What I Write (My Novels)
I’ve shared my novel’s progress. I’ve shared my pitch results. I’ve shared my woes and my wheees(!) during the whole agent querying process. But I’ve only really ever given little tidbits of information about what it is exactly that I write and what my novels are about.
So, since things are kind of slow for me on both the new WIP’s writing and the old WIP’s querying due to what I like to consider an August slump, I thought I’d share more info about the novels I’ve written, including the ones I’ve partially written since getting serious about this whole wanting-to-be-a-published-author thing. So, I’m really only including what I’ve written post-undergrad because I was way more interested in college than writing when I was an undergrad.
Book One - 2006
Title: Untitled
Status: Unfinished at 15k. Shelved.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Influences: Agatha Christie, Janet Evanovich
Story: A young 20-something court reporter living in the big city stumbles upon the dead body of a lawyer during one of her many routine court reporting trips to his office for her job. Her handsome ex-boyfriend, who she still loves, is accused and she takes it upon herself to unravel the mystery in order to keep him from going to jail, or worse, receiving the death sentence for murdering his boss.
Thoughts: This was my first serious attempt at finishing a novel. I got about 15k into this one before calling it quits. I didn’t know what I was doing. There are a couple of scenes I’m proud of with this one, but other than that, it’s not something I want anyone seeing. The premise is kind of cheesy, and I didn’t know what I was doing when I tried plotting this. I ran myself into a corner and gave up.
Book Two - 2007
Title: Untitled
Status: Unfinished at 30k. Shelved.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Influences: Agatha Christie, Janet Evanovich
Story: This is going to sound strangely familiar. A young 20-something dog walker/artist wannabe living in the city stumbles upon the dead body of one of her many dog-walking clients. The handsome guy she’s secretly in love with gets accused, and she takes it upon herself to unravel the mystery in order to keep him from going to jail, or worse, get accused for murdering his aunt. Yeah. Could this premise be any more similar to my first one?
Thoughts: Trying to write something like this didn’t work the first time, and it didn’t work this time either. I tried writing this during a challenge I gave myself. Write a book during the summer. I gave myself 3 months to do it. June 2007 to August 2007. Write 1k per day. I was doing pretty well up until the beginning of July, and then it slowly puttered out into nonexistence. My plotting improved a bit, but I still didn’t know what I was doing. Plus? The story/plot/writing/everything about it was kind of dumb.
Book Three - 2008
Title: Shadow Guardian (this titled changed about a million times over the course of this book’s development)
Status: Completed at 70k. Queried. Temporarily shelved..
Genre: YA Fantasy
Influences: Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman
Story: A 17-year-old Elf living on Earth must flee to her own planet when her Grandfather dies and leaves her and her cousin to ward off evil shapeshifting Harpies who have found their hidden cabin in the mountains where they’ve trained for their roles as Guardians of the Gates, the portals leading to other planets in the Universe. When the creatures follow them to their homeland in an attempt to take control of the planet, they must create an army of Elves, Pegasi and Faeries in order to battle these creatures.
Thoughts: This book is very near and dear to my heart. It is the first one I ever finished. It is the first one I have queried. I fell in love with the world and got to know my characters inside and out. But, in retrospect, it has some problems. It’s retired for now, but I do want to go back and revisit this story at some point and improve it. Also, it made me realize that while I have always loved reading cozy mysteries, that isn’t the genre I want to write. I want to write YA and fantasy.
Book Four - 2008
Title: Teen Ghost
Status: Completed at 65k. Currently in querying mode. Awaiting feedback from several partials and a full.
Genre: YA Paranormal
Influences: Holly Black, Melissa Marr, Rachel Vincent
Story: *Spoiler alert* I don’t know if anyone here will ever read this book, but I just thought I’d mention my blurb contains something that’s pretty spoilery.
When 17-year-old Cassidy meets an untimely death, she’s thrust into a whirlwind of crossing over classes, cemetery excursions and fleeing from the contamination that will cause her to remain a ghost forever. But when she discovers her Professor’s true intentions are not to cross over the ghosts but to consume their souls, her anger and confusion cause her to seek out the rumored cure to death so she can return to her life with her family, her friends and the one she loves.
Thoughts: The premise might possibly sound strange to you. It’s not a particularly cheery book. And I am completely in love with it. I was consumed by this book from start to finish. I hope I have this sort of writing experience again, but I’m not sure I ever will. I’m not trying to toot my own horn here. I don’t know if anyone else would enjoy it at all. I just know I do, and that’s the most important thing to me. To write what I love. BUT! This is also the one I want to get an agent with. I’ve got another one in the works right now, but this is the one I would love to be a debut novel. Of course, I’m getting a little ahead of myself here. First, I’ve got to get an agent! I’ve been querying, and I’ve gotten several requests. I’m going to keep querying until I know I’ve done my best to win with this one.
Book Five - Now
Title: Clash (This will probably change)
Status: In progress - Still plotting and working through Chapter 1
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Influences: Joss Whedon, Rachel Vincent
Story: I don’t want to share the entire blurb yet, but it’s about a freshman in college who also happens to be a very powerful being. More on this later.
Thoughts: I like this story, but I’ve yet to fall madly in love with it like TG. But I have high hopes that it’ll grow on me. I thought about writing the sequel to TG instead, but I’m not quite ready to tackle that yet while it’s in the midst of querying mode.
So, there you have it. My books. I’ve gone from dog walker to depressed ghost. From saving an ex-honey to saving the planet. And from a genre I like reading to a genre I love writing. Here’s hoping the next time I make a list like this, I’ll be talking about published works. 
Comments
Thanks for this, Jen. You know that I’m always interested in taking a quick look inside the minds of my colleagues (not sure that’s the best word, but I’m going with it for now).
We learn a lot about ourselves as writers by what doesn’t work for us, as opposed to what does. I’ve tried the hard-boiled detective novel and, although it’s fun to write a smart-assy first-person narrative, it’s not for me. In college, I even tried the angsty 20-something relationship novel…also a massive fail. Now, I’d like to think I’ve found a few inter-related genres that I can call home, like you’ve done with YA and Fantasy.
One day, I hope I have a chance to read Shadow Guardian and Teen Ghost. And, even though you’re keeping Clash pretty close to the vest at the moment, anything inspired (however remotely) by Joss has got to be awesome.
Keep plugging along, we’ll meet you on the other side.
This is a great post. I love seeing how you have developed as a writer. I did the same thing: started writing what I love reading, which was, at the time, crime. The computer crashed and I lost all 60 pages, which was a blessing. I still think it was a great premise. I just wasn’t the one to write it.
Now I’ve found my new niche. I think that’s a great part of the learning and growing process. It sounds like you’ve found your niche, and the love of writing will show in the work.
Best of luck in the querying process, and in your new book!
They say you have to have a few novels in a drawer in order to turn out a really good one. From the sound of it, you’re just about due for a blockbuster! What comes through loud and clear from your posting is that you’ve got determination and persistence–two of the best attributes a writer can have. Keep it up! We’ll be picking up your books in the B&N soon enough.
all very interesting jen, really cool to see the progression of your writing and how it took a few attempts, dipping your feet in the water so to speak, before you got into a real groove that gave you Teen Ghost. Best of luck finding an agent and getting it out there!
Hopefully you noticed, but i do this thing called the ‘aspirers mark’ on my own blog, which is a link, a bit of blurb and a blogroll entry for aspiring novelists on my own blog about my writing experience, and in my latest post it was you. Definitely keeping an eye on things as i’ll - hopefully - soon be touting for an agent / publisher so always scanning for advice and tips. Again, continued look with everything
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