#BOOKHAUL!, DreamWalkers and A Whole Lot of Nothing

Aren't they PURTY?

Still have a ton of new books but I'll introduced them to you gently. 

Anyway, have been busy editing Wolf at the Door (WATD) especially since contract is being negotiated and I haven't time to continue with DreamWalkers but will go back to it after. Meanwhile, I'm thinking of changing The Wolf Series into the Oathbreaker Series, considering the book isn't really about the wolves but about the Waerloga....strange how things can hit you at the last moment. 

And I just changed the title on Goodreads. So WATD is Oathbreaker #1. 

I'm not editing much of the book just a little here and there, change some weird sentences or catch a few more typos and misspellings if I can. 

I really need a good editor. It would help if I have another set of eyes to catch things that I didn't. 

In DreamWalkers, it's weird how as an author you would have your own favorite character. Someone who despite not being a main character, you love just the same. Sure enough, like a parent, you would have a favorite child but...in DreamWalkers, I didn't expect Yohan to be my favorite. Sure he will be a big part of the story but...It's not surprising that Medea would be the most confusing character for me, I just don't really get her because my personality is so very different from her and writing her has its ups and downs and sideways while Sen, my second favorite, is actually pretty easy to write about that I'm worried that he would come off as boring. Don't get me wrong, I don't consider him boring, but he's so entrenched in Asian customs and traditions (Japanese, where everything is suppressed and understated) that I'm afraid he would come off as staid and...boring. To me he is fascinating, all that rock-steadiness and Japanese restraint hiding an ocean vastness of will and passion and I give him little moments-subtle-moments where I try to give hints of that intensity and bring it out, especially in his interactions with Medea. But Sen is also respectful, quiet, a flowing river underneath a mirror surface type and I'm afraid I wouldn't do him justice. And I'm afraid that my readers who aren't Asian will not be able to relate to him...

It's like when an Asian movie is remade by Hollywood,  a change in values and traditions change the whole look and feel of the movie. Sometimes what we Asians consider powerful emotionally or scandalous isn't a big deal for other people and I'm afraid of such meaningful actions from Sen would pass people by because they don't get it. They don't get him.

Or am I thinking too much or being an Asian snob?

Yohan, my favorite, would most definitely be a crowd pleaser, not only because he's the not-so-typical bad boy type--sort of--but because he is passionate and he acts on said passion. Not that he's reckless, because he's not. But he's the type to say rousing speeches and lead men while Sen is the one who stands behind the throne and whispers secrets and quiet advice. Both boys are intense but while Yohan has the burn-to-ashes intensity of the sun, Sen is the steady light in the dark that guides you home. 

So, which would you prefer? 

P.S: Boo is doing great. He's eating a lot, napping like the world is going to end and basically creating a mess wherever he goes like cats do. 

Happy with his progress. *thumbs up*

Publishing News, Wolves, and Baking Fiasco

Soooo, remember my Wolf series, the one with, obviously, wolves? Or to be more precise, werewolves? Yeah, I'm considering a deal with another publisher, the book will be in ebook format only though but since it also has deals with iTunes, the book will have more reach.

We're still discussing details though, and am checking out the contract now. It's not a done deal, yet but--am in high hopes.

If you want to refresh your memory or haven't read it yet, you can check out some thoughts on the book, and the first three chapters on the story blog.

Here are things that you should check out:

Where Everything Begins

-On how the story came to be. 

The Werewolf Mythology

-How the mythology works in this book.

The Wolf Series #1 Wolf at the Door chapters: 1, 2, 3

...was trying to make doughnuts today, totally forgot to double the yeast. It did not go well. Damn. 

First Printed copy of Touched: The Sword

Look what my publisher just gave me a pic of!!!

*strokes monitor* It's so BEAUTIFUL AND SHINY!!

There was still a problem with the cover, the resolution was too small so I contacted Stacey to resend me the cover. Hopefully she answers soon.

But damn, look at it. MY BOOK!!! *dances*

I am so happy (and yet, I also have been sick for three days) right now.

On another note, I really need to wash my hair.

It's time for me to sleep since I'm sick and I still have to go to work tomorrow.

It's almost two weeks on the new job.

So far so good.

The work is kind of monotonous but like I've said before since I'm new, everything is still interesting. Fortunately, I haven't done any disastrous mistakes.

I met a white dog the other day and I met it again today with its walker and it recognize me. It wagged it tail and greeted me happily. Made me feel good.

It also made me miss my pets. I've ordered my sisters to send their picture once a week.

(my fur babies)

God, I miss my babies.

I know that I need this job and hey, it's kind of fun. And it gave my mom some inner peace but the job really minimize my writing time. 

Since I've been busy with the job, I haven't written at all since I came here. Once I come home, I just want to rest. I work Monday through Saturday from 8 to 5. Once Sunday comes I spent the time to wind down. 

I guess I should be more disciplined and spent and hour or two to add to my word count. I should. I really should. 

Anyway, editor emailed me the edited galley of Touched buuuuut although the PDF is nearly flawless, the epub is still a mess. 

*sad face*

Touched: The Sword

Here's the blurb that I've been working on:

My name is Leah Curran and my life sucks.
While other people inherit boxes of junk from their relatives, my family inherits powers. And not even cool powers. I have the ability to sense Angels, Demons and most importantly the Touched; people who are graced and cursed with the power of Angels and Demons,  responsible for keeping the balance between Good and Evil. When it came to them, my mother only had one rule; avoid them at all cost. I broke that rule and lost my mother because of it.
Now I try to live a quiet, careful life with my uncle’s family and my best friend, Gabe. But once in a while the universe likes to kick you in the face just to remind you that you are small and insignificant. The Touched are gathering in my small little town of nowhere, and some of them know me and know what I can do. Some of them want to hurt me, some of them want to use me, and so little few want to protect me. Avoiding them is no longer an option.
I will finally have the chance to do something that I have been hopelessly wishing for since the night my mother disappeared; a chance to fight back.
I have been waiting for this, I have trained for this. It’s time to do or die.

Day 14: Mood Journal

You know when it's the time of the month and your head hurts, your stomach hurts, your back hurts, and basically everything is just PAIN.

Well, today is that day. 

Anyway editor asks me for the list of endorsements that my beta-readers have given me, an acknowledgement page, the jpg of the cover, and the blurb for the back cover.

They say that the book will be digital and POD (print on demand) so that'll be cool for my readers in neighboring countries. 

Should have it all ready by tomorrow but I suck at writing blurbs and summaries, I always write it too long.

I'm thinking of starting like:

There are angels, there are demons then there are the Touched; people who are graced and cursed with the mark of angels and demons inside them. Their duty is to execute the most treacherous balancing act to ever exist; the balance between Good and Evil. In order for them to do this, there are also people like Leah Curran. 

Leah has inherited the family talent; the ability to sense angels, demons, and the Touched. This ability has been a burden to her for all her life. When she lost her mother to it, Leah closed herself off from the world but for what's left of her family and her best friend Gabriel. 

But the world refuses to stay away and her talent refuses to stay hidden. People are coming for her and she will find herself drawn into the war that has been playing out since time began; a war between heaven and hell. 

Oh meh, I'll rewrite this later. GAH.

Oh man, my head really hurts.

Anyway, once I send blurb, cover, etc to editor, the book will be published by the end of Feb or early March. Huzzah!

PUBLISHING NEWS!!!

Guys, guys, the publisher told me that book 1 of the Touched series: The Sword, will come out the latest at mid-February. Mid-February, guys, MID-FEBRUARY!!! AT THE LATEST!!!

COVER NEWS!!!

So, the story is, editor reread final manuscript of The Sword and felt that the original cover--

--which is this one:

--suits Leah perfectly.

And, of course, I agreed with her, so it's decided that we're going to use the original covers:

How to Deal with Bad Reviews

I just realized that when my book gets out, I will have more reviews than I've ever dealt with. And I'm certain that not all of them would be favorable. 

The thing is, I've never had a bad review other than the generally bad-tempered ones like "you suck", "this is lame" or, and I'm quoting word for word here, "meh". To be honest,  I've never considered comments like this as reviews because, well, they're not. 

There was another review that said, "I read all the reviews that you've gotten and it's mostly good but most of the stories here have good reviews. They give it to everybody" which confused me. Basically he or she was saying that I shouldn't get too much of a big head over my good reviews which really reeked of jealousy.

There are constructed criticism once or twice, but mostly about grammars and typos, which is cool. 

But as soon as I get published, now, that's where all the wackos usually come out, especially since my book plays with religion and angels/demons. 

Now, I've developed a thick skin through the years, but I have a feeling that I should grow a few more layers before my book is out.

I think I can manage. 

Living Back Home and Latest Publishing News

You know what comes with big families? BIG PILES OF LAUNDRY.

Well, I really can't complain. It's not like I do the laundry everyday, in fact my brother does and all I have to do is wash my own laundry. But something came up so I had to do it. *shrug*

I think most of my problem with doing it is the boredom. The way I have to wait for it to be over. For reasons unclear to me, the house does not use automatic washer but the old school one where you actually have to fill it up with water (with a faucet but still).

Anyway, not complaining. No sirree. 

Writing is doing horribly. Something about coming home kind of killed my drive. My imagination is still off the charts and I have a new book idea to prove it but....probably because of the 24 hours internet access though. 

I guess that's just something I have to get over and deal. SNAP OUT OF IT, PUNY HUMAN!

Other than that, life is pretty great. At least I'm not starving and so far, family drama has not succeeded in bowling me over. So, yey, for silver linings.

Anyway, PUBLISHING NEWS, editor said that they're working on setting the layout watchamacallit. No news about the covers though.

Publishing News and Reminders

I thought since Touched is in the publishing process that I update on the news I got from publishes about where you can get Touched. Like I mentioned before, the trilogy will be first available as ebooks, with an epub format. We will also be searching for foreign publishers so we can get it on print. Meanwhile, agent have ideas about translating it into Indonesian for the purpose of Indonesian market.

Anyway, editor mentioned that Digital Mizan, my publisher has some ebookstore partners: Qbaca by Telkom on Android/google play platform, wayang force on appstore, scoop on android and appstore, indobooks on android, also we are on negotiation process with http://smartebook.com , and some ebookstore in thailand and Vietnam. They are also considering and reviewing the terms from Amazon.

Hardcopy of manuscript has finally arrived in my editor's hands and now I'm waiting for news about the covers. 

Since we're waiting, I thought I'll refresh your memory (and mine) with the early chapters of the book and dreamcasts. I will also upload some snippets along with a playlist. 

Publishing News, COVER FIASCO, and artwork

So, TOUCHED publishing progress news: 

Hardcopy of manuscript was sent to publisher and we've discussed about the covers. I was thinking, since Stacey K. Wall had done such a great job in turning my ideas into three great covers--

--we might as well just used hers! Look at it, isn't it awesome???

And editor has agreed but then one of my readers, @allyinthemoon (and fellow writer) stumbled upon something that shattered my dream of having such awesome covers. What did she find? 

Well, this:

Do you see it?

YUP, it's the same girl on it!!!!

Evidentally, we got our model picture at the same place (which is completely legal and fine since we got from a site that if you buy the printing rights, you can use it) and I figured no one would even notice but--

--I really don't want a mess with it, you know, especially since this would be my first published novel...

...so I told my editor and she told me that it would be fine, we could just make a different cover.

BUT I DON'T WANT A DIFFERENT COVER, because these covers are like, BAM, perfect in every way already (Stacey, I love you!!!) and notice how it had an overall theme.

So, my editor said, we could just change the models but how would Stacey feel?

So, I told Stacey the problem and I ask her whether it was okay for us to use her implementation of my idea, and change the models--she will get her credit of course--and she said yes (again Stacey, I am blessed with having meeting you). So, we're currently in the process of making the covers.

That's all for publishing news.

On other news, hey, #TOUCHED art. 

What happened with this is that I befriended CC, a person on facebook who was a reader of my story (no matter what people say, facebook is an awesome place to me...although Tumblr is where I find soulmates) and I saw that she'd been doing wonderful sketches and artwork and I was like, hey, you fancy doing some artwork for TOUCHED?

And she was like, YEAH!!

So, I gave her two scenes to work with and then we were like, "GAME ON, BITCHES!"

I gave her this JustinxLeah scene to do her magic to:

When I blinked I found myself on Justin’s lap, his arms trembling around me, his breath hot on my neck as he breathed me in. The pain inside my chest disappeared with every ticking second and the pounding inside my head was replaced with our heartbeat; fast and strong and steady.

His palm pressed against my lower back while his other hand curved around my shoulders and he held me like I was a touchstone. His touchstone. 

Right now I was his connection to himself and to the world. The urge to reach out to him, to rub his back and comfort him was strong but I kept myself rigid against him. I was doing this because I had no choice and a small part of me couldn’t stand to see him or anyone in pain. And he was in pain, I could feel it now. It was the displaced feeling I felt times a billion. He was so lost, so lost without me and no matter how much I resent him for putting me in this position, I couldn’t let anyone feel that way when I could do something about it. 

He held on to me, not just with his hands but with everything inside him, everything that made him what he was. I could feel it like a blanket, a web wrapping around me, absorbing me. There was a hole inside him too and he filled it with everything about me; of how I smelled, how I smiled, how I talked, how I laughed and how I fought. Of everything he had come to know about me, of my scars and my loneliness and my pain. Of how I looked like in his eyes and how I felt against him. These little simple facts he catalogued and fed it into the emptiness inside him, using them to piece himself back together.

So I let him touch me, let him hold me, let him press his face against the curve of my neck but my two hands remained in my lap.

“Thank you.” He whispered against my shoulder. 

My shoulders twitched against his arm. “Sure.”

“Just give me a minute.”

“Take your time.” I said and focused my eyes on the spice rack above the stove instead of the calm feeling of belonging that I felt. 

And resented it.

Copyright © 2012 by D.F. Jules

And then she came up with this:

I love this black and white version because it worked more with the scene, it has an almost menacing atmosphere because of the smudges at the background, contrasting greatly with the softness of his expression and the gentleness in the way he was holding her. It even almost looked like he was protecting her from the darkness behind them (or inside him *evil smile) and that worked.

Granted, the scene was supposed to be a little more intense and desperate for Justin, but...to be fair, I did let the artist to have free rein and I was intrigued by how she interpreted this scene.

In this color version there is a lot more gentleness because of the colors, and it looked more alive than the black and white ver. but what really sold me about this one was the shattered glass all around them; it was the perfect way to convey how Justin was feeling. How he was all broken up inside and was very vulnerable and delicate and the only thing that could save him was Leah. 

And most of all, I loved that she didn't draw Leah holding him back, because she's not supposed to. 

In short, I LOVED BOTH FOR DIFFERENT REASONS and I'm SO EXCITED TO SEE WHAT SHE WOULD MAKE OUT OF THE GABExLEAH SCENE!!!

You can see her other work on HER SITE!

Progress!

So, finally received the proofreads and am now doing final rechecking/editing before publishing and was surprised when my proofreader said, "feel free to ignore my edits when it comes to your characters thoughts, she has a way with words". 

At first I wondered about it, I mean, if I could just ignore you than what good is proofreading for but then after I reread my work (I have moved on to two other books so the 'sound' of this book was kind of a vague rememberence for me) and understood what she meant. 

Because the book is in 1st person POV, the whole thing runs on my character's words; on her dialogs and how she chooses her words and how she says them. So, what she's saying is that I have a right to use wonky grammar and weird structures because hey, people don't talk like dictionaries. 

ARTISTIC LICENSE PEOPLE, I HAVE ARTISTIC LICENSE!! 

I can finally use that as an excuse and will be justified. It got me thinking though, how much bad grammar could I justify with this excuse? 

Ha. 

Not too much I think.

Guys, guys, look. It's the publishing contract!! Signed, Sealed and Delivered

and hey, found some jewelry that reminded me of Touched

Soooo

...yesterday I met publisher/agent and we've hashed out some details that needed to be revised from the contract. New contract will be sent on Monday.

Other than that, since I've been kind of busy meeting friends and baby sitting, I've been missing three days of writing. 

I know. Horrible. How will I ever make up for it?

BY WRITING 4K WORDS TOMORROW, DAMMIT!!

Tomorrow I would have some time to pound the keyboards because I'm meeting Bie and GB at 7 PM. I'm hoping I can make some headway for #GoV, I mean, damn, this book is kicking my ass!!!

BTW, have you guys checked out the new trailer of Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instrument: City of Bones? One word: AWESOME.

And on other news....well, family DRAMA is seriously not helping my state of mind.

Other than that, hey, this is interesting: What Bestsellers Do Differently than Everyone Else. 

Oh, and hey, chapters 1,2, and 3 of Jim Butcher's latest Dresden book Cold Days.

Updates on #TOUCHED, the sequel to #WATD which is #WAH

Holla there, to those who missed my WATD characters, I GIVE THEE SNIPPET. That's right!!! SNIPPET!!!

And hey, I can use this mock cover now!!! Oh, anyway, news on #TOUCHED, I will be meeting with editor on the 14th, we've finally agreed on the content of the contract, so, we can finally move on!!!!

YEY for PUBLISH!!! YEY FOR PROGRESS!!!!