Let the One-Month Countdown Begin!

Crow's Rest releases on May 12, and that's only a month away! I spent yesterday leading a bird walk, but today I'm celebrating the countdown with a few posts.

Brenda Drake is hosting a reveal of the first five pages of Crow's Rest on her blog today--thanks, Brenda, for sharing my book!

On Operation Awesome, I have a post On Contests and Community, where I talk about how much the friends and connections I've made in the writing community have meant to me.

And there's more to come this week--watch for some other news on Wednesday, and then on Friday my post for Fearless Fridays will go up on the Fearless Fifteeners blog. You won't want to miss that, if you'd like to see me sing on camera!

Peek Inside Crow's Rest at the Interior Art

I've got a post on Operation Awesome today that includes examples of interior art in two YA novels--and one of them is Crow's Rest! Pop on over to see for yourself.

Also, I sent out my very first newsletter, Crow Tracks, over the weekend. If you're not signed up and would like to be, please fill out the form on my website at http://www.angelicarjackson.com/ . And of course, since it was my first try, I left something out and will need to send another, updated one soon, lol. Click on the Crow Tracks image below to go to an online version of the newsletter I sent out on March 15.

The release of Crow's Rest is only two months away now, so things are getting busy!

Crow's Rest Book Trailer Reveal!

Today, the book trailer for Crow's Rest goes live!





Also today, on Operation Awesome, I give a closer look at the images that make up the trailer, so please go check it out! You can find pre-order and Goodreads info on Crow's Rest here.

For this blog post, I thought it would be interesting to share an earlier version of an attempt at making a video trailer. I had some great raw footage of the Castle and its interior, and even some models for the characters--but felt like I was missing a few other scenes. Without buying some stock video footage (which gets expensive!), I felt like this was too disjointed and abandoned it in favor of using still images and PowerPoint. You can see that the script changed a little, too (this one has no sound)




Thanks for stopping by!

Exclusive Full Cover Reveal for Crow's Rest on Operation Awesome!

Wow, the full cover for Crow's Rest turned out so gorgeous! You can see it on Operation Awesome today by clicking here.

Happy dance for lovely covers!

Some Changes in Store!

I've done some shuffling of domain names and websites, so here's the lowdown:

My domain name www.AngelicaRJackson.com now points to a shiny new author website! It has a place for news and events, links to my social contacts, and links to my books (once I have something available to pre-order or order, that is).

My photography galleries that formerly lived at the above domain are now at www.AngelicaRJackson.photography, oddly enough. They will still serve as a place to buy prints, digital downloads, and gift items featuring my photographs.

This blog will remain at this address, and will also feed into my website and Goodreads Author Page. I will still be blogging at Operation Awesome every other Monday, and starting August 15 my OA posts will show up on Angelic Muse a few days later. Original content on here will be sharing whatever strikes my fancy: photos from trips, interesting tidbits I've unearthed in research, and the like.

More of the day-to-day stuff shows up on my Facebook profile if that sort of thing interests you, and so do the links to conferences, grant opportunities, etc that I run across and share.

All this shakeup is the result of me needing to change gears now that I have a book coming out, and don't have as much time to browse other people's blogs as I used to. I actually still do a lot of reading of blogs in my feed, I just don't have as much time to comment.

That seems to be the case for a lot of friends (writer or otherwise) and I considered abandoning this blog entirely, but there are some gems in the archive and I poured a lot of myself into these pages.
I've opted to keep it up, with the compromise that I'm going to feel less guilty about posting on a regular basis. Who knows--that might actually make me more likely to jump in with spontaneous posts!

Switchup for the July Mystery Agent Contest on Operation Awesome

After a long hiatus, the Mystery Agent contest is back on Operation Awesome. There is an added step now--a Rafflecopter to enter for a slot in the contest. This will allow overseas/international folks to enter, and save the Operatives from having to camp out on the computer to close out the contest, yay!

July's Mystery Agent is looking for manuscripts in these categories:

- Young Adult horror/thrillers

- Contemporary YA with a hook

- Speculative fiction

- All kinds of adult romance

- Picture books

So if you have a polished, ready-to-pitch query, go here and enter the Rafflecopter for your chance at a contest slot! Good luck!

OA Today

I'm on Operation Awesome today, with a post on mental illness and fantasy fiction. Click on over and see!

OA Today

I'm over on Operation Awesome today, with a post on pitch opportunities! Click on over and see!

OA Today with a Special Announcement

I'm over on OA today with a special announcement--or at least, special to me! Click on over and see!

The Best April Fools' Day Pranks Come Early

Back in the beginning of March, we sent out a call on Operation Awesome for applications from possible new members. I couldn't resist pranking my fellow operatives with the following entry:

Hello Operation Awesome,

I heard of your call for new members, and I've been an enthusiastic lurker on the blog since the very beginning. I would love to join such an awesome group of bloggers!

I'm currently living in Edinburgh with my husband and three children, though I do travel quite a bit as well. I've written a popular series for children--which spans the length of the school years for several characters--and the novels I've written for an adult audience have gotten some notice recently. I am well familiar with rejections from agents and publishers, as well as juggling the demands of family and book tours, so I believe I may be able to offer some humble contributions to Operation Awesome.

Please let me know if you have any other questions for me, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours in hope,
Joanne "J.K." Rowling

Here are my books in case you haven't heard of them:
Harry Potter series

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (26 June 1997)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2 July 1998)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (8 July 1999)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (8 July 2000)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (21 June 2003)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (16 July 2005)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (21 July 2007)

Other children's books

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (1 March 2001)
Quidditch Through the Ages (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (1 March 2001)
The Tales of Beedle the Bard (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (4 December 2008)

Adult books

The Casual Vacancy (27 September 2012)

Cormoran Strike series

The Cuckoo's Calling (as Robert Galbraith) (18 April 2013)
The Silkworm (as Robert Galbraith) (24 June 2014)

After deciding to not to send it from a faked email address, I claimed it came to my personal mail because "she wants to make sure she has a real chance at it before giving out her contact info".

It could happen, right? Why wouldn't JK Rowling decide the next chapter in her life is to join a group blog? Hee hee

OA Today

Oops, almost forgot to post that I'm over on Operation Awesome today, with some tips on writing back cover copy. Click on over and check it out!

OA Today

I'm over on Operation Awesome today, St. Patrick's Day, talking about Pookas! In honor of those tricksters, no owl photo today. Instead, here's a creepy horse because horses are one of the shapes that Pookas favor:

So click on over and see what I have to say about Pookas and writing!

OA Today & A Shoutout for a Special Conference

It's my day on Operation Awesome, and I've posted about cons (conferences and conventions), so click on over and see!

I also wanted to use this space for a couple of reminders:

Firstly, there may still be spaces left in Adventures In YA Publishing's Agent-Judged Pitch+First Page Contest so if you have a finished MG or YA manuscript, maybe you want to enter! I'm one of the judges for the blogger round once again.

Also, our regional chapter (California: North/Central) of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators has a stellar lineup this year for the spring conference. Jay Asher! Nikki Grimes! Agent Tricia Lawrence of Erin Murphy Literary Agency! And so much more. Last I heard, there were still around 40 spaces left, but it usually sells out well before the conference. If you're looking for an information-packed, one-day conference, this is a great choice!

OA Today

I'm over on Operation Awesome today, with a post on cons (as in conferences and conventions, not convicts or con artists)! Click over and check it out!

OA Today

I'm over on Operation Awesome today, sharing my frustration with rewrites that go off track. Fly on over and check it out!

OA Today

I'm on Operation Awesome today, with a query critique. Except, I couldn't find anything to nitpick with this one! So click on over and check out an example of a great query!

OA Today

I'm on Operation Awesome today, with a successful query example and a call for queries to critique!

Click on over and check it out! And don't forget that we have a Mystery Editor Contest coming up Dec. 1!

OA Today

Over on Operation Awesome today, I'm hosting author Tina Moss, who's talking about writing paranormal fiction. Click over and see!

And Happy-almost-Halloween!

Ooops--OA today

Totally forgot to remind you I'm ranting posting on Operation Awesome today! Go check it out!

And, I went to see Gail Carriger speak in San Leandro and she posted the picture we took on her blog, too! Squee!

OA Today with a Query Critique

I'm over on Operation Awesome today with our latest query critique! Please go check it out and offer some support for our brave volunteer, Maribeth Graham!