News

My Book and Profile Are on Goodreads!

Posted on January 27, 2014January 27, 2014 by Amy McNulty

Some of you may have missed the news, but you can already add THE VEILED MAN’S GODDESS to your to-read list on Goodreads.

Just today I finished updating my Goodreads Author Page. Become a “fan” to follow my updates, although I understand if you feel you can’t because you haven’t read my book yet!

Since a more detailed summary of THE VEILED MAN’S GODDESS is available on Goodreads, I’ll share it here:

In a village of masked men, magic compels each man to love only one woman and to follow the commands of his “goddess” without question. A woman may reject the only man who will love her if she pleases, but she will be alone forever. And a man must stay masked until his goddess returns his love—and if she can’t or won’t, he remains masked forever.

Where the rest of her village celebrates this mystery that binds men and women together, seventeen year old Noll is just done with it. She’s lost all her childhood friends as they’ve paired off, but the worst blow was when her closest companion, Jurij, finds his goddess in Noll’s own sister. Desperate to find a way to break this ancient spell, Noll instead discovers why no man has ever loved her: she is in fact the goddess of the mysterious lord of the village, a Byronic man who refuses to let Noll have her right as a woman to spurn him and who has the power to fight the curse. Thus begins a dangerous game between the two: the choice of woman versus the magic of man. And the stakes are no less than freedom and happiness, life and death—and neither Noll nor the veiled man is willing to lose.

News

The Sight Seer 2, The Soul Healer, Is Out in April!

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Amy McNulty

Anyone who’s followed my blog for a while knows that author Melissa Giorgio is one of my best friends and beta readers, so of course I’m a little biased, but I truly think her debut series, The Silver Moon Saga, is one of the funniest YA reads out there with some of the best characters. (Don’t be fooled, though–there’s plenty of dynamic action, too!) The first book, The Sight Seer, came out last summer and became an Amazon bestseller. She followed up with a novella set between books 2 and 3, An Autumn Dream, in the fall.

And now she’s posted the news: Book 2 in the series will be called The Soul Healer, and you can buy it April 11th!

It’s been two months since Gabi Harkins first learned of demons and the mysterious hunters who battle them. After discovering a few unbelievable surprises about herself, she simply wants to settle into a normal routine that involves dating her boyfriend Rafe Fitzgerald, hanging out with her friends, and eating lots of dessert. But when her peaceful life is destroyed by the ultimate of betrayals, Gabi must rely on her wits—and a few new crazy friends—to survive her hardest challenges yet.

The sequel to The Sight Seer combines action, romance, and a healthy dose of humor as Gabi struggles to learn the truth about the secrets that surround her life.

I can tell you as one of her betas that fans of book 1 will love book 2 just as much, if not more, so watch this blog for more news as it becomes available!

You can already add the sequel (AND book 3! No release date yet for that one, though) on GoodReads. Click here for book 2 and here for book 3!

Writing

WIPMarathon Check-In # 8 (4)

Posted on January 25, 2014January 25, 2014 by Amy McNulty

I held off on updating because I hoped I could add some more words today, but it just doesn’t look like that will be the case. Work won’t let up this month, and my stress in general has been through the roof! Still, it’s fun to work on the WIP when I can. Which was only twice this week…

Last Check-in Wordcount + ChapterCount (+ scene count if you’re revising): 21,839 words and eight and a half chapters

Current WC + CC (or SC): 22,821 words and eight and a half chapters (still working on that same chapter, lol)

WIP Issues this week: I’m entering a little uncertain ground in the WIP. This is still that “writing a few chapters off of only two sentences in the synopsis” bit, and so far it has gone well, but it’s starting to maybe drift a bit. I think I’m still on the right track, though.

What I learned this week in writing: So my progress this month hasn’t been as much as I’d like it to have been. Considering how busy and stressed I’ve been, the fact that I’ve gotten as much done as I have is pretty awesome.

What distracted me this week while writing: Work, my boyfriend’s car troubles (he wound up having to get a new/used one!), coming down with a cold and…

My big news! I think most of you saw my post earlier this week, but I can now share the fact that I’m going to debut with a YA fantasy in 2015 with Month9Books. Please add it to your to-read shelf on Goodreads if you have an account.

And now that that’s posted, I can share a more detailed summary of the story:

Last 200 words: Can’t because it’s the sequel to my book releasing next year. ^^

News, Writing

My Big News Post!

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Amy McNulty

I’ve been sitting on happy news for a few months while the details got ironed out, kind of wondering if I was dreaming, but I can finally share with everyone and make it more real: my debut novel, a YA romantic fantasy, is going to be published by Month9Books in 2015! Not only that, but Month9 is on board for the second and third books in the trilogy, too, with number two scheduled for 2016 and number three for 2017!

The announcement sent to Publishers Marketplace:

THE VEILED MAN’S GODDESS trilogy by Amy McNulty is a twisted young adult fantasy romance where one girl fights to save the boy she loves from a spell that forces all men to wear masks and only ever love one woman, each their “goddess,” only to discover that she herself is bound to the mysterious lord of the village, whose very life might be the source of the curse. Georgia McBride acquired World English rights to publish via Month9Books beginning in 2015 from Jason Yarn at Paradigm.

(The title of the book is almost certainly going to change, so keep an eye out for updates!)

Month9Books is a speculative fiction YA and MG imprint (related to YA, NA and adult romance imprint SwoonRomance). Founded by Georgia McBride, also the YALitChat.org founder, in 2011, Month9 launched with their first title in late 2012, and they’ve been making some pretty impressive waves in the YA genre ever since. When my agent and I discussed what independent publishers I wanted to send my manuscript to, Month9 jumped to the top of my wish list.

I’ve been floored by the enthusiasm Ms. McBride has shown for the manuscript, and I’m looking forward to working with her and her team on getting this series out there into the hands of readers. Ever since this story took hold of me, I’ve been hoping I could share its characters with you. And have an excuse to write the rest of their story! It would have broken my heart to shelve them and never finish the full tale.

This is the manuscript that landed me my agent, Jason Yarn, in May of 2012. The one I wrote the first (rough) draft of in only nine days in February of that year. (Well, I pinched some scenes and names from an old mess of a manuscript that’s permanently retired, and I’d been working on that on and off for nine years in one form or another.) We weren’t on submission the whole time—we tackled multiple rewrites—but it still has been somewhat of an uphill climb, sometimes getting to what felt like “almost but not quite” at various places, many of which offered kind and encouraging thoughts. Thanks to Jason’s never-waning enthusiasm for the project and his brilliant editorial insights, we finally got the manuscript where it needed to be to find a home.

I’ll be blogging with news as I get it over the next year+. I hope you’ll check it out in 2015!

Writing

WIPMarathon Check-In #7 (3)

Posted on January 18, 2014January 18, 2014 by Amy McNulty

I had kind of a hellish, busy week, so I wrote only on Sunday and Wednesday. *sigh* I might still write today, but since I have so much else to do, I’m not sure I’ll be able to. *sighs again* I’ll count any words today toward next week, then.

Last Check-in Wordcount + ChapterCount (+ scene count if you’re revising): 19,391 words and seven chapters

Current WC + CC (or SC): 21,839 words and eight and a half chapters

WIP Issues this week: Not too many issues with the WIP itself, just finding the time and energy to write.

What I learned this week in writing: I’m still working “off-synopsis” in a way. (I’m expanding on a few sentences in the synopsis that didn’t go into detail.) It’s quite possible to plot and pants at the same time!

What distracted me this week while writing: A lot of work and a lot of stress.

Last 200 words: Can’t.

I have news I’ll be able to share soon! I know at least one of you saw it and was kind enough to give me a shout-out about it anyway. 😉 But I’m waiting for the big announcement next week.

Writing

WIPMarathon Check-In #6 (2)

Posted on January 11, 2014 by Amy McNulty

I only managed to fiction write three days this week (so much for aiming for 5-6 days per week), but I still made some progress.

Last Check-in Wordcount + ChapterCount (+ scene count if you’re revising): 14,947 words and 5 1/2 chapters

Current WC + CC (or SC): 19,391 words and seven chapters

WIP Issues this week: I’m still having a little trouble keeping my tenses straight, but it’s getting better. Instead of writing almost every sentence in present tense and then having to fix it, it’s like 1 in 10 in present.

What I learned this week in writing: I’m working off a synopsis and this entire section that probably needs to be 5-ish chapters is like two sentences in my synopsis because it didn’t seem that important, just part of a slow build-up. So it’s kind of been fun discovering how I’m making those two sentences come to life. More drama and tension that I anticipated, which is good.

What distracted me this week while writing: Work, so much work. I saw a couple of movies this week, too.

Last 200 words: Can’t share due to spoilers.

Writing

WIPMarathon Check-In #5 (1)

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Amy McNulty

Check-in #5? What happened to 1-4? This is my first WIPMarathon Check-In for the December-January marathon because I didn’t write or edit a single word for my fiction projects in all of December, but I thought I’d number it to keep up with the rest of the people involved. December was busy for me with work, and I needed a break after being disappointed with my NaNoWriMo WIP. And the holidays. The month flew by, though, and now I’m going to try to get back to writing. I don’t think I’ll be as productive as I was in August or November, though.

Things I’m Glad I did in 2013: I finished my second completed manuscript (after burning out on an unfinished one in late 2012 and barely starting another in early 2013, I wasn’t sure I could do it again). I burned out on my NaNoWriMo one (which is still unfinished), but I’m glad I at least I got 50,000+ words done in another manuscript.

And I have news I’ve been wanting to share for months now, but I haven’t been able to. But it’s good news, writing-wise, that happened in 2013!

In 2014, I’d Love To Be/Do: I’m definitely finishing one manuscript, but I’d love to finish one or two more. Maybe tackle the two 50,000+ unfinished ones and figure out what went wrong. Also, I hope to go on submission (well, if the agent likes it and I don’t have to trash it ;-;) with the manuscript I finished in the August WIPMarathon this year. Edits come first, of course.

Last Check-in Wordcount + ChapterCount (+ scene count if you’re revising): 9591 words, 3 chapters. As you can see at my intro page, I had a lot of goals for this marathon despite not doing anything for the first half of it; it’s probably a bit premature, as I’m still waiting on feedback, but I wanted to work on goal #2, diving back into a YA fantasy I started over a year and a half ago. It probably won’t need to be a finished draft as soon as I once thought, though.

Current WC + CC (or SC): 14,947 words and 5 1/2 chapters

WIP Issues this week: I kept writing in present tense! I KNOW this is an issue and I correct it as I notice it and keep telling myself not to, but I keep writing in present. Wow. I’d only written in past tense before NaNoWriMo, and for that one, I felt it would be fun to try present tense and I think it suited the tone of the manuscript. It took me a short time to get used to writing in present then. I didn’t anticipate when I went back to writing in past AFTER A MONTH-LONG BREAK from the present-tense manuscript I’d subconsciously want to write in present still. Bizarre.

What I learned this week in writing: I’m having fun discovering the new nature of one of the characters in my WIP. Since the last time I wrote for him (about a year ago in edits, but I first wrote him two years ago during a first draft), something major happened in the story that would naturally change his character. I just didn’t realize how much so until I started writing him again. Interesting to discover, and definitely better this way!

What distracted me this week while writing: Work, shoveling endless snow, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

Last 200 words: Can’t share due to spoilers.

Reading

My Reads for 2013

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Amy McNulty

Okay, there are a few days left in the year, but I probably won’t finish the book I’m working on before then. (But who knows, I could get really addicted–if so, I’ll edit this entry!)

Last year I listed the books I’d read for the year at the end of the year, and I thought I’d keep up the tradition. It’s a fun retrospective, and I’m especially happy since this year I read way more books than I usually do (which is still very little compared to some avid readers out there). As usual, most of the books are YA, but some MG and adult made their way on there.

This year a number of things happened, reading-wise:

Early in the year, I set out to finish my to-read shelf by the end of the year. By which I mean the books I had literally sitting on a shelf, ones I’d never read before. Somehow, that shelf got full of books I didn’t touch for YEARS. I think the oldest one had been sitting there since 2008, the last time I “caught up.” I did catch up about halfway through the year (even though I added some new books along the way), right in time for ALA.
I attended the American Library Association annual conference in June just because it was nearby (Chicago). I’m not a librarian, but it was open to the public, and as a writer and reader, I thought it would be fun. (Especially after hearing from friends how awesome Book Expo America is.) I got my first-ever set of ARCs, most of them books I’d never even heard of before going but seemed appealing, and I made it a quest to read them all before their release dates, and I did.
I got a Kindle for my birthday, after years of thinking I’d hate reading e-books. Now I change between reading paper copies and e-books pretty often! I like how e-books are instantly available and most of the time more affordable than paper copies. They also take up less space, obviously, and although I still prefer paper copies, I’m trying to cut back on the books I own since I have so many already. This way I still own them, just in virtual space.
I went to the library more often toward the end of the year to save money and save book shelf space by just borrowing some books I found appealing. Mostly books by authors I’d read earlier in the year and because I then wanted to read everything they wrote!
I went to an event at Books of Wonder not having heard of the YA authors there and walking away with three of their books and putting the rest on my get-from-the-library list.
…And now thanks to the Kindle and the library and all the many, many books that seem interesting, I have a sizeable to-read list again. And I’m not even counting the many, many books I want to read but I don’t have a copy of yet. (I also want to re-read some books soon!) It never ends. The reader’s happy but overwhelming dilemma.

The 2013 list (not counting the many graphic novels and manga I read this year as well):

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore (autographed, thanks to a friend who got it for me; I started this one in 2012 but finished in the new year; probably my favorite in the trilogy)
Mr. Monk Gets Even by Lee Goldberg (the last book in the series! It was like saying a second farewell years after the TV show ended ;-;)
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (I was really into this book! It came highly recommended)
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (the beginning was a bit of a slog, but I was really addicted after the first 100 pages or so; it’s depressing, but good, and I’ll read whatever she writes!)
The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
Rumors by ditto
Envy by ditto
Splendor by ditto (I read the whole series at once, a gift from a friend)
City of Swords (Stravaganza 6) by Mary Hoffman (sorry to see this series end!)
A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan (so good, a gift from a friend, and I wish more people read it!)
The Witch of Duva (novella) by Leigh Bardugo
The Juniper Game by Sherryl Jordan (I bought a bunch of her books years ago since I liked the books of hers I’d read when younger)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Wizard for a Day by Sherryl Jordan
The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily by Dino Buzzati (I picked this one up years ago just because I saw it had an introduction by Lemony Snicket, ha)
A Time of Darkness by Sherryl Jordan
The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
Time of the Eagle by Sherryl Jordan
The Too-Clever Fox (novella) by Leigh Bardugo
Sabriel by Garth Nix
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Secret Sacrament by Sherryl Jordan (this was actually a rare re-read because Time of the Eagle was the sequel and it reminded me how much I loved the first one)
The Sight Seer by Melissa Giorgio (I’m cheating here, ha; I read this in 2011 before she even queried it, not this year that it came out, but this year I DID read the sequel as a beta reader, so I did read a book by her and it counts toward my # XD)
Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis (autographed at ALA; really good and different!)
The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith/J.K. Rowling (I liked it better than The Casual Vacancy, although nothing will be as good as HP, of course, but it was a fun, faster-paced read)
Sometimes Never, Sometimes Always by Elissa Janine Hoole (autographed at ALA)
Inhuman by Kat Falls
Unthinkable by Nancy Werlin (autographed at ALA; I liked this so much despite not reading the books that came before it that I made it a quest to read all of Werlin’s books!)
Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender
The Wolf Princess by Cathryn Constable
Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott (oo, still not out! I’ve read an ARC that’s still not out!)
Impossible by Nancy Werlin (the first book in the Unthinkable canon; love this series!)
I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga (I read it since I like Dexter)
The Registry by Shannon Stoker
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga
Goth Girl Rising by Barry Lyga
Pivot Point by Kasie West (pretty awesome, better than I was expecting!)
Dexter’s Final Cut by Jeff Lindsay (a better maybe-ending to the series than the TV one, I suppose!)
Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin
The Killer’s Cousin by Nancy Werlin
Game by Barry Lyga
Allegiant by Veronica Roth
A Shimmer of Angels by Lisa M. Basso
The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman (autographed when I met her at Books of Wonder in NY; the first YA book my bf actually asked to borrow and liked!)
An Autumn Dream (novella) by Melissa Giorgio
Double Helix by Nancy Werlin
The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin (so gripping, I read it in two sittings~)
Black Mirror by Nancy Werlin
More Than This by Patrick Ness (not the book I bought autographed by him at Books of Wonder, but it seemed intriguing, so I got it from the library)
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (this is the one I got autographed; still reading)

News

“Like” Me on Facebook!

Posted on December 22, 2013December 22, 2013 by Amy McNulty

I finally properly joined Facebook and put up an Author page. If you have a Facebook account, I’d greatly appreciate your “like.” I’ll post all blog updates there (uh, well, after this one because otherwise it’d be a bit of a Mobius strip of click-here-to-see-blog-click-here-to-see-Facebook-page-click-here-to-see-blog), so it’s a convenient place to follow my blog, too. I’ll also update with fun little things on occasion–probably not as often as I do at my Twitter, but more regularly than I do here at the blog.

Click here to “like” my Facebook Author Page!

I know I joined the WIPMarathon at the beginning of the month, and I have nothing to show for it. This month has been one of my busiest, and I’m not sure I’ll get back to work on creative projects before January. Here’s hoping I start the WIPMarathon updates soon!

Writing

WIPMarathon Intro

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Amy McNulty

Back in August, I participated in a “WIPMarathon” put together by some of the other writers I follow on Twitter. Unlike NaNoWriMo, the WIPMarathon allows for personal, flexible goals: If you only want to edit and not write a new WIP, that’s totally fine. Whether you want to write 100 words or 2000 words a day, that’s totally up to you! And everyone’s a winner. 😀

I used the marathon to motivate myself to work harder on a YA fantasy I’d started the month before, and I actually finished the first draft that month! I wrote over 55,000 words in under a month to do so, too.

This time the WIPMarathon is running for two months: December and January. It’s not too late to join!

Learn more about the WIPMarathon and sign up here!

Marathon Goal: Well, I’m going to be honest and say that the first week of the WIPmarathon, I don’t plan to do a thing. Maybe brainstorm a tiny bit. But I desperately need a break from my creative projects after a lackluster NaNoWriMo.

After that, I have a number of things potentially going on, so it’s going to be a bit of a mixed bag of goals:

-Do edits (like a 6th or 7th revision? I can’t remember anymore!) on a YA fantasy

-Continue work on a YA fantasy WIP (currently 9591 words, needs to be a full first draft in a few months)

-Do edits (2nd revision) on a different YA fantasy (the one I finished during the last WIPMarathon)

…Those things are all my top priorities, but they also depend on talking with other people, and that depends on their schedules, so I’m not ready to dive into them quite yet. But I will be soon, I hope! I’ll definitely be working on at least some of them before the WIPMarathon is over.

My not-as-important optional goals to keep me busy when/if the above goals can’t happen are to finish the first draft of either my NA romance from NaNoWriMo (50,250 words at the moment) and/or a YA suspense I wrote last year (53,910 words currently). Both of these sputtered to a halt because I just felt that things were off about them. I’m not even sure I know how to fix them or if I can summon the ideas to at least finish drafts and try to fix them later. I think the YA suspense might even need close to a page-one rewrite. I just don’t know.

Stage of writing: See above. Five projects I’m juggling here! Two in revisions and three in drafting.

What inspired my current project: Reading The Hunger Games a couple of years ago really inspired me to get serious about my writing again. I wrote the first draft of the first YA fantasy mentioned while on a HG high. (Not that there’s much in common, I suppose, but there are some dystopian elements.)

What might slow down my marathon goal: Having five separate projects to work on for starters! Other than that, the holidays and keeping my motivation up. (And trying to fight the desire to give up on those two unfinished drafts.)

Best time of the day for writing: I work from home (as a writer), so my schedule is pretty flexible. I probably write best in the afternoons if I have the time.