Guest Post: The Life of Yuna

Today, we have another guest post. This time, Yunaleska (penname Eleanor Fletcher) introduces herself and tells us a bit about her writing life.


Hi everyone! Amy very kindly let me put a post up while she's off on her travels. This is a little post about me. (Or, the way I phrased my post suggestion (think of Donkey in Shrek) me! me! me!) It's self-promotion, no doubts about it. But it's a chance to explain who's behind the Yunaleska comments on this blog.

I'm one of Amy's writing friends. I have 3 identities online.

Yuna/Yunaleska on blogger. I'm a writer, currently editing one wip which I hope to query by the end of this year. It's a standalone YA sci-fi novel, but it does belong in my Empire series. You can follow my writing progress at Nayu's Realm

Inky gets credit for being one of those who inspired me to start blogging about writing.The posts here are highly informative. With my writing blog, its more a journal of how I'm progressing on my wips. The frustrations and joys of being a writer.

It's rather haphazard because a lot of my focus is on my review blog, Nayu's Reading Corner This is a new adventure for me, still in the early stages. My book count per month has increased significantly - I devour them, just as I used to when I was little. I got out of reading a lot for many years, something I'm rectifying.

I'm immensely grateful to publishers for saying yes, we'll send you review copies. My mother couldn't quite believe it when I explained I don't pay for the books. I do buy books, and I do get them out from the library.

Book reviewing is publicity for the publisher and author. It's not just that though. It's a way for me as reader to rabbit on about the book. I can highlight issues addressed in stories which sometimes reviews don't point out. I get to explain my view of the characters and their actions. I get a soapbox to advertise the books I adore. Plus, to talk about the funky illustrations (having a little obsession with those at the moment).

I feel that taking on life as a reviewer is enriching my life as a writer. I'm reading more (so getting *ideas* for stories, and a feel for wha people like. I'm slowly (very slowly) improving my summary skills. I'll need these for my queries.

My third identity, you ask? I joined the dark side today. Twitter. Again, another platform for my review work, and also just to keep in touch with friends and authors. I'm under Nayuleska - Yunaleska was taken.

Other info about me:

• Writes: YA, mostly sci-fi and fantasy
• Read: the above, plus thrillers, historical, manga
• Adores: languages. Learning Japanese, and now Mandarin and Cantonese.I'm definnitely mad for attempting both at once, but life's for living.
• Obsessed with: anime, and video games. Writing beats all of those.
• Dreams: getting The Call. Having my books sold. Also dream about getting zebra finches.
• Random fact: my car is purple.

It's been fun chatting here. I'm looking forward to more exciting posts from Amy upon her return.

Welcome to my Sidebar: Miss Snark's First Victim

A blog for aspiring authors...

Who: Miss Snark's First Victim is Authoress, an aspiring author. She devotes a large chunk of time to running this spiffy blog, and does an absolutely fabulous job of it :)

What: This is a blog dedicated to writers and writing. It's full of great information, both in the posts and in the comments; some really great discussions have been hosted on this blog. And, something which has attracted a lot of new subscribers of late, the contests! The most popular ones are the Secret Agent contests, where Authoress engages a real live agent to judge the first pages of the entrants' work. The first one of these contests attracted over 100 entrants!

Where: Here, or here: http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/

Why: You mean the Secret Agent competitions haven't sent you scurrying over to check it out already? O:)

When: A few times a week, definitely on Fridays :)

Welcome to my Sidebar: Waiting for Antlers

"All the federales say, we could've had her any day..."

Who: Sparky, aka Spartezda, who is also a contributor on the Toasted Scimitar blog. Sparky is a writer and a student of science, especially biology, though not for much longer.

What: This is Sparky's personal blog, but as she happens to be a writer, it's naturally got a strong writing focus :)

Where: Here, or here: http://spartezda.livejournal.com/

Why: Sparky calls herself the Feral Biologist. For anyone who happens to have an interest in both writing and biology, this is the perfect blog :) Her quirkiness come through in all her posts (I adore her talent for creating awesome labels for posts), and they're usually informative to boot. At the moment, she's going through and typing up her notes from Fantasy Worldcon, which are both interesting and useful :)

When: Randomly, but at least once a week.

Welcome to my Sidebar: Lisa Shearin

"Welcome to the website of Lisa Shearin, the National Bestselling Author of the fantasy adventure series featuring Raine Benares, a sorceress and seeker of things lost and people missing."

Who: Lisa Shearin is the author of the fabulously successful series featuring MC Raine Benares, a wise-cracking street-smart elf who works as a Seeker - and has a nose for trouble. This series is one of my all-time favourites, for its ease of reading, high entertainment value, fabulous dialogue and absolutely sparkly characters - not to mention the awesome urban fantasy-ness of it all :o)

What: This is Lisa's author website. It's chock full of goodies, from news about her latest books to events such as signings, free chapters to read and of course, her blog.

Where: Here, or here: www.lisashearin.com

Why: Lisa has a great sense of humour, which comes through in both her books and her blog. She shares her experiences openly and candidly, treating us to insights into the life of a Real Live Author :) From the way she balances writing with her day job, to cooking for the family when you're in the grips of a novel, to how she begins writing her book, to some wonderful posts on editing that inspired my own edits on TBAEO, Lisa's blog is a genuine, entertaining look into the life of someone who does what we all dream of - Writes, and gets Paid To Do So :)

When: Usually daily, with 'fun pics' on Saturdays :)

Welcome To My Sidebar: Write or Right

"An aspiring writer describes the ins and outs of writing, querying, and (we hope!) publishing."

Who: My 'twin', one half of the Twins of Darkness and Good, an aspiring writer who goes by the name of Liana Brooks. Liana writes mostly science fiction, with the odd fantasy piece thrown in. Her work is unashamedly cross genre - expect to find vampires, werewolves, shifters and various forms of 'pathics in her ViS universe, just for a start :)

What: Write or Right is Liana's personal writing blog. She gives updates on her writing progress, makes lots of announcements about competitions and writing opportunities, and offers her own thoughts and comments on the process of writing and most particularly plot formation and idea generation.

Where: Here or here: http://lianabrooks.blogspot.com/

Why: I love this blog not only because it belongs to my twin in the writing world, but because Liana has an awesome sense of humour and an amazing ability to generate unique and awesome ideas. Her posts always make me either laugh or think - often both - and it's a fantastic source of inspiration for science fiction and fantasy ideas. Go, check it out!!

When: Irregularly, but about 4 times per week. Regular posts on Fridays - the Friday Random, which are very enjoyable :o)

Welcome to my Sidebar: Holly Lisle

I'm Holly Lisle, a full-time novelist on a mission--I believe in paying forward. I have the best job in the world, and if you want to write for a living, too, I want to help you make that happen. So here you'll find not only information about my many novels, but a massive amount of information on how to write your own, and how to make a living doing it. Believing in your dreams and taking the action to turn them into reality is not just for other people. It's for you, too. Welcome to my home on the Web.

Who: Holly Lisle, obviously :D Professional writer for the last fifteen or so years, author of over thirty fantasy novels, Holly has also devoted a significant amount of time to developing an amazing website for writers.

What: This website is everything I think an author's site ought to be. It includes her writing diary (aka blog), information on all her published work, and a section for fans of her work that includes sample chapters, short stories and world building tidbits about her various worlds. You can download full FREE copies of her novels Fire in the Mist and Sympathy for the Devil here.

BUT, as WELL as all this, there's more :D

Holly has a section of her site devoted to writers, and it's awesome. I've read the entire content of this site twice - the first time is what kicked me into writing seriously - and I own her entire Create-A- (Plot, Character, Language and Culture) nonfiction series. (For the record, the plot clinic was the most helpful for me. But I've always struggled with structure as opposed to character, so I imagine it wouldn't be so useful for someone who already knows plot. It does have some nifty ways of communicating with your Muse, though). There are free sample chapters of these clinics available in various places around the site.

Her articles cover everything from the pros and cons of going pro, how to write in the face of adversity, bringing life to your stories, advice on how to finish and how to revise your stories, finding your themes, how to work with editors and agents, using strangeness, and how to evaluate your work.

As WELL as that, she has a free - FREE, people! - ebook called Mugging the Muse: Writing for Love and Money that you can download right here. Free stuff! Go! Read now! :D

There are also a series of newsletters you can subscribe to: the standard, once a week writing updates newletter that answers questions about writing, the free mini plot course (not so brilliant if you've read the plot clinic, but better than nothing if you're struggling with structure in your work), and a newsletter that focuses on ways to earn income that will support your writing habit called Money to Write (though the link is called Creating Royalty Income). This last one, because of its focus on earning money, is a lot pushier than the other newsletters, and if you read this one first you may be turned off by it - think internet copywriting and hard sell-speak, even if the products themselves are great. Don't let that dissuade you from digging deeper into her site, though - the writing information is still great, and the business side of things is easy to avoid; just don't sign up for that letter! :D

Where: Here, or here: http://hollylisle.com/

Why: I think, in lieu of more rambling, I'll just let you read the 'What' section again. I'm sure it's obvious that I love this site, and that I feel like it's boosted my writing career more than anything else except actually writing (and critting, but that's writing ;)).

When: Well, I'm subscribed to her newsletter, which I get once weekly, so I don't actually check her blog any more. I'm guessing it has a similar frequency - but this site is so chock full of writery goodness, it'll keep you going for a while.

PS Lol, I thought I'd better add (after an off-site comment) that I haven't actually read any of Holly's fiction. It's hard to come by in Australia. But I adore her non-fic, and that's what I'm raving about here - just to clarify ;)

Welcome to my Sidebar: Folio

"Thinking beyond the page."

Who: This is Folio Literary Management's shiny new blog. Folio represents a wide range of genres. Their author list includes Caitlin Kittredge (Night Life), Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain) and Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovely). The blog is run by several of the members of the agency.

What: This is a fairly new blog - it's been running since late April - but it looks set to be a winner. Another 'industry' blog, it's crammed full of delicious tidbits about the business side of writing, and those all important, elusive creatures - agents :)

Where: Right here, or here: http://foliolit.blogspot.com/

Why: This blog looks set to be chock full of goodies for the wanna-be writer wanting the inside scoop on agenting. Topics covered so far include query letter tips, the top 5 things writers can do to help their in-house publicist, ten pieces of advice to improve your writer-agent relationship, and how to get the most out of writers conferences. There are also some 'opinion' pieces, such as what gets particular agents going with regards to characters. It may be new, but it's already home to a wealth of information - check it out ;)

When: Looks like once a week :)

Welcome to my Sidebar: Pub Rants

Yes, I know, I owe you all a series article. It's coming, I promise. I'm just currently bogged down with chemistry reports, and it's infesting my brain...

"A very nice literary agent indulges in polite rants about queries, writers, and the publishing industry."

Today's blog is agent Kirstin Nelson's blog, Pub Rants. Round of applause, everyone! :D

Who: Kirstin Nelson is the founder of the Nelson Literary Agency, which she founded in 2002. She was an agent for several years before that, and has proven herself a success with a number of her recent representations doing extremely well on the NY Best Sellers lists. She represents women's fiction, romance, literary, fantasy & science fiction, YA and MG, with what seems to be a strong (if unintentional, according to her blog) trend towards spunky female characters, a la Raine Benares from Lisa Shearin's Magic Lost, Trouble Found.

What: Pub Rants is what I call an 'industry blog'. It's chock full of useful information on the publishing industry, as seen by an agent. There are real-live successful query letters, extensive article series on Agenting 101 and Blog Pitching, and posts on every topic remotely connected to the day-to-day business world of an agent.

Where: Here, or here: http://pubrants.blogspot.com/

Why: This is the very first industry blog I began to read regularly. I simply adore the wealth of information that Kirstin divulges in a friendly, easy-to-read, no-nonsense manner. Honestly, if you're even remotely considering publishing, devouring a couple of industry blogs, archive and all, is a must - and this is a fabulous, easy-to-access blog to start with. :)

When: Irregularly, at least twice weekly on weekdays and up to five times a week on weekdays.

Welcome to my Sidebar: Chelle's Blog

"One writer's journey."

I thought that this week's blog review ought to be of Michelle's blog, in honour of her first publication. So, here we go :)

Who: Michelle, fondly known as Chelle, is an active member of Critique Circle and a good friend of mine with a fabulous sense of humour. According to her bio on The Shine Journal, Michelle is "wife and mother of three, teaches in Virginia, where her family and fictional characters set impossible tasks for her every day. Balancing home, work and writing, she manages to find time to get it all done." Go Chellie! :D

What: Chelle's Blog is her personal account of her journey through learning to write. You'll stumble across all the various ups and downs of a real writing career in this blog.

Where: here, or here: http://chelle.was-here.org/

Why: I started reading this blog because, well, Chelle is my friend! However, I think that this is a great blog because Chelle is absolutely, 100% honest. She discusses her road bumps frankly and approaches everything with a positivity that is contagious - I can never leave her blog without a smile :)

When: Hard to say, since this is a brand-new blog. Posting seems to be whenever Chelle has news, which averages out to slightly less than twice a week :) Welcome to the world of blogging, Michelle! :)

Welcome to My Sidebar: The Toasted Scimitar

"Like in a fantasy pub, you get lots of information and opinions here. No tavern brawls, unfortunately…"

Who: The Toasted Scimitar is run by Ardyth, The Dreaded One (DO); Laurie, also known by her CC handle Aspiration (Aspie), who claims the title of Mission Control; Skip, self-proclaimed Resident Geek; Evil Overlordess Merc; and Sparky, The Feral Biologist.

What: Founded by the original Evil Authors Guild, this is a fabulous blog by fantasy/sci fi writers for fantasy/sci fi writers. Includes book reviews where books are rated as cities and animals, and rants on every topic that might even possibly relate to spec fic writing.

Where: Right here. Or, for those of you who prefer to see your links, it's found at http://toasted-scimitar.blogspot.com/

Why: For me the rants are the highlight, as the quintet have a unique way of looking at the world that makes you reconsider everything you ever accepted as fact. Topics range from eye colour in fantasy, to rules of magic, characterisation, cliches, politics in fantasy and much, much more. The passion these girls have for their various sub-specialisations filters through their rants, and infects you with this fabulous desire to go push your characters off metaphorical (or real, whichever you prefer %-)) cliffs in order to prove that you, too, are worthy of the Evil Author badge.

When: Posting is, from what I can make out, irregular, but as there are five contributors you're guaranteed an eyeful of tasty rantiness more than once a week.