9 lives?

[Pearl Black]

Hello, everyone!

Goes without saying I'm new in town.
I think I'm on my 99th life with this attempt at publishing, but who's counting? Figured before I get to a hundred, I'd introduce myself and genre.

I write YA Fantasy, but I read thriller, fantasy, dystopia, sci-fi, the occasional unauthorized auto-bio, and I've developed a bit of a taste for mil. thrillers, so... eclectic tastes.

Sell auto parts by day, would love to purchase some zzzzz's at night.

I found the water cooler after driving my Chevy to the levy, then ended up in the desert on a horse with no name. Speaking of names, do you think Pearl Black is a bit obnoxious for a pseudonym? My real name is a bit of a mouthful.

 

[Unimportant]

Pearl Black seems like a perfectly acceptable and marketable name. Welcome!

Will you be riding Wildfire?

Hurrah for another fantasy fan!

 

[Catriona Grace]

For what it's worth, Pearl Black makes me think of Pirates of the Caribbean.

 

[rileyariel]

It reminds me of Holly Black, so I definitely think it has pen name potential.

 

[Izz]

Welcome to AW, Pearl Black! It's nice to meet you

Hey, just carry the pseudonym with confidence, right? You'll love AW, I'm sure. There's all the info you need to help you on your writing journey, and a great community of writerly folk, from newbies to pros, to hang out with on the way. The forums are large, so can be intimidating at first, but if you take your time exploring you'll know your way around soon enough.

Please carefully read the Newbies Guide you were linked to when you registered, as well as the stickies/pinned threads at the top of each forum page. They'll help you understand the rules of the forums, as well as the etiquette and culture of the various spaces within, and can help you avoid potentially embarrassing newbie mistakes.

YA fantasy writer, huh? Then you'll probably enjoy our Young Adult subforum as well as our Science Fiction | Fantasy room. Explore, lurk a bit if you like, join in conversations you find fun or interesting if you like, make friends, enjoy yourself!

See you around the boards!
Izz

 

[regdog]

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[Pearl Black]

Thanks for the warm welcome and the tips on how to navigate this sprawling forum!

@Unimportant I must ask...wildfire?? I feel like I set myself up for a thematic joke and you're wiser in the topic than I am so I'm left here scratching my head haha! Do explain! Do you write Fantasy as well?

 

[Mjfaraldo]

Hello and welcome! I'm new too... or I was a few days ago I'm liking what I'm seeing in the forum so far. What are you working on right now? I see you write YA fantasy, I would love to hear read more about it

 

[Unimportant]

Thanks for the warm welcome and the tips on how to navigate this sprawling forum!

@Unimportant I must ask...wildfire?? I feel like I set myself up for a thematic joke and you're wiser in the topic than I am so I'm left here scratching my head haha! Do explain! Do you write Fantasy as well?

Sorry, that was a bit too cryptic!

After you said "driving my Chevy to the levy, then ended up in the desert on a horse with no name, I tried to follow up with "We'll be riding Wildfire". I'm probably dating myself.

Yep, I tend to write spec fic in various forms, mostly fantasy and horror. But short stories, not novels. My wee brain can't manage anything bigger than a few thousand words

 

[Undercover]

Welcome Pearl Black. Catchy name choice! Hope you enjoy it here. Go YA Fantasy!!!

 

[Psychoclown]

Welcome. I'm a newbie here as well, but I thought I'd drop in and extend a welcome.

As for the pseudonym, it instantly brought to mind the band Pearl Jam and their song Black. And those are both awesome things in my book, so I love the handle.

 

[Pearl Black]

Hello and welcome! I'm new too... or I was a few days ago I'm liking what I'm seeing in the forum so far. What are you working on right now? I see you write YA fantasy, I would love to hear read more about it

Well, I had written 1.5 books with a layout for four, and then I cannibalized my 2nd one to combine it with the first, and now I'm grossly behind on a deadline. :/ It's a new world mixed with the old, with some Native American legends interwoven, and a heavy emphasis on nature. Honestly I don't know how to say what it's about. Every time someone asks, I developed the deer-in-headlights look and think, "well, see there's a tree, and...."

Yeah my elevator pitch needs work lol
What do you write?

 

[Pearl Black]

Sorry, that was a bit too cryptic!

After you said "driving my Chevy to the levy, then ended up in the desert on a horse with no name, I tried to follow up with "We'll be riding Wildfire". I'm probably dating myself.

Yep, I tend to write spec fic in various forms, mostly fantasy and horror. But short stories, not novels. My wee brain can't manage anything bigger than a few thousand words

I knew it was a song!! Never heard that one, I appreciate the link so I could check it out! To be quite honest, I'm ill-eqipped to shrink a story into short/novella/flash form. It does not take a wee brain but a gift of boiling down! Don't sell yourself short on that one! What kind of tricks do you use to ramp up the scare factor in your horror with the short stories? I like shrinking the sentences down, thinking of them like heartbeats.

 

[Pearl Black]

Thank you you write Fantasy, too? I find it's a flooded market and so difficult to write originally without being too 'out there.' But hey,rules are meant to be broken.

 

[Pearl Black]

@Psychoclown Hey now that's an angle I hadn't considered, thanks for the monday morning grin

What kinda stuff do you write?

 

[Mjfaraldo]

What do you write?

I write fantasy. I'm working on two series right now.

One is a romance but not really, the romance drives the plot forward. It has Egyptian mythology intertwined with real world.

The other one (my NaNo project.) is a dystopian fantasy, I guess. It’s not based on a future that would happen to our world type of thing. And I’m not entirely sure if it’s be considered upper YA maybe or NA.

It's a new world mixed with the old, with some Native American legends interwoven, and a heavy emphasis on nature.

Sounds interesting! I would love to read it once you're ready

 

[Psychoclown]

Fantasy and horror mostly. Currently my main project is a cosmic horror novel/novella told from a first person PoV involving the usual fun with forgotten dark gods, madness, abominations that should not be spoken of. I also got a short story I'm trying to refine for submission and another idea for a short story percolating in my brain. Plus a dormant fantasy novel that I started a while ago, but lost steam on for various reasons. Oh, and my young daughter is asking to write a scary story with me, so I may dip my toe into YA Horror at some point.

Your elevator pitch may need some work, but the concept sounds like it could be pretty interesting.

 

[Unimportant]

What kind of tricks do you use to ramp up the scare factor in your horror with the short stories? I like shrinking the sentences down, thinking of them like heartbeats.

Yep, you've described it perfectly.

 

[Pearl Black]

Oh, and my young daughter is asking to write a scary story with me, so I may dip my toe into YA Horror at some point.

Now that sounds like a very interesting idea, nothing quite like having a YA critic and researcher on staff! Best of luck on this!

 

[Koechophe]

If the shared pain of trying and failing to get things published is any solidarity for you, take comfort! You have a lot of friends!

But yeah, I think that with publishing, it really is just pound at that peg until you find a hole that accepts it. Good luck, and hopefully this place will be a good resource for helping you get where you're trying to go!