#WIPjoy June 2016: A Month of Celebrating Our WIPs (and a Collection of Tweets & Excerpts from Mine)

July 12, 2016July 11, 2016 / saraletourneau / 22 Comments

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have noticed my #WIPjoy Tweets during the month of June. This meme is a month-long challenge led by YA sci-fi and fantasy writer Bethany A. Jennings; and for every day of the month, writers answer a specific question and share bits about their current work-in-progress (WIP). Participants can also take the meme to Facebook, their blog, and other social media outlets they ~~haunt~~ use.

The “index” image for #WIPjoy June 2016, courtesy of Bethany A. Jennings. Click to view a larger version.

This was my first time participating in #WIPjoy, and it was a lot of fun! It especially gave me a chance to learn what other writers are working on, get a taste of their writing style, and cheer them on as they work on their drafts. Now I’m even more excited to read some of those stories when they’re published someday!

And what I did I share for #WIPjoy? The Keeper’s Curse, of course! (It IS my only WIP at the moment. *lol*) So, I thought I’d share a collection of my #WIPjoy Tweets here with you. This post doesn’t contain all of my Tweets from the challenge – but it does feature some of my favorite questions / answers, and several of the excerpts I shared. Feel free to share any feedback in your comments, or “like” or “retweet” any of the linked Tweets. 😉 Enjoy!

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Beautiful People, Vol. 15: Aunt Maji from “The Keeper’s Curse”

May 14, 2016May 31, 2016 / saraletourneau / 22 Comments

Beautiful People is a monthly blog meme hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further In. Every month they pose 10 questions for writers to answer about their writing and give readers the opportunity to learn more about the writer’s characters.

Since Mother’s Day was this past Sunday, I decided to focus on a character in my WIP whom the protagonist Eva considers the closest thing she has to a mother. Aunt Maji has raised Eva ever since Eva’s parents were killed when she was 5 years old. (Eva’s mother was Maji’s younger sister.) I had done last year’s Parental Edition BP post on Aunt Maji and her husband Lusan, but after reading this month’s questions it seemed like the perfect time to dedicate a solo post to Eva’s tila (Fei for “aunt”).

Some quick details about Aunt Maji: She’s a 41-year-old winged Feiri, with green eyes and wavy-curly red hair with natural blonde highlights. She also has a very distinct Fei occupation that you’ll learn about in one of the upcoming questions. So, shall be begin?

(Visit the Beautiful People category page to catch up on past BP posts.)

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The Author’s Oracle Writing Tag

April 23, 2016April 23, 2016 / saraletourneau / 20 Comments

I spotted this tag at Faith Rivens’ blog not too long ago and absolutely knew I wanted to do it, too. It’s inspired by the Major Arcana, the first 22 cards in a tarot or oracle card deck.

Now, I’m aware that not everyone believes in the accuracy in tarot or other divination tools. But being a believer isn’t necessary here. The following questions take each card’s themes and applies them to your WIP or your writing process. So, this is a more “inclusive” tag than you might think. 😉

Any story-specific questions in this tag will focus on my WIP, The Keeper’s Curse. To learn more about this novel, you can either read the current draft of its blurb or visit the Chronicling The Craft series. Continue reading →

Beautiful People, Vol. 5: The “Parental” Edition

June 10, 2015May 5, 2016 / saraletourneau / 30 Comments

When I saw the theme for this month’s Beautiful People, I knew this would be a tricky post. Anyone who’s been following Beautiful People (or this blog in general) for some time already know that Eva, the protagonist of my YA fantasy The Keeper’s Curse, has been an orphan since she was 5 years old. And as I read this month’s questions, I realized some related better to Eva’s deceased parents, and others to her guardians since then.

So, that’s how I’ll handle this month’s post. You’ll learn a little about Eva’s mother and father, and I’ll also introduce you to Aunt Maji and Uncle Lusan, both of whom appear in TKC. Hopefully that won’t be too confusing. I’ll do my best to indicate who each question pertains to. Let me know in the Comments section if anything needs clarifying!

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