Sunday, January 30, 2011

A taste of what's to come

Because we've reached the first benchmark in the new challenge, here's the reward:

He used his pale, bony fingers to lift my chin so I was looking in to his dark blue eyes. “In time, you’ll find out. But for now, I’m not even a memory.”

Want more?  10 more until the next one (70 to the grand finale-a full excerpt).  And yes, I am using the combine totals from this blog, Facebook and Twitter again.

Hope you liked it!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Bucket List item is revealed!

First off, kudos to June M. of Massachusetts for solving the clues!  Great job.  I had a feeling the last clue would give it away, ha-ha. 

Before I tell you what it is, here are the previous clues:

1.        It’s something I came close to accomplishing in my previous career path before I retired. 
2.       It involves training
3.       It’s in public
4.       It involves sports
5.       It’s patriotic

Oh boy.  My heart is beating faster than a hummingbird's wings.
IF I succeed in my goal of being published...*deep breath* I will attempt to sing the National Anthem at a professional sporting event.

Which one?  Well, most likely a Celtics or Red Sox game.  I'd include the Bruins, but with my history, I'd probably fall on the ice and make it on You Tube and all the highlight reels.  I'd try for a Patriots game (since they are my FAVORITE team), but that's more people than I can handle.  Singing in front of over 20,000 people with my anxiety is going to be a feat in itself.  I've wanted to do this since I was a little girl though.  I was thisclose to sending in my demo to do this when I was 19 years old, but my ever charming self-deprecation set in and I chickened out; I soon after retired from pursuing a professional singing career (due to personal reasons) and I've regretted it ever since.

I believe that no matter what the dream, if you want it bad enough, you should go for it, no matter how young or old.  With hard work and dedication, success of some degree will always be the reward.  So that means if I'm going to do this, its back to vocal training for me!  I'm a bit rusty; it’s been almost 10 years since my last professional lesson.  Let’s hope I still have range; I’m gonna need it! 

I had a lot of fun with this challenge and I hope you did too.  With that off my plate, its time for the next one! 

For every 10 followers, I will post something from my novel- a line of dialogue, a character description, etc.  Once I reach 150 followers, I will post an excerpt from Unnatural. 

Oh, and we’re only 8 followers away from the first novel post. 

Until next time, folks!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The Final Hint in the "Bucket List" follower challenge

-It's patriotic-

9 more followers to the big reveal as well as to the next challenge.  Remember, if you think you know what the answer is, send me an email first to confirm at my address listed at the right of this page.  If you're correct, I'll reveal to all and give you a shout out for a job well done!

A site update:  I now have a direct address to my facebook page.  You can either access it through here on the right-hand side of the home page, or simply go to: www.facebook.com/crowleykt to follow me there.  And of course, I am also on Twitter @KTCrowley.

Get excited; I know I am!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Here's the hint I promised last night

Here it is:

-It involves sports-

10 more followers to the next hint and 20 more to the reveal! 

After the reveal, I'll post another follower challenge in which the end result will be an excerpt from my novel. 

The big challenge I mentioned in December still stands; if I can reach 1000 followers by the end of March, I'll open a poll to vote on the possible title of the sequel.  It’s a far-fetched challenge, I know, but I'm curious to see how many readers want to be a part of choosing its name.  I think it’s a pretty cool way to involve my readers since, after all, you'll be reading it.  Who knows, this series could fulfill my dreams of great success and you could play a part in that.  ;-)  

My office, sadly, is still a work in progress.  It’s halfway there, which I'm happy to report.  Even if I can't start the actual writing process, I am doing my research, which is a huge factor in making a story and its locations, etc. believable.  I don't enjoy the research part so much, but I'm getting it done and out of the way so once I'm able to, I can focus completely on the story. 

I learned recently I have readers in twelve countries to date.  That is not only cool and amazing, but inspiring as well.  Knowing what I'm writing reaches that far is truly awesome.  Again, I thank everyone who reads this blog and follows me.  This novel (and series) is for a specific genre but I wrote it for readers of all types and for all ages.  It’s universal, like all of you, and when the time comes to release it I hope you see that and enjoy it as much I have enjoyed writing it.



  

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The First Post of the New Year...

Its 2011 and I'm so excited.  This is going to be a huge year (I hope) and I'm grateful to have my readers along for the ride.

Just a short post today to say I'm hard at work compiling scenes and dialogue for the untitled sequel.  My brain literally won't shut off, its insane how much I've come up with already.  Now I have to organize my thoughts and mold it into a complete story, which means I have a lot more nooks and crannies to fill in between what I have so far.

Unnatural was written pretty much start to finish with the exception of one scene, which is the idea that kicked off the novel.  For this one I'm a bit more scattered.  I've built the characters, the world, etc.; in the second novel I have to make that world continue to spin and grow without going overboard or killing it.  It’s a fragile process.  I can't jump in and keep the story moving, I have to weave in bits and pieces of the first novel to help keep the reader in the world with the most important jump off information.  It may sound easy to some but it’s actually not.  I have a novel that's over 350 pages and only a fraction of that needs to be peppered in to the sequel-in the right places to boot.  It’s logistical and strategic-sorta.  I have my work cut out for me.  I relish it.

My official sequel-writing kick off date is set for Monday.  I'm moving my office from one part of my home to another so that date is tentative pending its completion.  I'm so eager to get to it that I'll be running on all cylinders this weekend to get it ready for then.  I can’t wait!

By the way, 3 more fans to the next hint.  Have I mentioned how awesome my readers are?  ; - )