Friday, December 28, 2012

More Writing

My father started reading Viral Execution (VE) a few days ago and determined that Chapter 1 just isn't . . . lively enough.

 It needs more actio.

So now that's what I'm working on - 'Actioning' up my Chapter 1   through a total rewrite.

At least I get to wear cool socks while I do it.


Sunday, December 23, 2012

A Short Update

Sorry for the lack of updates here. IT's been pretty busy around here.

My mom finished reading Viral Execution and I implemented all the edits she gave me, and then my dad started reading it. He told me to rewrite chapter 1 to make it more exciting, and now I'm almost done with that.



Find out more about my daily doings at.

www.averageamanda.blogspot.com

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Editing Away

Have you been wondering where I've been lately?


Probably not. But I'll tell you anyway.

I've been at home a lot, trying to find time to edit.   I've also been in the car a lot. My grandfather has had to start physical therapy for some things and has needed to go to the therapy place ( half an hour away) three times a week. It's been my job  to drive him, so that takes up quite a bit of my time.







But at least I get to wear cool socks while I drive. =) It's turned pretty cold around here, so I've been wearing socks a lot.

I'm doing a bit of editing right now. I'm up to page 178 in Viral Execution, and it's going all right. I'm a pretty slow editor. 

Other than driving and editing I've been sewing. Christmas presents, orders for other people's christmas presents. That sort of thing.

I make and sell these pillowcases www.bunnycraftsnfiber.etsy.com and so I've been doing a lot of that lately. You should consider buying one. They make good Christmas presents. ;) 

Enough with the shameless plugging and back to editing!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Contest Winners!

And the winners of the contest are . . . Jacob F. in 1st, Amy C. in 2nd, and Katie L. in 3rd.

Each winner will get to name a character in Viral Execution, and Jacob wins a copy of VE, and Amy receives Monica's necklace. Winners, please send me a message so we can discuss your character names.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Editing Update


I've been pretty quiet around here, because I've been rather busy. Per usual.  Not surprised, right?


Thanksgiving was great, we had just family over and had 18 people at the house, and not all my siblings were present! Sad, but they were too far away to make it over. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Editing on Viral Execution  is going pretty well. Round 2 of edits is done, and now I'm working on round 3.  Round 3 consists of my mom's edits, and she can be pretty tough some times, but they're not as hard to take as my dad's edits. ;)   He can spot an error a mile away.


But it's good.  I don't want mistakes in my book!

I hope to finish all the edits by early December, but I'm in Georgia right now visiting friends, so editing isn't going very quickly right now.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Contest Time!


Here's what you've been waiting for! The contest. One of the prizes?  Naming a character in Viral Execution (among other things).


Now, recently,  my contests have been random drawings and the like, but this time you have a little bit more control over what you win. Personally, I like that a lot better, who wants to trust their winning to odds?

There will be things you can do to earn points.  Whoever has the most points by the contest end will earn the grand prize! There will be a second and third prize as well.

Now. How do you earn points?


5 points = Like this or any of the books' pages
5 = Have a friend like this page (and post on my wall to tell me about it)
10 = ask your librarian to order Precisely Terminated or Noble Imposter if your library doesn't have a copy
10 = write a book review and post it on your blog, amazon, CBD, B&N, or GoodReads  and tell me about the posting (You can post your review on each of these sites for another 10 points!)
10 = Take an imaginatively posed picture with PT or NI and post it on my wall
50 = purchase PT or NI during this contest (Sometime during November 1st through 30th) (And tell me about it by emailing me a copy of your receipt to amanda@daviscrossing.com )
120 = purchase PT and NI during this contest (Sometime during November 1st through 30th) (And tell me about it by emailing me a copy of your receipt to amanda@daviscrossing.com )

There could be more options to earn points if I think about them later. So check back!

The prizes!

1st place gets to name one of three characters* in VE. He or she gets to pick which of the three characters (A Noble female or one of two Seen males) and gets a copy of VE when it comes out
2nd place gets to name a character* in VE (Whichever of the two 1st winner doesn't pick) and Monica's necklace
3rd place gets to name a character* in VE (Whichever 1st prize and 2nd winner doesn't pick)


Dead line to get your submissions in for points is November 30th.

Sound exciting? Good! Get to work earning those points!




Names subject to my approval, but don't worry, I'm not to strict.  But please. No Bobs. ;)

Canadian fans may enter but are eligible for only the naming of the character prizes, not for the book or necklace - Sorry Canadian friends, but shipping is too expensive!


FOR THOSE WHO DON'T HAVE FACEBOOK!

I originally posted this on my Facebook fan page, but I realize some of my blog readers don't have Facebook.

For those of you who do not have facebook you can earn 5 points for following this blog (And if you're already a follower, that counts, too) and telling me you have in a comment here.
5 points for getting a friend to follow the blog (and tell me about it here)

For those of you who want to take a picture of yourself with PT or NI, you can email it to me at amanda(at)daviscrossing(dot)com (replace the (at) with the @ symbole and (dot) with a period)   and I will post it on my blog (if you'd like, if you'd prefer it not be posted, that's fine, too)

If you already own PT or NI, consider purchasing a copy for a friend or family member ! :)  Christmas is coming up!

Monday, October 29, 2012

And VE is Done!


Viral Execution, book three in the Cantral Chronicles (Once known as CCB3)  is done.




Well, the first draft anyway.  There are still a billion things to do.

Like take the wristband away from character #3, name Noble programmer #2, and foreshadow the oxygen tank.


Ahem.


Anyway.  While the book is done, it's also really not done at all. The editing stage is quite long and often times, the hardest part of writing a book. Unfortunately, it's also the most crucial.  There will be about 8 stages of editing to VE before I send it to the publisher and it can get into your hands.

I have a cool idea for a cover image, though. :) 


So. Off to work I go! I plan on editing only one chapter today, because I need a little break after writing so much last week!  After I edit one chapter I'm going to work on my neck tie quilt.

Chow.

Friday, October 26, 2012

I've realized . . .


I've realized that to finish my novel Viral Execution (CCB3) by my deadline, I have to write at least 3,500 words per day.


Whew.  That's more difficult for me than some people.  I know a lot of people who can pound out that many words per day, no problem, but I can't. It takes me from about 9AM - 8PM to get that done with very few breaks in between.

But I'm persevering! I wrote 4,000 words the day before yesterday and 3,500 yesterday.

Unfortunately, I had to kill one of my favorite characters yesterday. *Sigh*


He or She will be missed.  


Back to writing! I have a funeral to plan.

Monday, October 22, 2012

CCB3 Has a Title!

I announced this on my Facebook author page already, but I haven't forgotten about my trusty blog readers!


I appreciate you guys sticking with me despite the sparse updates, I'm trying to get a lot of writing done. :)


But.

CCB3 has a title!


It is . . . .


Viral Execution.


Say it with me.  Viral Execution.

Very good. 

And it will complete the Cantral Chronicles trilogy.

Precisely Terminated - Released October 2011
Noble Imposter - Released July 2012
Viral Execution - Releases July 2013 (We hope)


Hurrah!

What do you think of the title? Yay? Nay?

I'm 85,000 words into it, and it does fit the story line, so that's good. :)  The death count isn't very high yet in this story, but maybe it'll grow. Not that that's a bad thing (low death count), it's a good thing, just unusual for a dystopian novel. :)

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Various Projects


Right now I've been pretty busy getting back into the swing of things, as we say around here. Settling back into being home and doing home type things.

I wrote nothing yesterday, thanks to being at a festival thing, but I wrote some today.  I normally don't write on Sundays, but I feel it's necessary with my deadline fast approaching.

Maybe rainbow smiley socks will help me write faster.


When taking breaks from writing I've been cooking and cleaning and organizing. Went through my fabric stash this evening.

I hope to start a quilt, too. I started cutting out the pieces for it this evening.  My parents leave in 1 week for the upcoming tour!

Back to writing. Aric and Monica are in peril.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Home Again

Sorry for the lack of updates y'all!

I know, you were used to me updating frequently and then I slacked off while on tour. I'm sorry, but it couldn't be helped! We were incredibly busy! Some days we would get up early and go go go until midnight or so, and that doesn't leave much time for blog posts.  I promise I'll try to do better now that I'm home again.


We'll be home again for about . . . 10 days until there's another tour! This tour is going to  Maryland, New York, and possibly Ontario.  The only thing majorly different is . . . I'm not going on this one. Shocking, I know. 

Generally, I go on every tour no matter what. I've been touring with my dad now for about 9 years. Yikes, that's a long time.  During those 9 years I've missed maybe 3 tours.  At the most.  So this is going to be weird.


I want to go on tour, my dad wants me to go on tour, the issue is time. I have to work on CCB3 and turn it in on November 1st. I think with a 2 week long tour with just 2 weeks at home to write, I would not accomplish that goal, so it is wisest for me to stay home, despite my not wanting to.

So you all will be stuck with me for a while. :)

I hope to get a lot of writing done the next few weeks, so I won't have much time to post, but I will try to post at least something!


I'll leave you with a picture of my sock drawer.  It slides out from under my bed. Very handy.



There are about 4 or 5 pairs missing from this picture- due to being in the wash.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Couer D'alene

We have arrived safely in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. At least, I think that's how it's spelled.



I believe today is day 29, but I'll verify that once I have more time to write. It's late right now as I'm writing this, and we're at our host's house.


Today (the day this is posting) we have a few writing events at one school before driving off towards WY and MT on our way to CO. :)

Still working away on CCB3, but it's been a bit slow, thanks to talks and broken keyboards. My N key is still writing N and H at the same time, but I've beenh deleteinhg it almost every time so it doesnh't bug y'all. :)

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Tour Day 23 - (Part Two)

More pictures from Banff!


This is lake Louise, on the shore.





That's Hannah being silly.






We all skipped some stones.



The most I got was 3 skips in a row. My dad got 7. He's had as many as 11 or 12 at once, though











Lake Moraine.






Very blue water.





After we visited lake Moraine we hiked a 5.5k trail, but it was in bear territory, so according to law we had to be in a group of 4 or more or we could be fined $5,000!




Fortunately, we have four people in our group. :)





The young man above, Antoine was hiking alone, though, so he asked to join us so he could go on the trail, too.



These giant rocks were fun to climb.






and very difficult, too











































And then we arrived in BC.  It was a fun, good day. :)