Speed... What?: Penelope Grace

Yay! So this is my answers to "Speed... What?" You can use this post as a guideline or example of how "Speed... What?" linkup posts should be like. Tomorrow, I think Alex Steele would be making hers, and it will be really awesome. 

Q & A:

1. What is the farthest stage of writing you're in? Remember that publishing (traditional or self-publishing is our goal! (Say... "currently writing first draft," "editing," "querying," "sending out to beta readers," or "published." You can say "it's complicated," if you wish).

That would be querying, which is The Lost Princess' current stage. However, I'm thinking of bumping it back to "editing." So it should be fun! 

2. Dog or cat? Or neither? 

How about both? I don't mind either (though I do have a very terrible experience with dogs, but I never let it get me down). 

3. What is your favorite book?

This is way too hard. Too hard! There are way too many books out there to name, and if I tried, just tried, my favorite books would be on a 100 book list in no particular order. But Scarlet by Marissa Meyer is always worthy enough to mention.

4. What genres are you most familiar with? Or which genres are you writing? (Feel free to go forth and explain in detail!). 

Gosh. Umm... I'm always in the Young Adult genre, just hanging around. In the subgenres, it is definitely YA Fairy Tale Retellings. That is the genre I'm most familiar with. Just love fairy tales.

5. Greatest piece of inspiration? 

It is hard to put this into simple words. But I will try.

Greatest piece of inspiration will be music. I just love songs from Florence + the Machine and Imagine Dragons. Rock and alternative is always my favorite, and I don't mind hanging out with pop music on a Friday.

6. Previous experience in writing? (If you don't have anything to say or admit, then you can simply tell us about how you got into writing. Or you can answer both questions). 

I'd never written for a newspaper, and I'd never been published (by a major publisher). 

I got into writing when I was 11 or 12. I never really liked writing essays (though I can do it), but I always had my head stuck in the clouds. Mom claims I should stop imagining and dreaming and focus on the real world, but I can't do that. I think I'm too much of a dreamer. And then I started putting down my imagination and dreams into words to never forget them. So that is how I got into writing.

7. Your goal! Your personal goal. Is it to write for yourself? Or is it to write for others? 

In the beginning, it was for myself. I just wanted to see a book written by me, out there. But I think I started realizing when I was about 15 that I could inspire other people. And I can take readers into places. Figuratively taking them inside of my head (ha, it is pretty much Wonderland in my head). And I can twist and play with things...

Okay, I'm getting way off-topic, but the basics is that... I used to write for myself, but now I'm writing for those like me. A sort of escape hatch from the real world, a sort of crazy and mad world that makes the real world clearer. Sort of like a reflection on reality. 

8. Favorite food?

When I'm hungry, I will think spinach taste good. But seriously, favorite food? Hard. Hard. Food is life. I think I'll go with Chinese dumplings, though. And Japanese sushi. And Korean BBQ. And Italian pasta. And... Okay, I better stop making you all hungry.

9. Favorite song?

See Numero Cinco. Florence + the Machine. The Black Keys. Imagine Dragons. Taylor Swift's 1989. Gavin Degraw. Basically, any songs by those artists. And I only scratch the surface. 

10. And finally, what is the synopsis of your most favorite (or greatest) work? Don't be scared. We won't laugh (unless it is meant to be humor).

I updated The Black Queen's synopsis. Hopefully, it is way better now than before. (Also, previous synopsis follows the first draft of TBQ. This one, the newer one, follows the second draft of TBQ. Fun stuff). 

"A game of chess has simple rules.

There are two queens, two kings, four bishops, four rooks, four knights, and sixteen pawns. They move in certain ways and predictable patterns. Two sides, fighting each other. Their war can only end in three ways: checkmate, stalemate, and draw.

But when it involves real people? It gets complicated.

Ashlina Four is a lowly pawn, just recently dead and killed by her despised grandmother. Caught in an unfamiliar land beyond death, Ashlina quickly finds allies: Éric with his troubling duality and web of lies and truths, Warner who is changing for the worse, and Lola with her dangerous plans that will shake up the chessboard. All of them have secrets and agendas of her own.

She is haunted by nightmares. She is targeted by hellhounds, savage beasts intent on chasing her until she is gone permanently. She knows that none of her allies can be trusted completely. She knows that time is running out. But how can she run when her destiny is written in the stars?

The only checkmate is death."

That is it! 

Oh, yes. And one more thing. Contact info in case you are interested in working together. First of all, email: graceandsteele (at) gmail (dot) com. You can also message me via Grace & Steele's Facebook page. Try Twitter (handle: @PeneGrace). Or you can simply leave a comment on this page with your email address. 

And as the creator of this linkup, contact me at graceandsteele (at) gmail (dot) com if you have any further questions or concerns. 

Happy Editing!