http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:shadenokturne&section=today deviantART RSS for by:shadenokturne en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:42:33 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/25792990/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/25792990/ Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:01:47 PDT
I feel like this gallery belongs to someone else. In another lifetime. See you around, DA.

]]> ~shadenokturne http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/21927348/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/21927348/ Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:11:59 PST
]]> ~shadenokturne http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/21363560/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/21363560/ Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:27:14 PST [link]

All my art time and energy has been devoted to the super-secret project that I will one day be able to tell you guys all about. Be assured that I'm working diligently . . . just not on anything I can show you here.

]]> ~shadenokturne http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/19768662/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/19768662/ Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:26:33 PDT
The trip was awesome, even though we didn't catch much. It was nice to just relax and read and soak up all the nature. I've pretty much reached my nature saturation point though, and am once again exulting in the joys of indoor plumbing.

2 more rejection slips waiting for me when I got home, too

. . . but my diploma finally arrived, and with it a feeling of absolute finality: Done With School!!!

Time to get back to work on all the things I left behind---especially book 2!

]]> ~shadenokturne http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/19416584/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/19416584/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:56:00 PDT

As I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about by now, I'm still grinding away at queries and synopsesesssesesss. I've got a good working copy of the synopsis now, but reading over it made me start re-thinking the query letter I had. The one that got rejected, that is. So I completely re-wrote the query letter--and this is where YOU come in. Are you ready? I'm going to post both queries, and I want you to tell me which one you think is better.

It doesn't matter if you've read my book or not, in fact--it's probably better if you haven't because what I'm looking for here is: "Does this make you want to read my book?"

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Query One: The Rejected

[ Person in charge of my fate ],

I am seeking representation for my novel Dragonborn, completed at 109,000 words. Dragonborn is a vampire novel that takes place in a fantasy setting, but with a sci-fi element that will grow more pronounced in later books. It is the first of an estimated 5-6 book series, the second of which is currently being written.

The last dragon is dead—but this is not the end, it is the beginning.

Several hundred years have passed since the Cataclysm plunged mankind and mageborn alike into a dark age. It has been said that the heart of magic has been broken, but the old ways live on in the unchanging hearts of the vampiric kash'avier and other immortal creatures that inhabit this lawless world.

Once a stronghold of the mageborn, Cro Settlement has been overrun by an army of ghouls led by a bloodthirsty necromancer. Eventine Alderon has opened a rift between the magical world of Ar and a strange and sterile world of technology. He is trading the mageborn people of his world for the alien technology of the other. Though the unliving body he inhabits is forever trapped on the trembling edge of adulthood, the blood-feud that motivates him has simmered over the span of several mortal lifetimes.

The keepers of the Arlachia Venn, the legendary stones that have granted the curse of immortality, join forces in order to drive Eventine out of Cro and into that alien world; but the taste of victory is soured when they learn that their efforts have come too late to save the last dragon. Further complications arise when it is discovered that Eventine's servant has made off with his twin heirs. Created via strange otherworldly technology, these infants represent a hope that the blood of dragons will live on in the world, and a fear that Eventine's wicked legacy will also endure.

I wrote this book as a fresh take on the vampire myth; blending the horror, fantasy, and sci-fi genres to create a series that incorporates elements of each. Because you specialize [ whatever it is they like ], I hope that we might be a good fit. If you are interested, I would like to send the rest of my manuscript for your evaluation.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Me
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Query 2 : The Untested



Dear ­­­[ ],

I am seeking representation for my novel Dragonborn, completed at 109,000 words. I have enclosed [ synopsis, sample chapters, whatever ]. The sequel, Broken Crown, is currently being written.

The last dragon is dead—but this is not the end, it is the beginning.

A dark age has fallen upon the Northern Kingdom. Only the ancient and vampiric kash'avier remember the world as it used to be, but the centuries have removed them from the bustle and light of the living world, dulling their senses to the fresh atrocity invading from the poisoned lands of Holehollow.

Eventine Alderon, one of the last heirs to the broken crown of North, has engineered a rift between the magical world of Ar and a strange and sterile world of machinery. He is trading the mageborn people of his world for the alien technology of the other. The unliving body he inhabits is forever trapped on the trembling edge of adulthood, but the blood-feud that motivates him has simmered over the span of centuries.

In order to stop him, the ageless ones must take on unlikely allies—including a mortal man with a touch of the "Wildling Blood" and a hot-tempered necromancer intent on proving that "hell hath no fury . . ."

Their victory is both hard-won and hollow; complications arise when it is discovered that Eventine's servant has brought his twin heirs into this world. Created via strange otherworldly technology, these "dragonborn" infants represent a hope that the blood of dragons will live on, and a fear that Eventine's wicked legacy will also endure.

Dragonborn is character-driven dark fantasy, with an sci-fi element that will grow more pronounced in later b... ]]> ~shadenokturne http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/19276903/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/19276903/ Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:49:02 PDT
It won't be the last, but I thought I should at least commemorate the first. I got back the first self-addressed envalope I sent along with my first ageny query today. It was too light to be anything good.

I'll admit that I had this whole scenario in mind: my first-choice agent would read my brilliant query letter and be so intreagued by my masterful wordiness that he would immediately demand to read the book (or at least some chapters and a synopsis). At this point my biggest hurdle would be the as-yet-unfinished synopsis. Alas, my "query was not quite intreaguing enough to inspire me to offer representation or further consideration of your project".

That's a rough thing to hear first thing in the morning, I'll tell you . . . cause I'm still feeling pretty good about the query letter. But I also realize that this is an important part of the process.

Some writers keep a collection of their rejection slips--Stephen King did, I know. I'm sure there are some people out there who chuck them in the trash, or burn them, or whatever. I don't know yet what I'm going to do with mine. Seems wrong to just get rid of it, it's a milestone after all.

In any case, I'm determined not to wallow in it. I have too much work left to do. Someone out there is bound to be crazy enough to like what I do, it's only a matter of finding them . . . and then won't all those rejectors feel foolish when I catapault to the bestsellers list? You bet they will! (a girl's gotta have dreams)

]]> ~shadenokturne http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/19067800/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/19067800/ Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:30:12 PDT Gotta do that whole real-life thing again, but I'm easing myself back into it.

My first week off was basically spent sleeping and hanging out with various relatives lingering around the area. This week I've been trying to get serious about getting my book published, I submitted my first query letter to a literary agency today o_0 and I'm working on a submission package to send to TOR. One small step for man, one giant leap for Kat-kind! I promised myself that I wouldn't work on book 2 until I've sent off at least five queries and the submission package . . . so that's where I'm at with all of that stuff.

Personal projects aside, I landed a sweet gig as a colorist. Unfortunately for the blogosphere (god what an ugly word) the first rule of the Colorist Job is "don't talk about the Colorist Job". Just be happy in the knowledge that I'm content here, all curled up with my Brand New Tablet (!!! !!!) coloring like a kindergartener on crack! Yeeah!

Oh yah, I'm totally playing WoW again ^-^ heeeee.

]]> ~shadenokturne http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/18358024/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/18358024/ Fri, 16 May 2008 20:44:07 PDT *does a rain dance*
Otherwise, things are cruising. Cruuuuising. I've been a little more lively on Myspace, but not much lol, for life-related updates that's the place. No art-related updates to share... maybe i'll do something fun this weekend. Or maybe I'll spend the weekend staring grumpily at half-written chapters on MSWord. Yar.

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1. Write these rules again.
2. Each person tagged has to write 8 things about herself/himself.
3. He/she has to write those things into her/his journal.
4. He/she will have to tag 8 more people at the end.
5. Go into their dA pages and note that you've tagged them.


8 things about me:

I'm not going to tag anyone, hahaha! (that counts as one, right?)
I think sweet potatoes are disgusting. Ugh.
Although I write constantly, I am a horrible speller
By caffiene alone do I set my mind in motion.
I talk way too much about my book. Waaay too much. I'm even doing it here.
I want to live somewhere warm.
I just watched 30 days of night and I thought it was pretty good.
Um. I like to draw but I can't do it on command.

Whew, that was fun, wasn't it?

]]> ~shadenokturne http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/16502974/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/16502974/ Mon, 21 Jan 2008 09:58:43 PST I was reading an article this morning that said that Martin Luther King Jr.'s message was being lost to our generation, that although we remember that MLK was a man with a dream, that most of us can't really go beyond that first sentence. We have forgotten what the dream actually was. Now, when I read that I thought to myself "Hey, I remember the message: I have a dream that one day my kids will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character!" . . . but then I realized that the speech he gave was eleven minutes long. So, what else did he have to say? If you can't answer that question either, I ask you to try to overcome our generation's short-attention-span handicap and watch the full video.

In the interest of honoring MLK who was kind enough to give me this day off school; and in honor of his message, which is in danger of being forgotten, here is a youtube of his speech in its entirety for you to watch.

[link]

<3 peace <3
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PS: There's a sexy new picture of Dameon up in my gallery!

]]> ~shadenokturne http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/16086209/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/16086209/ Mon, 24 Dec 2007 23:53:53 PST Merry Christmas!

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If you're reading this, I challenge you to draw something (anything, really) in mspaint today. With your mouse. Just do it, you don't even have to post it here. It's like playing around with an etch-a-sketch when you were a kid--the results may not be as pleasing as you'd hoped, but it sure is entertaining.

]]> ~shadenokturne http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/14971224/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/14971224/ Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:28:07 PDT

No new art to post, alas. I haven't had much time for anything since school started back up this quarter. Most of my art has gone directly into the margins of my notebooks, and none of it has been postworthy. I try to make time for art when I can, but the past couple weeks I haven't even had time for my writing, let alone my art. Boooo. I'm hoping that I'll be able to strike a better balance between school stuff and the stuff I really love lol.

**EDIT**
I could not live with my own lameness, so to prove myself wrong, I took some time for art today Behold: Nyu's Art Meme!

Lesson of the day: MAKE TIME FOR THE THINGS YOU CARE ABOUT!

]]> ~shadenokturne http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/14540581/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/14540581/ Sat, 08 Sep 2007 05:08:45 PDT Since this is the Weekend to End Breast Cancer, I thought I would say that it's cool to see all the people around DeviantArt taking this to heart like they are. So I thought I would share a link with you all who read my blog. Basically, you go to this site and click on the big button they have on there. All the sponsors of the site will donate for each different click on the site which adds up to one free mammogram per click. This is good for those who would like to help out, but cannot donate right now. So here's the link. [link]
Go ahead and click. I promise that it has no nasty surprises behind it like viruses, hidden fees, or those things that take your soul.

]]> ~shadenokturne http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/13616329/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/13616329/ Thu, 05 Jul 2007 04:21:25 PDT . Enjoy! ]]> ~shadenokturne http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/13149880/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/13149880/ Wed, 30 May 2007 10:46:17 PDT
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[link] << here is the free version.

There's a pay version where you can do more stuff but I'm playing around with the freebie first. I might actually get the full version just because i love this so much. I've been wanting to get some program or another that didn't cost a billion dollars and looks and acts like paint. This is the best I've found so far. I'm posting a quick paint-sketch I did when I was trying it out, so if you're curious you can get a look at what it does.


Also, SPRING BREAK!!!!!! Whoo! And as an added bonus, it's WARM!!! Yay!

]]> ~shadenokturne http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/12102504/ http://shadenokturne.deviantart.com/journal/12102504/ Thu, 08 Mar 2007 06:46:42 PST Just a little update. I've been doing more pencil work lately. I have to go take an exam in an hour... why do I always choose the most inappropriate times for these updates?
=kat=

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