Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Yesterday’s Daughter Tour Stop

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As part of the Yesterday’s Daughter blog tour, Sallie Lundy-Frommer is dropping by the blog to talk a bit about outlining a story. Is it a necessity? Or is going with the flow the way to go? Read on and let us know what you think.

First, let’s have a look at the book:

Yesterday’s Daughter 
Sallie Lundy-Frommer
Release date: January 24th 2011

Goodreads / Purchase

Yesterday’s Daughter is an emotionally laden vampire romance novel woven with layers of betrayal, love and loss. Grace Stone, who later learns her true identity is Sapphira, is a loner who survives abuse in the foster care system after being abandoned as a child.

A brilliant student, she escapes from her brutal foster parents as a teenager and creates a life for herself. But, her life is little more than existence; plagued with questions about what she really is, a family that she has never known and the never-ending need to keep her differences hidden. She is alone and lonely, believing it will always remain so until Malachi appears in her life.

Malachi, a Guardian of the vampire communities, has searched for his life mate, Sapphira, for decades. He refuses to cease searching for Sapphira even though she is believed dead by all. Conflict arises over the decades between Malachi and his family because of his refusals to accept another mate. But his very soul drives him on to continue his search, knowing that he could not exist if Sapphira were not in the world, somewhere.

Now I’m giving the blog floor to Sallie.


Plotting –  vs. –  Not Plotting

When I began writing Yesterday’s Daughter, there was no plan or outline.  I just wrote.  Sure, I’ve written many papers for school, college, and work, so I’m well aware of what it is to draft an outline.  As I’m writing this posting, I’m thinking about one of the first writing assignments I had in junior high school.  I remember the teacher talking about the requirement that there be a clear beginning, middle, and end.  Of course, the simple act of outlining has helped carry me through more an a few writing projects. 

And yet when I wrote Yesterday’s Daughter, I didn’t follow this tenet of writing.  In that instance, right or wrong; I felt it would be a waste of time and creative energy to spend days or weeks plotting out the story.  Hey, the creative juices were flowing and I just wanted to run with it.  I pretty much wrote Yesterday’s Daughter, from beginning to end without hesitation or mapping the storyline first.  Maybe it was easy for me to write in a near perfect flow of storytelling because I’d had the story in my head for years.  So I guess one could make the argument that I’d plotted out the story in my head over the years.  Perhaps…

Okay, there were times when I made lists and flow charts for action sequences using easel pads taped to the walls.  But this wasn’t done as a preamble to starting to write the book.  The notes, drawings, doodles, and lists were scratched out as I processed through the story.  They were used as visual cues and to keep the information about characters, locations, events, and descriptions orderly. 

Recently, I started writing the sequel to Yesterday’s Daughter.  With this endeavor, I began by bulleting a very perfunctory outline of the story.  It took about five minutes to make this list.  And just like with my first novel, I’m making lists or drawing pictures as I progress further and further into the story.  Again, these lists are not made to help map the story.  They are visual strings around my finger.  I’m still at the mercy of my dreams to direct the events and actions of the characters.

So with all this said, let’s go back to the original premise of this posting: To plot or not to plot, that is the question.  There are those who will aggressively come down on one side or the other of the debate.  I say, do what works for you, but I’m straddling the divide.  A bulleted list or two and a few stick figure diagrams work for me. 

What do you think?


Thanks so much, Sallie, for dropping by Xpresso Reads! I always love learning the writing process of an author.

Sallie Lundy-Frommer was born on a farm in the rural South to a family of migrant farm workers. At an early age, her family moved to the urban North-East. She now lives in the suburban North-East with her husband and a large assortment of plants. She holds bachelors and masters degrees in Human Resource Management and currently works in the health care industry.

Next stop on the Yesterday’s Daughter blog tour:
Plotting vs. Not plotting? What do you think?

Dusty Reads (17)

Posted by on 01/17/2012 • 19 Comments

Dusty Reads is a weekly meme, hosted here, featuring a book that has been sitting unread on my home shelf for some time. To participate, add your link at the bottom.  If you wish, you can grab the button and find more information here.

My pick this week:

The Society of SSusan HubbardReleased May, 2007Goodreads / Purchase

“If you ever want to hide from the world, live in a small city, where everyone seems anonymous.”

That’s the advice of twelve-year-old Ariella Montero, who lives with her father in Saratoga Springs, New York, in a house haunted more by secrets than by memories. The Society of S traces her journey south, to Asheville and Savannah, and on to Florida, as she learns that everything she knows about her family…

Cover Reveal: Crux, Skinny, Keeper of the Lost Cities & The Glimpse

Posted by on 01/16/2012 • 8 Comments

Crux Julie Reece Release date: July 9th, 2012 by J. Taylor Publishing  Add it to your Goodreads

Homeless, broke, and hungry, seventeen-year-old Birdie Orin is running out of options. That is, until a chance meeting with a bearded stranger in a trench coat changes everything. He promises more money than she’s ever dreamed of and an amulet of power once owned by Viking lords. Cool, but there’s a catch. He informs her she’s the last descendant of a Nordic tribe, and the necklace that grants her supernatural abilities is cursed. Only she can free the souls of hundreds of Viking warriors trapped in a spell cast by one of two rival kings.

Her mysterious benefactor warns the spell chunking king still seeks the amulet, and she must choose a…

Review: Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Posted by on 01/16/2012 • 28 Comments

Hallowed(Unearthly, #2)  Cynthia HandRelease date: January 17th, 2012by HarperCollins Publishers

Goodreads / Purchase

For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation that her purpose—the task she was put on earth to accomplish—is not as straightforward as she thought. Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire. And, as she is drawn further into the world of part angels and the growing conflict between White Wings and…

In My Mailbox (18)

Posted by on 01/15/2012 • 105 Comments

“In My Mailbox” is a meme, created by Kristi at The Story Siren, that features books I have received/ purchased/ borrowed during the week.  Know what I’m doing? I’m writing my IMM post while watching Gossip Girl (trying to catch up on this season)! How’s that for a fabulous life? Teehee. Isn’t Chuck awesome!! So I hope you all had a good week. In case you missed it, I was interviewed over at One A Day YA if you’re interested in knowing a bit about my favorite reads of 2011. Now, let’s see my haul this week.

I got for review (click on cover for Goodreads):

I want to thank TP Boje and Random House Children’s Books for the review copies.

I bought:

Yep, I think it’s about time…

Review: Fracture by Megan Miranda

Posted by on 01/14/2012 • 25 Comments

FractureMegan MirandaRelease date: January 17th, 2012by Walker Books for Young Readers

Goodreads / Purchase

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine-despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she’s far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can’t control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she’s reassured to…

Fresh Batch (Jan. 15th – 21st)

Posted by on 01/14/2012 • 11 Comments

Exclusively titled for Xpresso Reads, Fresh Batch features the hottest releases of this upcoming week. Flavour of the week:

=”1″>Hallowed

Cynthia Hand Goodreads / Purchase 

 For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation that her purpose—the task she was put on earth to accomplish—is not as straightforward as she thought. Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire. And, as she is drawn further into…

Review: Fated by Sarah Alderson

Posted by on 01/13/2012 • 25 Comments

FatedSarah AldersonRelease date: January 5th 2012by Simon & Schuster

Goodreads / Purchase

What happens when you discover you aren’t who you thought you were? And that the person you love is the person who will betray you? If your fate is already determined, can you fight it?

When Evie Tremain discovers that she’s the last in a long line of Demon slayers and that she’s being hunted by an elite band of assassins –Shapeshifters, Vampires and Mixen demons amongst them – she knows she can’t run. They’ll find her wherever she goes. Instead she must learn to stand and fight.

But when the half-human, half-Shadow Warrior Lucas Gray – is sent to spy on Evie and then ordered to kill her before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy,…