Filtering by Tag: Swoon Reads

Manuscript Deadlines in 5 GIFS

Behold! I have emerged from a month of not blogging with big news: I just submitted my third manuscript to Swoon Reads this past week! I also noticed that there's a major blue theme going on with the photos I took of the process...

This is not intentional. But it totally makes sense. Yes. Secrets. 

After going through the whole submitting-my-manuscript-to-my-editor-for-the-first-time process a few times, I've noticed some patterns. Have you finished a writing project and felt/experienced the same things? 

1. The end is nigh!

You can almost smell it. This is such an exciting time. I feel like a world-weary traveler carrying a machete that I dulled cutting through the wilds of the middle of my manuscript. I've come such a long way since the first chapter, where everything was shiny and new and hopeful. Not that there isn't hope at the end. It's just a different kind of feeling. It's a little surreal. In just a few chapters, I'm going to be done. The story will close. WOAH. Soak it in. Then get cracking. 

2. When my characters decide to do whatever they want...

... instead of following the carefully constructed outline I have in my head. This happens ALL THE TIME. Usually it's a good thing, especially when you're still exploring your characters. But the timing is awful when this happens just a week or two before you're supposed to submit your manuscript. 

When this happens to me, I have to stop for a second and ask myself why my character is veering off course. Will following the character be more beneficial than dragging it back into the pre-planned plot? If so, it means I've got a lot of rewriting to d0 (aka no sleep for days).

Other times, a character wandering off has more to do with the above sleep-deprivation than anything. That's when I take a nap and then find my characters behaving nicely again. 

3. Sensing my deadline, my friends instinctively feed me.

I can't tell exactly what gives it away. My pallid skin? The bruise-like shadows under my eyes? Or maybe my gentle, if not worrisome muttering as I scratch out plot points and re-research the steps of the Charleston to practice under my desk?

Friend: How's the writing going?

Me: Oh, you know, pretty okay, just gotta rename a minor character and figure out what color train ticket my MC is using for...

Friend: I made extra Pastelón. Here. 

Me: *shoves fork in mouth*

Either way, I appreciate the extra brain fuel. I'm sure my friends are to thank for being able to keep up with my deadlines... and motivation to squeeze in exercising. 

4. My head is full of music.

I need to listen to music when I write. I don't do ambient sounds. I can't stand silence. So I have my earbuds in as I work on those precious few scenes left in the manuscript. 

I make playlists for every writing project, but I'm probably not using them at this point. It's all about high-energy electronic music or soulful movie soundtracks now. Sometimes I'm lucky and it meshes with my manuscript (wahoo electro swing). 

Unless I know I'm not going to be disturbed, I only wear one earbud. Because most of the time reality demands to be heard and no music in the world can keep it quiet. 

5. Having some kind of vague pride in the finished product. 

At this point, I finished writing the last chapter. I've probably spent months with this manuscript. I know it's strengths, the parts I love and the characters I'm a little sad to part with. But I also know that it's not perfect - and that's okay.

Did I work hard on it? Is it ready for my editor to see? Am I even a teeny bit excited about showing my editor this SECRET THING and that PLOT TWIST and the DID NOT SEE THAT COMING moment in the middle? 

Heck yes, I am. 

Now it's time to return to the land of the living. My bedroom needs dusting and I should probably make my lunch for work tomorrow. 

Sculpting My Own Boyfriend: The Grimbaud Life

You've probably read the blurb for Love Charms and Other Catastrophes by now. And no doubt, this particular part has caused you pause:

"Concerned that its favorite charm maker has given up on finding a boyfriend of her own, Love takes matters into its own hands and delivers the perfect boyfriend to her in a giftwrapped box...literally."

Literally. 

I don't know how I would react if I found a boyfriend wrapped in a nice box on my doorstep. Nope. No idea. 

But as I did some shopping this month, I found something that I knew I had to try because it reminds me of Hijiri. It might, in fact, be a thing sold in Grimbaud. 

I'm still not sure if a love charm is attached to this thing, but... this is for you, guys. I bought this:

Yes, this is a real thing. Take a moment to read the front and back of the kit. Savor those words. Your, your, your. I love the focus.

In February, when you can't help but look at others - other couples, in particular, and jab your own heart in the process - the message here is ironically sweet for a joke gift. The minute you open the kit, this is about what you want. Kind of appealing. 

So let's see how I did with it.

As promised, the kit comes with polymer clay and an instruction booklet. This is the time where you sit with your eyes closed, envisioning the perfect guy you'll create with your super fantastic artistic skills. 

Then you actually start sculpting head. And it begins:

I'm not getting "dreamy," are you? He looked more like John Malkovich as a Muppet. 

Plus, I got fingernail prints all over him. BATTLE SCARS. How do polymer clay sculptors avoid making those???

Thoughts I was meditating on: What is love? What's for dinner? Why do I love it when guys roll up their shirtsleeves? Who thought it was a good idea to put googly eyes in this kit and why would that be romantic?

You'll have to check my Instagram for my thoughts on sculpting my boyfriend's hair - but let's just say that I was VERY determined not to copy the hair on the kit. 

Now then. Time to sculpt the body. One big problem, though. When I opened the blue pack of clay meant for the t-shirt, the clay was completely hard. I couldn't use it! WHAT TO DO?

My boyfriend decided for me that his favorite color is black. So I prayed that I had enough of that clay to cover the rest of his body and set to work. I couldn't help but add the crumbled, useless bits of blue clay I managed to dig out. VICTORY CRUMBS.

I am also incapable of sculpting thin arms. 

There is no need to show you how painstaking it was to sculpt his legs. For a brief moment, I considered not giving him a torso. I was out of clay. But then - I still had brown clay left! If you see him on the street, please don't ask him why his pants are two different colors. He'll be embarrassed. Maybe. 

My polymer clay boyfriend is needy. Instead of sculpting flowers, I had to use the yellow clay for shoes. 

So here he is, standing up (leaning on) his paper bedroom. A bedroom I wouldn't have dreamed of, but you know. It came with the kit. 

Side by side comparison. They look almost the same. If you squint. 

Okay, so I didn't sculpt my dream boyfriend. My skills just aren't that great. I also realized that I will probably never sculpt adorable tiny clay food, so I should move on to another hobby like making pop-up books or terrariums. 

After finishing and cleaning up all the bits of clay, I finished by afternoon with another very February treat:

So tell me... how was your Valentine's Day? Have you ever attempted to sculpt before and how did it go?

A Very Grimbaud Giveaway!

Hello readers! We survived our first week of February. Or maybe it's just me because, after getting hit with a stomach virus at the end of January, I now finally feel well enough to eat... normal food. No more toast, rice, and saltines. Hurrah! 

AND JUST IN TIME! Because I have had Big Plans for this month. If I have anything to do with it, the rest of February is only going to get better. 

I'm excited to announce that I will be hosting a few giveaways this month... and they all start TODAY! 

No matter the giveaway, they all begin today (February 9th, 2016) and run until the end of the month, February 29th, 2016.

Who Can Enter?

ANYONE! These giveaways are open internationally and in the US. 

How Do I Enter the Giveaway(s)?

Depends on the social media. My giveaways are on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. 

Facebook

"Like" my page and leave a comment on my giveaway post. The winner will be chosen at random.

It's February 9th, which meaaaans... giveaway time! In order to win a personalized, autographed copy of LOVE FORTUNES...

Posted by Kimberly Karalius on Tuesday, February 9, 2016


Twitter

Follow me and Retweet my giveaway tweet. The winner will be chosen at random. 

Instagram

Okay, so since I LOVE Instagram way too much, this giveaway is more involved. There will be THREE winners. Why? Because I'm running three different photo contests. You can enter one or all of them:

1. Post a Valentine's Day inspired photo with the words "Love Fortunes and Other Disasters" and "Kimberly Karalius" included in some way, shape, or form. Example below:

2. Post a Valentine's Day inspired photo with your copy of Love Fortunes and Other Disasters.

3. Post a photo of of First Kisses and Other Misfortunes - of you reading it, your favorite page, anything! It's up to you! 

In order to be entered into the contest(s), you MUST use the hashtag #thegrimbaudlife and PLEASE use these additional appropriate hashtags like #kimberlykaralius #LoveFortunesandOtherDisasters #FirstKissesandOtherMisfortunes #SwoonReads

I will choose one winner from each category, but I'll also be able to feature everyone's photos who entered on my blog (as long as you use the hashtags, my friends, haha). 

What do I win? 

book swag

Now we're talking, right? 

Every winner, no matter the giveaway, wins this totally awesome pack of Grimbaud book swag and other magical Valentine's Day goodies. Let me break it down:

Left to Right:

1. Big stickers! The one on the right is inspired by Nico and Martin's novella, First Kisses and Other Misfortunes.

2.  A small postcard (front and back)

3. Two different bookmarks. The one on the right is designed like a train ticket!

4. A personalized, autographed copy of Love Fortunes and Other Disasters! 

5. (Not pictured) A bunch of Valentine's Day/Grimbaud inspired goodies! 

 
photo 1 (1).PNG

What are you waiting for?

Regardless of how you feel about the Most Romantic Month of the year, it COULD be potentially much more awesome if you enter these giveaways. Take a page out of Fallon the gang's book (har-har) and be a little rebellious. 

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments! 

Blogwarming Party!

When I first started blogging on Blogger in 2010, I never thought I'd leave it. I was in my second semester of graduate school, still young and innocent and green (probably from teaching anxiety), and I remember deciding that blogging would be one big step towards becoming that writer I wanted to be.  

2015. With my debut novel on the way, it was time to move on. So please say hello to my new internet home on Squarespace. 

Squarespace is SO different from any other platform I've used before. I love it, but it's weird, so don't be surprised if you see some changes over the next... few months? Yeah. 

Have fun exploring the site! I now have the very lovely option of having drop down navigation. This is kind of luxury for me. Excuse me while I metaphorically rub it against my cheek like cashmere. 

Both my work life and writing life have been pretty busy - so much so, that April came and went without me getting to try the new blog. The biggest excitement is Love Fortunes and Other Disasters' release - May 12th is so close. I can almost taste it. I don't know how I'm going to survive the wait (though there's a lovely blog tour happening this week, and a Twitter chat on Wednesday at 9pm, and the Gotham season finale tomorrow night AHHHHH).

My editor has the first draft of my second Swoon Reads book. As I wait for my edit letter, I'm working on the next potential project (and by working, I mean gingerly typing out the opening paragraphs and brainstorming so hard it looks like I'm trying to make my utensils float in midair). 

But listen. I need to share with you some things. Some awesome things. Some first things. Hang on to your hats. 

Twitter is just the greatest thing ever

Yeah, it needed its own subheading. Twitter is one of my favorite social media sites, and it just gets more and more fun every day. Dreams come true on Twitter. Who knew such things were possible with only 140 characters to work with?

For instance, this made my week:

What do you think? I can see a resemblance.

yousure.png

And here's a fairy tale: 

Once upon a 2013, when I was working hard in grad school and extremely active on Figment.com, I wrote a short story for a time traveling writing contest with THE Tamara Ireland Stone as the judge. 

The fact that I was just talking about David Tennant up above, THE DOCTOR, is not lost on me.

"Afternoon at Noodledom Palace" was born - you can still read it on Figment - and I submitted it to the contest. 

And Tamara chose my story for first place. Not only that, but she wrote about why she loved it. I don't have the words to describe how awesome that was. And how hard I fell for Anna and Bennett when I got my hands on Time Between Us.

This week, in a flurry of Love Fortunes activity, I had shared a photo of me seeing a sign at B&N for my local event happening on June 6th - I was so shocked to see signs up so early (and for the first few seconds, truly believed that I was sleepwalking or something. No way that sign was real, right, Kim? GAH. IT WAS REAL). 

Then Tamara commented on it, and we tweeted (or rather, I was fangirling), and then she wrote this:

AHHH. There is no GIF to describe the feels. Ohmygosh. 

Magical magicky week on Twitter. 

Summer of Swoon Tour around the corner

Next week I'm going to be on plane. I might even be coming to YOUR city. 

I might be meeting you. 

WOAH. 

My suitcase is ready. Next weekend is reserved for mostly packing and repacking, burning the itinerary into my skull, and making last-minute errand runs. 

I also need to figure these things out, as illustrated by Buster Keaton. 

1. Be prepared for meeting readers, which includes being a wonderful speaker. I taught for three years, so I'm hoping that even though I'm rusty now, it's like riding a bike:

2. Keep calm and temper the feels. The excitement of seeing the Swoon Staff again. Of meeting my fellow Swoon Authors for the first time (save Karole). Getting to meet readers from all over the U.S. Be still, my heart:

3. And manage to avoid looking at not-so-positive early reviews:

Will I be seeing you on tour? If so, which stop?