Friday, October 28, 2016

Do You Have Goals? November 2017

Hosted by Misha and Beth

Some odd, but celebratory news:
Just last night during a random search at Amazon, I discovered that a small press publisher published a novella of mine in August. I didn't know it was out.

Here's the story behind the novella:
It all started with an acting gig for my daughters who were in one of the episodes of a youtube series, and then I was asked to write a novella for one of the episodes, creating my own B plot. (This makes it sound like I live in Hollywood, but I just live on the rainy Washington peninsula. For those non-USA folks, this is the peninsula that sticks out slightly on the left hand side of the US, separated from Canada by the Juan De Fuca.)

I signed a contract just to write the book. 

I conducted research on the series and the B plot, wrote it, received editorial feedback, and made changes to the novella - all in two months. It was a wild run down an unexpected path. I had never written paranormal, or MG, or mystery. I had never taken a script to a novella format, or created a B plot to intermix with someone else's A plot.

 I had my doubts, sure, but I felt pretty good about my writing for it, and I hoped my B plot character, Muriel (a selkie), would add to the overall novella's tension with her quest to find her father interesecting with the MC's quest to discover the secret of a mysterious lady. 

I enjoyed the writing of it, edited it as the publisher asked, and then didn't hear anything. I finished the whole project almost two years ago. In fact, I thought the whole project was just lost, gone down the tubes, and forgotten for all eternity. But, here it is:
Plot A is based on the script of the youtube series, and Plot B was my own creation. They are woven together in the book.
Here's the blurb from Amazon:
Ghost Sniffers, Inc. is a paranormal investigation firm run by nine-year-old Faith Forge, a little girl whose Type 1 Diabetes gave her the ability to sniff out ghosts. But she’s not the only one with a “trade-off power.” In the fictional world of Ghost
Sniffers, Inc., all young people with life-altering medical conditions or disabilities have super powers. United with Forge, these brave investigators solve mysteries that are serious and silly, wacky and witty.

A lighthouse keeper's love might be a selkie, so Forge calls on Maxo, Spark, Skully, Gogo, and Captain Snakes to help. But a shocking turn of events leads to the biggest cliffhanger of the season.

Based on Season 1, Episode 5 of Ghost Sniffers, Inc., the television and web series where the actors’ real-life disabilities become super abilities, Eight If By Sea is a novelization with a twist written by Tyrean Martinson and approved by the show’s creator, Jennifer DiMarco. 


So, I contacted my publisher last night and they sent an immediate response sometime late in the night. Somehow, I missed an announcement two months ago . . . not sure where that is. I searched for it and didn't find it; but in any case, the book is out now. So, I'm celebrating a little late.

Onto Goals

My main November goal - Thanksgiving!
Secondary goal: Exercise and Health
Third goal: NaNoWriMo (with the main and secondary goals always before it) My NaNo name is: Tyreantigger - however, I'm not usually social via NaNo, sorry. :( 


October Finish Line Results:
Words Written: 12,081 (not even half of my goal)

Stories accepted for publication: 1
Stories rejected: 6
Stories on submission (new count today): 18 - Including a new one to IWSG! Many thanks to our beautiful host, Misha, for editing "Of Words and Swords"!

Miles Walked: 36

Miles Biked: 0 Agh. I may get out this weekend.

A NEW Exercise Practice: Brazilian Jujitsu and MMA!!! So far, I love it. 
Our whole family is going two to five days a week.


Book News:
Cling to God in the chaos of life...
Cling to God is a book of devotionals for every day of the year. The aim is to encourage Christians in their faith, to help them think about their beliefs and learn more about God. The devotions are short and inspirational so that people with busy lifestyles will still able to spend time with the Lord each day. 


(So far, I'm only a bit into the devotional and I love it!!!)


If you need a little music inspiration, listen to "MOVE"





And, I found another video just recently that I really liked. It's about knowing our purpose and how that can make a difference.




Are you on the move? And why?
How can knowing our purpose make our writing more powerful?

BTW, I'll be taking part in the Trick-or-Treats Read Hop on Monday and I'll be co-hosting IWSG next Wednesday.

18 comments:

Laurel Garver said...

Congrats on the latest publication. Sounds like it was a really fun project to write! And the emphasis on underrepresented groups in kidlit--like those with health and disability issues--is really wonderful. Turns the whole dis/ability concept on its ear. Love that!

My goals are to keep moving ahead with my prompts projects and novella. And I know I will have client projects hitting my desk again soon.

I will be cheering on all you NaNo participants. The format doesn't work well with my process--it would be a lot of stress for a lot of unusable gibberish. All my dumbest ideas come out under pressure. The good stuff takes time for me. :-)

Rachna Chhabria said...

Congratulations on your latest publication, its cool that you wrote a MG book, I write middle grade too.

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Congrats, Tyrean!

Good luck with all of your goals! I'm with you on the exercise and NaNo. :)

And how fun that your whole family is doing the jujitsu and MMA!

Cherie Reich said...

Congrats on the new-ish publication! You'd think the publisher would have been better about making sure you knew it was out. Heh. Good luck with NaNo!

Heather R. Holden said...

Wow, congrats! Crazy how this novella got published under your nose like that. As a type-1 diabetic, I can't help but be intrigued by the premise of Ghost Sniffers, Inc. Very cool how you got to be part of that series through this novelization!

Tyrean Martinson said...

Laurel - yes, it was definitely a fun project to be a part of - and the idea that the director/producer/editor had for having disabilities be a trade-off for super-abilities was really cool!
I understand about NaNo - my only success came from a project that I had already started and then re-started and re-wrote during Nano. That's what I'll be trying this time, too.

Rachna - Thanks!

Madeline - Thank you!

Cherie - yes, it was an interesting process. And, thanks!

Heather - Thanks! Yes, it was really cool to be a part of the project.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Congratulations! What a surprise. Been nice if they'd contacted you more than once though.
Congratulations to Lynda.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Ha, love the surprise you got. And I love the story behind it. How exciting!!! And thank you so much for posting about my book and for your kind words. I'm thrilled you are loving it.

Tyrean Martinson said...

Alex - agreed! It's a nice surprise, but I wish I had prepped something for it.

Lynda - Thanks! And you're welcome! It's a really good book.

Olga Godim said...

Congratulations on your 'surprise' publication. I love the idea of that book and its heroes - the sick kids.

J Lenni Dorner said...

That's great news that you have a book out... even if you didn't know. LOL.
Keep up all the great work.

JEN Garrett said...

I'm not social on NaNo either, but I made you my buddy. I've added a novel that I'd like to write, but I don't have much hope for drafting because I'm also working on revising my current MG. Good job on Submitting - you know how I struggle with that. :)

Ruth Livingstone said...

Congratulations on the published work. I wonder if you found working in collaboration with someone else helpful? Certainly I did when I worked with an artist who illustrated my little booklet of short stories. Looking at the submissions you have out at the moment and in total awe. Something I really must do: submit more!!!!

Annalisa Crawford said...

Congratulations on the novella, glad you found out about it!

Misha Gerrick said...

You're welcome. ^_^

Best of luck with your NaNoWriMo!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Thank you for featuring Lynda's book.

Oh, I know which story is yours now! LOL I've already read it.

Congrats on the published story. As a publisher, I can't imagine sending an author just one email though.

abetterjulie said...

That's wild that you didn't know! I'm glad you stumbled upon it. Congrats on the late success!
I hear you on the health goals falling behind. I always think I'm doing well until I crunch the dang data. I hope the weather holds for you to squeeze in some biking between NaNo word sprints!

Juneta key said...

Love the premise of this book. Very clever and unique. I predict a hit in other words best seller. Crossing my fingers for ya.
Juneta @ Writer's Gambit