Wednesday Wip: Revelation: Book One of the Divinity Chronicles

Here's a bit from the dystopian YA series I'm working on, The Divinity Chronicles. Let me know what you think.

The dirty white bus with the black bold letters that spell out INFIDELS, waits at the curb as it does every week day, to drive us across town to neighborhoods like the ones in which we used to live, to take us to school. You’d think the Deities would practice segregation to keep us away from their children and those of their precious Disciples and Priests, but with us all under the same roof, they think it easier to convert us. Brainwash, more like it. They’ve not had a great success rate yet.

We climb on the bus with all the other children of Infidels and head to W1-6 HS, which stands for the West Zone, Sector 1, Division 6, High School. Mary takes two packs of tin foil out of her messenger bag, more than likely leftovers from the previous night’s dinner. She opens the window as we cross the Incendia Bridge, and tosses the packages over.

 I peer down to watch the scrambling of the Radicals, those who not only oppose the Deities, but insist on continuing to worship their old gods, be them Christian, Hindu, Muslim, whatever. They’ve banded together to stay alive. Committing treason in the eyes of the Deities, if they’re caught it’s punishable by death. As citizens of the new theocracy, or theocrazy as I like to call it, we are bound to report any sighting of Radicals, but we don’t. The idea of being persecuted for believing in something is archaic. I don’t blame them for sticking to their ideologies, I’m sure it offers them some kind of hope for the future.

We pull up to the curb of the school and file out like lemmings to their death, which is what it feels like when you have physical education first period.  If anything should be outlawed, it should be forcing us to do jumping jacks and climb ropes at seven o’clock in the morning.

Inspired by Reading

I finally started reading Veronica Roth's, Divergent. I've been wanting to read it for a really long time, but I've been reading friends books, and writing, and you know, there's that thing called life, but on vacation, I finally had some time to actually sit down and relax.

So far, I love it. I'm a big fan of dystopian stuff anyway, so it's a no brainer for me really as a best seller. But the other thing about it is it's made me excited to work on my own dystopian books. I have one adult I started ages ago and one trilogy I'm writing based on the first novels I ever wrote. Last night I got up to 5k on the first book of the trilogy.

I love how reading inspires and I realize how much I miss it when I haven't done it in awhile.I miss the escape, and let me tell you, if anyone needs to escape from life it's me.

Are there any books that have inspired your writing? Tell me.

On the Writing Front

You have five more days to get your entry in to ABNA (Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest). They haven't announced any of the categories closed yet, so if you have a finished novel and want to try to win a publishing contract and a $50k advance, you better get a move on.

On the writing front, I'm torn. I have two fantasy MSs started, both of which are going to be series I'm hoping. One, a fairy tale retelling, the other dystopian. But there are so many more stories in me to write, most of them contemporary realistic, which I know will probably keep me a mid-lister for the rest of my writing days.

I shouldn't have started a project when I already had one going. sigh. I also have two adult books started, and one chick lit I've been wanting to write forever.  And then of course there is always something that needs editing. I wrote a book about a school shooting a couple years ago I'd like to polish up and send out.

Do you ever have more than one project going at a time? How do you balance the two?

It's almost NaNoWriMo and I'm going to barf

Yes, my plan is to do NaNo this year. What is NaNoWriMo you ask? It's a 30 day challenge to writers to write a 50k book in 30 days. Perfectly doable,right? It is, but it takes dedication. Oh, and 1667 words a day. 

Um, my plan was to finish typing up these revisions first. *cough* cue the tumbleweeds.

I'm still hoping to do that. I have a couple days vacation ahead of me and I hope to clickity clack at the keyboard. But it's sunny. And there's a pool. And a casino close by. And cookie dough vodka.

okay, I may be taking the ms and laptop out into the sun to get this motherf*@ker done.

I think my NaNo project is pretty cool. It's a series I'm starting. It was a toss up between the two series I want to write, a dystopian, and this one. I asked opinions and this one won out. Not giving anything away. I think it's an original idea and I want to keep it that way.

Are you doing NaNo? Do you want to share your project? I've not signed up on the website yet, I'll do it tonight, but find me and lets connect. 

To find out more about NaNoWriMo click here.

Banned Book Week Read Aloud: The Hanmaid's Tale

Last year I read aloud from some of my favorite banned books. I know it's Wednesday, but better late than never, right? So here you go. An except of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

Last week, talented and funny author Allison Dixon talked about her work in progress, Strings, as part of a little "blog hop" tour. She then tagged five other authors. Yours truly being one of them, to do the same.

The Rules:

Answer these ten questions about your current WIP (Work In Progress) on your blog

Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.

Okay, I'm going with Helen Landalf, who I met through the Elevensies, my fellow 2k12er,  J. Anderson Coats, my co-prezzie for the Class of 2k12 Caroline Starr Rose, a friend I met a few years ago through the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest Hart Johnson
and, hmmmmm...how about another fellow 2k12er who was just recently release, Kimberly Sabatini. Okay ladies. Bring it.

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing:

What is the working title of your book?

I wasn't sure which one to talk about because you know, I have about a million manuscripts started, but I decided to go ahead and talk about the Revelations: Book One of The Divinity Chronicles.


Where did the idea come from for the book?
It's a combination of things. I'm actually take the first books I wrote, A superhero series, and morphing them into this dystopian series. So, it's kind of the same story but not. The characters are the same, but the story has become older and darker.

What genre does your book fall under?
Young adult dystopian fantasy.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
This is hard, something I've not really thought of for this book. Hmmm,

Danica: India Eisley

Mary: Jennifer Lawrence

Rachel: Chloe Moretz

Oliver: Garen Boyajian

 

Ian: William Mosely

Hazzard: Kodi Smi-McPhee

The Protector: Jeffrey Dean Morgan

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Oh good lord, I mentioned this was going to be a trilogy, right? Hmmm

After a bloody civil war between Paranormals and humans leaves her country in turmoil, one girl, living toward the bottom of the new caste system, finds she may be the key to bringing the Paranormals to their knees and peace back to her iniquitous nation.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I'd love to have this book published traditionally, but I'm not afraid to go the self published route if necessary.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Work In Progress means Still In Progress. The original manuscript took about 6 months I think. This one will take more I'm sure. It's on the back burner until I finish a revisions of an other book, but I'm definitely getting back to it soon.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Hmmm, not really sure. I've not really seen one like it. There are aspects of it I didn't give away in the summary. Not sure it's comparable, at least not to something I've seen before.
Who or What inspired you to write this book?
Originally it was my girls. I wanted to write a story with them as a couple of the characters. I've kept them in this version. They were friends in the original, I've made them sisters in this one, more to real life. I've changed their personalities to fit who they've become rather than to who they were when I first wrote the book, which was when they were very little. It's going to be very fun to write.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
It's kind of a superhero book. There's also a bit of a take on combing church and state, though in a very fantastical way. There will be adventure, intrigue, romance, everything. :)