DC Petition!

Hey, everyone!

This is a pretty short post, but I'd just like to make this a petition request. I realize this is more than a long shot, but I'd like to contact Bruce Timm, or someone in the DC Animated Universe, to request a DC AU movie featuring Bruce and Diana as a couple.

This is based off reaction from my alternate universe fanfiction "Hunter's Moon." I know there are many Bruce/Diana fans, many of them due to the Justice League TV series, including myself. But as the writers never followed through, I believe many people would like to see the pair together.

If you'd like to sign the petition, please leave a comment below. Again, I realize this is a very, very long shot -- if not impossible, but I'd still like to try!

- Serena

How to Handle... Life?

Hey, everyone! :)

Hope everyone's week has been better than mine. Although I finally finished (hopefully) my novel and submitted it to another author for review, this week hasn't been the greatest. I attribute that to being sick. No fun, for sure. Kind of kills the creative aspect of me, and all I want to do is sleep and watch Jane Austen movies.

Thankfully, the worst of it is over, but now I'm faced with a new challenge: writing another book. I can't help it -- as soon as one idea comes, then comes another, then another, and so on. I've actually started writing several other books, but haven't finished them. Right now I'm trying to figure out which one I want to stick with for the next year or so.

Some authors can write a book in five months, some in a week, and some take ten years. Generally, when all is said and done, it's about a year or a little more for me. The first draft usually takes about five to six months, but the editing takes a lot longer.  While I wish I could write more every day, I write in spurts, where I'll write five or more pages in a day, then not write for a few days, then go back to writing. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of "Sherlock Holmes" wrote around 3,000 words a day, which is very impressive and makes me feel very ridiculous sometimes. But you write how you write.

Now, the above picture is the main character in my recently finished novel UNDER. I've been getting very frustrated due to the fact that I don't have a consistent style, which I'd really like. I usually find different artists and like different things about them, but I still haven't found which style I prefer overall. Realistic, manga, lined, unlined... driving me crazy! I guess the main thing is that I still have to finish up college. I hope by the time that I do, I'll have figured it out.

But what are your thoughts? Do you find it easy to stick with one style of art? How long does it take you to finish a work of writing? Let me know!

- Serena

New Year's Resolution and New Art Shop

I normally don't do New Year's resolutions, but I decided that I'd make one exception for this upcoming year. I've been trying to blog more than one post a month, but I get too busy and forget to update. Not good.

So, my resolution is to blog once a week. We'll see how it goes!

Updates before the year is out: Almost finished with the final edit of my novel, then it's off to more agents. I'm hoping to have most of the letters out by January. The fun part (oh joy) is compiling the list of agents. Since this new novel is a completely different novel from any I've written in genre, I have to find a whole new list of agents to write to. I do like that most of them take email now, but you have to do your research. It's a lot of time and effort. But hey, if you're doing what you love... :)

Next update! If you didn't notice the new banner right under my Deviantart tab, it's my Society6 shop -- a shop for art prints, iPhone cases and skins, and laptop cases and skins. I have several of my artworks available in various forms -- all of them in fine prints, and some in iPhone case/skin format, and some in laptop skin. I'll be adding more as time goes on. Check it out! :)

Prayers are appreciated! I'm applying to transfer to a different college for the fall of 2012, and as of yet, I have no idea where I'm going. We'll see how things go, but right now, that and finishing up the novel are my main priorities. :)

Take care! I'll try to add another post before the year is over.

New Mermaid Novel

Hey, everyone!

Hope you're all doing well. It's been a rough past couple weeks, but I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving, probably my favorite holiday. I love making pumpkin and maple pecan pie... One time I made a chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Good times.

Now, onto novel news. To the left is a cover I've created for my newest novel UNDER, a young adult dark mermaid novel. It's filled with action, suspense, and of course, romance. I've sent out only a couple query letters so far, and one agent did ask for the whole manuscript after reading the partial. In the end, she did reject it, but her letter was extremely encouraging. I'll be sending out more letters soon after some further editing (fun fun).

I'm very excited about this novel. Although it's an extremely difficult process, I can't imagine doing anything else. I've often wondered what I'd do if I weren't writing. But every time I think about it, I really can't imagine not writing. As soon as I finish one, I feel incomplete - plot bunnies are constantly attacking - and I have to start another.

I've also had a lot of people ask me about self-publishing, since my other novel OCEAN OF EMPTINESS is self-published, as well as a short story. Self-publishing, while I think it's the wave of the future, is a very good option. But I've also had a lot of people want the book in print, but it's very expensive if you're self-publishing. If you want to reach a wider audience at this point at least, I still think traditional publish is the way to go. But I think eventually digital printing will overwrite the traditional, which is sad, because I still love hard copies.

So, I've gone through the initial stages of the writing and querying process for UNDER, so now it's a little more editing, then off to other agents! I might re-query the agent who requested the full manuscript as well. She was absolutely wonderful and responded quickly and very nicely.

If anyone has any questions or would like to comment, feel free! :)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

- Serena

Where is Mr. Darcy??

Hey, everyone!!

It's been a while since I updated this blog... sadly...

But as I've been writing a new novel and watching some of the regency classics - ie Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Jane Eyre, etc., I was reading some of the comments, and it got me thinking. The comments were usually the same:

Where are the Mr. Darcys of today? The Mr. Rochesters? The Colonel Brandons? How come we don't have iconic Bryonic heroes today? Where have they gone?

So, pertaining to these questions, I wanted to ask all of you out there a question:

What do you look for in a hero? What are his characteristics? What characteristics would he have to have in order to be a Mr. Darcy? Give me some examples.

Just curious...


- Serena

Alex Reads Twilight and Life after Potter

So, whilst finishing up summer classes and juggling commissions and writing a new novel (Yes, it's ANOTHER mermaid novel, but completely different from OCEAN OF EMPTINESS), I've been rewatching Alex Reads Twilight on #TheYouTubes. I'm still trying to figure out why people keep using #beforeveryword, but it's starting to get on my nerves. Maybe it's because of Twitter (which I still can't get, since that's what FB statuses are for), or maybe it's another new internet craze.

Either way, maybe I'll start using it just for the heck of it... and #seewhathappens.

Moving swiftly onward.

If you haven't seen Alex Reads Twilight, WATCH IT. It's hilarious.

And, bigger news... TheKayNewsNetwork reports that life as we know it will end after #Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Part 2 comes out in theaters. Actually, scratch that - life as we know it will end after it comes out on DVD/BluRay.

I for one am dreading the moment. For realz. Seriously, they made all seven/eight movies. It's Harry Potter!!!! LIKE #THEMOSTFAMOUSBOOKSERIESOFALLTIME. I just hope they get the Snape scenes right... That's probably the scene I've been looking forward to ALL YEAR. They didn't include the part where Lily dissed Snape in the OOTP, so they'd better include that in here... but I doubt it. They'll go for the action and forget all the parts of HP that made it so good. Ah, well.

I'm still going to see it. :)

NEWS ALERT: Look for my new novel coming out this early fall/late summer hopefully.

Cheers! :)

- Serena

New Ebook Platforms! And Art

No, I am not putting my ebook on literal platforms. I'm a horrible carpenter.

My YA novel OCEAN OF EMPTINESS, thanks to the lovely Smashwords.com, is now available on the Apple iBookstore and Barnes & Noble. Still priced at $0.99! I'm super excited that the book is becoming more widespread, and I hope that people will enjoy it on their Nooks and iPads/iPhones/iTouches/iEverything else. :)

Buy OCEAN OF EMPTINESS on:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Apple
Smashwords

Short Summary of OCEAN:
 What do you get when you cross a runaway rich kid, a space mermaid, and a stuck-up teen commander with a bunch of pirates in space? ABSOLUTE CHAOS. Throw in a little hint of romance, a few starship battles, and a lot of yelling, and you've got yourself an intergalactic tale. Think Star Wars meets Little Mermaid.

Also, I'm in the middle of working on two new OCEAN OF EMPTINESS (OOE) illustrations that will be published very soon on Deviantart. Eventually, there will be several illustrations in OCEAN, all of which will also be available on Deviantart.

That's all for now! My next post will be about the OCEAN characters and my short sci-fi story SHIFT. :) Leave a comment, ask a question - whatever you'd like!

- Serena