Personal Demons Teasers

Today officially marks three months to the release of Personal Demons. *throws virtual confetti*

The cupcakes are being passed =)

This is all very exciting and a little nerve-wracking. At this point there hasn’t been much buzz, because there are still no ARCs. I’m hoping that will change very soon.

But I am not a patient person—it’s a character flaw, I know—so…I’ve decided to post teasers starting tomorrow. Each week I’ll post a Tuesday Teaser from Personal Demons—just a page or two to give you a feel for the story and introduce you to the characters. (I probably should have asked my editor before I posted this. Hi, Melissa. *smiles innocently and waves*)

Anyway…

There are a ton of YA paranormals out there, and several of those paranormals have an appealing bad boy.

I have one of those. His name is Luc and he’s an honest to goodness (or badness :p) demon.

I like to think that Personal Demons is unique in a lot of ways, but one of the biggest is that I know of no other book where you get the story right out of the bad boy’s head. We get half of Personal Demons from Luc’s first person perspective.

You ever been in a demon’s head? It’s surprising the things you’ll find in there. =)

So, tomorrow, I’ll give you the first three pages of Personal Demons, and they’re from Luc’s perspective, so you’ll get to see just how “bad” he really is…

Oooh! And a chance to win Sapphique!

I know I just posted a contest, but here's another one that my good pal Kody Keplinger (who I'm thinking of keeping for my very own) is running for Sapphique by Catherine Fisher.

And, if you've been living under a rock, and haven't heard about Kody's debut, The DUFF (Little Brown, Sept 7, 2010) you must go check it out!

Want Delirium? Yeah, me too!

My agentmate Rebecca Behrens is giving away an ARC of Delirium by Lauren Oliver. I have to admit to having Before I Fall in my TBR stack since its release a few months back, and I'm dying to read it, but I'm dying to read a lot of stuff, and I'm writing a lot of stuff, so...

Anyway, Delirium isn't out until February, and I definitely can't wait that long, so I will win this ARC, just thought you all should know. But if you do enter, tell her I referred you and I get extra points (so I can win faster!!)

Elevensies

The Elevensies is a really cool group of debut YA and MG authors whose first books are going to be published in 2011. What does that have to do with me? Well, I’m one of them. Even though I’m technically a Tenner, my book deal happened after the Tenner’s arbitrary cut off for membership, so the Elevensies were kind enough to take me in, and I will be forever grateful. Being part of a supportive writer’s community has meant I need much less Prozac helped me feel much calmer going through the publication process.

If you don’t follow the Elevensies blog, you should. There are fun interviews and great information to be had. We are amping up some really great features for aspiring writers and published writers alike. We also do a weekly “A Day in the Writing Life” feature, where writers such as Victoria Schwab, Lisa and Laura Roecker, Dawn Metcalf, and a ton of other super talented Elevensies give you a glimpse into how the process works for us. Today was my day, so check it out.

I'm a fraud--maybe

Thanks for all your input on choosing a project. The throwing them into a window fan suggestion was entertaining. Thanks GhostFolk (aka: Randy ) ;p

In the end, I decided to seek professional advice from my truly fabulous agent, who I trust implicitly.

While I pondered my problem (and your creative solutions) over the weekend, it occurred to me what the real source of all my angst was. Most of you who write can probably relate to this.

I wrote a book. I sent it to agents. Some really amazing agents wanted to represent THAT book. And my truly fabulous agent sold THAT book to my seriously cool editor, who loved THAT book.

THAT book.-->

I kind of felt like the all the stars had aligned and lightning struck, and my PowerBall numbers hit, and pigs flew, all at the same time with THAT book. It was like winning the lottery times ten. Like I got soooo super lucky and wrote something decent that got in front of the right people at the right time.

THAT book.

But the problem was, THAT book sold in a three-book deal. So I was supposed to be able to do THAT again. But I really wasn’t sure how I did it the first time. What was I going to do when everyone figured out how lucky I got with THAT book and that I, in fact, had no writing talent?

When I handed Original Sin (Personal Demons, book 2) off to my truly fabulous agent earlier this year, I was totally stressing, because she was going to know that I was a total fraud. And I was sure she was going to ask me who really wrote Personal Demons. (She was nice enough not to ask, but I’m sure she’s still wondering.) She helped me clean up Original Sin before I sent it off to my seriously cool editor last week, who DIDN’T HATE IT! *throws virtual confetti* I know she’s going to have a lengthy editorial letter for me, and I welcome it. She’s amazing at helping me make my book into the one I thought I wrote.

And, I’m starting to think that maybe I’m not a total fraud. Maybe…

But choosing a new project is hard for all those same reasons. I have three really cool stories that are dying to be told. That’s, like, nine characters in my head all talking at the same time (and that doesn’t even count Frannie, Luc and Gabe who are all still in there too). But I’m a little worried that, no matter what I write, if I can’t figure out how to make lightning hit and pigs fly again, it won’t matter. It’s a little bit nerve wracking.

How do you choose your next project?

This week marked a new chapter (both literally and figuratively) in my publishing life. I had a big red circle (because that’s what they tell us to do) around June 1. It was my first actual deadline. My manuscript for Original Sin (Personal Demons, book 2) was due to my editor. I’m happy to say, I made the deadline. Yay! *throws virtual confetti*

Truth is, I actually gave it to her a few weeks ago with the proviso that things might change and I’d have a final draft to her by June 1. Not much changed, just some clean-up, so she’s already read it and didn’t seem to hate it. Another yay!

So, now I’m working madly on Hellbent (Personal Demons, book 3), but I also have a few other projects bouncing around in my head. One of them is in a YA subgenre that’s trending right now, and I don’t really want to write to a trend, but I love the story. Another is a rewrite of an older manuscript. The writing is atrocious, but the plot, once it really gets going, is kickass. The third is a contemporary that popped into my head fully formed. I think it could be really good and it would be a pretty quick write, cuz it’s all right there, plot twists and all.

So, how do you choose what you’ll write when you have more than one idea?

June Debut Contest!!

OMG! It’s June 1st! Where is the year going???

Even though life seems to be slipping away at the speed of sound, there’s good news. It’s time for another Debut Give-away!! Yay!!

Okay, so the contest. I wanted to find a way to support my fellow 2010 debut authors and help them get the word out. So, each month you have a chance to win an awesome YA debut just by stopping in and commenting on my contest post. For those of you who might be interested, here's the list of winners and their choices so far:
January: robin_titan who chose The Dark Devine by Bree Despain
February: Lisa and Laura who chose a signed ARC of Personal Demons
March: MannaB, who also chose a signed ARC of Personal Demons
April: Tricia O’Brien, who…well…chose Personal Demons too.
May: Lena, who I'm thrilled to say, chose Personal Demons as well.

Thanks to all the winners for stopping by and entering! :D  If you haven't won yet, keep entering!

For our newbies (welcome newbies :p) this is how our contest works. Below I’ve listed my four YA debut picks for June. All you have to do to enter is comment on this post by noon (PST) on Friday June 25th. Nothing fancy, you can just say hi or ask a question. (I love to answer questions, especially about my books!) In addition to commenting (for which you get one point) you can accumulate extra points as follows:

Old follower: +3 points
New follower: +2 points
Follow me on twitter (@LisaDez) +2
Link to my contest post on your blog or twitter: +1 points
Dedicated post with link to my contest on your website/blog: +3 points
Add me to your blogroll: +2 points

Also on your entry, please remember to tell me how to find you (email address). And remember, there will be no rollover points. Points start new every month.

The winner will be chosen by the randomizer and posted on the blog after noon on June 25th. They will then have their choice of one of the following:
A signed ARC of Personal Demons by moi (that’s me!)
Everlasting by Angie Frazier
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner
Sea by Heidi R. Kling
The Deathday Letter by Shaun Hutchinson

Good luck!