The Drafting and Revision Process with Lori M. Lee – The Infinite Blog Tour

March 16, 2015March 18, 20152 Comments

Today, I’m thrilled to host young adult author Lori M. Lee on her tour for The Infinite, book two in the Gates of Thread and Stone fantasy series from Skyscape. The novels are about a young woman named Kai who can manipulate the threads of time and finds herself at the center of a conflict between the gods. Each volume has a great mix of action, adventure, and romance, not to mention twisty plots that will keep you guessing. Lori is an amazing author and friend, so please welcome her!

Be sure to check out the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of the post!

The Drafting and Revision Process for Lori M. Lee

I’m an outliner. I spend a lot of time just preparing to write the book. For one of my books, I have an 8-page glossary and nearly 50 pages of world building. The outline is 24 pages. All that took over a month before I was even ready to put down some words. Some of you are shaking your heads at me and muttering, “Weirdo.” You’d be right 😉

Once I’ve got my outline, I can complete a first draft in four weeks. This is usually a 40k – 50k bare bones draft that needs a lot of fleshing out. This isn’t always the case (The Infinite was a 70k first draft), but it has been for most of my manuscripts. In the second draft, I fix any major plot or pacing issues. I take my time with it. I go through sentence by sentence, rewriting and tweaking every line and bulking it up. I do this a third time if necessary before I feel it’s ready to be seen by my CPs.

Once it’s in my CPs’ hands, I take a break and work on other things or I veg out to Game of Thrones. Then when they return the ms (they are always so fast, I love them <3), I do another round of revisions based on their feedback. Then I either send it back to them for a second read and/or I pass it on to my agent. She always has great things to say, so likely I will do another round or two of revisions with her as well.

Sometimes, she won’t like it and decide I need to start over again. That’s always hard to hear, but also always on point. And sometimes she’ll love it, and we’ll prepare to go on submission 🙂

Hope that was somewhat insightful into my process!

About the Author:

Lori M. Lee is the author of young adult fantasy novels Gates of Thread and Stone and The Infinite. She has a borderline obsessive fascination with unicorns, is fond of talking in capslock, and loves to write about magic, manipulation, and family. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband, kids, and a friendly pitbull.

Gates of Thread and Stone

In the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe.

In a city of walls and secrets, where only one man is supposed to possess magic, seventeen-year-old Kai struggles to keep hidden her own secret—she can manipulate the threads of time. When Kai was eight, she was found by Reev on the riverbank, and her “brother” has taken care of her ever since. Kai doesn’t know where her ability comes from—or where she came from. All that matters is that she and Reev stay together, and maybe one day move out of the freight container they call home, away from the metal walls of the Labyrinth. Kai’s only friend is Avan, the shopkeeper’s son with the scandalous reputation that both frightens and intrigues her.

Then Reev disappears. When keeping silent and safe means losing him forever, Kai vows to do whatever it takes to find him. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making. But to save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique power.

The Infinite

The walls of Ninurta keep its citizens safe.

Kai always believed the only danger to the city came from within. Now, with a rebel force threatening the fragile government, the walls have become more of a prison than ever.

To make matters worse, as Avan explores his new identity as an Infinite, Kai struggles to remind him what it means to be human. And she fears her brother, Reev, is involved with the rebels. With the two people she cares about most on opposite sides of a brewing war, Kai will do whatever it takes to bring peace. But she’s lost her power to manipulate the threads of time, and she learns that a civil war might be the beginning of something far worse that will crumble not only Ninurta’s walls but also the entire city.

In this thrilling sequel to Gates of Thread and Stone, Kai must decide how much of her humanity she’s willing to lose to protect the only family she’s ever known.

IndieBound | Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Brilliance Audio

Praise for Gates of Thread and Stone:

“Lori M. Lee excels in building a world of intrigue, oppression, and magic amidst a Labyrinth setting as twisted and winding as the secrets hidden inside her characters’ hearts. Fans of strong heroines who don’t need a boy to hold their hands, action-packed fighting scenes, and whispers of steampunk and mythology, will find themselves wishing they, too, could manipulate the threads of time, if only to stay inside the story a little longer.”

A.G. Howard, New York Times bestselling author of the SPLINTERED series

“A fast-paced, heart-wrenching whirl of a story full of magic, immortals, and a romance that will leave readers gasping for more. I adored the tough, scrappy narrator and fell in love with the boy chasing after her heart. Lori M. Lee introduces us to a fantasy world unlike any other and gives us the first taste of an epic love story in the making. I can’t wait for more!”

Mindee Arnett, THE NIGHTMARE AFFAIR series and AVALON series

“Inventive, romantic, and gripping. I was hooked from the first page!”

Amy Tintera, REBOOT and REBEL

“A thrilling adventure in a vivid world, GATES OF THREAD AND STONE is the kind of book you want to read both fast and slow: fast to find out what happens next and slow to savor the journey. I couldn’t put it down.”

Sarah Beth Durst

“Lee has woven a captivating fantasy that will thread its way into your heart and pull you into a world of magic and intrigue.”

Christina Farley, GILDED and SILVERN

And….Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway!

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Release Day for Lori M. Lee!

August 5, 2014July 6, 2014

Today is the book birthday for Gates of Thread and Stone the first book in an exciting new series by my critique partner extraordinaire Lori M. Lee!

I had the good fortune of reading and responding to an early version of the book and just know you will love Lori’s blend of fantasy, adventure and romance set in an original and intriguing world. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Check out what other writers are saying about Lori’s debut.

Plus a cover this pretty belongs on your bookshelf:

About Gates of Thread and Stone:

In the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe.

IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | The Book Depository

I’m so proud of Lori and hope you’ll help me celebrate her release day!

A Secret Vacation from Social Media

June 26, 2013February 18, 20141 Comment

I’m baaack…

If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, that’s a good thing. Because I worked hard to make it seem like I was here even though I wasn’t.

I’ve taken time off the blog before—a week every now and again for vacation, the holidays, or whenever real life gets too crazy.

But when I found out I’d be joining my husband for a three-week trip to Germany and Spain, I was left with a tough choice. Either let the blog go dark for an obscenely long time or work harder than I’d like to keep the blog up-to-date.

I chose the later option while I spent the majority of this past month in Europe. And here’s how.

Get Organized

I was lucky in that I had advance notice of our travel dates. So I created a list of priorities that I wanted to accomplish before leaving town. Everything from reaching certain milestones on my various projects, ensuring all my critiquing obligations were met, and preparing blog posts in advance.

Knowing what I needed to run when was hugely beneficial. In my early blogging days, I always had a blog post or two ready to go in case I needed it. However, that fell off as my writing obligations increased. But it was good to remember just how smoothly things could go with the right preparations in place.

Get Tech

The post scheduling feature on Blogger (also available on WordPress) also helped tremendously. Although we were told we’d have internet access at the hotels we were staying at over the course of our trip, who knew how that would work out in actuality (Spain had the worst internet b-t-dubs). That combined with the time difference and the fact that I would be more focused on having a fantastic time in Europe instead of micromanaging my social media, it made sense to have my posts ready to go in advance.

The other tool in my arsenal? Tweet Deck. Some of you are already familiar with it, I’m sure, but I just started using it this Spring, and it’s “schedule tweets” feature was hugely helpful in creating the illusion I was still around in the digital ether. Took the spontaneity out of my tweet stream, yes, but it was a big help keeping my Twitter profile active.

Get Help

But in the end, I didn’t do it alone. When I found out I’d be gone, I solicited help from a few of my writerly friends. I staggered their interviews between regular posts, which lessened the burden on me to create new content.

In case you missed them, be sure you check out the interviews with some great fellow writers I have the utmost respect for:

May 22^nd – Catherine Schaff-Stump

June 5^th – Lori M. Lee

June 19^th – Fran Wilde

I was happy I could keep the social media machine rolling while I was away, even though it required a lot of work. What techniques or shortcuts do you rely on to stay on top of your social media obligations?
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Interview with Lori M. Lee

June 5, 2013February 18, 20142 Comments

Today I’m happy to bring you an interview with my critique partner Lori M. Lee.

In December of 2011, she signed with Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary, and her book deal (!) with Skyscape was recently announced. She blogs about the writing life at http://lorimlee.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by today, Lori! For the uninitiated, could you give us a brief overview of your writing journey up until now?

Thanks for having me, Lauren 🙂 It’s been almost four years since I began my first manuscript-with-intent-to-query/publish in 2009. It was a NaNoWriMo, and I spent a year editing and rewriting it based on feedback from my amazing CPs (like you! :D) before querying. While querying that project, I began working on Gates of Thread and Stone. This story so much fun to write, and I was extremely fortunate to receive an offer of representation in November of 2011 after only a few weeks of querying. But the work definitely didn’t end there. A major revision and a year later, I finally got that yes from an editor!

What is something that surprised you about being an agented writer? Many aspiring writers put so much emphasis on getting an agent without necessarily thinking about what happens after reaching that milestone.

This is sort of dumb (and a good example of how my brain works… or doesn’t, in this case), but when I began my next project, I had brief moments of panic when I thought about writing the query. Then, at some point, it struck me—I don’t have to write a query. My agent doesn’t require one. The query was always such a stress-filled requisite of writing a new manuscript-with-intent-to-find-an-agent that it didn’t immediately occur to me I didn’t need one b/c I already had an agent. And believe me, when that realization hit, it felt AWESOME.

I’ve gotten the impression from other writers in the blogosphere that being on submission is kind of like Fight Club. The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club. What can you say about your time on submission and how you coped for other writers going through the same process?

Being on submission had even greater ups and downs than querying. When an editor loved the book, but it got shot down in acquisitions, that hurt a million times more than an agent rejection because I was so, so close. Being on sub was exciting and terrifying, but also emotionally draining. I coped with everything first by working on something new and then inadvertently by getting pregnant lol. With my mind focused on a new world and new characters (and the impending baby), I had less time to worry about what was happening with the book on submission.

The Gates of Thread and Stone will be published by Skyscape (Amazon Children’s Publishing) in 2014, and it is the first book in a series. Tell us about the book.

Going with what was revealed in the deal announcement (since I don’t know how much more I can talk about yet), Gates is about a girl who stays carefully under the radar to keep her ability—to manipulate the threads of time—a secret. But when her brother disappears, she has to risk getting caught up in a revolution in order to save him.

What was your biggest challenge writing this book?

This particularly book came really easily to me, which is not typical. The world building was probably the biggest challenge because world building, in itself, is fairly intricate, but the plot and the characters were very clear in my mind.

What excites you most about this next stage of your career?

Reader feedback. Good or bad, I can’t wait to hear what readers think. It’s definitely scary, and I’ll probably fumble through it all, but I’m looking forward to it.

Finally, what is the single best piece of writing advice you’ve received?

Work on your next book while you’re waiting for query responses. Write while you’re on submission. Write while you’re waiting for feedback from CPs or your agent or your editor. Having that shiny new idea to focus on really does make the waiting more bearable, and the bonus is if that ms doesn’t work out, you’ve got your next one ready to go.

Thanks so much Lori!

Be sure you check out her blog (http://lorimlee.blogspot.com/) and follow her on twitter (@lorimlee).

Lori’s always been an incredibly supportive writer, and I’m so happy she’ll be able to share her stories with the world!

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