ALTERED: THE BEGINNING

I have news! I tweeted about this last week, so for those of you who've already heard the news, forgive the repost.

Also, a warning, if you haven't read Altered, there *may* be spoilers in this post. I will try to highlight them as a pre-warning warning. :-)

From Publisher's Marketplace:
Jennifer Rush's ALTERED: The Beginning, a digital original prequel to the Altered series, shedding light on how the Branch came to be and how the boys, and a girl's older sister first became involved with the organization, to Pam Gruber at Little, Brown Children's, for ebook publication in Fall 2013, by Joanna Volpe at New Leaf Literary & Media (World English).

I am BEYOND thrilled to continue writing in the Altered world, especially when it dives even deeper into the past of the characters and the Branch. [SPOILER] The "older sister" mentioned in the summary is Dani, Anna's older sister. I wrote Dani's origin story way back before Altered sold, and I couldn't wait to share them with the world. Originally we had considered putting them in the back of the Altered paperback, or the Erased hardcover, but at the time, the Dani pages were only about 2,000 words or so, and I knew her story was so much more than that. Furthermore, some of what is revealed in those original pages are revealed in Erased. And I didn't want to repeat what readers might already know. [END SPOILER]

I told my agent and editor that I wanted to do a novella in the Altered world earlier this year, and thankfully Little, Brown was on board! It all happened fairly quickly, and before I knew it, I was drafting the novella at lightning speed so it would be ready for release this year. I turned in the first draft last month, and my equally lightning fast editor already returned first round edits. Which are brilliant! No surprise there!

When I announced the news on Twitter, I received a few questions about the project, so I'm going to answer a few of them here.

What's the release date?
December 3, 2013, the same day as the Altered paperback!

How long will the story be?
I've drafted the story, but it hasn't gone through edits yet, so it will definitely change. As of right now, the story is 11,000 words, which I think roughly translates to 55 pages. 

When will the novella take place?
Far, far before the opening of Altered.

Will there be hot shirtless boys? 
OH YOU KNOW IT.

Will you have to read Altered first in order to understand what's going on in the novella?
No. Definitely not. But I think it would only add to the fun of reading the novella if you did. :-) Furthermore, if you read the novella first, a few things will be spoiled for when you read Altered. And I hate spoilers. I'm sure you do too! 

[ALTERED SPOILER FOR SURE]

Will we see Dani and Sam's relationship begin?

Kind of. Sort of. I don't think I can say more than that!

Will Anna be part of the story?

No. Anna will only appear in Dani's thoughts. 

[END SPOILER]

I can't wait for everyone to read Altered: The Beginning. I had a ton of fun drafting it (especially the Altered style twists and turns!) and I'm looking forward to revising over the next month or so to whip it into shape! 

How to change default font in Scrivener

I bought Scrivener last summer after I heard so many writers praise it for drafting and editing, but at the time, it seemed too daunting to learn, and I had a lot of deadlines to meet. Using Word was just easier, but I've decided to give it a shot again.

I've been playing around with it for months. And it IS a lot to learn. As a matter of fact, I've been trying to figure out how to change the default font and line spacing settings for eons. EONS. I honestly was ready to give up on using it, because I did not want to have to change the font every singe time I added a new scene.

So then I asked Twitter for help today, and Twitter, as usual, came to the rescue.

@purply_gurply had better luck than I did at Googling the info and she came up with this tutorial: http://kaitnolan.com/2012/05/07/how-to-change-the-editor-font-in-scrivener-for-windows/ 

Unfortunately, I think it's for an older version of Scrivener, because the steps didn't match what I had on the app. 

@YABookQueen helped too, by tweeting this: Tools -> Options -> Editor -> click blue "A" for fonts. 

So, I kinda sorta knew what I was looking for, thanks to these two lovely ladies, and the tutorial. And I finally found it! HALLELUJAH. So I took some quick screen grabs for anyone as frustrated as I was. I do think Scrivener is a valuable tool for writers, and I can't wait to finish drafting Altered 3 with it. 

Screen grabs below! 

In which I admit I have an addiction...

...to graphic design.

You maybe already know this. I’ve been designing book covers for a few months now. I’ve also had TONS of fun designing fake magazine covers (like, here and here and you can see more of my work here). I already have three different business card designs that I use in rotation, with countless others stored on my computer for future use.

But here’s the thing --- I will probably never ever make it through the 800 or so business cards I currently have printed.

So then I started thinking --- why not design business cards for other people? It’s a win-win! I get to keep designing cards, and nothing goes to waste, and lots of awesome people get fancy new business cards.

So, if you’re interested in a business card design, email me and let’s chat!

Below you’ll find some samples that I’ve designed for myself, and for fun. These are the ones I wish I could have printed if I had a bazillion dollars and a need for a bazillion business cards.  

If you’d like one of the pre-made cards, I’m offering those at a discounted rate of $30. Here’s how it works: pick out the card you like, email me your info (what you’d like on the card: website, twitter, email, etc.) and I’ll fill in the blanks. I’ll email you the business card in a PDF file, that you can do with as you please. Note: I can recommend the best, and most cost-effective places to have them printed if you’d like.

If you’d like a custom business card designed for you, email me and we can discuss style/options. Custom designed cards are $50.

I’m also offering bookmarks for $50, since those are just as fun to design! You can see the Altered bookmark I designed here and the front of the Bot Wars bookmark here. 

If you have any other questions, comment below, or email me!

I’m TOTALLY looking forward to this, you guys. TOTALLY. Let’s make some cards, yo.

If you have trouble viewing the images below, let me know and I'll email you the full portfolio for a closer look.