The Nightmare Affair Official Blog Tour

That's right! The official blog tour for The Nightmare Affair starts tomorrow, Feb 18, hosted by the awesome Itching For Books. Details are posted on my main blog here.

Writer Brain, a Follow-on Post

So the incredibly talented Laini Taylor wrote this amazing post yesterday about having a jerky writer brain. If you haven't read it yet, you should. There's something very comforting in knowing that someone as awesome as Laini Taylor struggles sometimes with getting the job done. And I completely agree with everything she has to say, especially the part about how weird it is that the very thing that gives us our creativity is also the source of our struggles. But the thing is, my experience with this problem isn't at all like hers.

Let me explain. First up, a confession: I have never in my life written a novel out of order. I start with chapter 1 and end at "the end." Always. I am incapable of writing a story any other way. And yes, I imagine that Laini might give me a cat hiss if she were ever to read this. But the thing is, our journeys are still similar. I struggled to write something publishable for years. I wrote four whole novels of impressive (read: ridiculous) length. My first novel was 180k—can you imagine? That's two YA novels in one.

And the thing is, writing all those words was easy. I would sit down at my computer, set a word count goal, and then vomit out sentences and paragraphs until I met it. And I would do it without even thinking about it, with the critical part of my brain asleep. Kind of like this:

Trouble was, these novels, complete and whole as they were—with characters, something resembling a plot, a beginning, middle, and end—all sucked. Big time. Did you read the part about vomit? Yeah, I really meant it. I wrote those first four novels a bit like this:

But just as Laini suggests in her post, when I sat down to write The Nightmare Affair, I decided I needed to do something different. I needed to write a novel that wasn't just vomit. But unlike Laini, that didn't involve tricking the critical part of my brain into staying quiet long enough to let me get the story out. No, it meant just the opposite. I had to wake up my critical brain and force it to pay attention and do its job. That part of my brain is the smart part, the one that can find plot holes, detect character inconsistencies, even rat out the boring scenes.

And guess what? It worked. The moral of the story, I think, is that all writers need to find the way to trick the critical part of their brain into working for them instead of against them. Once you do, magic will happen. And if you're looking for another visual, I imagine it might be a bit like this (because seriously, Sherlock without Watson would just suck, and vice versa)

 Happy Writing!

***Originally published at www.mindeearnett.com. You can comment here or there***

Powell's Books New Leaf Literary Author Event!

So you remember how last fall my awesome agency New Leaf Literary & Media held a major multi-author event that got written up in Publisher's Weekly? Well, they're doing it again only this time I get to go! And yes, I'm completely excited. The event is April 17th,  7:00 at the Beaverton, Oregon location of Powell's Books. I'll be joining these fellow New Leaf authors:

• Kody Keplinger

• Ingrid Paulson

• Leigh Bardugo

• Lisa Desrochers

• Sarah Fine

• Kristin Halbrook

Did you see that lineup??? Seriously, how could you miss this? Oh, and I suspect there might be more news to add to this later. Just saying!

And in case you missed it, quick reminder that my book launch for The Nightmare Affair is March 5, 7:00 at Books & Co at the Greene in Beavercreek, Ohio. For more details on that and the rest of my tour, visit my Events page.

***Originally published at www.mindeearnett.com. You can comment here or there***

Nightmare Affair ARC Giveaway Winners!

That's right. After much debating,  hair-pulling, crying OMG why did we ever sign up for this, my critique partners and I have decided on the two winners. It was really, really hard. All the entries were so wonderful! I really mean it. I mean it so much, that I've decided to give swag packs to all the runners up who want them. You heard me right. If you're not one of the two winners below, but you'd like to receive a Nightmare Affair swag pack, please email your address at mindeearnett@gmail.com.

Now for the ARC winners:

Kierra for her dragon drawing:

and Adzs Hirano for this awesome magickind cloak:

Congratulations! Please send me your mailing information, and I'll get these out ASAP.

And thanks again to everyone who participated.

***originally published at www.mindeearnett.com. You can comment here or there***

Goodreads Giveaway, News, and Stuff

Yes, I know, I'm being very eloquent with that title, aren't I? I guess with how busy I am at the moment, I'm saving all my eloquence for other things, like all the super cool guest blog posts and interviews I'm doing for my blog tour. Speaking of which, that starts February 18th. That's only a month away! Rock on. Info on it here.

The Goodreads giveaway of The Nightmare Affair started today. There are 5 copies available. Enter here.

Speaking of giveaways, don't forget my ARC giveaway contest is open until January 23rd. Details on entering here.

Let's see what else? Oh, my website is getting a redesign very soon. I've seen early comps and they are fabulous. Can't wait.

The Nightmare Affair is getting its own trailer! (How cool is that?)

I will also be going on tour for the release. There are not a whole lot of stops, but I'll be doing a couple in Ohio (duh), one in Michigan, San Diego, and Portland. I'll post details as I get them and as I'm allowed.

I am also working on some extra special content from The Nightmare Affair, sort of an alternate chapter from a different character's point of view. Again, I'll share details as I'm allowed. 

Okay, that's it for now, I think. Happy writing!

***originally published at www.mindeearnett.com. You can comment here or there***

The Nightmare Affair Focus on You Giveaway

Okay people. This very well may be your last chance to win a physical ARC of The Nightmare Affair, assuming you care about that sort of thing, of course :) I'm giving away TWO of them. The contest starts now and ends January 23 at midnight, open internationally.

I don't know about you, but I'm a little unenthusiastic about holding another random generator type giveaway. To hell with luck. It's so...so...random and generally unfair. So instead the winners of this contest will be determined by a panel of human judges. That's right. Actual people. Me and two of my awesome critique partners Lori M. Lee and Cat York.

Now for the details.

STEP ONE: Interpret the term "Magickind" using a visual medium.

In case you didn't already know, all the magical creatures in The Nightmare Affair are referred to as magickind; so nightmares, sirens, demons, fairies, werewolves, unicorns, you name it. Anything magical. This interpretation can be a drawing, a photograph, a sculpture, video, comic strip, anything that involves a visual medium. Be creative. Be entertaining. Show us something beautiful, amazing, scary, funny. I really want it to be a spotlight on YOU. Your creativity and personality. Show me what you got. This piece of art does not have to be new, either. If you drew an awesome picture in the 3rd grade that fits the theme, use it. Seriously, as long as the visual belongs to you, you're good. No copy rights violations, please.

STEP 2: Post the art somewhere on the net.

Put is anywhere: your blog, Tmblr, Facebook, etc. 

STEP 3: Mention The Nightmare Affair in the post.

Post a picture of the cover if you want. Or maybe a link to Goodreads--it's up to you.

STEP 4: Leave a comment on my blog(s) that includes the link to your entry.

That's it. Remember, there are TWO arcs available. And if there are a lot of entries, I'll throw in a 3rd arc (my very last one). There will also be swag packs up for grabs as well. 

Good luck!

***Originally posted at www.mindeearnett.com. You can comment here or there*** 

Nightmare Affair Twitter Giveaway!

I've randomly decided to give away one of my ARCs of The Nightmare Affair on Twitter. To enter, just tweet that you want to win using the hash tag #NightmareAffair. My handle is optional (@mindeearnett). Winner will be picked tomorrow evening, open internationally.

Good Luck!