Eva

The Six-Question Character Challenge

/ saraletourneau / 25 Comments

Six-Question banner

I’ve fallen behind on blog tags again, so it’s time to play catch-up (again). This tag is a brand new one from Brianna daSilva at Story Port. (Thank you, Brianna!)

The Six-Question Character Challenge offers six questions that you have to answer for three of your WIP’s characters. You can choose whichever characters you want. The point is to introduce these characters to your readers if you haven’t yet, and to see how they’re similar or different.

Before we get started, let’s start with… Continue reading →

#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 →

5 on the 5th: Five Things I Learned from Archery Lessons

/ saraletourneau / 48 Comments

5 on the 5th Banner 2

On the fifth day of each month, 5 on the 5th shares five of something that I like or recommend to readers. Whether it’s five items that share a common theme, or five reasons why I like the topic at hand, this monthly meme gives us an opportunity to talk about other subjects that aren’t normally discussed here at the blog. 

Some of you might remember that I was taking a beginner’s archery course over the fall and early winter. Well, the final class was a few Saturdays ago, so I wanted to share what I learned over those 10 weeks. And what would a post on archery be without some GIFs of famous fictional archers? 😉

So, here are Five Things I Learned from Archery Lessons!
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Chronicling The Craft: Draft #2 Revisions – 50% Complete

/ saraletourneau / 14 Comments

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Tips on Killing Off Reducing Your Cast of Supporting Characters, Plus a New 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 50% completion of Draft #2 of THE KEEPER’S CURSE.

First things first: Draft #2 is halfway done!!!!

Wall-E Fire Extinguisher

I still can’t believe with how quickly the revision process is moving. That doesn’t mean it’s had its challenges – and it certainly has – but let’s compare it to the drafting process. I started Draft #2 about 6 months ago, just after Easter. At my current rate, I could finish it in April 2016, for a total of 1 year – half as long as it took me to write Draft #1 (about 25 months, or just over 2 years).

Of course, one never knows what can happen in 6 months time. But the point is, things are moving along, and I’m pleased with how much closer Draft #2 is getting to where this story deserves to be. That’s what counts most. 🙂

(Just a reminder that my thank-you giveaways end at midnight EST on October 31st! Click here to find out how you can win free tea, a free book, or a critique of your WIP’s first chapter.)

Let’s start with a progress report, then get to today’s tip and a new excerpt of TKC for your feedback.
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Beautiful Books, Vol. 1: The Novella I’m Planning to Start Next Year

/ saraletourneau / 34 Comments

Beautiful Books

Beautiful Books is hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further In. It’s similar to their usual monthly meme Beautiful People, except that this month’s questions celebrate preparations for NaNoWriMo and focus on your work-in-progress (WIP) or next writing project. 

Wait! What happened to Beautiful People this month?!?!

Harry Potter jaw drops

Don’t worry. Beautiful People and its character questionnaires will be back. But in the spirit of NaNoWriMo, Cait and Sky have asked participants to answer 10 questions about the stories they’re currently working on or planning to write during November’s novel-writing madness. And even though I’m not doing NaNoWriMo, I’ve got an idea for a future novella to share instead. 😀  Here we go!

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

(Also, make sure you check out the thank-you giveaways! Click here to find out how you can win free tea, a free book, or a critique of your WIP’s first chapter.)

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Beautiful People, Vol. 7: The Friendship Edition

/ saraletourneau / 17 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.

Friendship is the theme for this month’s edition of Beautiful People. I didn’t even have to look at the questions to know which friends I’d focus on: Eva, a life-size Faerie and the protagonist of my YA fantasy WIP The Keeper’s Curse; and her cousin (also Fae), Gidion. So, apart from Saturday’s Chronicling The Craft, you’ll meet Gidion for the first time today!

Since you might already know a bit about Eva, here’s a quick bio for Gidion: He’s 21 years old, with green eyes and blonde-streaked ginger-red hair. And not only is he the Council of Selanaan’s chief negotiator, but he’s also the Council Captain. Which means that not only is he Eva’s cousin and best friend, but he’s also her boss. That has added an interesting dynamic to their relationship, as the questionnaire will reveal. 😉

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

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Chronicling The Craft: Draft #2 Revisions – 30% Complete

/ saraletourneau / 31 Comments

Chronicling The Craft banner

Six Steps to Saving Your Self-Edits for Later – Plus, a New Worksheet and Another 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 30-percent completion of Draft #2 of THE KEEPER’S CURSE.

Huh? It’s been 2 months since the last Chronicle?? *blinks* I guess that shouldn’t surprise me. Summer tends to be my slowest writing season, since I’m more motivated to get out and enjoy the nice weather. But that’s OK. It prevents me from becoming a hermit, right? 🙂

Originally I was going to post updates for every 20-percent milestone (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%). However, since gaps between those updates might be lengthy, I’m changing the frequency to every 10-percent milestone. Here’s what I’ve done since mid-June:
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A Blogoversary Character Interview with Eva of “The Keeper’s Curse”

/ saraletourneau / 59 Comments

Happy Blogoversary

I still can’t believe that this site has been around in some form since 2009. I may have ideas churning constantly in my brain and the motivation to put them out there for others to read – but YOU are the reason I’ve kept doing this for so long. Your support, honest and constructive feedback, and friendship mean the world to me, and not enough “thank you’s” would do it all justice. So, in my opinion, this celebration is for YOU. 🙂

As promised a few weeks ago, we’re celebrating the site’s 6th birthday with a very special post: a character interview with Eva, the protagonist for my YA fantasy WIP The Keeper’s Curse. You readers asked fantastic questions; a wonderful mix of the fun, the thoughtful, and the challenging. So, again, thank you for submitting them, and I hope you enjoy the interview!

If you’d like to read other articles about Eva, check out this past edition of Chronicling The Craft, her solo Beautiful People post, and two other BP posts and her relationship with Aurek and the parental figures in her life.

And finally, stay tuned for a special (belated) blogoversary giveaway coming in August! 😉 Continue reading →

Time Flies!: June 2015

/ saraletourneau / 29 Comments

Time Flies Banner

Welcome to the latest edition of Time Flies! It’s my version of a monthly update, where I recap the past month’s accomplishments and articles, share news and random things from my offline life, and hint at what may be coming in the month ahead.

Is anyone else having a hard time believing that 2015 is now halfway over? Insane, isn’t it? But so far, 2015 has been an awesome year. Creatively, personally,… and now statistically! Because of your visits, comments, social media shares, and reblogs, this site has already topped 2014’s total page view counts – meaning it’s having its best year EVER. Thank you all so, SO much for your support and feedback. It means the world to me. And that’s going to make next month’s blogoversary that much sweeter. 😀

Which reminds me: I’m still taking questions for Eva’s blogoversary character interview! Submissions will be accepted through 11:59 pm on Friday, July 3rd. Click here for details and to see which questions have been asked so far.

Now, on to this month’s summary!

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