Mystery in Post-it Notes?

Intrigue plays a bit part in my YA novel The Monster Within. My MC Sam faces mystery after mystery from the moment she’s brought back from the dead. One of those mysteries involves yellow Post-it notes that come to strike fear in Sam. Check out this scene that occurs immediately after Sam has one of her Mr. Hyde attacks:

My head felt woozy, like I was hung over, but I hadn’t had anything to drink. I slowly got to my feet, still scanning the yard, looking for whoever had done this. Maybe it was the same person who had stolen my necklace. I thought back to the guy who was peeking in the window. The one who’d broken into the house. He knew my name. He knew I could kill with my bare hands. It had to be him. 

Suddenly the realization that I was outside alone in the dark with a stranger lurking around set in. I ran back into the cottage and locked both locks behind me. I went around the house checking all the windows, too. He wasn’t getting inside again.

I pulled the curtain back into place after checking the lock on the window above the kitchen sink. I was breathing hard. I turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on my face. No way would I be able to go back to sleep after all this, so I grabbed a paper towel and dabbed my face, trying to think of how I’d pass the time until morning without waking Ethan. I reached for a second paper towel when I saw the note on the counter. A yellow Post-it note. I froze.

My eyes zeroed in on the handwriting. Every letter was perfectly straight.

Where’s your necklace?

Those three words sent terror coursing through my body. Whoever had given me the necklace had been in my house tonight. He—or she, now I wasn’t so sure—had come into the cottage while I was out in the yard having a vision and trying not to die.

Two break-ins in one night? It was hard to believe, but it had to be two different people. One stole my necklace, and the other wanted to know why I wasn’t wearing it anymore. How had so many people discovered where I lived?

Are you intrigued? If so, check out The Monster Within.

The moment seventeen-year-old Samantha Thompson crawls out of her grave, her second chance at life begins. She died of cancer with her long-time boyfriend, Ethan, by her side—a completely unfair shot at life. But Ethan found a way to bring her back, like he promised he would. Only Sam came back wrong.

She's now a monster that drains others' lives to survive. And after she kills, she’s tortured by visions—glimpses into her victims would-have-been futures had she not killed them. Barely able to live with herself and trying to make things right, Sam ends up a pawn in a vicious game of payback within the local coven of witches.

But when the game reveals what Ethan had to do to save Sam, she must make a choice that will change all their lives forever.

Kelly Hashway grew up reading R.L. Stein’s Fear Street novels and writing stories of her own, so it was no surprise to her family when she majored in English and later obtained a masters degree in English Secondary Education from East Stroudsburg University. After teaching middle school language arts for seven years, Hashway went back to school and focused specifically on writing. She is now the author of three young adult series, one middle grade series, and several picture books. She also writes contemporary romance under the pen name Ashelyn Drake. When she isn’t writing, Hashway works as a freelance editor for small presses as well as for her own list of clients. In her spare time, she enjoys running, traveling, and volunteering with the PTO. Hashway currently resides in Pennsylvania with her husband, daughter, and two pets. Visit her website: http://www.kellyhashway.com.

Tips for Fast Drafting from Kelly Hashway

I used to be the writer who thought everyone who participated in NaNoWriMo was insane for writing a book that quickly. I didn’t think I could ever do it. But then everything changed. I discovered fast drafting and I’ve never looked back. Fast drafting is where you write large word counts each day and get the manuscript drafted in a very short period of time. My record is eight days for an 80K manuscript. Crazy? Not really.

Here’s my tip for getting those words out and quickly. Set specific writing time each day and keep your fingers moving. You can train yourself to be creative on cue. Yes, you heard me right. You can train your brain to respond to writing at certain times of the day. I know I am going to write from 9:00am to 2:40pm when my daughter is in school. My brain expects to have to be in writing mode during that time, and it is. Does that mean I never get stuck and stare at a blank screen? No. I’m only human. But I have a tip for that, too. When you’re fast drafting you can’t tolerate writer’s block. When I get stuck, I skip whatever is holding me up and jump ahead. If I’m really feeling in a slump, I’ll write the ending or the climax because I know those parts and they get me excited about the story all over again. After that, I find I can go back and work through the part that was tripping me up earlier.

Also, when you’re fast drafting, don’t go back and edit what you’ve already written. It’s about constantly moving forward and typing new words until the manuscript is complete. Like I said, I thought I’d never be able to write like this. Now, I can’t imagine writing any other way. And fast drafting doesn’t just help me to get the manuscript written. I find that during revisions, I’m pleased by how well the story flows because of the pace in which it was written. Things stay fresh in your mind, and gaps or inconsistencies that can result from writing a manuscript over the course of months aren’t there anymore.

So, give fast drafting a try and see if you surprise yourself the way I did.

About Kelly:

Kelly Hashway grew up reading R.L. Stein’s Fear Street novels and writing stories of her own, so it was no surprise to her family when she majored in English and later obtained a masters degree in English Secondary Education from East Stroudsburg University. After teaching middle school language arts for seven years, Hashway went back to school and focused specifically on writing. She is now the author of three young adult series, one middle grade series, and several picture books. She also writes contemporary romance under the pen name Ashelyn Drake. When she isn’t writing, Hashway works as a freelance editor for small presses as well as for her own list of clients. In her spare time, she enjoys running, traveling, and volunteering with the PTO. Hashway currently resides in Pennsylvania with her husband, daughter, and two pets. Visit her website: http://www.kellyhashway.com.

Making Your Characters Go Dark by Kelly Hashway

When The Monster Within was acquired by Spencer Hill Press, my editor had a suggestion for Ethan, the male lead. She wanted me to make him darker. Sam is already a dark character since she comes back from the dead as a killer—though not by choice. Darkness lurks inside of her. But Ethan was pretty perfect. He loved Sam so much that he found a way to bring her back after she died of cancer at seventeen. My editor wanted to see some darkness in Ethan, too.

At first, I screamed, “No! Ethan is supposed to be the perfect good guy!” I didn’t know how I would make him darker without losing who he is. He’s totally in love with Sam. And that’s when I realized that his love for Sam would be his inspiration for darkness. He loves her so much that he’ll do anything to save her. Even if it’s…you guessed it, dark.

So Ethan went through a major change from when the book was contracted to now, just a few weeks from the release (June 17^th). And the best part was that it was actually fun to create this dark side to Ethan’s personality. It gave him more layers and set up some awesome things for the sequel, The Darkness Within (June 2, 2015). Who knew darkness could be so good? ;)

The moment seventeen-year-old Samantha Thompson crawls out of her grave, her second chance at life begins. She died of cancer with her long-time boyfriend, Ethan, by her side—a completely unfair shot at life. But Ethan found a way to bring her back, like he promised he would. Only Sam came back wrong.

She's now a monster that drains others' lives to survive. And after she kills, she’s tortured by visions—glimpses into her victims would-have-been futures had she not killed them. Barely able to live with herself and trying to make things right, Sam ends up a pawn in a vicious game of payback within the local coven of witches.

But when the game reveals what Ethan had to do to save Sam, she must make a choice that will change all their lives forever.

Title: The Monster Within

Author: Kelly Hashway

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

ISBN:  978-1-937053-85-7

Release Date: 6/17/2014

Formats: Paper, e-book 


Add it on Goodreads.

Pre-order on B&N or Amazon. 

Kelly Hashway grew up reading R.L. Stein’s Fear Street novels and writing stories of her own, so it was no surprise to her family when she majored in English and later obtained a masters degree in English Secondary Education from East Stroudsburg University. After teaching middle school language arts for seven years, Hashway went back to school and focused specifically on writing. She is now the author of three young adult series, one middle grade series, and several picture books. She also writes contemporary romance under the pen name Ashelyn Drake. When she isn’t writing, Hashway works as a freelance editor for small presses as well as for her own list of clients. In her spare time, she enjoys running, traveling, and volunteering with the PTO. Hashway currently resides in Pennsylvania with her husband, daughter, and two pets. Visit her website: www.kellyhashway.com.

Editors Aren’t Really That Scary by Kelly Hashway

The first time I got an editorial letter, I stocked up on dark chocolate and prepared myself for a lot of gray hairs. But what really happened was I found someone who loved my story and characters as much as I did. Sure, there were plenty of things to improve upon, and I had moments where I read certain comments and thought, “What? Is she crazy? I can’t do that!” But after a good night’s sleep, I realized I could do that and the story would be better for it. I’ve learned to trust that my editors have my best interests at heart. They want my books to be successful, and the comments they make are designed to help that happen.

But my favorite part of working with editors happens to be the comments that make me cry. Not because I don’t agree with the comments or because I don’t know how to make a change, but because they are so dang funny! I’ve had manuscripts come back from copy editing with conversations in the margins between my editor and my copy editor about certain parts of the book. Now my copy editor happens to be a man, and he’s amazing at what he does, but my MCs are teenage girls and well…he’s never been one. Some of his comments on kissing scenes and other “girly” things that might take him out of his element have made my editor and I double over with laughter. I live for these comments because when you are knee-deep in edits and on a deadline, you need to laugh in order to stay sane.

So, editors aren’t that scary. In fact, they are some of the most awesome people I know. They have my back, encourage me to be a better writer, and they make me laugh. I’m very grateful for them.

Kelly Hashway

Touch of Death, Spencer Hill Press, January 2013
Stalked by Death, Spencer Hill Press, August 2013
Face of Death, Spencer Hill Press, January 2014
Into the Fire, Month9Books, April 2014
The Monster Within, Spencer Hill Press, April 2014

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads

Bio:
Kelly Hashway is a former language arts teacher who now works as a full-time writer, freelance editor, and mother to an adorable little girl. In addition to writing YA novels, Kelly writes middle grade books, picture books, and short stories. When she’s not writing or digging her way out from under her enormous To Be Read pile, she’s running and playing with her daughter. She resides in Pennsylvania with her husband, daughter, and two pets.

Dishing Secrets about the cover of The Monster Within by Kelly Hashway

When Spencer Hill Press first contracted The Monster Within, the head of the company, Kate Kaynak, asked me what I envisioned for my cover. I had an image I had been using to represent Sam, my MC, and I quickly sent it off to Kate. The reason why I liked the image was because not only did the girl look like Sam did in my mind, but she was sort of hiding behind her jacket. She looked like she had a secret, and Sam definitely does—she came back from the dead and has to kill to stay alive.

A few days later, the cover image came to me and I liked it. I wasn’t blown away by it, though. Time went by because the release was still quite a ways away at that point, and it was too early for a cover reveal. But as we approached the release year, Kate emailed me and asked if I was happy with the cover or if I wanted Lisa Amowitz to create something new. Well, I had seen Lisa’s work and was impressed, so I said I was all for Lisa redoing the cover.

Lisa and I talked, and she immediately had the idea to use a mask on the cover. She sent me a few images she liked, and I gave her my input. But my mind kept going back to the image of Sam. I really wanted it on the cover, so I asked Lisa if she could work it in. When I saw Lisa’s draft and she asked me what I thought, my answer was, “It’s perfect!” Lisa took some subtle parts of the story and hinted at them on the cover. Now these are things you won’t understand until you read the book, but then everything just clicks and you realize how perfect it really is.

Until then, check out the gorgeous cover of The Monster Within.

The moment seventeen-year-old Samantha Thompson crawls out of her grave, her second chance at life begins. She died of cancer with her long-time boyfriend, Ethan, by her side--a completely unfair shot at life.

But Ethan found a way to bring her back, like he promised he would. Only Sam came back wrong.

She's now a monster that drains others' lives to survive. And after she kills, she’s tortured by visions—glimpses into her victims would-have-been futures had she not killed them. Barely able to live with herself and trying to make things right, Sam ends up a pawn in a vicious game of payback within the local coven of witches.

But when the game reveals what Ethan had to do to save Sam, she must make a choice that will change all their lives forever.