Bubbles, Bubbles, But Not A Drop To Drink....Yet

Remember that line from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? Well, I've adapted it to describe my current writing crisis.

"Stories, stories, but not a one to write....yet."

In simple terms, I have a ton of ideas, but I haven't found one to buckle down with yet. I've been talking to friends and family about my series, The Unicorn Queen, and some questions about several of the plots are being raised. Obviously, I have more work to do than I thought.

I also came up with two more story ideas this week. One is a young adult science fiction called, A Moment In Time. Yes, for those wondering, it is a time travel story. It's time travel with adventure, action, and a dash of romance.

Got that? A dash. I don't like to be overly romantic....at least at this point in my life. :)

I've also got another young adult story idea and this one is probably going to shock you. Why?

Drumroll, please.

It's not science fiction or fantasy.

Yep, it's not genre fiction. The title is The Babysitting Adventures of Beverly Jenkins. I REALLY like this story so far! Maybe it will be the next one to work on. In this field, you never know.....

Queen Sapphire and Her Friends

Since I was having a hard time writing The Unicorn Queen, I decided to make some more drawings of the characters and share them with you. This first one is Sapphire, wearing her Badge of Majesty, given to her by the former Queen, Midnight Star.

I have a question about the Badge of Majesty. Would you say it is a necklace or a breastplate? When I said breastplate in my sample chapter, someone on AW said that it creates a confusing image when I say it lifted off her shoulders. So, what do you think?







This is Ruby, Sapphire's older sister. She was also in the group Midnight Star was training to see who would become the next ruler and Ruby is not jealous that Sapphire was chosen over her. She always does her best to help her sister in any way she can. Both she and Sapphire are first introduced in the first story, The New Queen's Challenge.






Here is Levan. He is a castle guard and becomes great friends with Sapphire. I don't really know a lot about his character yet, but I do know that he would do anything to protect Sapphire, even if it meant laying down his own life. Levan is introduced in Book Two: A Silent Killer.












Last but certainly not least is Kila. She is a very sweet unicorn, quiet and controlled, but is a wonderful fighter. She is eternally loyal to Sapphire because the Queen saved her life. Kila considers Sapphire her best friend. Readers will meet Kila in the third adventure, The Marred Unicorn.

Not Much To Say

Sorry I've been gone for a while. I just moved into my new house (yeah!) and there's hasn't been much time for writing. My net was down for several days and there just hasn't been time to get anything writing related done.

But that kinda changed today. I am working on the first two books in my new series, The Unicorn Queen and it's very exciting! I love working on new pieces! :D

On a very happy note, I am meeting one of my friends this week to exchange story ideas! Whoot! We both have so many that are missing that extra spark or we just don't have the discipline to sit down and write certain stories. Who knows? There may be a bestseller lurking within our piles!

Hey, one can dream! :D

Weird....

Before I get to what my post is about, this is my 100th post! YEAH! :D

OK, remember a few days ago when I said all my adventures in my new series, The Unicorn Queen, were all planned out. Well, turns out, that's not too true.

Because I found out that the adventure for book one won't work as is.

But that's OK. I've gone ahead and started writing book two. This isn't a series with cliffhanger endings, so I can skip ahead no problem. Book two: A Silent Killer is already in chapter eight! I'm very pleased with it so far. Basic rundown is Sapphire has to deal with the first murders ever committed in her land of Harlindale and her own sister is suspect for one of them.

Cool.

Besides book one, these adventures seem to be turning out really well. I hope it stays that way! :D

Also, there's a very interesting post for you writers out there on Pubrants, the blog of literary agent Kristin Nelson about music and writing. If you want to check it out, you can find the link to her blog on my blog list on the right side of the page. Check it out! :)

Literary Updates

OK, I'm going to update you all on all of my stories and their statuses so far:

The Ultimate Evil: Submitted to 17 agents and rejected by 11. Do not believe query will hook remaining agents. Once I have heard back (or not) from all of them, this story is going to be put on hold for revamping. It's missing something, but I can't pinpoint it yet.

Khaladin: Submitted to 26 agents and has been rejected 10 times. This story I will query till I have exhausted all options. May re-write my query before querying more agents, though. It might not be reading as well as I thought. Plan on submitting to all e-mail query friendly agents first before going to snail mail agents (I am in the process of moving, so that's why I have it this way).

Help! My Parents Are From Outer Space!: Never rejected! OK, so that's because it's never been submitted. But the query letter is done, should I ever need it. This story is still in editing, but not in need of a major overhaul that I can see at this point.

The Unicorn Queen: All 13 adventures have been planned and all major characters formulated. The first five chapters of book one are complete. I plan to write all the adventures and then go back and edit them. I will not pitch this series till every book is complete, which I don't think will take too long. I'm hoping each story will be around 15K-20K.

So, that's it. I'll update again when I have something new to report. Till then, happy writing! :D

Sapphire Pic

Here's my Photoshop picture of Sapphire. She's pretty, no?

I am in chapter five in the first book of her series, The Unicorn Queen. I have already come up with all her adventures and the titles for each book (subject to change). Here they are:

1. The New Queen's Challenge

2. A Silent Killer

3. The Marred Unicorn

4. Gallop of Life or Death

5. Innocents and Facades

6. A Betrayer In Our Midst

7. A Journey Through the Sea

8. She Is Not the Queen!

9. The Temple Secrets

10. The Blackest Night

11. Sapphire Comes to Earth

12. A Human Goes to Harlindale

13. Kroboth's War

So, what do you think?

A New Series In The Works!!

Yes, that's right, I'm going to be beginning work on a series that I have been trying to write since I was about seven or eight years old. I created this unicorn (will post drawing of her later) named Sapphire and I have always wanted to write a series for her.

Well, last night, after midnight, I couldn't go to bed yet. My dad was in the bathroom and I didn't want to go to sleep with dirty teeth (eew!) so I waited up so that he could finish. While I was waiting, I was rumaging through all my story ideas and pieces. I wasn't thinking too hard, just going over everything, when suddenly, I found all these short little adventure ideas that could work in a series! So exciting! I started to put together a story folder and I've filled it with a lot of information. So today, I am going to begin book one in my new middle grade fantasy series, The Unicorn Queen.

So, yeah, you've probably noticed that unicorns are my favorite mythical creature. I never wanted to be referred to as "The Unicorn Writer", but now I think that I will bear that title with pride! :D