I'll catch up with everyone when I get back, but for now: have a great week, keep hydrated, and don't burn any buildings down. You guys can do that, right? I'm trusting you!

What I’m Reading

I've just finished UNRAVEL ME by Tahareh Mafi, which I enjoyed, and now I have a host of new books to chose from -- I'm looking forward to Chuck Wendig's THE BLUE BLAZES in particular. (ARC Provided by Angry Robot.)

What I’m Writing

I've just passed the 30k mark on Leviathan Rises, and the voice is finally starting to feel solid. I managed to go back and fix the first chapter, which had been not-quite-right for a while, and now I'm working on the rest.

This story is proving tricky because I wrote those 30k haphazardly: jumping around the timeline, skipping to exciting scenes, writing sections with no idea where they'll fit. Now that I'm on the end stretch, I need to go back and pull it all together into solid chapters, and that's rough going.

Worth it, though. I really love this ridiculous oddball of a story.

What Inspires Me Right Now

I'm on a musical kick! Mostly listening to Fall Out Boy's new album Save Rock and Roll, and this gorgeous track by a new musical find, the band Les Friction:

"This force is in love with you. It wants you safe. It wants you well."

What Else I've Been Up To

I'm thinking very seriously about doing my theory test in the near future, and I've been studying for it in my spare moments.

I'm also trying to eat healthier -- more fruit, less sweets, more water, no fizzy juice, and multivitamins ahoy. It's working reasonably well, my sleep is settling down and I'm more aware of issues with my blood sugar level. I just need to up my exercise amounts to go along with the new regime.

Last but not least, I'm playing the free horror game Ib. I wasn't convinced an 8-bit game but be creepy, but I've jumped out of my seat a few times. It's a great little game.

Ryugu Sea Cave, Japan. File © Batholith, released into the public domain.

I've also been asking my friends what messes these seamonsters-in-human-form could get into as they run around the British coastline. Some of my favorite suggestions: getting angry at chavs in the cities, taking a dive to some underwater wrecks, visiting the Giant's Causeway...

Thanks to a spree of bad health I'm not sure I'm going to be able to meet my Camp NaNo deadline -- I've just passed 15k and my target was 30k by the 30th March.

But hey, progress is progress, so I don't feel too bad about it. Now, I'm off back to work, but before I go -- how's it going? What are you writing? Is it going well or are you running into problems?

Sound off in the comments. I look forward to hearing what everyone's up to. :)

Today it's time to show a few sketches of the protagonist, Anna, a Scottish lass with minor sleeping problems and major monster problems.

(That red thing she's holding is a screwdriver. I know. I'm sorry. Who knew I could mess up drawing a screwdriver so badly?)

Here are some facts about Anna:

a) She loves those fruit 'infusion' teas you see in supermarkets.

b) Before going for a night out, while the other engineers are getting their makeup on, she likes to plan out what she's got to-hand for self-defence if the night turns sour.

c) Evan really should've picked someone else to mess with.

There are parts of this image I hate and parts I really like, but all in all I think I'm happy with the end result. A few of the expressions are very obviously inspired by digital artists HamletMachine and Pragmaticinsanity.

I mentioned in my last post that he was both insane and also a cannibal, but here are some brand new facts about Evan:

a) His fashion sense is terrible.

b) This is because he keeps stealing clothes from dead people.

There's been a lot of well-deserved successes in my circle of friends lately, so this post is me raising a glass to them and sharing some writers and anthologies you should be looking out for.

And if I've missed something, drop me a comment below with your exciting news.

K.C. and Rob are in the Fox Spirit "Piracy" anthology

Two of my friends and fellow Inkbots, K.C. and Rob, have stories in the upcoming 'Piracy' anthology by Fox Spirit. The accepted stories were announced here, and Fox Spirit owner Adele says "I’m really excited about this series and we have great stories taking piracy from a child’s mind, to the high seas and straight onto mind jacking. We have strange beasts and the penalty for stealing dreams."

It's part of the Fox Pockets series I mentioned yesterday, a series of reasonably priced pocket-sized books containing around a dozen short stories.

K.C.Shaw's story is "Skyway", starring two lady airship pirates in a fascinating steampunk universe. It's guaranteed to be awesome and I can't wait to read it.

Rob Haines' story is "Pieces of 2^3" swings more in the sci-fi direction, putting an exciting new spin on digital piracy.

It looks like there will be many more talented writers involved as well. I'm looking forward to buying this anthology!

Rob is being published in the "Tales of Eve" anthology

Rob Haines and K.C. are both insanely productive writers, putting my own workflow to shame. Have you seen all the books on K.C.'s site? They all sound amazing! Plus she's got a short story up on Daily Science Fiction.

I mentioned Rob's insanely productive, and here's the proof. The short-story writing pro has another upcoming short in the "Tales of Eve" anthology, also being published by Fox Spirit.

Editor Mhairi said Rob's story made her cry, so no doubt I'll be blubbing as well.

Take a look at that cover! It's gorgeous, isn't it?

John Dixon's TV Pilot is looking awesome

The TV Pilot for INTELLIGENCE, based on John's upcoming YA thriller PHOENIX ISLAND, is going well.

Go check out his blog, where there's all the latest casting news, photos from the set, and a very mysterious image.

Erika's ready for the end of the world

Erika Beebe is now officially a published author, with her short story  coming out from J. Taylor Publishing later this year. J.Taylor create some fantastic covers and I'm sure this anthology will have a great one too -- I'll share the cover for One More Day, and a short summaries for her story, on May 13, 2013.

PRESS RELEASE: J. Taylor Publishing Signs Seven Authors To One More Day, A YA Anthology To Release December 2, 2013
Six authors to be featured with L.S. Murphy in Young Adult Anthology, One More Day, from J. Taylor Publishing.

J. Taylor Publishing will release One More Day, an anthology of seven short stories written for young adults, with a world’s end theme.

The anthology’s theme, centered around what would happen if ‘tomorrow’ didn’t happen, produced dozens of entries with seven stories selected. “We asked authors to think on a prompt, particularly what happens as characters feel the stop, feel the shift, as they realize, only they know how to make everything go back to normal,” says J. Taylor Publishing.

With a singular theme, one might expect all stories to be “the same”, but in One More Day, the challenge to create something completely unique was met by all authors. From contemporary to paranormal, fantasy to comedy and mixes of multiple genres, each of the seven stories represents the author’s interpretation and method of ensuring the world doesn’t end—somehow, someway.

About Erika Beebe
Inspired by her first grade teacher's belief in her imagination from the first story she ever wrote, Erika has been a storyteller ever since. A dreamer and an experiencer, she envisions the possibilities in life and writes to bring hope when sometimes the moment doesn’t always feel that way.
Working in the field of public relations and communications for more than ten years, she has always been involved with writing, editing, and engaging others in public speaking.
Her two young children help keep her creativity alive and the feeling of play in the forefront of her mind.

Well, not really. A lot of things went wrong, but here's three in particular for you.

1. Look away if you're eating. Actually, you might want to leave this whole post until long after dinnertime.

Last Sunday the sewage manhole in our back garden clogged, and for two days we couldn't run a shower, wash the dishes, brush our teeth or even look in the direction of a sink without summoning dark forces from the depths out to terrorise our back garden.

We were at the mercy of Scottish Water. After one day without showers we became savages, snapping at each other over dishes left unclean and snarling about who had the right to use the toilet.

Then Scottish Water finally sorted the drains and life returned to normal.

2. We gave our dog a treat. Normally, giving your dog a chew bone is a good thing, right? And he was definitely happy to have it, chewing away on it all night.

But our Labrador has a sensitive stomach, and the last few days have been a lesson is just how sensitive it is.  The poorly pup has completely forgotten that the house is not for peeing in. Or puking on.

I've been dealing with his illness all day today, and after untangling his lead from a thorny bush because he got tangled up as soon as the sun went down, I experienced something akin to post natal depression: WHY COULDN'T I HAVE A DOG WHO KNEW HOW TO PEE?

Meanwhile he just stood there, tail wagging, knowing damn well that I loved his stupid face.

This is why I'm not allowed to have kids. I can't even deal with a dog acting like a toddler for two days, there's no way I'd cope with the real deal.

3. I failed at cooking an omelette. This sounds minor compared to everything else, and it is, but I messed up a friggin omelette  The simplest of meals.

I THOUGHT I COULD DO IT. I THOUGHT I WAS CAPABLE.

I THOUGHT WRONG.

As a result I've given up on nutrition entirely and I'm surviving on microwavable burgers for the night.

Ah well. It'll be April in a few hours.

The idea of this bloghop is to highlight the writing you're currently working on, so I'm covering my Camp NaNo story about seamonsters. How excited am I to get the chance to blether on bout my work-in-progress stories? VERY. VERY EXCITED.

What is the working title of your book?

LEVIATHAN RISES.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

The lovely UK publisher Fox Spirit had an open-call for short stories that was well-recommended by friend and fellow writer Rob Haines. They've currently got a submission call on for their Fox Pockets series, a series of pocket-sized books containing around a dozen short stories.

Leviathan Rises started out as a short story for their 'Under the Waves' prompt, and after it was done I still had more left to write about that world, so I kept on going...

What genre does your book fall under?

YA (Young Adult) Urban Fantasy.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I almost never cast actors for my characters, preferring to draw designs for them when I can, but for Leviathan Rises I wanted to have a strong image of my characters. The main female character came to mind relatively easy -- an older version of Amandla Stenberg, who plays Rue in The Hunger Games.

Left: amandlastenberg.com. Centre and Right: Hunger Games Promo Images.

The main male character, the Leviathan in question, took a bit longer to find. I had to trawl through smartly-dressed male model images for hours. It was terrible. My life is so hard.

Eventually I found Torian, a model for Photogenics Media.  Here are some images from his portfolio for your enjoyment:

What's that look for? Leviathan's get shirtless a lot. You'd be surprised.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A runaway teenage girl and a seamonster on a mission from God team up to stop the world drowning in a biblical flood.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I'm hoping my agent will enjoy it when it's done. (Fingers crossed!)

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I'm still working on it. Hoping to finish it next month during Camp NaNo. Wish me luck!

What other books would you compare this story to in your genre?

Hannah Moskowitz's "Teeth" for a similarly dark 'n gritty take on seamonsters.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

After watching Supernatural, I was unsatisfied with their take on Leviathans. Computer-generated teeth? Really? That's all you've got?

These big, biblical beasts have quite a backstory, and  their lore stretches back much further than just the 'seamonster with big teeth' from the show.

When I saw the 'Under the Waves' short story prompt, I saw a chance to create my own versions of humanoid Leviathans. And so the fun began...

And now to play TAG!

I'm really tempted to just invite all The Inkbots to give this a shot, because it's fun. But to name some specific names:

I'll tag the prolific fantasy writer K.C. Shaw, whose steampunk story recently kept me up half the night.
UPDATE: KC's next big thing is up over here.

© Adam Ziaja http://ziaja.name
Shared under a CC license.

Patrick Ness, author of the heart-wrenching "The Knife of Never Letting Go" (reviewed here) has an interview in The Telegraph.

It's a short read, and fairly ordinary as far as interviews go, but this line shines in it:

“If you read what teenagers write, it’s much, much darker than anything a YA [young adult] author would publish. They write hopelessness, despair, suicide, murder. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. That’s the age you’re reckoning with stuff. And I think that if you’re a YA writer who isn’t engaging with that on some level then you’re leaving them to fend for themselves.”

I write in the Young Adult genre, and there's something deeply reassuring in this quote. I'm a pretty relaxed, cheery person day-to-day, but the one common element in my writing is it always goes dark.

There's a lot of information out there about the Dos and Don'ts of writing YA, and while seasoned pros will kindly advise you that there are no rules it's hard to ignore all the well-meaning shouts of:

No sex!

No swearing!

No drugs!

No drinking!

I was a morbid teenager, to say the least. I read dark books, watched dark movies, listened to dark music. I didn't quite reach the gloomy depths of Goth or its little sister Emo, but I definitely dipped my toes in those waters. As a writer, I want to read the sort of books teen-me would love, and I won't paint over the dark parts.

Good YA means not talking down to your readers, and as Patrick Ness says, writing out the dark parts is just another way of underestimating your reader.

I'm going to be keeping this is mind whenever I start doubting my writing.