My effort didn't quite match my ambition yesterday, but I did re-read all I've written so far of that project (aka The Misty Idea) and while I can see some areas where it could be improved, I also still really like the story and the characters. In fact, I was planning to revise as I read, but I got caught up in the story. Today I plan to do the actual revising. It's a cold, gray day, so it will be perfect for curling up under the electric blanket with my laptop.
In the meantime, I've got another Girlfriends Cyber Circuit guest author, Laurie Faria Stolarz, author of Blue is for Nightmares. She's got two new books out. Black is for Beginnings, a graphic novel that tells some of the backstory of the Blue is for Nightmares series, and Deadly Little Lies, the sequel to Deadly Little Secret.
BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS reveals the never-before-seen backstory - and what lies ahead - for the young, spellcasting lovers Stacey and Jacob. Ever since he lost his memory, Jacob hasn't been able to remember Stacey - his own soul mate. He leaves Massachusetts, returning to his childhood home in Colorado, hoping to jog his memory. What he remembers is Kira, his ex-girlfriend. As Jacob works to piece together his past, will there be room for Stacey in his future?
In Deadly Little Secret, Sixteen-year-old Camelia fell for Ben, a new boy at school who had a very mysterious gift – psychometry, the ability to sense the future through touch. But just as Camelia and Ben's romance began to heat up, he abruptly left town. In DEADLY LITTLE LIES, brokenhearted Camelia has spent the last few months studying everything she can about psychometry and experiencing strange brushes with premonition. Camelia wonders if Ben's abilities have somehow been transferred to her.
Ben returns to school, but he remains aloof, and Camelia can't get close enough to share her secret with him. Camelia makes the painful decision to let him go and move on. Adam, the hot new guy at Knead, seems good for her in ways Ben wasn't. But when Camelia and Adam start dating, a surprising love triangle results. A chilling sequence of events uncovers secrets from Ben’s past – and Adam's. Someone is lying, and it's up to Camelia to figure out who – before it's too late.
I asked Laurie a few questions about her books:
Could you talk us through the process of developing a graphic novel to go with your series? How did this come about, and what was it like writing for a graphic novel, as opposed to a regular novel?
I wanted to try something different. The arcs of the first four books are similar in many respects, and so I wanted to do something new with the series. I felt the series was finished at four books, but readers kept asking me for a fifth. When my editor approached me with the idea of writing a graphic novel, I was very intrigued, because it gave me the opportunity to not only try something new, but to really picture the book as a movie. I have a background in screenwriting and wrote BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS in screenplay format, adding in ideas for illustrations and sidebars. It was an absolute thrill to write, and to have the opportunity to work with an illustrator for these characters and situations I’d created.
Did you already have the backstory of your characters planned before writing the "backstory" book, or was this something that you developed for this project?
The backstories were already created in my mind, though I did add a couple twists to make things more interesting and mysterious.
You've got suggested playlists for your books -- is music a big part of your creative process?
I use music to help get me into a particular mood. I think it can be a useful tool for writing a scene. But, other than that, I find music distracting while I’m writing.
How do the playlists suggested by readers fit with what you had in mind while writing the books?
I choose the winning playlists carefully, based on not only the variety of music, but how much care the reader took to relate the music to a particular scene, and the degree to which the selected song resonates with the scene itself. The winners I’ve selected accomplish all of those things.
What writing projects are you working on now?
I’m currently working on DEADLY LITTLE GAME, the third book in the TOUCH series.
For more info, excerpts, book trailers and playlists, visit Laurie's web site. Or you can get BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS" and DEADLY LITTLE LIES" from Amazon.
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