WIP it Real Good: Exclusive sneak peek into a new series by Christina Bauer + giveaway

As part of the launch tour for my new book, SHIFTERS AND GLYPHS, the lovely folks at I Smell Sheep have asked me to share some highlights on a W.I.P (Work In Progress) so I’m going to give you an exclusive sneak peek at my new series, DIMENSION DRIFT. This is a story with a kick-butt heroine who lives in an effed future version of my current home, New England. The story centers on Meimi Archer, a science prodigy and future love interest to the hot guy in her summer school program (who may or may not be an alien.) Here’s the opening scene of the book, where Meimi does some science stuff.

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT BELOW!!!

ALIEN MINDS (Dimension Drift Book 1)
Chapter One

Not far now.

Just ahead, a tiny concrete tower rises from a darkened hilltop. Guardhouse #83. I scan the gravel access road. Deserted. Quiet. Perfect. Despite the chilly night air, a rush of excitement warms my limbs.

Time to steal for Mom and science.

Marching to the guardhouse, I stop before the intake window. There’s no need to speak; motion detectors activate the auto-guard. Sure enough, a mechanical buzz sounds as overhead lights click on inside, revealing an animatronic woman sitting at a fake desk. Like most auto-guards, this one is less than perfect, what with her chipped plastic skin, frayed blue uniform, and single functioning eye. Raising her head, she addresses me through the Plexiglas.

“You have reached guardhouse #83 for Reclamation Center Massachusetts-1,” says the auto-guard in a singsong voice. “Founded in 2107, we remain the single largest site for landfill sorting, cleaning, and refurbishment in Reformed New England.”

To kill some time, I adjust the loose straps on my backpack. This auto-guard won’t interact with me until her welcome spiel is over. Sadly, animatronic speeches at Reclamation Center Massachusetts-1—also called RCM1—always take a while…

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Hope you enjoyed this preview—ALIEN MINDS launches in the Spring of 2019. Thanks for asking me to W.I.P. it good, this was a lot of fun!!!

Shifters and Glyphs (Fairy Tales of the Magicorum #2)
by Christina Bauer
October 30, 2018
Published by: Monster House Books
Publication date:
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult
“A fun romp for Twilight Fans” – School Library Journal

After being raised by the meanest fairies in the history of ever, Bryar Rose is now free to live her own life. For the first time, she’s attending West Lake Prep, a regular high school. Well, mostly regular. Some students are actually hidden members of the Magicorum. In other words, they’re really wizards, fairies, or shifters. Bry doesn’t mind, though. She’s thrilled to enjoy all the new experiences of being around normal kids her age, from locker pranks to lunchtime mystery meat. Everything is going along great, except for one thing.

Bry’s dreams about the pyramids of Egypt have gotten darker and more sinister. Every night, she sees her new man Knox and her best friend Elle in danger.

“Exciting and well-conceived” – Kirkus

With no other choice, Bry plans to leave school to explore the pyramids on her own. But her new man Knox discovers the scheme and is having none of it. He wants to stay by her side, no matter what. It’s a good thing too, because Bry must solve the mystery of her attraction to the pyramids and soon. Otherwise, it could cost the lives of those she loves most.

And that means not only Knox, but also her best friend Elle.

“Must-read YA paranormal romance!” – USA Today

Perfect for readers who love young adult books, contemporary fantasy, fairy tales, satire/comedy, paranormal romance, fairies, magic users, shapeshifters, and coming of age stories.…

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About the Author:

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Christina Bauer knows how to tell stories about kick-ass women. In her best selling Angelbound series, the heroine is a part-demon girl who loves to fight in Purgatory’s Arena and falls in love with a part-angel prince. This young adult bebestselleras driven more than 500,000 ebook downloads and 9,000 reviews on Goodreads and retailers. The first three books in the series are now available as audiobooks on Audible and iTunes.

Bauer has also told the story of the Women’s March on Washington by leading PR efforts for the Massachusetts Chapter. Her pre-event press release—the only one sent out on a major wire service—resulted in more than 19,000 global impressions and redistribution by over 350 different media entities including the Associated Press.

Christina graduated from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School with BA’s in English along with Television, Radio, and Film Production. She lives in Newton, MA with her husband, son, and semi-insane golden retriever, Ruby.

Giveaway:

Tour-wide giveaway (INTL)

eBook copy of Shifters and Glyphs + swag!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ted Neill: Ink Well--Want to write something good? Then take time NOT writing.

Want to write something good? Then take time NOT writing.

One of the most confusing but important things one of my writing mentors once said to me was: The time you spend NOT writing is just as important as the time you actually spend writing. Said another way, every work of writing is a combination of the time spent writing and the time spent thinking about the writing, whether consciously or not (often not).

So here are my ten steps to writing a complete work, be it a novella, novel, short story, poem, screenplay, or whatever. . .

1. Write—Randomly. On scraps of paper, envelopes, increasingly I find myself taking notes on my phone. These come at the WORST times. I find there is an inverse relationship between the ease of writing in the moment and the quality of the idea. For example, while merging into traffic, standing in the shower, or when I am about to fall to sleep at night. . .BAM I get walloped with a winner and the gearshift, bar of soap, or my Teddy Bear (don’t judge) are lousing writing instruments.

2. Take Time—To Live your Life. Go and do the thing you were doing in the first place, driving to your destination, running to work, or getting a good night’s sleep. Go gather the experience that feeds your writer’s soul in the first place. You’ll thank yourself later.

3. Write—Freely. I’m a person who likes structure so this part is REALLY hard for me. But I’ve learned that I need to take time to do character sketches, jot down scenes. They might be out of order, they might just be background experiences of characters that never make it into a single draft, but this is still an exploratory stage. Throw things at the wall and see what sticks. Don’t get in your own way. Let yourself enjoy the fun of it. Don’t stress if you don’t have a word or page count (yet) to look at, at the end of the day. This step isn’t something measured that way.

4. Take Time—For your unconscious to work. This is also a hard part for me because I’m also a person who likes control. But I’ve found that this is where the most mysterious part of the process begins for me. Having sketched out scenes, and characters in step 3, I move on. I work on other things (See Step 2). I go for a hike, I read other books, watch movies, gently feeding images, experiences, and other’s art into my brain where it (somehow) seeps into some weird place in my unconscious where the ideas germinate.

5. Write—An Outline. I remember a business major roommate of mine in college asking me if I wrote my papers using an outline. I responded, “You mean you don’t?!” But I was an English major so I took the writing process a little more seriously. Here is where I (FINALLY) start adding some structure to the story, with scenes, character arcs, maybe even initial chapter headings. Sometimes I even write summaries of the chapters on 3X5 cards and lay them out of the floor, trying different sequences is possible. Throughout the process, even up to the final stages, be open to surprises your characters might throw at you or side plots that might pop up. I still do this all in long hand.

6. Take Time—For your idea to gestate. Congratulations, you are officially pregnant at this point (or at least that is what I think of it as). Once the outline is out, for me, the story is THERE. It’s a thing and its growing. But again, I find I can never force it. Just have to let it ripen at its own pace (although I wish I could force it, when I do, it’s ALWAYS a disaster). Often, I find listening to music, reading other authors I like, watching movies, and hiking and being in nature help, not to mention getting enough sleep—some of my best ideas have also come from REM sleep (See Step 2 again). Sometimes, being a writer is like having a ghost as a business partner, you’re never quite sure when he or she is going to show up to actually do the damn work, but when they do, and the story feels ready, you know intuitively, like the hairs on your arm or the vibrations in your chest, it’s inspiration and you can’t not start writing.

7. Write—The First Draft. I write mine in longhand on college rule loose leaf. It’s slower, but it makes me think through my sentences more carefully. It also allows me to be messy. I still liken this stage to being a bit like sketching as opposed to the pressure I feel to have something more polished on a computer screen.

8. Take Time—To Walk Away! Yes, walk away! Unlike REAL babies, this one may benefit from a bit of neglect. I take a few days between completing that first draft and typing things up. Treat yourself!

9. Write—On a Keyboard. Finally, this is when I actually start typing. Note: there have been a whole lot of steps and time leading up to this. When non-writers picture you “working” this is what they picture. But that’s a disservice. The preceding steps, especially the even numbered ones, might not look like writing but they ARE. They are just as critical an ingredient and it’s important to give yourself permission, space, and time for them.

10. Take Time—To Edit. Another writing mentor once told me that “There are no good writers. Just good rewriters.” So true. So get some distance from your work while someone you trust edits it and provides you some honest feedback. I ca never edit my own stuff adequately. Good writers need good editors.

Then repeat steps 9 and 10 until ready to publish!

Jamhuri, Njambi & Fighting Zombies

by Ted Neill
February 25, 2018
200 pages
A Delight for Young Readers and the Young at Heart. A princess trapped in a high tree and a brash young man determined to “rescue” her; a devoted daughter searching for a magical spring to save her ailing father; a teenage girl who is forced to replace her mobile phone with a machete to protect her family from zombies—all their stories interweave in a stirring alchemy set in a rich African backdrop. Ted Neill moves readers from folktale to action, comedy to cosmology, rural to urban, material to spiritual, with the ease of a master storyteller, crafting an adventure along the way that will appeal to the head, the heart, and the soul.

About the Author:
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Globetrotter and fiction writer Ted Neill has worked on five continents as an educator, health professional, and journalist. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post and he has published a number of novels exploring issues related to science, religion, class, and social justice. He wrote his most recent young adult novel Jamhuri, Njambi & Fighting Zombies after living and working at an orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS in Kenya. The children he met there requested stories featuring people and places that reflected their own culture and their own world. Jamhuri, Njambi & Fighting Zombies was written for them and anyone else who might enjoy, fun, adventure, and zombies.