Doni

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

/ 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.

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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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The Author’s Oracle Writing Tag

/ saraletourneau / 20 Comments

Author Oracle Tag banner

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. 12: Doni from The Keeper’s Curse

/ saraletourneau / 26 Comments

Beautiful People 1

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.

First of all, this post marks 1 year since I started doing Beautiful People! 😀

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Since it’s February, Cait and Sky have asked another round of Valentine-inspired questions. The thing is, I’ve already covered the one romantic couple I’ve been writing about for the past year… and this year’s questions aren’t much different from last year’s. So, into the BP archives I went, and dug up a set of questions that were perfect for a character from The Keeper’s Curse whom I haven’t introduced to you yet.

Some quick facts about Doni: He’s 14 years old, with blonde-streaked light brown hair and light brown eyes. He’s also the youngest and most recently appointed member of the Council of Selanaan (which Eva, TKC’s protagonist, is also part of), and is their chief healer. Now, onto the questions!

(Don’t forget to submit your question(s) for Aurek’s upcoming character interview! I’ve extended the submitting period until Tuesday, February 23rd. So, if you’re anxious to learn more about another character from TKC, click here for more details.)
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Chronicling The Craft: Revisions 20% Complete

/ saraletourneau / 27 Comments

Chronicling The Craft banner

Practicing Patience with the Revising Process – Plus, an Excerpt from The Keeper’s Curse!

“Chronicling The Craft” is an article series where I share my experience with working on my YA fantasy novel THE KEEPER’S CURSE, starting with the first draft and now into revisions. Each article contains a progress update as well as writing / revising tips and excerpts from the updated draft. Today’s installment celebrates 20-percent completion of Draft #2 of THE KEEPER’S CURSE.

I’ve missed this series! It’s been 2 months since the last Chronicle, when I began revising The Keeper’s Curse (TKC). But since May was insanely busy, this gap between postings meant one less thing on my plate last month. Now I’ve reached the 20-percent milestone in Draft #2, and I’m thrilled to have an update for you. 😀

This new round of Chronicles will feature a similar format as the Draft #1 round. I’ll start with a Progress Report, covering what I’ve worked on since the previous Chronicle. Next will be Today’s Tip, where I offer craft-related advice on novel revisions. Finally, the new third section… well, I’d say it’s a surprise, but the subheading sort of gives it away. 😉  Continue reading →