Cover Reveal: THOROUGHLY MODERN MIRELLA

I'm so excited to reveal the cover of my YA contemporary debut. The fabulous art is by the wonderful Sarah Kettles and the design was done by the flawless Jenny Adams Perinovic. I love them both and I could not be more pleased with the final product. 

About the book: 

In a small town like Paradise, everyone has a role. 

High school senior Mirella Danville is a proud "theatre nerd." That is, until she makes a scene at the Halloween party she shouldn't have even gone to, flirts with the football captain, and reunites with an old friend who ditched her for the popular crew.

It's a dream come true when Mirella lands the lead in the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, and it should put her firmly back in her usual role. Instead, it only fuels her desire to change up her boring existence so that her first kiss won’t be onstage with a gorilla-handed junior. The line between Mirella and her character blurs as she dives head first into a world of fruity flavored cigarillos, sweet and sour schnapps, and college boys. 

But when her antics--and the expectations of her hot college boyfriend--start to cause drama off the stage, Mirella questions her decision to be more "Millie" than "Mirella." With her friendships, family, and performance on the verge of crumbling, Mirella has to get back into character...or risk losing herself.

And now.... the cover; 

Don't you just love it?!

THOROUGHLY MODERN MIRELLA debuts on 4/12 (preorder links coming soon)

Don't forget to add it on goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29553628-thoroughly-modern-mirella

ALL THE IDEAS!

I am currently 47,000 words into my first draft of Goodbye, Good-Goody Girl. But, instead of wanting to write the last 13k in this story, I have three/four really good ideas for new stories.

At first I said " WTF brain?! This is so not cool!"

Then I saw Jenny's post on TGNA about working on two completely different novel projects right now. So I told her about my ideas. And we had a great writerly chat about ideas, and writing, and motivation. And making our ideas reality. It is starting to sink in how close to being done I am with G4 and that I will have written a whole book-shaped thing from a tiny idea. So I could do it again. I should do it again. I will do it again.

At the end of the day, if our ideas are going to matter we have to do something with them. I can talk talk talk about the two especially awesome ideas I have for NA books right now. But they won't matter. Not really. An idea can live forever but if it is never more than an idea do we care?

Anyway, so I have awesome ideas that I'm writing down and holding onto for a time when I can make something with them.

What do you do when a new idea strikes you?


xoxox
L.S. Mooney

It's the freaking weekend, baby. I'm about to have me some fun.

I just finished my first week of full time summer employment and I am LE TIRED! It is on that basis that I am asking you to indulge my R.Kelly Next to Ignition reference as my blog title.

I am super excited for this weekend. My good friend is turning 25 tomorrow and having a big party to celebrate. I am really looking forward to it. My goal for this summer, despite my new job, is NEW ADVENTURES. They can be small and quotidienne but they will happen. I need to live my life. Even if it's only a little bit at a time.

Also, the person I have been continuously friends with the longest in my life is in town for the next few weeks and he normally lives on the other side of the country so I am incredibly excited to hang with him and catch up. He's known me through all my "phases" and it's really cool that he still loves me. Sometimes you just need that.

Finally, a fun share. Today, I made a wordle for what I have done so far on G4 (44451 and counting). Besides being graphically fun, it really opened my eyes to my use of language and which words I rely on in my writing. Take a look at mine - does it make you want to read my book? And make your own here: http://www.wordle.net/create



http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/7921563/Goodbye_Good-Goody_Girl1 (click here to see it full size)

Writing Process Blog Hop!

I was tagged for this blog hop by Faith McKay. Hey there!

1.) What am I working on?
I'm working on a YA contemp called Goodbye Good-Goody Girl (aka G4). It's the story of Mirella, a theatre nerd trying to make the most of her senior year. She lands the leading role in Thoroughly Modern Millie and starts acting a little more "modern" in real life, too. It's a story of friendships and firsts with a hearty dose of musical theatre.

2.) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
 This question was really hard for me but the always wonderful Jenny Adams Perinovic told me G4 is different from other YA contemps because of it's lady-mances, her new term for female bromances. There have been a few posts floating around the web lately about female friendship (http://www.bustle.com/articles/18771-we-need-more-female-friendships-like-these-8-ya-bffs and http://www.stackedbooks.org/2014/03/positive-girl-friendships-in-ya-guest.html) and a huge part of my story is about friendship, positive, deep, female friendship. There is a little romance, too. And a dash of drama.
I also think G4 is different because of the role the musical plays in it. I read (and loved) Maria Boyd's Will but the role of the musical show itself was so much smaller than I imagined. I just had to stop for a moment to think what the show was (The Boyfriend). In G4, Thoroughly Modern Millie is not only important because Mirella is a theatre nerd, the content and story of the show is important, too.

3.) Why do I write what I do?
 I write because I want to share stories. I write YA contemp with musicals and lady-mances because that is what I know and what I think is missing from a bunch of YA. I had a wonderful, if at times emotional, high school experience complete with weirdness and great girl friends. I want to share that with teens who have it rough. We talk about fiction as a safe way to explore difficult and diverse situations, and it is which is awesome. However, I also love fiction because it's an escape and a comfort. I want my readers to relate to the quirkiness of my characters and know that being "weird" or "abnormal" is ok. Actually, it's awesome. Jenny Kaczorowski has talked about this on her blog as well (http://jennykaczorowski.blogspot.com/2014/03/girls-like-me.html?m=1 )
At the end of the day, I write what I do because of memories like this photo of me and my girls during spirit week junior year (2005) which actually made it into our yearbook in hopes of inspiring and supporting those kinds of memories for others.

4.) How does my writing process work?
 Before I officially joined The Great Noveling Adventure, I wrote a guest post about my process of writing longhand first. You can find it here: Why I Love Longhand And that is still true. I write most scenes longhand first then type them up where I flesh out and do a quick edit. My hand on the page helps ground me to the words I'm writing. To be honest, as much as I love writing longhand and I think the process works for me, sometimes I really hate the typing. But nothing is perfect, right?

As far as the planning and organizing part, that's my writing notebook (a front shot and the inside cover). In case you couldn't tell, I like sticky notes. I normally start writing linearly but now I'm writing by scene so I have sticky notes for each separate scene I've written that hasn't been typed yet. Then the inside front cover is a list of finished scenes/chapters, scenes I still need/want, and a rough word count list. I'm very tactile and love to physically organized things. I often rewrite my sticky notes and relay them and it helps me somehow. I'm a quirky writer, I know.


I'm tagging Alex Yuschik
and Angel Cruz 
:)

Middles

I'm so mad that I missed What's Up Wednesday this week, but I'm excusing myself because we had a blizzard/snow day and I totally forgot what day it was.
Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about some recent posts by editors that I've seen around the web. Mostly they've said a lot the same thing, strong, captivating characters and voice. I obsess about choice anyway so I'm not really surprised on that one. And good characters? Duh.
But among "all the same thing" I found a kernel of incredibly helpful, if also obvious, advice. I can't find the post now (curse you internet!), but the basic gist was consistent quality. Beginnings are good because they get workshopped and obsessed over. Endings, mostly the same thing. The stuff in the middle? Not so much. The unique qualities of voice disappear, characters lose their sparkle, and plot gets lost in the convoluted details.
Basically, middles suck. And if your middle sucks it could turn off potential agents and publishers.
Since I'm struggling so much with the middle of G4, this post hit home. Now I'm just more neurotic about it....
What's your favorite part of the story to write?

Crossroads and Detours

Check the road named after one of the oldest families in Radnor, OH. Look familiar?

On Saturday, I posted over at TGNA about my first year on this writing adventure with my WIP Goodbye Good-Goody Girl. Check it out here: http://www.thegreatnovelingadventure.com/2014/02/lavender-checks-in-2/  And it really has gotten me thinking about writing. My writing, writing as a career, the way writers I know on Twitter talk about writing. 

It is so easy to feel like there is a right and wrong way to do the author thing and at the end of the day that is just not true. Sure, it would be awesome if I was pitched an idea, got a huge advance, and could write full-time before achieving critical acclaim and winning at life. But in today's publishing world that is less and less common and that is ok! It doesn't make me any less of a writer and it makes me writer pals who successfully work full-time/have kids/etc total superheroes. 

So about a year ago I got the idea for G4 and I thought I'd have it finished by the end of Summer 2013 but that didn't happen because I got a job teaching summer enrichment and it ate all my energy. Then I thought I'd have it done my the end of 2013 and somehow the November and December yielded embarrassingly low word counts and lots of frustration so that didn't happen. Now I am in the middle of musical season and choreographing for 3 shows so I'm creatively tapped out. Sure, those sound like excuses and maybe they are, but they are also facts of life. I have been busy in a weird way so I haven't written a lot. But guess what? I love what I have written and I am enjoying the journey, detours and all. 

I am taking the scenic route but I haven't yet felt the need to stop at a crossroads and make a deal with  a demon (sorry I've been binge watching Supernatural with my boyfriend all weekend). I am writing my book, my way, in my time. Everyone should do the same. 

Thankful Update

It is the day after Thanksgiving. I am still full of food after spending a really enjoyable day with my family at my sister's boyfriend's house. It was the first really formal Thanksgiving my family has done in a while. Normally it is just the four of us so we don't use the fine china or the fancy table cloth. My sister's boyfriend, however, was all about the pomp and circumstance. Like, we had water and wine glasses and there was a single fresh cut rose in the center of each plate. Then we watched It's a Wonderful Life (I LOVE YOU JIMMY STEWART!). It was the kind of Thanksgiving I remember from my childhood when my family was still a little bigger. I loved it.

Also, musical auditions are over for both shows I'm working on this season. I'm running point on The Wedding Singer with my sister's assistance while my sister is heading up Pippin with my backup. Auditions were cool, casting had some setbacks. I am trying to remain excited instead of apprehensive but I'm struggling.

Finally, I haven't touched G4 in over a week. I am stuck in the middle and it is a barren wasteland with no lifelines or avenues of escape. I chatted with the lovely Jenny Adams Perinovic about it and have decided on a change of plan. I was writing this story linearly, from point A to point B because I had events I wanted to happen but was pantsing everything in between. With two musicals and being back in my family home instead of holed up in a big house alone, I am going to be a lot busier soon and being stuck with G4 will mean no progress if I'm already busy. I know myself well enough to know that I won't make time for it. So I am switching paths. I am going to write the scenes I know I want and piece it all together later. Hell, I might even write the end first. But I have a new plan and I'm gonna stick to it!