Category Archives: About My Work

April 3, 2012

KYRESA Gets (One Last) Makeover…and a Conference!

Just a short posting today.

I’m happy to report that in addition to my five fabulous beta readers—you may remember them previously referred to as A, B, E, W, and Z—Kyresa has now also gained one more reader: a real live editor!

While visiting a friend a couple of weekends ago, I discovered that her family member did editing work and also had some publishing experience. We got to talking, and she offered to read my work in progress.

A few days later, she made some suggestions on a portion that I found not only helpful to Kyresa, but also to my writing in general. Some “fine tunings,” if you will. It took a mere two minutes for me to realize this was an excellent opportunity, and now “P” has been added to my roster of wonderful readers (the initials A, B, E, P, W, and Z are now really starting to cover the whole alphabet, from A to Z!). I’m very excited to work with her, as well as to implement the final touches on Kyresa before I start sending the book out to agents this summer.

In addition, I am thrilled to share that I just registered for my first writing conference! Though it is a few months away, the Cascade Writers Workshop will be a great opportunity—there I will meet and network with fellow fantasy authors, editors, and agents, as well as further hone my craft in several workshops. Needless to say, I am now eagerly anticipating the summer.

Alas, it is a long way off…in the meantime, I have a few other pieces I’m working on, and am also in the process of submitting some of my short stories to literary journals. I will continue to update my blog with writerly news as time goes on.

Stay tuned in the next few days; in my next posting I will share my undying adoration for a particular author of my youth…

🙂

2 Comments | tags: Kyresa, Writing conferences | posted in About My Work

March 20, 2012

This One’s for the Kiddos!

By Eva Rieder

Recently, it came to my attention that several of my students caught wind of my website. I thought this was just a random mention by a few kids, and then I checked my website stats for the day the word spread. As you can see, the results were a little more staggering:

After I saw this, I felt like my life had been written into a Gossip Girl episode for a day, and I decided it was high time to dedicate a post to my awesome kiddos. 🙂

Now, I’m not entirely sure how this happened, but I suppose it could have come about for one of two reasons: genuine enthusiasm for what’s happening on this blog—which is what I’m inclined to believe because, quite frankly, I have some seriously amazing students—or perhaps just a general desire to catch me saying something naughty.

I have heard a few rumors about this idea that would make such a desire understandable. I’m pretty sure the concept of my alleged dirty writing originated last year, when I mentioned in class that I wrote an adult fantasy novel, as in, not young adult fantasy, and somehow this translated into the idea that I write erotica. (Whoopsy! Epic teacher fail moment…)

Sadly, this is not true, but I’m also not going to lie: I write adult fiction, which is to say that within the course of the story, there may be some graphic material (violence, language, sex, overtones, etc.) that may be deemed inappropriate for young adults, just as a TV-MA show might be. In my humble opinion, this sort of reading decision is something teens make everyday, and hopefully this level of reading has occurred with appropriate discretion, parental or otherwise. As a young girl I read far past my age level, but I also knew what was fictional versus appropriate behavior in real life, as I’m going to assume any teen readers have the capacity to do, as well.

So what do I write? I write fantasy, contemporary, and just about anything else that springs into my thick and somewhat pinhead-shaped dome. And since you like to read, I thought it would be fun to know what type of book YOU prefer to curl up with on a lazy afternoon. Adult or young adult, click on your preference below!

Whether you are indeed a student or another reader, young or young-at-heart, thanks for sharing your reading interests back with me and other blog followers. Expect to see more polls and surveys on your interests in the future from time to time, and thank you for participating in this poll!

Comments Off on This One’s for the Kiddos! | tags: Musings, Reader polls, Reading, Sharing Fantasy | posted in About My Work, Musings from the Heart, Right Back at Ya!

March 16, 2012

What Are You Writing Right Now?

By Eva Rieder

Recently I’ve received a few emails inquiring on the status of my novel-in-progress, Kyresa, as well as any other writing I might be doing. I figured I’d provide a quick update for those of you who are following.

After numerous revisions and edits, Kyresa is now in the hands of my five treasured beta readers, who I will fondly refer to as A, B, E, W, and Z. (As a writer, I’m inclined to note that my readers run from A to Z! And thanks A, B, E, W, Z for all your help!) While they are hard at work giving the novel one last go-round, I am in the process of researching and selecting potential agents to represent my work. I’m also working on my “elevator pitch”—that clever, necessary, and useful blurb describing your book in just a few sentences, should you ever be trapped on an elevator or similar thirty-second scenario with an editor or agent of your dreams. It seems like such a simple endeavor, and yet, condensing an entire book and the fantasy realm it encompasses into just a few sentences is actually quite challenging. I’ve come up with a few tentative possibilities so far, so I’m almost there…or will be, once I merge all three emails in my inbox and five post-its on my dashboard together into one nice, clean statement!

Meanwhile, I am also researching literary journals and anthologies for two short stories: “Circubus,” a supernatural fantasy piece, and “Mounds,” a contemporary/mainstream work. I’ve found a few great places for “Circubus” and just sent it to my first choice magazine—cross your fingers! I will be focusing on homes for “Mounds” over the next week.

Once those are out, I will be continuing my work on the second draft of another novel, as well as toying with two prospective short story concepts. All three items are definitely in their very early stages, but I’m excited about them. These will temporarily be put on hold when Kyresa comes back from the fantastic A, B, E, W, Z squad, so that I can wrap up the novel and start to send it out into the world…

Like many things we do in life, it’s all a process. Fortunately, it’s a very enjoyable one! 🙂