Interview with Megg Jensen & Giveaway of Anathema!

Today I have an interview with Megg Jensen, author of Anathema. I started reading this book on Tuesday and finished it last night. It is that good. I found it to be one of those books that I wished I had written. Stay tuned for details on how to win your choice of an eBook or signed paperback copy of Anathema!

Available now


Kindle:
eBook
Paperback
Amazon UK

Barnes and Noble:
eBook

You can read the first chapter here!

First off, what does Anathema mean and what made you decide to name your first book this?

Haha, well, if I tell you what anathema means then it might spoil a plot point. This is one of the biggest questions people ask and I always tell them, “If you want to know, then read the book.” I can definitely tell you why I named it Anathema! In college, I took an art history course centering on rare books. I learned that monks would place anathemas on some of the texts they created – my love of the word stems from this and I always knew my first book would be named Anathema.

How did you come up with your main characters and their names?

I know it’s going to sound really flaky, but they just came to me. I’m an instinctive writer. My books usually start with one idea, then I sit down and write. Usually it all comes to me. As for the names, Reychel was chosen in a contest I held on my blog. I had originally named her Mina, but that was before I read Bram Stoker’s Dracula and decided maybe Mina wasn’t the best choice.

Tell us about the setting. You have created such a magical word and I would like to know your inner thinking about it.

My BA is in medieval history from the University of Illinois. I live and breathe medieval worlds, so this type of world comes naturally to me – with a little magic sprinkled in here and there.

How did you come up with the idea about slaves? What is the significance of slaves shaving their heads?
In studying history, I’ve always found the concept of slavery fascinating. It amazes me how people can rise up, out of the most hopeless of situations, and overcome adversity. They are forced to save their heads to dehumanize them, to remind them that nothing belongs to them, not even their own bodies.

How did you get the idea for the book?

We were driving down to my parents’ farm one day when my daughter declared, “Mom, I can see things in the clouds!” I asked her what shapes she saw, but she was quick to tell me that she wasn’t seeing shapes, she was seeing the future (she has a wild imagination like me). It was this tiny nugget that grew into Anathema.

Why herbology for Johna’s profession?

I've always wanted to know more about herbology. Writing gives me a great chance to learn more about topics that interest me. I read some really interesting books in preparation for writing about Johna.

Why is Reychel limited to see the sun? What were you trying to create by giving her that limitation?

Hmmm…I don’t want to answer this for fear of giving away too much of the plot. ;)

How many books are in the series?

Anathema is the first in a trilogy. The second book, Oubliette, is currently in edits and the third book, not yet titled, will be written soon. Hopefully the whole trilogy will be available for purchase before the end of 2011.

How long did it take you to write the book?

I couldn’t participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November of 2008. But in January of 2009, a fellow SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) member, Carmela Martino, started a group named NYNN (New Novel New Year). We, of course, called ourselves NYNNies. I wrote the entire first draft of Anathema in 31 days.

Tell us some other interesting facts about the book.

Anathema isn’t the first novel I’ve written (it’s the third), but it’s the first novel I wanted other people to read. I’m so excited I can finally share it with everyone!

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Now, how do you win a copy of Anathema? Comment on this post until March 7th. I will randomly choose a winner on March 8th. The winner gets to choose between a free eBook copy (Nook or Kindle version) or a free paperback copy signed by Megg!

Cool Swag

I have been revamping my Facebook page this week. Kait Nolan gave me the idea and forwarded the information I needed to get me started.

The fantastic Robin Ludwig helped me out with the image. Isn't it pretty?

Head over to my Facebook page to check it out. And while you're there "Like" me! I also added a Goodreads tab to the page as well.

Moderation and a Little Antoine Dodson

Moderation has always been something that I have struggled with. I first noticed this when I got out of high school and started dieting seriously. If I ate a Creamies popsicle, I couldn't eat just one. I had to have 5!

Luckily, I have been able to get that one under control. But I have noticed this trend in other areas of my life. Writing is not an exception. I hadn't written anything at all last week. Then Sunday rolls around. I woke up at 5:30 in the morning with a fight scene, that one I have been too intimidated to write, running through my head. I couldn't let it go, so I started typing away. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out too! I pretty much wrote all day yesterday. With a total of 7,750 words, more or less. Great for my writing goal, but major fail in terms of moderation. 

I also woke up this morning with conversations going on in my head. I have a notebook by my bed, but I never seem to use it. If I write just little points about what I was seeing I would lose a lot of it. So, I got out of bed and started typing away at the computer. I was so happy with my 1,000 words this morning, but now I'm ready for a nap. Only problem, which always seems to be so inconvenient, is that I have to work 'till 5.

Another thing that I have been thinking about, because my CP Heather Hildenbrand mentioned it today on her blog, is the stats for blog traffic. I was amazed at how much my stats grew when I got my cover and revamped my blog. The key to my blog traffic has been to get yo cover, pimp yo blog (in the melody of Antoine Dodson's "Hide yo kids, Hide yo wife"-- see video below if you are not laughing right now). 

So, here's a shout out to all of you who have supported me thus far by reading my blog, giving me feedback, and being part of my little writer world. 

Oh, one more thing! Check out my Goodreads widget on the side of my blog. Go ahead and click it to add Descended by Blood to your "to-read" shelf. 

Descended by Blood Cover

I cannot covey the love that I have for Robin Ludwig right now. She is amazing, incredible, brilliant, talented, and all those other things you dreamed about having in a cover artist. I am so excited to share this cover with you all. I couldn't wait to get home to post it. I feel like a little school girl who not only made the cheer squad, but made the VARSITY cheer squad. Now, without further delay, I leave you in awe of the pretty!

Exciting News About Something Exciting!

I got the proof for my cover yesterday from the marvelous Robin Ludwig! I am so excited about this. The cover looks amazing. I keep shrinking it down to the size of the book images in the recommendation scroll on Amazon to see how it looks. *pause while I pretend to see my book in the recommendation scroll*  Yep, it looks AMAZING! So, stay tuned because in the next couple of days I will be revealing my cover!

On the writing front; I have reached a part in the story that I have not focused so much time plotting on, and I am feeling the burn now. I am right before the first plot point, which is a fight, and I am a little intimidated to write the fight scene. I need to get over this intimidation QUICK because there is going to be a ton of fighting in this book. A lot of vampire books give the main character a specialty weapon. Well, my series is all about the body as the weapon. This means that I actually have to know what I am talking about (que music while I go purchase Bakari's grappling book) to make my characters hard core vampire's with their hands. So, I am researching grappling, Sambo, and other types of fighting for this book. I think it will turn out great as long as I don't sprinkle in too much technical stuff, but just enough so people believe that my characters have been fighting for a couple hundred years. Imagine UFC, but with a vampire's speed and strength and no rules! Pretty cool huh!? Oh, and they can bite and scratch,and it isn't considered a sissy move ;)

There has been a good amount of talking in the blogosphere about indie writers not having the gatekeepers to make sure that they are putting out quality books. This is one thing that I fear a little bit about publishing on my own. I won't have that validation of the big wigs telling my book is great and being vetted by them. However, this doesn't mean that I am going to put out any less of a quality book than I could have for my first book with a publisher. This is where the challenge lies for me. I am learning everything about writing with this first book. I am doing a good amount of due diligence to make sure that this first book is great. Just because I can get a book out there on my own, doesn't mean that I should lower my standards of how the book should be written. I am studying story structure, character arc, plotting, dialogue, culture, and everything else that a good writer would know to create a brilliant book. I just registered for Holly Lisle's How to Write a Series Course. This book is my first in a trilogy, so I want to make sure that I am putting the pieces in all the right places for the best trilogy I can write. Holly has published over 35 books (Traditionally) and many of those are series. In other words, Girl knows what she is talking 'bout!

Remember to come back in a couple of days for the big cover reveal!

Quick Update and Some Tips

My goal for this week (not including the weekend) was to write 1,750 words. I am currently at 1,474. I haven't written today yet, so I am sure I will go above that goal. I am proud to say that I have made a good habit of writing everyday. My hubby asked to me today if I was going to be writing tonight. It has started to be a constant for him.

I am at a point in my story that is right before the first plot point, but some stuff needs to happen from where I am now until the plot point. I feel like what I am writing right now is just filler. In reality, it's not because my characters can't go from where they are now to the huge life changing event, but I am just not loving it. I think this will be an area that I will have to go back and seriously edit later. I am also getting nervous about the fight scene that needs to take place during the first plot point. I have read many fight scenes, but have never written one. I imagine this is what it would feel like to write my first sex scene. You have to have a build up, and the actions of the characters have to be right in both of these areas, or it will be a massive fail.

An exciting update is that I have started to work on my cover with the creative genius that is Robin Ludwig. This is the artist that has done covers for Zoe Winters, Karly Kirkpatrick, and Kait Nolan. I know that I am not finished with my book yet, but I know the title, what is going to happen, and the tone of the book. Having it done early is going to pump me up and motive me to finish the book, and I will be able to start the marketing of the book early too.

Oh, Robin is also creating a blog header for me too! So when I have that, we will have a whole new look over here at Angeline's blog ;)

I have been on Twitter now for the past week. I was intimidated at first to learn how to use it, but I have been using TweetDeck to manage my Facebook page and my Twitter page, and I am now shamelessly admitting to the world that I am a Twitter addict. It's more addictive than Facebook. I never thought this would happen, but it has. It hasn't been all fruitless twitter-time either. I actually have some beneficial sites to share with you.

1. The Bookshelf Muse: This is a blog with a plethora of information about the senses and places. The blogger has lists for an Emotion Thesaurus; Setting Thesaurus; Colors, Textures, and Shapes; and so on. This is probably my favorite site now!
2. AutoCrit: This site is incredible! You paste a copied portion of your manuscript in and hit edit. It then tells you repeated words, cliches, the pacing, and all sorts of things you would pay an editor for. I am sure that this wizard even finds things that the eye doesn't notice, or it at least tells you how many times you said "run" (for example) in the section, chapter, or whole manuscript. You can use it for free with a limited number of submissions a day, but if you get the membership you can do more with it. I am going to join because I am probably not going to pay an editor for this first book, and this site is worth the fee.
3. Edit Minion is another cool editing site that is free. It seems to tell me different things than AutoCrit, so I will be using both of these.

I would like to give a shout out to Angela Ackerman for tweeting about these links. You can follow her by clicking her name. She is a person to follow!