Angelia Almos

I've been doing a Fast Draft challenge for the last two weeks. I took Candace Havens Fast Draft in 14 Days workshop a few years ago. At the time I don't think I was ready for the concept of blazing through a first draft so completely. But this time something clicked. The last time I wrote a first draft quickly, though much slower than Fast Draft, was for The Beast's Redemption where the characters were constantly yelling at me to get their story down. This time around the muse was relatively quiet. I wasn't being kept awake at night by bursts of inspiration. I had a general idea for a middle grade fantasy which came from wanting to write a middle grade fantasy about unicorns to submit to a publisher invite. A little brainstorming came up with the situation and I had been sitting on the idea for over a month - I just couldn't seem to get into gear. Then a few ladies at one of my RWA writing chapters were talking about doing Fast Draft. At first I shied away f...

If you're following me on Facebook you probably know I am waist deep in a Fast Draft challenge right now. I'm writing twenty pages in a day to have my first draft complete in two weeks. When I started, I pulled out random names from thin air for all the characters knowing I planned on going back to change the names as needed. I'm now going back. LOL I'd been thinking off and on how I wanted the names to be when I haven't been actively writing since I have to focus on the writing then. I reached over and pulled out my trusty baby name book. And that got me to stop - I actually thought "my trusty baby name book." I've had 35,000+ Baby Names by Bruce Lansky forever it seems like. I have two other baby name books which occasionally get pulled out, but it is this mass-market paperback which has stayed with me since 1995. Yep, about 16 years. How do I know? Because it was brand new when I went in and bought it from a Crown Bookstore. Remember those? I...

I currently write under two names. Angelia Almos for my young adult/middle grade fiction and nonfiction. Angie Derek for my steamier paranormal romances and romantic suspense. I decided to write under the pen name for branding purposes, but now I have a conundrum. I have some adult novels/novellas which are almost done and in progress which are not steamy (no graphic sex) though they may be romances or contain romantic elements. So, which name do I release them under? Or do I come up with an all new pen name since they are futuristics and space operas (so far)? My inclination is to release them under a new pen name, but that ups the anty with how much I need to produce each year with having three pen names. You want to have new releases coming out at a fairly regular basis to increase your readership.

***Permission to Forward granted and appreciated**** RWA® Online Chapter 136 Presents: Developing Historical Character Sketches with instructor Kimberly Killion August 10-21, 2011 About the Class: Do you have a unique premise? Do editors and agents often comment on how interesting your plot is, but reject you because your characters fell flat? Chances are you aren’t developing your characters to their full potential. In this workshop, award-winning author and RITA nominee, Kimberly Killion, will teach you how to develop characters who jump off the page and into the reader’s mind. Class features: lectures, examples, discussion, and an expanding worksheet. By the completion of the class, you should know your characters inside and out from the way they smell to how they curse. About Kimberly Killion: Award-winning author, Kimberly Killion, has been hailed by Romantic Times Magazine as an author who writes “captivating romance with excellent pacing and characters...

Social media is an interesting creature or should I say creatures. Writers are flocking to the various social media outlets; some on their own and some at the requests of their publishers. You've got Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Blogs, Google+, Goodreads, and a heck of a lot more which I don't know a lot about. It can become very overwhelming. I joined MySpace first which is now no longer the popular hot spot it used to be. In fact, I keep meaning to shut down my account so I guess I am still on there even though I rarely visit. Facebook followed after. Then blogging. Then twitter. Goodreads was joined somewhere in there, but I quickly forgot about it until my publisher asked me to create an account. Thankfully I already had one and got it upgraded to an author account. Facebook is fairly easy to me, but they have that little policy about "no promotions" on your regular facebook page so if your an author and plan on using it for any marketing, promo, keeping you...