Author Susan Kaye Quinn's concept for her new YA novel, OPEN MINDS, is fantastic. I read her initial query/blurb months ago over on YAlitchat and was totally blown away. I'm ecstatic to finally get my hands on it! Being a part of her Launch Party is icing on the cake!I'm blessed to be Chapter 3 of her guest posting segment. She's doing a series, taking you on a journey of how Open Minds came to be. For the whole story, visit the other guest posts listed below.
Now, here's Susan!
I’m finished! Oh wait. Maybe not.
by Susan Kaye Quinn
My
new paranormal/SF novel Open
Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy)
started as a NaNo novel (National Novel Writing Month). Actually it started
as a paragraph, then turned into a voice tutorial, but at the end of NaNo, I
had 53,829 words and had typed the words THE END.
I was finished!
Um, no.
I had a great setting (a mind-reading world), a
fantastic character (a girl who couldn’t read thoughts, but could mindjack into
other people’s heads) and a conflict (keeping her ability hidden while trying
to pass for a mindreader). Somewhere half-way through pantsing those 50+
thousand words, I had discovered my theme: intolerance. I was all set,
right?
Sure I could pad those 53k words a bit and come up
with a decent wordcount for my YA novel (80-90k). After all, it was just a
first draft, and a hastily crafted NaNo one at that.
About three weeks later, one day in the shower, I
realized I had only written about half the novel.
This was partly due to my tragic inability to write
a decent ending the first time around. Every novel I’ve pantsed my way through
has required multiple (like 7) drafts before I could get the ending right.
Apparently I was so wide of the mark on Open Minds that I’d completely
forgotten to write the second half of the novel.
Sigh.
I erased “THE END” and spent another month writing
an additional 30k words.
This was actually the turning point that changed me
from a pantser to the hyper-plotter that I am today. You would think that being
an engineer-type-person,
my Logic Brain would want to plot everything out and know exactly where my
story was headed before I opened the Word document. But for me, writing was
Creative Brain at the wheel, driving madly over the landscape, shouting,
"Check this out! How cool is this?? We are WRITING!!"
Which is fabulous fun, but also lands us all in the
ditch eventually, bruised and wondering who exactly put Creative Brain in
charge.
Properly chastened, my Creative Brain allowed as
how, perhaps, maybe, there might be something to this plotting thing, and
possibly we could spend some time checking it out.
I know many writers who very successfully write
novels via pantsing and many others who swear by their plotting techniques. In
the end, what matters is that the story is compelling. I had a fantastic start
to Open Minds, but I was nowhere near done. And I think it’s important
for any writer to realize that THE END is really just the beginning.
*********************
When
everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.
Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is
a zero, someone who can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are
outcasts who can’t be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular
mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally
controls Raf’s mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening
new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle
around her, and she’s dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where
having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly
choices before her.
Open Minds (Book
One of the Mindjack Trilogy) by Susan Kaye Quinn is available for $2.99 in
e-book (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords) and $9.99 in print (Amazon,
Createspace).
The Story of Open
Minds (linked posts)
Epilogue: Finding Time to Write the Sequel
*********************
PRIZES!
Three ways to enter (you can have multiple entries):
1)
Leave a comment
here or at the Virtual Launch Party post
2)
Tweet (with tag
#keepingOPENMINDS)
Example: When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to
keep. #keepingOPENMINDS @susankayequinn #SF #YA avail NOW http://bit.ly/psX1Hh
Example: Celebrate the launch of OPEN MINDS by @susankayequinn
#keepingOPENMINDS #SciFi #paranormal #YA avail NOW http://bit.ly/SKQOpenMinds
3)
Facebook (tag @AuthorSusanKayeQuinn)
Example: Celebrate the
launch of paranormal/SF novel OPEN MINDS by @AuthorSusanKayeQuinn for a chance
to win Open Books/Open Minds prizes!
How awesome you started this at NaNo. So excited for you Susan. Good luck with your book.
ReplyDeleteI know. She's a NaNo inspiration!!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Susan! You're a complete inspiration! (Not just a NaNo one ;o) xoox
ReplyDeleteYay! Reading all these posts and not having read the book yet is driving me crazy! Soon, very soon!
ReplyDeleteLOL! I've been in that position before, thinking I'd gotten to The End. Yeah. :-)
ReplyDeleteSo happy for you and that you were able to make it to the true The End for Open Minds and are now able to share Kira's story with the world.
I am so with you on that note, Laura! It's driving me nuts! Can't wait to read for myself.
ReplyDeleteSherie, thanks so much for being a Party Host! :) (I can't wait for you to read it too!)
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I'm a hyper-outliner, but I'd pretty much decided to trying pantsing my next novel to see how that works for me. But when Susan says she might go through 7 drafts of a novel, I'm not so sure I'm up for that!
ReplyDeleteHa - I get all of my best ideas & revelations in the shower too. :)
ReplyDeleteI bought my copy and can't wait to dive in!
Susan! Finally bought my copy!!
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying learning more about your process and how Open Minds came to be. Can't wait to get my copy.
ReplyDeleteI love these 'chapters' you've written for today, Susan. Mmm this one is particularly challenging!
ReplyDeleteThe end is just the beginning -- pretty much every time, whether we're writing or accomplishing something else :)
ReplyDeleteNot entering to win (buying my copy) but you've given further proof that NaNo novels can rock!
ReplyDelete(And my upcoming book was also written during NaNo.)
Yay! We're so excited for Susan! It's such a great story concept. I'm sure it will do awesomely. :)
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding! A nanowrimo novel that's awesome! Also, a great ebook bargain my daughter couldn't refuse with her ebook spending allowance. The cover rocks.
ReplyDeleteDropped in from seeing you at PiBoIdMo and found this fun launch party! LOVE these kinds of psychological stories--wait, I wrote a paranormal, psychological story during Nano, 2009.
ReplyDeleteIt's a small, mind-jacking world. :-)
Sue, you make me laugh. We should take our creative brains on a tour of Europe sometime and let them ramble us over the countryside.
ReplyDeleteThis book is on my list--sounds FAB. And I just want to say that I like how Susan is promoting her book. It's smart and professional. *takes notes*
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited for Susan. I read an eBook version and LOVED it but I can't wait to get my hands on a printed copy. What can I say, I'm a print book kind of gal. Best of luck to her with this one!
ReplyDeleteEverywhere I visit today I see Susan's book! Fabulous. What a great launch.
ReplyDeleteAh, Heather, I totally understand liking the feel of print in your hands! I did, however, purchase an e-copy yesterday!!
ReplyDeleteI've had those moments in the shower too - that "a ha!" moment followed by "oh crap. That's going to mean a LOT more work." But it's always worth it!
ReplyDeleteYou know what I love about these blog tours? Its not the book itself (I was sold on that the very first post), but its how we really get to know the author and how they work. Great stuff!! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff here, Sheri and Sue! I love that Open minds is being launched during Nano... Very cool!
ReplyDeleteThat is so exciting that its a NaNo novel!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat premise for a novel. Who knew Nano was such a cauldron of creativity. I'm not a writer, but maybe I'll try next year.
ReplyDelete***New Follower***
oh, yeah, that happens to me all the time. Usually I have some great beta or critter or JRM who'll say, "You're not done here," and then I'll start thinking about it, and whamo! :D I'm more of a plotter now, too. Oh! And it seems I read somewhere that the best ideas come in the shower. Something about relaxing... <3
ReplyDeleteThanks for the fabulous comment and follow, Maurice!
ReplyDeleteLTM - :)
This story sounds so fun! Thanks you two!
ReplyDelete