My first Vlog!

My first Vlog...::ducks behind desk::

Help me name my MC

Dear followers, my WIP needs you, I need you.

I've decided to rename Rayn. I came up with Rayn when I first started brainstorming Nirvana and even though I knew I would eventually change it, I've kept it thus far.

But now  the time has come to change it and I need your input. I've come up with a short list and an "other" option, in case all wise you have another idea in mind!

Please vote on the right!!! You guys rock!

The Writer's Voice - Entry #191

Entry #191

Query:

When Lana’s father is killed on The End World – a devastated parallel planet-- she swears to do anything to honor her father' sacrifice. She packs up her kick-ass attitude and joins the United Nations for Reconstruction, in the hope of helping the survivors rebuild.

As an intensively trained Spinner, Lana travels between both parallel worlds and escorts research teams. She fits right in, combat boots and camouflage panties included.

But when Lana saves Alex, a survivor with a cute butt and mad fighting skills, she’s propelled to the rank of Headsquad. Sent on a mission to set up an alliance with Alex’s leader, she hopes for the first open dialogue between her people and the survivors. Its’s hard to keep it all business when Alex’s green eyes and survival skills are paired with a gentle soul. But when she learns Alex’s leader is the man who killed her father, she’s faced with a gut-ripping choice: follow her orders and develop peace, or avenge her father’s death and risk war.


First 250 words:

This was one of those times when I was glad there wasn’t any skyscrapers left standing. I reached the third story and paused to wipe the sweat off my brow.

I rested my cheek against the theater’s cracked façade, enjoying the cement’s coolness. The neon sign stood to the side of me, its bulbs busted and plastic letters lost to time. It was impossible to guess the last movie that was playing before the End World went to hell.

Finding similarities and differences between Earth and this dump was a pastime of mine. Researchers claimed the comparison ratio was about seventy-three percent. Who said I had to take their word for it?

I grabbed the rough cement ledge above me and hauled myself up. On the adjacent roof, Sal was already lying down, scanning the street with his own NF P90.

Damn, he's fast.

His voice crackled in my earplant. "Need to lose a few pounds, girlfriend. Soon you won't be able to climb a speed bump."

I gave him the finger.

"Love you too, Lana."

"Just focus, will you," I hissed in my vocollar, taking his silence as agreement.

At first, I squirmed at the idea of getting the implants burrowed into my eardrums and vocal cords, but I had to admit, they had saved my apple bottom more than once.

I flattened myself against the hot roof and rested my rifle on the front ledge, my scope lined up with our targets.

Music Muse

Music is my #1 inspiration. I've been working on Nirvana and recently discovered Dubstep music as my main fuel for this novel.

What is dubstep?

From our everknowing Wiki:

Dubstep (/ˈdʌbstɛp/) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London, United Kingdom. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals."

Below are a couple favorites of mine. Love 'em!!!! 

And a couple of random songs from my Nirvana playlist that I <3 !!!!

The Glimpse by Claire Merle

Claire Merle has been so gracious to let me read an advanced copy of her debut novel The Glimpse, coming out on June 7^th  by Faber & Faber.

 Blurb:

Once you've seen into the future, can you change your destiny?

In a near future, society is segregated according to whether people are genetically disposed to mental illness. 17-year-old Ana has been living the privileged life of a Pure due to an error in her DNA test. When the authorities find out, she faces banishment from her safe Community, a fate only thwarted by the fact that she has already been promised to Pure-boy Jasper Taurell.

Jasper is from a rich and influential family and despite Ana’s condition, wants to be with her. The authorities grant Ana a tentative reprieve. If she is joined to Jasper before her 18th birthday, she may stay in the Community until her illness manifests. But if Jasper changes his mind, she will be cast out among the Crazies. As Ana’s joining ceremony and her birthday loom closer, she dares to hope she will be saved from the horror of the City and live a ‘normal’ life. But then Jasper disappears.

Led to believe Jasper has been taken by a strange sect the authorities will not interfere with, Ana sneaks out of her well-guarded Community to find him herself. Her search takes her through the underbelly of society and into the pits of the human soul. And as she delves deeper into the mystery of Jasper's abduction she uncovers some devastating truths that destroy everything she has grown up to believe, but she also learns to love as she has never loved before.

My 2 cents:

Claire Merle took the challenging subject of mental illness and nailed it up for us to consider.

It is such a frightening and thought provoking novel. How many of us know people with some kind of mental illness?

There is a lot going in this book, adventure, suspense, love…plot twists galore that made the novel NOT predictable. That is a high point because a lot of YA novels coming out are so cookie-cutter.

What I enjoyed the most is how I felt sorry for Ana. How hard it must be to be told that you are inevitably going to get sick and that people have literally given up on you and will throw you out. It also shows how to take our life and destiny in our own hands and make things happen, regardless of people's adamant behavior.

Wait for it, read it, love it. I know I did.

 

Claire Merle's Website

Goodreads

Nirvana, Inc.

I finally computed a short blurb of my biopunk thriller, Nirvana, Inc. I am thrilled to be writing this (pun intended). It's a WIP so I'm sure there will be plot points changes at some point, it's still a little rough around the edges. My imagination is suffering from ADD on this one, which I guess is a good thing.

Living as a pleasure pusher should be bliss unless you’re tired of riding everyone else’s neural waves but your own.

Rayn Hart lives in the slums, where biotech alterations are often refurbished and stretched beyond legality. She survives in the midst of entertainment clubs and shady deals by helping others reach ecstasy through neural stimulation. But when repair nanobots malfunction, her EmoCore is altered beyond any implant ever made: she can now read cell memory, alive or dead.

Her new ability attracts the attention of Nirvana Inc, the biggest implant development company. But Rayn isn't about to be turned into a guinea pig. Just when she thinks she is safely hiding into the darkest part of the slums, Quirin Eberle, a biotech regulation officer, tracks her down. He wants her to analyze victims of an implant hacker and help him track down the killer; or he'll turn her over to Nirvana Inc.


It's still a little rough around the edges but overall, do I get a thumb up or should I take cover?

Surprise Agent Invasion

Hey guys!

I entered Cupid's new contest, "Surprise Agent Invasion". There is no rhyme or reason to when or where agents will drop in but they should be lurking around.

Cupid's Literary Connection

My lucky number is 48!

A shout out to Cupid who has been coming up with AWESOME contest concepts and bringing authors and agents together!