Mallory’s Story: My Current WIP
Yeah. I know, I know. I haven’t been blogging these past few days. I do have an excuse. I’ve been working on this little video to post in my writing section. (Yes, I do have info to go in that tab, it’s just been put on hold for iMovie.) 
Take a sneak peek inside my current WIP…
Yep, you wanna read it now, don’t ya? 
(At least, I hope so. That’s kind of the point!)
There is a cool story to go with this video. Well, besides MALLORY’S cool story.
I wanted to use music that held a significance for my character. Since I’m a music lover, I went back to my writing playlist for Mallory to find the perfect video song. There was one song by The Epochs that stood out as her song. (Thunder and Lightning) However, that song wasn’t fitting with my words and images. I decided to use Mouths to Feed, instead.
Okay, I’m rambling. I’ll get to the point.
I wanted to use their song, but not without their permission. (You get that way when most of your friends are musicians! It’s a good way to be, folks.)
So, on a whim, I emailed the band and asked for permission. Not only did I get a response, but I got a response like five minutes later! Ryan from The Epochs = Awesome. He gave me his blessing and informed me that The Epochs are no longer active as a band, but that they had a new project going called BLUEBRAIN.
www.bluebra.in
Another funny side note… I mentioned this in a previous post, but I really did use The Epochs album a ton when writing both of my current WIPs. I even noticed that one of the members was named Hays. I had a male main character in my head that needed to be named and I thought that one was perfect. WIP #2 MC is named Hayes. :D
(No, Ryan. I’m not a stalker. People, vouch for me here. I just loved the name.)
Oh, and Ryan? If you do read this… Don’t tell Hays that my Hayes is kinda a jerk, okay? Mmkay, thanks. :D
And now I must sleep. It’s 3 a.m. and my insomnia is creeping away.
Wow! That was great
) Really. I loved it. I’m such a fan of black and white. It was haunting and beautiful. Awesome job girl! Did you find those pics?
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Very impressive.
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OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I totally love it!!
I totally get it (and Amanda will too) and feel that I know secrets that no one else viewing this would know, BUT they’re going to WANT to know now!!!
OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!! Drinks? Tomorrow??? So I can hear where you got this freakin’ fabulous video?!!!!!!!!!!
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MEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPP!!! Ditto, Sylvie!! It’s awesome!! The music made it even MORE so!
Where did you get the pictures?
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That was cool! I can’t wait for it to come out. I suppose you have to finish it first though huh?
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Thanks for all the positive feedback!
I got the pics online. I saved the free preview image, rather than buying a larger size, but I don’t think they look too grainy in the video. Since I’m a nobody and have no published book to sale, it’s not a problem to use them. (The way I read it. I’m not using it for commercial use.)
All the women had red hair, as does Mallory, but I chose black and white so that detail was lost.
Southpaw- Yeah, it’s in 4th draft. Betas, then query time!
Sylvie- Yes, drinks and discussion.
I’m glad you like it!
Amanda- Is that a new word? Mep? lol And I was worried most about yours and Sylvie’s reaction because you’ve actually read it! Glad to know you guys approve.
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OMG!!! Seriously!!! That trailer is AMAZING!!! I’ve watched it two times now and I cant’ wait to read the book. You know, as a side job you could make book trailers. Wanna make mine?
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Woot! Woot! Sounds good!
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You know I like to make up words. Haha!
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Really, really nice Regan. First time I’ve seen a book trailer that actually made me curious!
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I haven’t watched it (I’m at work – shared environment, and video just loads too slow at home), but I just wanted to say congrats, and kudos to you for getting permission to use the music.
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Well done, Regan. This is one of the best trailers I’ve seen. I loved the music too and thought it was very cool and nice of you to contact the artist to get their blessing / permission. Having read a bit of Mallory’s story, the images you chose were absolutely perfect. If you need another beta, when the time comes, let me know.
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I keep coming back and watching it again! I love it!!! See you tonight!
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Kate, Denise, and Eisley: Thanks for stopping by to see it!
It makes me happy you guys like it so much!
Jamie: Get the window open and leave it overnight.
Claire: Thank you so much! And yes, I’ll let you know for sure.
Sylvie: You crack me up.
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Great trailer, Regan. The music really brings it to life!
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That was awesome! I so love Mallory’s voice.
Annnnd I’m hooked.
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Neat lil’ concept you’ve got going on
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Very nice trailer. I don’t read romance but it still kept my interest. Perfect music and just the right amount of text to give insight into the story. Lots of talk about this stuff on Nathan’s blog lately.
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Thanks for the comments, ladies.
I appreciate them! Really!!
Ryan- Good to know it kept your interest, then.
I noticed that! And I would have written my guest blog idea on this topic, but didn’t meet the deadline. I left a comment on his blog, though. I explained the idea of contacting the band and working on your own video, rather than paying someone else to do it.
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Wow. Yes, I did want to read it. It sounds just awesome. And the video was sick! If I had any skill with a computer I would start one right now. So sweet!
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Wow. How the heck did you make that thing?
Anyway, I think your story – or Mallory’s, to be precise, sounds fascinating. I loved how the tension in my body mounted when the screen read “I think it’s time he noticed me.” I do have one other little comment, though.
Once “I hope I don’t scare him to death” popped up, I was excited for what I knew would come next. When the next line was shown (“Then again, maybe I do”), I thought “I was right!” Sort of…
I’m going to call what I say next “advice”, even though some would call it “criticism”, which is a terrible, ugly word.
To me, “Then again, maybe I do” means “Then again maybe I do scare him to death” as opposed to what I think you meant to get across – which was that maybe Mallory really DOES want to scare Evan to death because that would put him with her.
So, maybe something like “Then again, maybe I don’t” would make more sense because that would translate into what I think you’re trying to say.
OK, that sounded more confusing than I meant it to, and I know I don’t really know you well… So, heck, maybe I’m being really rude, but I actually love what you have here. I just wanted to get a word in!
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Madeline- Thans for your comments.
I see what you mean, and when I’m not multi-tasking I’ll take a look at it again. I may change “I hope I don’t scare him to death” to “I don’t want to scare him to death”… I’ll take a look. Thanks!
(And I used iMovie to make it.)
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This is a good video – too bad you can’t send electronic query letters…or can you?
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Hey Regan, so I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Feathers from AW and you asked me to check this out for crits/comments. I thought it was really good! Professional, tight, well paced. Music was good. I liked how you established the voice and the images you chose. When the image with the water spout popped up and the text “accidents do happen” I got a horrible chill, wondering what it could mean. Your video was very good that way.
There were a couple slides in the middle that lost my focus starting with “Sometimes I bump into him” and ending with the “I can’t feel anything, but I’m sure he does” slide. It seemed a bit like a bunny trail to me. I felt impatient, wanting more of the excitement and story (which is a good thing, btw, that you had the excitement. ). Those slides helped establish voice, but I thought the rest of your video had already done that quite well. The slides weren’t bad, but the rest of the vid is so great, they were just a bit of a letdown.
Maybe you could put those slides toward the part where she says it’s time to get him to notice her? That would work okay. On my part, I think the video is fine without them and they could be excerpted. Or if you want something in the middle, It would be great to have you build off the threat to the girlfriend just a little bit, which could segue into the parts about getting Evan to notice her.
Now that I re-read this, It sounds kind of critical. I thought you vid was amazing–no kidding–much better than the stuff I’ve created. So those slides are only a blip in the road, so to speak.
Also, love your blog! Very attractive.
-Mandy
(Feathers)
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