New Tumblog!

So, now that I've finished the third draft of book 2, I decided to finally put together a Tumblog for the series! I made a fancy header for it and everything. Go check out how beautiful it is.

Geez, am I going to make a twitter or a facebook page for it? Maybe. We'll see. So much to keep up with!

The Importance of Gender in the Marionettes Saga

My friend and I were once walking down the Great Hill of Despair (AKA, our high school was built into the hills, and her mother parked down at the bottom because traffic was always atrocious -- which often meant a long walk in unbearable chaparral heat). She had been reading the first iteration of the Marionettes Saga, and she asked me in her signature forthcoming way, "Is Yuuhi gay?"

I was all a-stutter then, because he wasn't gay. He had tendencies that weren't the norm for traditional masculinity, but I didn't know how to argue this when I was only seventeen and Tumblr didn't exist yet. How could I defend something I didn't yet understand?

The second iteration provided a more profound Yuuhi, and I say "profound" because he was twice as much himself, freer about his interests and what he liked. He still wasn't gay. I still couldn't explain it.

Even as I was writing the current iteration of the first book, I still didn't quite understand it, and I had pretty much given up trying. But after Tumblr happened in my life, I finally understood. A friend of ours, and now one of our critique partners, read the near-final draft of Dance in Shadow and Whisper, and she was also just as frank when she asked, "Is Yuuhi gay?"

By this point, I could finally explain him. FINALLY. Not once had I ever tried to change him (he certainly wouldn't let me), but now I was in the right place to say, "No. He's gender fluid."

In traditional YA, especially of the urban fantasy and paranormal romance kind, the love interest(s) tend to hit the usual tropes when it comes to masculinity and sexuality. Yuuhi doesn't. He dresses nicely and could predict for you what will be "in style" for the upcoming season, and he knows how to balance a silhouette in his fashion doodles. He enjoys shopping and he could put on a mean dress and rock some mascara.

But that doesn't make him gay.

(Yes, he's bisexual -- he knows what he likes and he's 100% open about it, but it's safer to say that he likes everything.)

It took me a long time to understand that gender identification does not equal sexual orientation. Once I finally got to this point, I could confidently explain why he is the way he is. He knew it all along, which was why he never let me change him -- he just had to wait for me to catch up.

Most of the characters in both the Marionettes and Monsters series don't have rigid sexual orientation, that part was easy to figure out. The harder part was finding out how they saw themselves when it came to the signs on public bathrooms that marked the women's and the men's.

Kali was my guide in the first book in helping me understand how she identified her gender. Her sister acts as her sole feminine role model throughout her life, and while Kali emulates her, she's also self-conscious about how she doesn't look quite like her sister, and she gets it into her head that dresses don't look the way dresses should on her body.

Kali does a lot of physical training and toning, and it shows on her body. Her sister, however, is slender and more like what Kali thinks is supposed to be feminine. So, when she dons a dress, she feels like she's playing dress-up. That doesn't mean she doesn't like to wear dresses, but it does mean that she isn't confident in the way she looks in dresses.

I love this part of Kali, and it gets tackled throughout the later books. She has to find out that there is more than one kind of beautiful. It's definitely a message that I needed to hear in high school. I wished I'd had.

I'm stoked that the inclusiveness of gay characters is starting to gain traction, what with gay characters getting less side treatment and also dying less, but the theme of gender is often largely ignored in mainstream YA fiction. I can't tell you how many times I picked up an UF/PR book hoping to find a gay main character, but I can tell you I haven't yet picked up an UF/PR book thinking I might find a gender fluid main character.

At least I get to write about them.

Preparing for Shipping & Book 2 Stuff!

We've got a PILE of things to ship out after the giveaways. Unfortunately, two of our winners did not reply within 48 hours, so I had to draw two new names. Hopefully I'll hear back so we can finally announce the official winners on Rafflecopter and then take our load of envelopes and drop some serious cash getting these into the mailosphere.

At least then we're done on spending money for marketing this book (especially since we don't have much!), but then we're going to repeat the process all over again when book two comes out. Sigh!

Speaking of which, some updates.

Revision Two of Book 2

I'm already a third of the way through the second revision and working out all the issues Victoria and I pulled out of the initial draft. I've also been adding new scenes while cutting down on fat -- and the new scenes add that little extra dimension to this book that I've always thought was missing. I'm soooo glad for that. It's a big boost to the story.

It'll probably take me another week or so before I finish the second draft, and then it's off to beta readers, which is also, indeed, very exciting. Then, depending on the feedback we get, I may have to do another revision and an edit or just a half revision along with the edit.

Which brings me to my next point!

Book Two Cover Reveal and Release Date

THIS is going to be soon. Very soon. The cover is completely finished, and I'm thinking of setting the release date at a more comfortable time so we're not racing and struggling to get everything finished. I want us to be able to take our time -- and also to get the paperback out at the same time as the digital versions.

Hopefully I'll also be able to contact more book review bloggers in that time, too! And also be able to send digital ARCs to the lovely bloggers who've already read and reviewed and loved the first book.

Then, it's onward to book 3! Holy cow *sweats*.

Sales of DiSaW

We've been very lucky so far to have sales at all, and even a few superfans. It's been such an honor and we get so awkward but happy but also awkward. But, like we've said before, we also know this is going to be a marathon, and it's going to take time to build up some momentum!

So here's approximately how it's all been going down:

June
Nook: 5
Kindle: 13
Total -  18

July
Nook: 4
Kindle: 9
Paperback: 5
Total - 18

Grand Total: 36

Seriously, we're super privileged to have had this many sales in our first two months. When I did my indie pub research, I found a large majority of authors who only sold in the single digits, pretty much just to friends and family. We'll see how August goes! STAYING OPTIMISTIC!

Adoptables!

Oh, I also forgot to mention that I added an adoptables page! That way you can add your favorite characters to your blog or what have you. I mean, how cute are they??

How could you not want to have these guys on your page? There's other icons as well, so go check out the page!

Shout-out!

Thanks x's 9000 to Kristen for the awesome shout-out on her blog! She's a long-time friend of ours and we've been a follower of her blog since it was a little baby thing. She also gave us a sweet review on goodreads!


That's been what's up recently. We'll have a cover reveal and release date SOON! (Really, I'm just excited to have the little cover icon on my sidebar. Eheheheh.) Until then, stay awesome.

Some Awesome New Reviews

And by awesome, I mean awesome. We now have five ratings and five reviews on Goodreads for a joint score of 4.4, which is pretty damn stellar.

We've been so lucky to have so many great reviews this far, it's a total honor to hear all these positive things from such fantastic bloggers, and you guys should all go check out our awesome reviewers and their blogs! Spread the love.

Dabin of So Many Books, So Little Time

Rating: 4 stars

Our favorite line: "I found Kali's lack of social skills hilarious at moments, it was adorable to watch her blunder around :)" [via Dance in Shadow and Whisper Book Review]


Reena of Starlight Book Reviews

Rating: 5 stars

Our favorite line: "Dance in Shadow and Whisper is easily the best book I have been asked to review so far. I can't wait for the release of the next book" [via Dance in Shadow and Whisper by Sarah Godfrey & Victoria DeRubeis]

Reena also interviewed us!


Ana of Chibi Reader

Rating: 4 stars

Our favorite line: "Dance in Shadow and Whisper is a great book that will leave you laughing hysterically  or crying your heart out." (Although, a close second was definitely, "By the end I was bawling like a baby. Yeah… I’m not proud of that.") [via Book Review: Dance in Shadow and Whisper]

Ana also hosted an interview with us!


Kristin of My Life as a Teacup

Rating: 4 stars

Our favorite line: "Dance in Shadows and Whisper revolves around such an intricate and imaginative world that you can't help but get sucked into the quirky characters, and adventurous situations." [Via Goodreads]


Some other awesome blogs have helped us out as well, both with interviews and featuring the contest, such as Jackie from No Bent Spines. Hopefully we'll get to post her and other reviews soon!

As as second update, the cover for the second book is finished. Victoria finished her read-through of the second draft, and now I need to do another round of revisions and send the third draft to critique partners. After we get word back from them, we'll have a better idea of when we can debut the second book -- maybe an actual date. So excited!

The Giveaway Has Ended!

Hey, kids! Remember how we talked about having a giveaway? Well, here's one of them! The giveaway begins super early Wednesday, July 24th at 12 am and continues until the 31st. It's open to residents in the US and Canada. The giveaway is open to anyone 13+. If you are under 13, please have a parent enter for you.

We'll also be having a second giveaway for our followers at Keyboard Smash Writers, and if you follow us there, you can also enter in that one! Two chances to win is pretty cool, right?

So, what's up for grabs?

This contest opens on Wednesday, July 24th at 12 am!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(And if you'd like to share this contest widget, click here!)

Good luck! 

Lots of Awesome Things

Definitely been needing an update for a while now. Lots of things got in the way the past couple of weeks, including someone stealing our wallet and phone -- including my driver's license, our debit cards, and even my social security card, which is really scary. We've been picking up the pieces one at a time, and today we were finally able to get some pens for signing!

Here's all the updates for the past few weeks!

The paperbacks arrived

This means we can put together the contest really soon. We'll have signed paperbacks, bookmarks, and even a couple posters. You can see us trying to practice our signatures and totally failing. Why is signing stuff so hard?

Also, the paperbacks are available for purchase via the Amazon store. The one thing I love about using Createspace was how low I could make the price -- definitely couldn't do that with Lulu. The downside? The shipping quality is just as expected of Amazon: sucky. One of the books we received looked like someone had dropped it. Dented the corner in, creased the cover. This one won't be going into the contest, maybe into the hands of a book review blogger that only takes physical books. We'll see what happens.

The first revision of book two is finished

And it took me almost two weeks thanks to all the things that happened here. It seems like, with every book, whether I'm writing or revising, I'm going to hit the same four stages:

First quarter: YEAH, this rocks, this is going to be good, I'm so stoked.
Second quarter: Okay, well, things are moving, I guess.
Third quarter: This sucks.
Final quarter: ...

I wouldn't have gotten through it without Kesha's accoustic Harold Song, Fall Out Boy's The Mighty Fall, or The Wright Brothers' Blood on My Name. Those songs kept me pumped up and I guess slightly delusional in a way?

From here, it's Victoria's turn to read through and help me with the problem area's I need to fix, plus whatever else she can find or wants to change. Once I make those changes, it's off to our betas!

The goal is to have the second book out by August. I'm thinking it's probably likely we'll have it available halfway through August at this rate, but ideally sooner. We'll see how crazy I'm willing to work myself.

Dance in Shadow and Whisper has a 4.67 on Goodreads

Which is SUPER exciting. One of our lovely book review bloggers is Dabin from So Many Books, So Little Time. She gave us a very nice four stars, which we are definitely glad to have. It was sort of affirming for us, that there's a realm beyond our friends that can enjoy this book and these characters, too!

Our second five star rating comes from Reena of Starlight Book Reviews, and she'll have a full review up soon! We're so excited, ahhhh.

We're waiting on a couple more bloggers and we check about a hundred times every day for news. It's no wonder I've been running low on sanity points recently.

New author pictures

Which isn't anything special, really. Just makes us feel more official. We set aside a day to do stuff with our hair and faces that look good in picture form and these were the results.

It was unreasonably hot that day (not even as hot as it WILL get by the end of summer). I'm just glad it didn't show in our faces!

So, hopefully I can throw together an official "about the authors" page soon instead of the one that redirects to the page on KSW. But that's low on the priority list right now.

Anyway, that's it for now (as far as I can remember, which is never very far, because "remember" and "I" are two words that never go together with me). More updates and random rambles as they come to my brain. Until then, I'll be working on KSW and finishing the cover of the second book. I can't wait to reveal both the cover and the title!

Oh, and I should probably eat something, preferably adult-like. Kraft mac and cheese. Yeah.

How do Victoria and I write together?

Firstly, as of yesterday, we officially finished book 1 of Monsters! After the third installment of Kali with Marionettes, Monsters begins with this book. Seriously, the cast in this book really did some things that we were not expecting. Victoria had planned the ending to go a very different way before one of the characters decided, "Hey, umm, I'm gonna do this thing right now. Good luck."

Yeah. Thanks for that, character.

But, either way, the ending killed us. It KILLED us. I mean, we're over here trying not to cry and crying anyway. I can't wait to make you all cry too.

What happens next is Victoria's first time revising a full manuscript. At least she has a coach who's very experienced with the art of revision! Tralala.

So, we've had plenty of people asking us, "Exactly how are you guys writing this?" Who writes what and how does it all work?

Victoria and I have been writing together for a heck of a long time. Maybe about ten years now. Even while I was over here in California and she was in Pennsylvania, we were writing together. So, we've had a very long time to develop our styles and learn how the other thinks and writes.

Basically what we do is roleplay. I have a cast of characters that I play, and she has a cast that she plays, and when we write a scene where these two casts mingle, we trade posts. Sometimes a post is a single line. Sometimes a post is paragraphs. The key is to make sure that our posts flow together like any other narrative, so that there's no break in continuity. A lot of this is fixed during revision as well.

(Sometimes we'll write a little extra than necessary and edit it out later, or we'll explain what a character is doing or what something looks like specifically so we have similar visions of what's going on.)

It also helps that we have very similar writing styles and voices, that way we stay consistent throughout the story.

Plotting is also a big deal between the two of us. We spend a LOT of time plotting. For the first three books of Marionettes and the first three books of Monsters, however, we plot separately. I do all the story planning and outlining for the first three books of Marionettes, and she's just along for the ride. She didn't know what I had planned while we were writing.

When we get to later books, especially after one series ends and the other continues, we plot together, and we pretty much do it everywhere we go -- in the car, when we take our walks, when we go out, when we're with people who have no idea what the hell we're talking about -- we're always discussing what's going to happen.

But sometimes we can't always plan for what happens. Characters often surprise us (like I mentioned above) and do something completely unexpected. Or, sometimes we just know to anticipate that we don't know what the characters will do, so we'll plan a few steps and then write ourselves into the answer.

So, in the end, co-writing takes a lot of work and dedication in order to be successful. We're a perfect match because we keep each other from slipping into slumps like writer's block and we have very similar brains. As long as one of us is super excited about the story, it usually doesn't take much coaxing to get the other pumped up!

Next, I'll be taking about a week's break from the writing blog to focus on revising book two of Monsters. Hopefully the proof for the first book will be here by Friday or Saturday!