Tamara (aka @TCGrantham) explains how Shine came about. #atozchallenge
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How did Shine come about?
William Bernhardt is Shine's creator. He is the NY Times-bestselling author of the Ben Kincaid series. He's also the world's greatest writing teacher. He was my instructor three years ago when I brought one of my early manuscripts to his writing seminar.
He was respectful and kind, but he also gave authors a dose of reality that many of them (me included) were in desperate need of.
My writing improved after that seminar. He offered two more and I took them both. The work was hard. My hours were spent relentlessly trying to improve every sentence, make every word count. I'm not saying that I'm perfect now, but I know I learned more than I would've if I'd been on my own.
Shortly after the last seminar, Bill came to me with a request. He was starting a new series about young women with extraordinary abilities. He asked me because he knew I wrote in the YA genre. He also asked because after three seminars of poring over my writing, I'd impressed him enough that I was one of the first people he asked.
I couldn't pass up on the opportunity.
My novella, Raze, was born shortly thereafter. It was published as a monthly serial that followed Bill's first five story arcs. All were published as low cost e-books that could be read shortly in a few hours. My book follows May and Lillie Wheaton, sisters who are New York's only professional hellraisers. They're hired to find a missing girl, a Shine.
They track her down, but are horrified to learn that she's been captured by New York's most elusive gangs, the Xeros. She's being used in cage fights, pitted against other girls who also have unusual abilities.
The results are explosive. They can't trust anyone, not even each other, if they want to survive. The lines between sister and friend, between ally and enemy, are about to change--fatally.
William Bernhardt is Shine's creator. He is the NY Times-bestselling author of the Ben Kincaid series. He's also the world's greatest writing teacher. He was my instructor three years ago when I brought one of my early manuscripts to his writing seminar.
He was respectful and kind, but he also gave authors a dose of reality that many of them (me included) were in desperate need of.
My writing improved after that seminar. He offered two more and I took them both. The work was hard. My hours were spent relentlessly trying to improve every sentence, make every word count. I'm not saying that I'm perfect now, but I know I learned more than I would've if I'd been on my own.
Shortly after the last seminar, Bill came to me with a request. He was starting a new series about young women with extraordinary abilities. He asked me because he knew I wrote in the YA genre. He also asked because after three seminars of poring over my writing, I'd impressed him enough that I was one of the first people he asked.
I couldn't pass up on the opportunity.
My novella, Raze, was born shortly thereafter. It was published as a monthly serial that followed Bill's first five story arcs. All were published as low cost e-books that could be read shortly in a few hours. My book follows May and Lillie Wheaton, sisters who are New York's only professional hellraisers. They're hired to find a missing girl, a Shine.
They track her down, but are horrified to learn that she's been captured by New York's most elusive gangs, the Xeros. She's being used in cage fights, pitted against other girls who also have unusual abilities.
The results are explosive. They can't trust anyone, not even each other, if they want to survive. The lines between sister and friend, between ally and enemy, are about to change--fatally.
