Edge of the Falls Blog Tour: Exclusive Excerpt + Twitter Giveaway

I’m so excited to be part of the blog tour for Edge of the Falls, a dark dystopia by brilliant and talented debut author Nazarea Andrews. I mean, just take a look at this cover:

And on top of that, the synopsis hits one of my major weak points. Check it out:

Sabah always knew where she belonged — with Berg — and what was expected of her — to care for the other children the Mistress took in.

But when a ban-wolf saves her life, things begin to change.

Arjun isn’t like the other ban-wolves, the savage creatures that are barely human. He’s gentle and furious and as Sabah spends time with him, she can’t seem to get him out of her mind. But in a world of darkness, control, and danger, is there a place for two outcasts?

A romantic retelling of Beauty and the Beast in a dark dystopia.

Annnnnd you had me at Beauty and the Beast. Plus the genre-blurring of dystopia, paranormal, fairytale, romance… I’m really stoked for this one, guys! And because Nazarea is a sweetheart, she’s sharing an exclusive excerpt with us on the blog today. Not only that, but I have a brand-new giveaway that I’ll be running on Twitter TOMORROW, March 8th.

Thanks to Nazarea, I will have the pleasure of giving away an e-copy of Edge of the Falls along with a gorgeous knitted scarf.

So stay tuned, follow myself and Nazarea on Twitter if you don’t already, and kick back and enjoy this EXCLUSIVE excerpt of Edge of the Falls which releases March 12th.

---

I can’t help but glance around as I near the outbuilding. I have not seen the white ban-wolf since we sat under the pine tree before I went to the City. I find myself missing him. Even his musical screams have been absent.

The wind has picked up by the time Cook and I finish loading the boxes onto the trolley. I shiver as I drag it through the deepening darkness, the cold wind turning my sweat to ice and promising snow.

A whisper of noise is my only herald to his presence. He is closer than he was before — and blocking my path. I pause, wipe my sweat away and scrub it on my cloak. I am uncomfortably aware of how I must look — dusty and windblown and tired.

He sniffs at me and shakes his head, violently.

“You were at the bridge,” I say, not a question. His eyes dart away, toward the City, his lips peeling back to bare his teeth. I follow the gaze, and sigh, “I hate going to the City — but my sister. She was dying.”

It is a weak excuse. I know nothing about the ban-wolf, but I have picked up on his distaste for the City.

He steps toward me and I fall back, stumbling in my surprise. His lip curls a little. Guilt pierces me — I have offended him. His claws close around the trolley handle and he jerks it forward. Silently, I follow him to the outbuilding.

He is sniffing at the packages, his ears pricked curiously. I reach for one and he growls, picks it up. I wait, watching — if he wants a box full of rice in payment for his protection, I figure it is more than a fair trade. Although it does seem an odd choice.

He surprises me — again — when he carries the box into the outbuilding, stacking it neatly with the other boxes of beans and dried goods.

He carries them all in, quickly and gracefully. I watch, too surprised to intervene — and something tells me he wouldn’t appreciate it. When he is finished, we both stand in the darkness, staring at each other. The silence stretches between us and I finally fidget. “I don’t understand you,” I say quietly. His ears prick at my words, and despite how softly I am speaking, I know he can hear me. “You’re a ban-wolf. You ought to be killing me, not risking your life by following me to the bridge. The Keepers…” My voice trails off, and I look away. The thought of the Keepers firing upon my ban-wolf shakes me. It’s unthinkable.

“They’d never shoot me.”

The voice is guttural, a sound of teeth and growls. It jerks my eyes up, and I gape at him. In all our stories of ban-wolves, I have never heard of one who could communicate in anything more than a scream. His lips twist around sharp teeth and he tosses his head, throwing his hair from his eyes. “Too many of them trained with me,” he says, and I stumble. He catches me, steadies me easily.

“Why?” I whisper, “Why are you doing this?”

I don’t specify what — protecting me, helping me, following me, watching me. I can see from the flicker in his golden eyes he knows what.

An eerie scream, so close that it makes my ears hurt fills the night. He growls, low in his throat, a sound that sends chills down my spine. But he steps toward me, pulls me closer to the protection of his body. His claws are so gentle they don’t even snag the rough fabric of my shirt. I can feel the heat of him, he’s so close. “I don’t understand,” I whisper, peering up at him.

His golden eyes are gentle and frustrated, but he smiles a little, dipping down so his breath warms the shell of my ear as he murmurs, “Neither do I.”

---

Nazarea Andrews is an avid reader and tends to write the stories she wants to read. She loves chocolate and coffee almost as much as she loves books, but not quite as much as she loves her kids. She lives in south Georgia with her husband, daughters, and overgrown dog. Her first book, Edge of the Falls, is available March 12.

Here’s The Thing: The Best Advocate You Have Is You

I seen a lot of tweets today about the Random House digital-only imprints – specifically Hydra. Right on the heels of the Writer Beware post that revealed details about the contract they seem to be offering writers came SFWA’s announcement that they will not consider Hydra as a viable publishing credit for entry into the association. If you want more explanation as to why not, John Scalzi explains things with his usual efficacy.

I think, at this point, it’s pretty obvious who Random House was trying to snag with these digital imprints: unagented writers who are:

• Hungry for publication
• Frustrated with the traditional process
• Considering indie publishing
• Yet still are somewhat attached to the idea of traditional validity and the desire for a “Big 6″ label

In other words, writers like me.

I remember hearing about the launch of these imprints back in November. I remember staring at the Hydra page and thinking, “Oh my god, this is it. This could be my in. My way to be published by freaking RANDOM HOUSE.”

I didn’t have anything ready to send to them at that point, and this has turned out to be a good thing. But for those who did and who signed that contract… Well, Hydra, the word “predatory” comes to mind. But when you pair this with news items like Pearson/Penguin Group purchasing the notorious Author Solutions, then it just drives home one, clear message:

The best advocate you have is you.

Even if you have an agent. Even if you have a GREAT agent. Your writing career is 100% yours and the only one you have. There is no one else who depends on the success of your work quite like you do. And it is work. It’s a business. Which means anytime you partner with anyone, you should investigate the shit out of that person or company.

You’ve heard “no agent is better than a bad agent”? Well, that’s true. Trust me when I say that it’s fun being able to tell everyone you have a literary agent, but it loses its luster if you end up knee-deep in a mess of incompetency or extortion or worse.*

Y’know what else is true? No publisher is better than a bad publisher. It seems strange and a bit sacrilegious to say that, but for reals, people. It’s not worth signing on the dotted line just to get your work out there if they’re going to bend you over a table in the long run. Not these days; not when we have other options – direct-to-consumer options – available to us.

Which, speaking of, if you go indie, it’s the same shit, different day. It’s your book, your product, so don’t just hire any ol’ person to help you put it out there. No cover designer is better than a bad cover designer. No editor is better than a bad editor. Repeat it to yourself. Do your due diligence. Make sure they’re going to help you put out something quality, something you’re proud of.

I’m not trying to be self-righteous. I’m an impulsive person, and if I had submitted to Hydra back in November and gotten a contract in December, I probably would’ve signed it. Because I want my books out there and because I would’ve trusted Random House.

I would’ve trusted them, and they would’ve screwed me. Not because they hate me personally but because they’re a business trying to get a slice of the sweet self-publishing pie. Because their goal is to advocate for themselves. It’s their job.

And our only defense against the predators is to advocate for ourselves just as hard.

 

*Note: Just to make it clear: I adore literary agents. I would love to have one of my very own someday. But not everyone who calls themselves a literary agent is one or is a good one, so make sure you don’t just like the agent personally. They also need to be an effective business partner.

#TheWritersVoice: Building Your Twitter Pitch #WVTP

Update

Guys, just WATCHING the Twitter pitch party yesterday was insane. 140 characters were flying every which way! If you – like myself – couldn’t keep up, GB Skye made a very handy list of the pitches that got requests. It’s a totally handy learning tool that might give you ideas on how to tweak your own pitch. Definitely check it out.

It’s been fun! So glad this post seems like it’s been useful. Comments will stay open in case someone wants to jump back in with a new pitch and get some feedback.

---

First off: Let it be stated that I in no way consider myself an expert on Twitter pitches, but it seemed like we were all in the same, wig-tastic boat when this new contest was announced – half-excited, half-terrified – so why not bond together and help each other out?

Step 1:

Step 2: Let’s construct this bastard.

I’ve discussed this a little with Jenny Kaczorowski, who – like myself – kind of goes “Ooo” and not “AUGH” over the prospect of Twitter pitches, and she shared some advice she received from the fabulous Shelley Watters. If you don’t know where to begin, here’s a good basic formula:

When x happens, (main character) must do y in order to z.

Nathan Bransford calls it the opening conflict, obstacle and quest. Pretty simple, right? Straight-forward? The hard part is stripping out everything YOU know of your book because you are so intimately acquainted with the characters, the world and all the layers you’ve built in. Twitter pitches are not about layers or themes or subplots or anything except your MC and what the hell happens. Bam.

So the basic questions you have to ask yourself are who is your MC, what’s their conflict and what is at stake for them? Then it’s time to choose your words so very, very carefully. We have 135 characters for this one when you factor in the new hashtag (#WVTP) so take all the time between now and May 24th finding super-strong words – words that kick people in the teeth and make them worry that you made their nose bleed from the awesome.

Nathan also suggest adding “flavor,” if you can swing it – essentially, that dash of something extra that gives it a sense of the voice of the novel. He even provides his own pitch as an example:

Three kids trade a corndog (FLAVOR) for a spaceship, blast off into space (OPENING CONFLICT), accidentally break the universe (OBSTACLE), and have to find their way back home (QUEST)

Common issues to avoid:

Agent Rachelle Gardner compiled a list of pitch problems she saw cropping up in a contest of hers:

• Language that is too vague: This generally happens when you use non-specific cliches that border on being thematic. For example: “When her world is turned upside-down, Izzy must discover who she truly is before she loses herself forever.”
• Overly complicated and/or confusing: Generally happens when you’re being too specific, especially if you’re working with spec fiction. For example: “Angie has inherited all the planet’s danaan and has to escape in Sybil to keep it from the Magistrate.” Also happens when you have disparate elements crammed together: “Zee doesn’t think his inhaler can save the world until a dragon princess shows him an enchanted telescope.”

With this Twitter pitch, I would also add a caution against over-relying on Twitter abbreviations in our case. You want a hook that Vickie and John read quick and go “WANT” – not one they have to puzzle out.

Examples:

Jenny K.’s for THE ALTERAE:

When Emma’s best friend dies, she must master her ability to manipulate emotions before she’s the next victim of the creature responsible.

If you want to see it’s evolution, take a look at her long-form one-sentence pitch so you can see how she pared it down:

When 16-year-old Emma’s best friend drowns, she must master her unwanted ability to manipulate emotions to figure out what really happened or risk becoming the next victim of the ruthless creature responsible for her friend’s death.

Here are some others I collected – the first three are winning entries from Monica B.W.’s Twitter pitch contest with Hannah Bowman in March; the next one ise from Rick Lipman who just recently signed with Pam van Hylckama Vlieg; and the last is from my super-awesome coach Brenda for her debut LIBRARY JUMPERS:

She’s pure evil and has a plan to take over the world. Thousands will do anything to kill her. There is only one problem. I’m her bodyguard.

Bree thought graduating a virgin would be easy. Now easy is all anyone thinks about her since that night, even though she didn’t consent.

Lost in China without their belongings, 16-year-old Joe and his crush, Lilah, must trek 200 miles to the closest U.S. Embassy.

For her 16th birthday, Tara gets a gift that keeps on giving: a race of androids seeking to use her new power to help them avoid extinction.

Yanked into a gateway book linking the great libraries, Gia finds that she’s a long lost knight & must now fight to stop an apocalypse.

Your turn

The comments section awaits. Share your Twitter pitch and get feedback from others. You guys are pretty freaking awesome so this should go without saying, but be constructive, not destructive. And if you share your pitch, try to make sure you comment on others. It’s a give-and-take situation.

More reading

Most of the advice above has been culled from Rachelle Gardner (The One-Sentence Summary and One-Sentence Summary Critiques) and Nathan Bransford (How to Write a One Sentence Pitch) who both have brilliantly useful blogs that you should follow if you’re not already.

Entry #29: The Writers Voice: Peculiar Dark

Note: So it may border on a bit excessive, but I couldn’t quite stand the thought of not replying to all your generous comments individually. I really appreciate it. You guys rock.

Title: PECULIAR DARK
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

QUERY
Five things Angela James never thought she’d do:

1. Throw a birthday party for a supernatural creature.
2. Break into a police officer’s apartment.
3. Wield an axe.
4. Burn a house down.
5. Kill a monster. Scratch that – kill anything, period.

Let’s just say Angela’s sophomore year isn’t exactly panning out. A week after moving to the town of Peculiar, a violent fever racks her body for days, and even after she comes out of it, she doesn’t feel right. Headaches, body aches, weird visions, strange songs on the air… And she’s not alone. Her classmate, Zee Morales, and his sister Izzy are having the exact same trouble. Angela thinks they must be going crazy, but the real answer is far less comforting. They have become vessels for magic – magic that their human bodies can barely contain – and there are creatures hunting them who would rip them to shreds to get at it.

Enter Wy, a blue-skinned, winged boy who literally drops from the sky with a sword and a bad attitude. He claims to be their protector and ally, but he’s got an agenda of his own that doesn’t always seem to include their best interests. Wy the Blue Wonder – and the magic secrets that come with him – throw Angela’s whole life out of whack. She worries her parents and her brother, flakes out at school, breaks the law – and those aren’t even the worst parts. Because the creatures lurking in the dark are shapeshifters. They can look like anyone at anytime, so you may not even know you’re in danger until it’s too late.

A Buffy the Vampire Slayer-type thriller – but with 60% more magic and zero vampires – PECULIAR DARK is a young adult urban fantasy following Angela, Zee and Izzy in their attempts to stay not-dead. It is complete at 91,000 words.

EXCERPT
The wind woke Angela before the fever did.

Back home, surrounded by New Jersey’s dense woods and thick greenery, the treetops had caught every breeze, tossing them around far overhead, but it was different here. The wind bowled over the plains like a brute. It wrapped around the house, rooted out cracks and corners, and lodged itself there, howling and whistling.

Angela lay beneath her comforter, listening to the roof and walls shudder under gusty slaps. All of her skin ached, and the insides of her body felt molten with heat, but whenever she kicked her blankets off, she shivered violently. Pain throbbed from her temples up to the crown of her skull and back down into her jaw. Her limbs were weak and heavy, and the backs of her eyes were boiling.

She felt like hell.

It crossed her mind to go downstairs – wake her parents, get a thermometer, park it on the couch nestled in the slightly ratty old comforter that she wouldn’t let her mom throw out – but her body burned all over, brain spinning like a planet.

Angela tried to be still – still and quiet so sleep could come claim her – but she couldn’t. Every inch of her skin was hot and tight and painful, and she writhed around, getting her legs twisted up in the sheets. Flailing aggressively, she kicked herself free.

Without the blankets, she shook with violent tremors, curled on the bare mattress.