a collaborative bloggers novel

Manicure Mafia…Getting Started… How it all works (Maybe)

writetools — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:09:33 +0000

Anyone up for an adventure in writing “green”? Any aspiring or published writers out their looking for a fun, collaborative blog novel? Are you an artist, photographer, cinematographer looking for a fun way to work with writers? Ok… so I am sure this is not a terribly new concept… but it is definitely experimental for me. I have a great idea for a novel and thought it would be fun to open up the process from conception to completion with my blogging family. We would have a weekly, guided forum with goals. Gather ideas form our adoring readership on characters, plot points, twists… Not a huge time commitment, just a fun, collaborative process with other writers…and a good way to learn if you are new to the writing game…and mentor if you aren’t. On Meebo we will have real time chat writer’s meetings once a week to discuss all our options and close out the section. At the end of the planning process, we can split research if needed…and then decide if we will all write the chapters together or split them up…

We will use simple formula structure like Book in a Month… it has easily digestible “assignments”. The goal is to story plan for 30 days, and then write the chapters in 30 days. You can be an author, a collaborator, or a lurker. If you are chosen as an author you would be taking the suggestions and storyboards we come up with and using it to write the actual chapter. If you want to collaborate you can leave suggestions, vote on characters… suggest plot points…participate in online planning meetings if you would like…and yes, you can be both. If you just want to lurk, and track our process…let us know you are a fan and comment once in a while. An over all “Bible” will be developed for plot and character… something that, the author will follow. Then, the draft chapter would be open to the other authors (maybe on a private blog) for editorial review and acceptance.

…. Once the chapters are complete (and edited we can publish on Kindle and/or other forms of electric press…. or just release the chapters as they come to all our blogging friends…

If you are interested, leave a comment, and/or leave us an email at manicuremafia@gmail.com.

So, you are not a writer… perhaps you are an artist and would like to illustrate with drawings, animation or photographs? You make movies or cartoons and care to follow along… we would love it! Let’s see what what the collective can do with a simple plot idea.

Comments? Suggestions? Writing tips that work for you that we should try?

Ok, ready? Read the other posts filed under the catagory Getting Started.

Ground Rules, Inspiration, and whatever else is in there.

Manicure Mafia Ground Rules

writetools — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:09:02 +0000

1. Voice: Third Person

2. No explicit sex or swearing. Several of us would like our children to be able to read this.

3. All ideas, comments, suggestions on character, plot, setting, narrative will be collected and voted on by the registered authors and collaborators of Manicure Mafia. How do I become a registered author and/or collaborator? Easy! Comment on this post, and send a follow up email to manicuremafia@gmail.com. The vote will have a deadline, if you are past the deadline… oh well… If we tie, well Amie will have the tie breaking vote.

4. No sub-plots at this time… unless extremely germaine to the outcome of the story, and voted on by the writer’s group.

6. Have fun. Enjoy the process and the friendships that we make.

Any other ground rules you can think of? Comment on this entry, and we will put them to a vote.

Manicure Mafia, a blog novel, the inspiration

writetools — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:03:22 +0000

This is the spark…

The book is called Manicure Mafia. I know, it sounds chick lit’…but it’s not. Track with me. I got the start of this idea about 10 years ago when I read Sydney Sheldon’s book Windmill’s of the Gods… ok not high class lit, but the guys sold millions of books…we could do worse. Anyways, I don’t remember a ton about the book, but in the beginning you have a world wide conspiracy group, like the Illuminati… but tighter. They are trying bend world events, and a lone women is at the center of it. The book opens with a roll call…a group of men, all with code names. Of course the plot gets upended, the bad guys arrested… now here is where the twist that sparked my thought comes in. The last page of the book is another roll call, and it is all women’s code names, and guess what… they are trying to take over the world. So my thought was, what kind of women would do that? What plot would they hatch? How would they know each other…what would the connection be? How would they fund it? Who would the protagonist be that foils it all… perhaps a victim? … perhaps an unsuspecting bystander? … perhaps a mole, sent in to bring them down.

So how does Manicure Mafia fit an idea like that. Fast forward to last year. I go to a manicure shop, they are all from a foreign country… guess what, I go to many different ones in different parts of the city… they are all from the same foreign country… which started me thinking about the “family” aspect of their business. They all speak English, not apparently well though. And you would never know how well because they primarily speak in their own language … perfect spies, they understand you, but you don’t understand them. Loose lips flap in a scenario like that… especially when you throw in a good foot massage. The spa is a perfect place to listen in on powerful people, to overhear something of import… a good place for information drops… good place to hide fun gadgets….easy to slip truth serum into botox vials. So with the foot soldiers in place… they open swanky shops in places like Washington DC across from the capital… and wherever else you would need HQ’s to launch global domination.

This novel should have comedy relief mixed with intrigue… so ready to start? Interested in writing along with us? Comment on this blog, and register by shooting an email to manicuremafia@gmail.com

Happy Writing! Amie