Last Rite giveaways because I love you and I love Spring!

I LOVE this time of year. Everything's coming back to life. Here's my apricot tree:

Here's the almond orchard near my house:

Here's my daughter, who's graduating this spring:

And you know what else is coming alive this spring? Yep! Last Rite! The end of the Personal Demons trilogy is here. This makes me both very happy and a little sad. It's been over a year since I wrote this book and I miss Frannie, Luc and Gabe every day. I've written and fallen in love with many characters since writing them, but they'll always have a special place in my heart.

So, to celebrate Spring and the birth of my book baby, Last Rite, I'll be holding weekly contest in which you can win a signed copy (ARC or finished) between now and Last Rite's release on May 8th. Here's your first chance to win, and because I love you sooo much, I'm throwing in a prize for a runner up. The runner up will receive this poster, signed by all four authors (one of which happens to be my fab critique partner :p).

To enter, all you have to do is comment below and tell me what your favorite season is and why. You must be 13 or older to enter. Extra entries can be accumulated as follows:
Follow this blog: +1
Follow me on Twitter (@LisaDez): +1
Tweet or Facebook a link to this contest: +1
"Like" the Personal Demons Books Facebook page +1

Add up your points in your comment, please, because my math sucks. Also, leave me a way to contact you if you WIN! Contest closes Friday March 9th at 12 noon, PST. Winners will be chosen by the randomizer and posted here that afternoon. There will be a new contest for signed copies of Last Rite and other signed books (think Holly Black, Andrea Cremer, Beth Revis) every Monday between now and May 7th, so don't forget to check back every Monday to enter!

You gotta have this book. Really.

Since I started writing, I've definitely gotten more critical in my reading. Unfortunately, it's hard to be a causal reader when writing is your profession. There aren't a lot of books that knock me over anymore. A lot of what I read just feels like "the same old thing." But I read a book last week. I'm telling you this because I'm still thinking about it.

The criteria I now judge a book by is this: If I think to myself, "Damn, I wish I wrote that," I know it's a great read. If I think to myself, "Gee, I could have written that," not so much. Because, honestly, if I could have written it, how good can it really be? I definitely wish I wrote this book:

If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend picking it up. Nuff said.

What's in a word count? (aka: My beast has taken on a life of its own!)

I've always found the revision process interesting. It's when you get other people's feedback that you find out you didn't write the book you thought you did. This is where you pick up on where characters need to be more fleshed out or plot points need to be clarified so it turns into the masterpiece you were sure it was.

I have some amazing readers, the most thorough of which is my truly fabulous agent. I'm on my second round of revisions for her on my Too Hot For YA WIP. But the thing is, the first time I sent it to her, it was 76K words. Based on her notes, I revised and it grew to 90K. In this second round, I just passed 97K and it feels like the manuscript (not the story) is starting to take on a life of its own. (The story has always had a life of its own.) At this point, I'm pretty sure I'll hit 100K before I'm done.

Manuscript length is a hotly debated topic, but the truth is there's no "right" word count. But the thing is, whether your manuscript is 50K or 150K, each word has to count. Padding word counts is something I hear people talk about, but I don't understand it. If anything, I'd think as an author, we'd want to cut word counts. If I can tell the same story in less words while preserving the nuances of setting, emotion and turmoil, why would I want to tell it in more?

So, my last pass before I send this back to my truly fabulous agent and my amazing critique partner will be to cull out anything that's not essential to character development or plot progression.

I'm curious. Have there been books you read where you thought they were either too short or too long? Without naming names (unless you want to) why were you left with that impression?

My too hot for YA WIP

I have been Tweeting a lot recently about my WIP using hashtags such as #toohotforYA and #sexsexsex and #yummy. Today I'm giving you a peak at my YA WIP.

Here is my 18 year-old protag:

And here is his song. (The Youtube video is linked because the amazing artist who recorded it has asked that it not be embedded.)

With any luck, someday you might get to read him =)

What are y'all working on?

2012 Book Recs and stepping away

There have to be a bazillion books coming in 2012 that I want to read. I won't get to all of them, unfortunately, but I've been lucky to get my hands of a few of them already. The ones I read and loved, I've listed below. You should definitely check them out.

RIFT by Andrea Cremer (cover not available)
My fabulous critique partner, Andrea Cremer's Bloodrose just released last week. If you haven't read the Nightshade series, you should do that pronto. And when you finish the trilogy, be sure to check out the prequel, Rift, coming out in August. It's about the origins of the witches war and features fabulous new characters that you're sure to fall in love with. I told Andrea it has a Fire feel about it, for those of you who love Kristen Cashore.

A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger (cover not available)
I love everything that Kody writes, and this is no exception. As a matter of fact, I think this is her best novel yet. Go get it when it comes out in June, and have tissues ready, cuz you'll need them.

False Memory by Dan Krokos

If you like a good thriller, pick this up when it releases in August. Action packed from the first few pages, it never lets up. You'll love trying to guess what's going to happen next.












Tempest by my drinking buddy, Julie Cross ;p

The release of Tempest is only a week away, and you'll want to read this book. Your heart will go out to Jackson as he travels back in time to save his girlfriend from being murdered. It's a wild ride, though, so you'll need to hang on to your seat.











Wings of the Wicked by my tour partner, Courtney Allison Moulton

Wow! That's pretty much all I have to say. You'll want this as soon as it comes out at the end of the month. Will...Caden. Wow. Get ready to dig deeper into the world of reapers. And just when you think you're safe...











A Touch Morbid by my other tour partner, Leah Clifford

Dark. Twisty. Dark...and dark. Oh yeah, and Kristin (who's twisty). Leah does a great job taking us deeper into the world of Siders and all their dark twistiness. If you liked A Touch Mortal, you'll want to snatch this one up when it releases in February.











And, on a personal note, many of you might have noticed I've been missing in action. I haven't posted here in over a month, which has never happened before. November and December were busy months for me both professionally and personally. Once again, I accidentally did NaNoWriMo and wrote a book, but also, my daughter had major surgery. Lately it seems many authors have stepped away from their blogs. Most have been gracious and posted to their readers that they were going to be on hiatus. I just took one. Mostly because it really wasn't planned. But the feeling from many authors in the blogosphere seems to be burnout. The immensely talented and scarily funny Kiersten White, the stupendously popular Nathan Bransford and my idol, Myra McEntire have all recently posted about stepping back. For me, it's a matter of sanity--and family. My daughter posted this fall on Facebook (when she thought I was too busy to notice) that her mom is so busy since she started writing that they aren't close anymore. (The mother in question would be me, in case you missed that.) So, in 2012, I'll be here when I have something to say, or when I have books to give away, cuz you guys know I'm addicted to giving things away, but not everyday, and maybe not even every week. We'll see.

I totally want to thank those of you who have hung in with me for the last few years. You've inspired me to keep plugging away at the blog and the writing. I'll be stalking you all out there on Twitter and Facebook. =)

Why novels are like children (aka: good-bye to Luc, Frannie and Gabe)

So, I have officially (and probably unofficially) read Last Rite for the very last time. I finished reading through first pass pages (if you don't know what those are, you can find out here) this weekend and mailed back my last few corrections to my editor on Monday. But also, I just finished the first draft of a new project yesterday. I have two projects on totally different ends of the publishing spectrum and it made me think.

The Personal Demons trilogy started like any other project, as just an idea. Or, really just a character. (Hi Luc *waves* :p) So...that would be like an egg, if you're following my analogy here... And from that idea, grows the first draft of a whole novel, with a beginning, a middle and an end. (Think ten fingers and ten toes.)

But that novel is just a fledgling. It needs some guidance (critique input) and support (revisions) to grow into a book that can stand on its own. (This would be your toddler.)
As it starts to take its first steps into the world, we continue to support (revise) it and it slowly grows into the book we knew it could be. So, we send it into the world (high school...or, um...agents) knowing that not everyone will like it, but hoping it makes some friends.
Some may think it's not refined enough. Others won't connect with it on a personal level. It may feel misunderstood and lonely. But it will find a best friend (editor) who will encourage it to be even better (editorial feedback) and support it (revisions) so it can be strong and independent. But once it's out there (on shelves) it's subject to scrutiny (reviews) and it needs to stand on its own. And, as the author/parent, we need to stand back and let it go.

Which is what I'm doing with Frannie, Luc and Gabe. I'm at the place where my heart is still with them, and I still worry about them, but they're independent and strong and I have to find it inside myself to move on and let them have their life. It's hard, and a little sad, but it's part of the cycle.

But, I've got a toddler in my brand new project that needs nurturing, and I've got a few high schoolers who are on or ready for submission, and I've got a few eggs lying around. None of them will ever take the place of Personal Demons, but just like my kids, I love them all the same.

wOOt to NaNoers everywhere!

Did you do NaNoWriMo?? Once again, I sort of accidentally did. I by accident wrote 57K words on the WIP, which just took a turn into the #toohotforYA realm last night. So...I'm thinking I will need to be revising some parts of this thing...cuz there's also the torture part... Yeah. Revision. A writer's best friend.

So, did you NaNoWriMo? How did you do? Cupcakes all around for everyone who hit their goal! My daughter's creative writing class did it as part of the Young Writers group and she passed her goal with over 30K words! Yay! But remember my NaNoWriMo advice at the beginning of the month!

Congrats and happy revising! =)