Threw Our Shoes into the Ocean

Greetings! I have made it back from my Oregon Coast adventure. It was a few crazy days of traveling to the southern Oregon Coast, than back up to Florence and the dunes, and then back home to Central Oregon. I saw some very beautiful and striking landscapes along the way. I had never been to the southern part of the coast before, and the area was gorgeous. There were these incredible rock formations that jut up from the sand. One morning, we caught these towering boulders in the fog, and it was so atmospheric, and a little creepy, too. These seagulls cried out around them, and the birds sounded like babies wailing. It gave me chills, and the entire scene left me feeling very inspired.

In Drowning in the Dark, I always pictured the town of Freeport – the place where Sam and her family live -- to be farther up north on the Oregon coast. I mostly based it on the town of Newport, which was a place I used to visit a lot growing up. Newport has this beautiful lighthouse that sits on top of this grassy point overlooking the ocean, and that became the inspiration for Sam’s thinking place in Drowning in the Dark.

But even though the landscapes I saw this trip didn’t exactly fit in with my ideas of where Sam lives, they did inspire me for a new paranormal series. I’ve been working on a rough draft for this one, tentatively entitled, All of Our Tomorrows, for about a month now – ever since I finished revising the second Drowning in the Dark book (which will be out later this month, by the way!) The new series is about this teenage girl named Callie who lives in a small coastal town. One day, she boards a whale watching boat, and ends up falling off, into the icy waters of the Pacific. She’s presumed dead. Until two weeks later, when she’s found washed up on a nearby beach, half-drowned. Callie has virtually no memory of the two weeks. All she has is a necklace that doesn’t belong to her, and a single murky memory: man’s face that she doesn’t recognize.

Anyway, that’s the gist of the new series. I think I’ll most likely have it done by October. My plans are that by December, I will have the entire Drowning in the Dark trilogy out, along with the first of this series. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I feel inspired. Judging from my own experiences, it seems like inspiration can give you super human strengths when you’re a writer. So I’m hoping to hold onto it for as long as I can. Hopefully, it will take me through December.

So that was my trip to the coast. Well worth it for the inspiration it’s given me. For the rest of my vacation – about three days now – I’m planning on lying out in the sun on the deck, reading as many paranormal books as I can until nightfall – when I will switch to writing. I have some final edits to finish up with the second Drowning in the Dark book, and after that, I’ll continue working on All of Our Tomorrows. So those are my plans – I’m hoping the days will go by slowly :)

I Just Know that Something Good is Gonna Happen...

Hello there! It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted anything. Pretty much just a reflection of how scattered my life is right now. But the good news is that things are getting better and more organized with each new day. Things have slowed down to a normal pace at work, so I’ve had more time lately to work on my writing, which I think will really pay off.

A few awesome things have happened to me as of late. First off, I got a Barnes & Noble Nook for my 24^th Birthday. Yahoo!!! It has changed my life. Being a writer, I think it’s crucial to be reading books in your field. And before I got this amazing piece of technology, I really didn’t read a whole lot in the paranormal genre – or any genre to be honest. I’d go through periods of extreme reading, countered with periods of no reading whatsoever. But now, with the help of the nook, I am devouring books like crazy. I’ve finished the first two Amanda Hocking books in the My Blood Approves Series, and I’m loving it. I love the story, and I also really love Amanda’s story. She’s an inspiration to keep going, and to follow your passion, no matter what other people tell you.

The other really great thing that’s happened (or going to happen, anyway) is that I have a few trips planned in August that I’m completely stoked about. I haven’t had a vacation in soooooo long, and I can’t wait to take some time off from my job (Because when I say vacation – I don’t mean from my fiction writing. I love that part J ) I’ll be headed to Portland for a concert, and then to the Oregon Coast for a week after that in August. Which, as it happens, is where my books take place. I haven’t been to the Oregon Coast for several years, and I’m so excited to visit! At heart, I think I belong by the ocean. I was born in Santa Monica, CA, and I think that being by the beach and the ocean have always felt right to me. So I can’t wait to get there, and to get away for a bit. Vacations are so important!

Anyway, those are my updates for the time being. The second Drowning in the Dark book is in the editing process right now, and will be published in August. It’s taken a lot longer than I thought it would. But it’s a lot longer than the first book, and I think all the time I’ve taken to write it will be well worth it in the end.

So that’s what’s happening with me right now. I hope all of you out there have a great week, and I’ll check back in soon!

Up the Beach

As I’ve mentioned in pretty much every post since Drowning in the Dark came out, I’ve been working hard on the second book in the series – getting it ready for its June release. It hasn’t been an easy journey. I’ve come up against a lot of roadblocks along the way. However, finally, finally, finally, I feel like it’s starting to all come together.

During this time, I’ve been thinking a lot about the setting of the book. It takes place at the Oregon Coast. Even though I live in Oregon, I haven’t been to the coast in about two or three years. But I love it -- that’s why I set the book there. Because the place is so atmospheric and soulful. The smell of the salt water in the air, the crashing of the waves, white foam chasing after your feet. The immense space of it all. Beaches that just go on and on, full of crab shells, broken sandollars, washed-up kelp, and bone-white driftwood.

I was seven when my family moved from Los Angeles to Oregon. We lived in a suburb of Portland, and we used to go to the beach a lot it seemed. Some of my best memories of growing up are spending misty days at the beach during the summers and falls.

Anyway, I’ve been dreaming of it a lot lately while writing the second book in the series. I was thinking too about the soundtrack to my series. I know, I know. It’s kind of cliché. But thinking about the coast, and music related to the Sam’s story has actually really helped me get through some roadblocks in the book. I’m not sure why, but the music has helped me create a clearer atmosphere. Plus, I love playing DJ.

The first time I saw the Oregon Coast, I was seven years old, and it was the 90’s, so I thought that a 90’s influenced soundtrack would be appropriate. Not all of them are from that era, but I think all these songs have a feel about them that fit in with the book’s theme and atmosphere. So here’s a list:

Drowning in the Dark Soundtrack
Up the Beach – Jane’s Addiction
Blue Light – Mazzy Star
Galapagos – The Smashing Pumpkins
Cloudbusting – Kate Bush
Wicked Blood – Sea Wolf
Summer – Buffalo Tom
Dearly Departed – Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs
Look For Me (I’ll Be Around) – Neko Case
Indifference – Pearl Jam
Tranquilize – The Killers
In the Arms of Sleep – The Smashing Pumpkins
Say Hello to the Angels – Interpol
Turquoise Days -- Echo and the Bunnymen

More to come for Drowning in the Dark II!