For Writers - "Trust Yourself" with Lucienne Diver

Please welcome Lucienne Diver to the blog! Lucienne is a long-time book addict, literary agent, writer, mom and sun-worshipper. She's the author of the popular YA series VAMPED, featuring fab protag Gina Covello, fashionista of the damned. This week, she's celebrating the release of her latest, FANGTASTIC.

The Official Book Blurb:

What do you wear to face down a cadre of killer kids?

Gina Covello would rather be working on her manicure than missions for the Feds’ paranormal unit to which she’s been recruited. That changes when a group of killer kids takes out a family in the sunshine state and disappearances begin to plague the lifestylers who only play at the kind of existence our fanged fashionista leads. She and her crew are sent undercover into the vampire clubs…which turn out to be run by real vampires. While Gina’s BFF Marcy hangs with the steampunk-styled Burgess Brigade that seems to have spawned the killer kids, Gina herself is supposed to get in good with the fanged fiends behind the scenes, even to the point of playing double-agent, offering to hand over her powerful boyfriend Bobby. Her playacting threatens to become a bit too real when she discovers things about her spy handlers that make her wonder whether she’s truly on the right side of the battle between Feds and fangs.

Kirkus calls Gina's narration "feisty and funny", VOYA says, " Diver uses wit and adventure to hook readers", and Wondrous Reads describes the series as being "like Mean Girls with fangs, with witty dialogue and more pop culture references than you can keep up with.”

You can find Lucienne online on her website and on her blog. You can even find Gina on her own blog, Gina's Gems. : )


Lucienne says:

My writing tip would be to trust yourself…but only so far.

Writer’s block, for me, is often a matter of freak-out. I fear that I can’t do something or begin to panic because I can’t see what comes next. My husband reminds me that I go through this every time, and I always get through it. Bless him. With Fangtastic, I think that lesson hit home. I would force down the panic and just sit down to write, trusting myself that something would come out, and knowing that if I had to throw it out, at least I’d learn which direction not to take the story, which should get me one step closer to the right one.

Don’t put the pressure on yourself that every word that flows from your fingertips has to be perfect and that every scene has to fit. If you do that, you’re likely not to write anything at all or to get stopped along the way. Trust yourself to get through it.

The “only so far part” is the flipside of all of this. What you’ve written won’t be perfect, no matter how hard you’ve worked at it. You’ll need to revise and refine. I heartily recommend working with a good critique group or partner, because you’ll be too close to your own work to see all its faults. You’ll know what you meant to say, so you may not be aware of what actually made it to the page or how it’s perceived by someone not living in your head. That’s why professional authors have editors, to call us on those things we can’t see for ourselves…to make us look good .

This Week's Links:

Anyone else's arms super sore from this week's (Writers' Butt) challenge? For me, pushups are much harder than squats! But that burn is good, right? If you haven't joined in yet, it's never too late - you can jump in anytime! Follow the (#WritersButt hashtag on twitter), like the page on (Facebook), and check out (Ginger's Wednesday posts) for challenges and fitness advice.

You Don't Say (Between the Margins) Capturing the unspoken on the page.

A Question You Should Ask Before You Ask What If (Story Fix) Items on a menu...

Making Good Writing Great (James Killick) Make the readers forget they're reading.

10 Signs You're Not in the Zone (It's a Mystery) : )

6 Simple Ways to Reboot Your Writing Routine (Writer's Digest) Get going!

6 Revision Tips (Jamie Gold) How to force a story to evolve.

5 Productivity Tips (Writer Unboxed) Pay attention!

2 Surefire Symptoms of a Static Character (Word Play) Informative video.

On Logos, Arrows, and Storytelling (Words and Such) Use hidden elements.

Paperback Writer (The Kill Zone) How the Beatles got a query letter right.

The "Why" of Character Worksheets (Edit to Rent) What to do next...

Elements for a strong first chapter (Kim Harrison) Read through the first few para to get to it.

How to Make a Boring Character Interesting (Superhero Nation) Good.

Dealing with Problems. Big Problems (Not Enough Words) Tackling revisions.

Createspace Ins and Outs (The Blood-red Pencil) Thinking of going e-pub? This is for you.

The Best Of... (Daily Writing Tips) 2011's most visited.

What's Your Writing Castle? (Face the Page) In which I confess mine...

Show Editors and Agents You Meet Their Guidelines (Scott Egan) Query = sales letter.

Dear Author, What Are You Selling? (A Life of Spice) Thoughts about author branding.

Everything Old is New Again (Nephele Tempest) Fill your story w/ what's unique in you.

How Much Does Talent Matter? (Writerly Life) Talent is overrated; dedication is not.

Writing Evocative Descriptions (Omnivoracious) For total reader immersion.

And, for giggles:

Striking a Pose (Jim Hines) Women and Fantasy covers. : )


Now go. Write!

Party Over Here with Lucienne Diver!

Next, please welcome party gal Lucienne Diver, author of the brand-spanking new YA novel, VAMPED. You should check out her livejournal where VAMPED's main character Gina is known to make guest appearances!

When I was a young teen, maybe even a pre-teen, I had a favorite pair of jeans…you know, the kind you had to lay down on the bed and suck in your gut to zip up. I don’t know what it was about those jeans... I guess I thought they made me look hot. Probably, they made me look like I was slipping out of a sausage casing, but I thought they were tres chic. Don’t remember what ever happened to those jeans. I suspect my mother disappeared them on me.

Sadly, I don't have a pic. : D

Confession time - have you ever worn too-tight jeans? Since we just barely gave away a copy of VAMPED her on the blog, this time leave a comment below to be entered to win this way cute Sourpuss Skull Bag.

Freebie Friday with Lucienne Diver

Happy Friday, everyone! Today is a special Freebie Friday post. We're celebrating the launch day of Lucienne Diver's new YA novel, VAMPED.

Happy launch day, Lucienne!

Lucienne is a GCC sister who recently joined the Knight Agency (my agency!), trading in her New York City high rise for a lake view in Florida. "Through various play-dates and in various coffee bars, on the backs of envelopes, carry-out bags and anything else within reach, including, sometimes, her checkbook, she's penned the serio-comic tale of what happens when a young fashionista goes from chic to eek."

Check out this excerpt and the description of the book:

From “Valley Vamp Rules for Surviving Your Senior Prom” by VAMPED heroine Gina Covello:

Rule #1: Do not get so loaded at the after prom party that you accidentally-on-purpose end up in the broom closet with the surprise hottie of the evening, say the class chess champ who’s somewhere lost his bottle-cap lenses and undergone an extreme makeover, especially if that makeover has anything to do with becoming one of the undead.

Gina Covello has a problem. Waking up a dead is just the beginning. There's very little she can't put up with for the sake of eternal youth and beauty. Blood-sucking and pointy stick phobias seem a small price to pay. But she draws the line when local vampire vixen Mellisande gets designs on her hot new boyfriend with his prophecied powers and hatches a plot to turn all of Gina’s fellow students into an undead army to be used to overthrow the vampire council.

Hey, if anyone's going to create an undead entourage, it should be Gina! Now she must unselfishly save her classmates from fashion disaster and her own fanged fate.

NYT bestseller Rachel Caine calls VAMPED "a fresh, fast take on the vampire mythos", Rosemary Clement-Moore says Gina is "a heroine worth reading about", Marley Gibson agrees VAMPED is "fun and frothy" and Marianne Mancusi calls VAMPED "feisty, fashionable and fun." I know you want to read VAMPED. I do! I love the thought of fashionista Gina struggling with being undead, and not being able to see herself in the mirror to properly apply her lip gloss! Stay tuned for your chance to win after the interview:

What inspired you to write Vamped?

Gina, my heroine from Vamped, just started talking in my head one day. That’s how it happens. I could either let the man in the white coats come to take me away (ho ho)* or I could write her out of my mind. Well, I gave her a story and she wanted a novel. I gave her a novel and she wanted a series. So I gave her two books (REVAMPED comes out in 2010) and now she wants a movie. (Oh, she really, really, really wants a movie if she can think of anyone glam enough to play her, since, sadly, vamps don’t show up on film she can’t take the leading role herself!) * is it pathetic that I know this reference? Backwards, too! Bonus points below if anyone knows what we're talking about.


Are any of your characters based on real people that you know?
Well…kinda. Gina was originally based on the big-haired girl from high school who used to torment my sister. But when I realized giving her a short story hadn’t exorcised her from my system, she had to grow and change, because I needed to love her as much as I wanted to throttle her. Gina definitely grows over the course of the book and of the series as well. In fact, she’s become so beloved in our home that when my husband bought a hot new sports car (red with T-tops), he named it after her because we all knew she’d love it. Yes, sometimes we talk about her as if she’s real.

What excites you?
Sparklies. Compiments. Dragonflies. Sunflowers. My husband. (Oh, not in that order, of course!)

What turns you off?
Death and taxes. Liver and onions. Bigotry and bias.

What's the biggest lie you ever told, and what happened as a result of the telling?
I’m sort of honest to a fault. I’m really trying to think of a whopper, be edgy and all that, talk about the time I snuck out of the house and constructed a whole world-in-jeopardy plot to get out of punishment, but…nope, it’s just not coming to me.

What's the most suspenseful thing that's happened to you in real life?
September 11^th. I hate to change tone so drastically, but nothing in my life looms larger. I was already at our upper west side office in New York when my son’s sitter called to say, “We’ve been bombed. We’re at war.” That was her first thought. And then she burst into tears. I was terrified. I didn’t know what had happened, but I quickly found out and left to get home to my family. To make a long, painful story short, it took my husband six hours to pick up our son and get home. It should have taken forty-five minutes. All the while I was unable to reach him or call my son’s sitter back because all the phone lines and cell signals were tied up. I’ve never been so scared in my life. Hope never to be again. Oy. I can't imagine how awful that must have been! (((hugs!)))

If you could invite anyone you wanted - living or dead - to hang out with you at a weekend retreat, who would you invite and why?
All the people I can think of I’d be too intimidated to have relax around. Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse) is the first to come to mind, but I fully expect I’d babble like an idiot or grovel at his feet or something equally embarrassing. You know, I’d probably bring back my grandfather or great grandfather because they were such awesome people I’d love my son to get to know them better.

What's one thing most people don't know about you?
When I was young (about six or seven years old), I wanted to be a cryptozoologist–be the person to actually find the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot and all that. I think when I grew up that interest in exploration and discovery led to my major in anthropology. My second major was English/writing. (I had enough credits for a minor in theatre as well, but there was a limit to how much they’d put on your diploma .)

What's your favorite quote?
“I’m sorry, I already know an awful lot of people, and until one of them dies I can’t possibly meet anyone else.” Audrey Hepburn to Cary Grant in Charade. I ask you, how do you say such a thing to Cary Grant with a straight face? I love Charade! And now I'm going to have that song stuck in my head all morning...

Milk Chocolate or Dark?

Dark. No contest! Yes! High Five!

And now, the moment you've been waiting for! Leave a comment below, wishing Lucienne a happy launch day, and you will be entered to win a signed copy of VAMPED!

P.S. Don't forget the bonus post below for your chance to win a signed copy of DEATH BY DENIM.

DEATH BY DENIM Bonus Post

Woot! This is it! Less than two weeks until DEATH BY DENIM hits the shelves! Don't forget the launch party, right here on the blog May 14, 15 & 16th!

Meanwhile, remember that the Design your Denim contest is still going on. We didn't receive any entries last week, which means that those who have sent in their designs - and anyone else who enters - will have a greater chance of walking away with the signed set of all three DEATH BY books - an iPod Shuffle, iTunes gift card and more.

As a reminder, these are the Rules:
* Design and decorate anything denim.
* Send a digital photo of your creation to gerb(@)lindagerber(.)com by May 14, 2009.
* By entering, you authorize your creation's photo to appear on this blog.
* Winners will be announced May 30, 2009.

And now, for this week's bonus freebie - for your chance to win a signed copy of DEATH BY DENIM and a mystery gift, here are three ways to enter:

* If you haven't already posted this countdown clock to your blog, myspace, facebook or anyplace else you hang out, put it up and receive a bonus entry.
* Invite a friend to come say hi here on the blog. One entry per friend.
* Answer one of the trivia* questions below.

1. Name a book blooper I have confessed.
2. What's one of the most exotic things I've eaten?
3. When did my research get the best of me?
4. Which fictional character would I love to hang out with?
5. What were some of the alternate DEATH BY titles?
6. Where does Aphra travel in DEATH BY DENIM?
7. What's the name of my assistant last week?

This drawing will stay open until Tuesday, May 6.

P.S. Don't forget the interview with Lucienne Diver (above) and a chance to win a signed copy of her book, VAMPED!

* Hints given in previous posts.

Winners and Hints

First of all, thanks everyone, for making Haley feel welcome and for the well wishes! I appreciate it! Now that I'm back online, I have sooo much catching up to do!

Let's start with the announcement of last week's Freebie Friday winners:

Winner #1 is Lalaland
Bonus winner is Pinktooth2

Congrats! Since these are egift cards, make sure I have your name and email addy and I can get them sent right out to you. And Pinktooth, if you could send me your snail mail addy, I can send your bookmarks off.

Everyone else, make sure to join us back here on Friday for two more chances to win. Lucienne Diver will be joining us and giving away her brand spanking new YA novel, VAMPED. I know you won't want to miss that!

Meanwhile, to give you *ahem* a head start on this week's bonus feature, here's where I'm popping up around the web this week:

Celebrating Bookluver Carol's Blog anniversary and talking about writing and research here.
You can also win a copy of DEATH BY DENIM as soon as it's released here.

Remembering the most exotic thing I've eaten abroad on Wendy Toliver's blog.

Getting fired up (again) about Women's Ski Jumping being banned from the Olympics on Jennifer Echols' livejournal.

Confessing my writing bloopers on Amanda Ashby's blog.

Intriguing Diana Wallach about trance writing on her blog.

Talking backstory on Alyson Noel's blog.

Dishing writer advice on Karin Gillespie's Granny Panty Chronicles. (Don't you just love that name?)

Aand I think that's enough for now, don't you? But you might want to peek in tomorrow for more...