stories fighting over the space in my head.




Name: GILDED FEVER (YA Historical)
Word Count: 80,000
Status: Querying
Cuy's Thoughts: This story has been on my mind every day for months. I finished Gilded Fever's last round of edits in January, and ever since it's been like taking my kid to the talent agency and showing her off in hopes that one day they make her a star. I know that published authors say over and over again that the road to getting published is paved with rejections, but it still hurts every time I get that little letter that says, "Thanks, but this one's not for me." Thankfully my pathetic pouting is, for the most part, short-lived, as my lovely little WIP is garnishing partial and full requests as well. Looks like Gilded Fever and I will continue to wait for our perfect "Author-Agent" match made in Heaven. Until then, I will go eat lots of chocolate.

Name: ENKINDLE (YA Fantasy)

Current Word Count: 1,513

Status: Newborn

Cuy's Thoughts: So I've been planning this YA Fantasy for a few months now. And last night was the first time I put the idea into words. What's funny is, at the time, I hadn't sat down to write this story. I'd cleared my evening to put some time writing an MG Fantasy I had percolating in my mind. So here I was writing the beginning pages of what was going to be the greatest MG adventure of all time, and then all of a sudden everything went haywire. What was meant to be a funny-yet-adventurous-and-magical tale turned into something dark and something very not MG. Seriously, there were guns and everything involved. Obviously, my brain had decided TO HECK WITH  the childhood adventure and just full on kill someone instead.

My brain in the form of Bela Lugosi:

It was like the YA part of my mind had suckerpunched the MG part right out and assumed full reign. So I scrapped the dark and twisted MG, and wrote the most killer first chapter I have ever seen. ENKINDLE is going to be one heck of a thrill ride!

***

So that's what's going on in my head right now. Thanks for stopping by, and I'll understand if you now need therapy after your visit here.

Later!

Twisty Tuesday. You Gotta Love It!

You know one thing I really appreciate about life? It's full of twists. Twists make our lives interesting. Sometimes that's not always a good thing, but in writing? They're like decadent espresso shots for your novel.

Twists are shining gems, my friends. Devious, evil, and utterly vile gems. And oh man are they fun. In honor of the twisty goodness, I've dubbed Tuesday as Twisty Tuesday. My little gift to you. You're welcome.

Want a plot twist for your next WIP? Look no further. I got one to spice things up a bit right here:

 The best friend of the MC is forced by the antagonist to jump off a building. The MC witnesses the whole thing.

Whattaya think? Pretty diabolical, huh? Was your face akin to this cat's?:

If so, my job here is done.

I'll see you guys next time...Or will I?...

It's Muse Monday!

I'm just going to say it: MONDAYS=CRAP. The weekend is over, we're back to work/school, and we're still trying to hold on to the residual fun-high we had from Friday to Sunday. So, originally this post was going to be all about Mondays and how they suck.

But that's depressing. And I don't like to depress you guys. Unless you're one of my readers--that's a totally different story. I like tears when people read my work.

So I've decided that Monday is going to be all about a wonderful thing we writers/artists call muse. And thus, Muse Monday was born...

Muse is a pretty cool guy. He resides within many things. Sometimes he's a thought. Other times hes a great line in a book. One time he was a cat with three legs, but I'll spare you the odd deets on that one.

Muse is inspiration. It gets our fingers to type with enthusiasm and vigor so that we may completely immerse ourselves in our stories. It's what makes writing FUN.

So today, I'm going to share with you my special muse that helped me when I was writing my YA Historical novel: Gilded Fever. (If you would like to know more information about Gilded Fever such as its pitch and an excerpt, click HERE.)

Gilded Fever takes place in 19th century America during the California Gold Rush. There's lots of action, grief, mystery, and forbidden beliefs. Savages, murder, and, of course for you girls out there, a hot Indian dude with mystic abilities to turn things into solid gold with his touch. Among other things.

As I said above, a muse can come in many different forms. For about the halfway-mark for Gilded Fever, my muse came in the form of a bowl.

But not just any kind of bowl. Take a look for yourself:

It's a bowl of gold. Basically, the coolest bowl ever. 

Look. Look at it. Bask in its golden glory!

Actually, those flakes of pretty aren't actually made of real gold. It's Fool's Gold, to be precise, with a bit of mica. But you know what? That's not the coolest part. You know what is?

Get ready for it...

It's a bowl...made of clay...from a Californian Indian reserve. 

It basically describes my entire book. And I'm sure you could use it as a weapon if you wanted to, to satisfy the 'murder' aspect of the novel as well.

There's another plus to this little piece of beauty: It was made by one of my best friends :). Her name is TJ, and you should, like, totally follow her on Twitter. Or I will bash you in the head with my bowl of gold.

***

So what's been your muse this week? Inquiring minds want to know!

I'm gonna leave you guys now to go play with my bowl of gold. Later!

Stunning Cover Sunday!

Here's what I do when I go to the bookstore without money *sigh*. I browse the brimming shelves in search of eye candy. Yes. I. LOVE. COVERS. If I could sit in Barnes & Noble all day and just drool over all the pretty covers. But I don't, because it's hard enough for me to remain within the parameters of a normal human being.

So. This is where Sunday comes in. Because I may get kicked out of Barnes & Noble for all the book-cover drooling, I'm utilizing Sunday to squee about all the covers I can virtually drool over. That's a little more acceptable to society.

So drool over them with me, won't you?

HOLLOW CITY by Ransom Riggs

I think this is one of the coolest concepts I have ever read. I got my hands on Miss Peregrine's Home For PeculiarChildren a few years ago thanks to blog boss Karen, and I devoured it in a day. Hollow City is the second book in the Peculiar Series , and it's cover is even creepier. Which, in Cuyler terms, is the best kind of cover. Dude, the girl has a hole in her stomach. A hole. How creepily awesome is that?

Read more about Hollow City HERE.

EXTRACTION by Stephanie Diaz

I've been following Stephanie on Twitter for a while now (I'm not a stalker, I promise) because her situation as a writer is similar to mine. Both of us are in our early twenties, and both of us love to write. I love seeing young people's success stories, because it instills a heap of hope into my system as a currently unpublished author. 

I also follow Stephanie because her book sounds frickin sweet. Check out the details HERE. Not only does the premise hold my interest, but LOOK AT THAT COVER. I think I have a thing for covers with an eye on them. Wierd? Oh well. It looks pretty, it looks spacey, it looks AWESOME. I can't wait for this one's release. Check the shelves for Extraction on July 22nd 2014!

CRESS by Marissa Meyer

I first picked up one of Marissa's books at a bookfestival in Austin, Tx earlier this year. I'd seen her books on the shelves before, but I never picked them up *kicks self for being stupid*. When I left that festival, I came home with a slew of brand new, shiny books ALL signed. And Cinder and Scarlet was among them.

I pretty much consumed Cinder and Scarlet in a few days. I am not much of a fairytale-kind-of guy, but Marissa's take on Cinderella and Red Riding Hood was out of this world. Literally. It's Sci-Fi. Cinderella the cyborg, and Red Riding Hood teams up with a fighter named 'Wolf' to rescue her kidnapped grandma who has a super-secret past. Um, HOW COOL IS THAT? Very. And Cress will be no different in awesomeness and completely different in uniqueness, as it's take is on the classic tale of Rapunzel, except Rapunzel is stuck in a satellite in space *dies from amazement*. But I'm currently broke, so I haven't yet picked up Cress. It just keeps staring at me with it's BEAUTIFUL cover when I walk by the shelves *cries*.

Learn more about Cress HERE.

FIRE & FLOOD by Victoria Scott

I had been waiting for this book for a long time. Victoria, a writer friend of mine, is the author of The Collector series. Fire & Flood is her newest novel just released, and it's already a big hit. Want to know what all the hubbub is about and what the heck a Pandora is? Then check HERE.

Kendare Blake, author of Anna Dressed in Blood and Antigoddess said, “If The Hunger Games and X-Men and some Pokemon had a baby, it might turn out almost as awesome as this. But probably not. Read this book!”

Do you need any more motivation to pick up this book than that? 

I didn't, and it rocked the start of my new year.

I mean, just look at the cover! I think this design completely encompasses what Fire & Flood is all about. But don't take my word for it--go pick a copy of Victoria's Fire & Flood, like, now. Or suffer dire consequences. 

***

So...

What did you guys think? Did you feel the pretty? I felt the pretty.

Want more pretty? Check back next Sunday for more beautiful, creeptastic, and stunning covers on Stunning Cover Sunday!

Later!

Syntaxian Saturday: ALETHIOLOGY

So what's 'Syntaxian Saturday'? Well, I'm glad you asked! (Even if you didn't, I'm still going to tell you). 

I'm not really human. I'm an alien species known as a 'Syntaxian.' Syntaxians are peculiar creatures, and at times we can be a little cookoo. We are capable of love, hate, passion, violence, and kindness. But perhaps what we are best known for is our love of words. We can shape them into whatever we desire: characters, cities, worlds, even universes! With the power of words, we can pretty much do whatever the heck we want. Scary, huh? 

You should be scared.

So back to 'Syntaxian Saturday.' Ideally, I'd like for this to be a thing for every Saturday. Like a "word of the day" kind of thing, but with totally awesome, not-your-run-of-the-mill kind of words. Sound fun? Good. 

Without further adieu, here is our first word:

Love this word? Me too. Bonus points if you can use it in a sentence!

Later guys!

WELCOME!!!

So, while you're here, why don't you peruse a bit? Not much to see, but this is only the beginning! Check out my completed manuscripts on the MY MANUSCRIPTS page, or have a look behind the scenes on my WIPs on the MY WIPs page! Or, if you really have no idea of who the heck I am, visit my ABOUT page to know all my secrets--just kidding. I'd have to kill you if you knew those *pulls out knife* *shing sparkle sparkle*.

Ahem...

Anyways, enjoy your visit! I'll be here, killing off someone in a book or reading someone else's.

Thanks!