My Writing Bug

Random Thoughts From This Week

2012-02-24T07:50:00.004-08:00

1. I think it's time for another contest. This is my 302nd post and I just passed 500 followers. AND there may or may not be some good news next week. I'll start thinking of something awesome, so stay tuned for next week! :D

2. Cadbury Mini Eggs. My best friend and greatest foe. Oh, how I love you and hate you at the same time.

3. I have honestly gone crazy on Pinterest. If you haven't gotten into the craze, they have some amazing stuff there. I've found a ton of pictures to help with my writing inspiration. If you decide to try it, look me up! :)

4. The hubby and I have been watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix. Holy crap. How did I not watch this show before? It's freaking hilarious. If you haven't watched it, you should definitely check it out.

5. I'm so ready for summer. Who's with me?

Anyone have any random thoughts from the week?

Have a great weekend everyone! :D

Books I'm Dying to Read!

2012-02-22T07:59:00.002-08:00

Hello to my new followers! There are 500 of you now. Holy crap. That's a lot. And totally awesome! :D

Oh how I love books. I have so many I'm looking forward to reading this year. Here are a few from my ever growing pile. ;)

I HAD to do a shout-out to Jolene Perry, since I was able to read an earlier draft of this. This book was awesome. And heartbreaking. And romantic. It comes out May 1 from Tribute Books. Read it. :)

Shawn is the guy Ronnie Bird promised her life to at the age of fourteen. He's her soul mate. He's more uptight every day, but it's not his fault. His family life is stressful, and she's adding to it. She just needs to be more understanding, and he'll start to be the boy she fell in love with. She won’t give up on someone she’s loved for so long.

Luke is her best friend, and the guy she hangs with to watch girlie movies in her large blanketopias. He's the guy she can confide in before she even goes to her girlfriends, and the guy who she's playing opposite in Romeo and Juliet. Now her chest flutters every time he gets too close. This is new. Is Ronnie falling for him? Or is Juliet? The lines are getting blurry, but leaving one guy for another is not something that a girl like Ronnie does.

Shawn’s outbursts are starting to give her bruises, and Luke’s heart breaks as Ronnie remains torn. While her thoughts and feelings swirl around the lines between friendship and forever, she’s about to lose them both.

I LOVE this series. Probably in my top five series of all time. Can't wait for this book. If you haven't read Hex Hall, go read it. It is seriously hilarious, clever and romantic as well! I love the main character Sophie. She's one of my favorite voices in YA. This book comes out March 13! On my 9 year anniversary! Hubby best be pre-ordering this for me soon! :D

No blurb because it's the last book in the Hex hall Series. :)

This last book looks fantastic. I've heard nothing but awesome things about it. Can't wait to read it! It's out May 1st! :D And look at that cover. Beautiful.

Tenderhearted Southern girl, Anna Whitt, was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She’s aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn’t until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage, and her will-power is put to the test. He’s the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.A cross-country trip forces Anna to face the reality that hope and love are not options for her kind. Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

Yay for books!!!

Happy Monday!

2012-02-20T07:17:00.001-08:00

Hey guys! I'm famous today! I'm over at Emily R. King's blog talking about ... blogging! :D Head over there and check out her blog and our little interview. She rocks, so be sure to give her a follow. :)

Random Thoughts From This Week

2012-02-17T07:47:00.000-08:00

1. This pregnancy is seriously zapping all of my energy. I'm ready for bed at like 8:30 every night. No joke. I'm totally exhausted, which makes it hard to write. And critique. And read. And do anything really. Hopefully the next few weeks go by fast. I want out of this first trimester!

2. Crazy things happening this week. Details coming soon. Hopefully...

3. Does anyone else hate going to the grocery store? Especially with three kids hanging on you and throwing things in the cart? Haha. What's not to love, right?

4. I've been horrible at visiting blogs. See random thought number one.

5. Wedding reception tonight and baby shower tomorrow. Busy weekend. I love seeing family though!

Anything awesome and amazing happen this week? Do you have any plan this weekend?

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T08:11:00.000-08:00

Don't you love, love? *sigh* One of the reasons I love writing YA is the love stories. I love the discovery of a first love or soul mate. I know a lot of people think YA books are silly because people really don't meet their soul mate at 16. I believe it can happen. It happened to my sister, and I have a few other friends who married their high school sweethearts. :)

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'd LOVE to hear about your favorite literary couples. They don't have to be YA. They can be any genre. I'll start! :)

I'm going to go with probably the most famous literary couple. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.

I will admit, I wasn't the biggest fan of Mr. Darcy. But digging a little deeper and realizing why he was the way he was, made me feel for him. I think they compliment each other very well. And aren't they just so cute?

Now, favorite YA couples! :D

Jace and Clary from the Mortal Instruments. Love them. I mostly love Jace. ;)

Tris and Four from Divergent. Nuff' said. Love, love, LOVE me some Four!

Katniss and Peeta. I love them so much. Though, I'm still mad at Mockingjay for so many reasons. I won't go into that though. That's a WHOLE other blog post. :)

So, my friends, who are your favorite literary couples and why?

LTUE with pictures!

2012-02-13T05:00:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was full of awesome. I was lucky to be able to go to LTUE and meet some amazing writers. I wish I would have taken more pictures, but there were so many classes and things that I didn't remember to get my camera out. I did get a few though. :)

Here are some of my fabulous friends and bloggers, Sara Larson, Candice Kennington, Kasie West, Renee Collins, Natalie Whipple, Jenn Johansson and little ole me. :) Jenn and Kasie did AWESOME on their panels!

I also ran into the fabulous Brenda Sills and amazing blogger David Powers King. We may or may not have freaked him out a few times on Friday night. Ha ha! ;)

Lunch with Erin Summerill, Melanie Fowler, Me, Ruth Josse, Katie Dodge, Pat Dodge, Shallee McArthur and Peggy Eddleman. These girls were SO much fun! Shelly Brown was also present, but offered to take the pictures. ;) And that pizza was delicious. Sorry... pregnant brain talking...

My roomies Ruth Josse and Katie Dodge. Oh. My. Heck. I've never laughed so hard in my life with these two. They were hilarious! Can't wait for Storymakers, ladies. ;)

I have a few posts I'm going to do on things I learned at the conference this week, so stay tuned!!

Disappearing Act!

2012-02-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

I'll be at LTUE this weekend, so I probably won't be posting on Friday. I might... but we'll see. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend and I'll catch you next week! :D And I swear I'll get around to all of your blogs. Life is finally slowing down a bit. :)

Handling Rejection

2012-02-06T08:39:00.000-08:00

Oh, rejection. My constant companion. You sort of feel like an old friend that I haven't heard from for a while. Sometimes you're so brutally honest that I want to tear my hair out or curl up in a ball and cry. But other times you give me compliments and I can't be mad or sad at you at all.

Everyone gets rejected. Everyone who's had a book published has been rejected at least once. Probably more. I don't think I know anyone that hasn't received a rejection on their work. It's hard to get used to getting rejected, but in this business you have to have some major thick skin. Rejection is NOT fun. It stings. It hurts. It punches you in the gut and takes your breath away. It makes you cry or scream in frustration. It makes you want to give up.

I think it all comes down to this.

Rejection sucks. But it's part of life. And a HUGE part of the writing world.

Not all rejections are bad though. Sometimes a rejection can help give you that little push to do a little better next time. If you get a rejection that has some feedback on your writing, take it for what it's worth. Sometimes an agent will love your voice, but not your idea. So, if a few agents say the same thing, write a new book that might work. Write a book that's even better than your first idea and make it shine.

Not every book will get a home. And that's okay. With every book you write, the better you get. And one day, those rejections will slow down. You'll get opportunities you've never had before. And all those past rejections will be worth it.

How do you handle rejection?

Random Thoughts From This Week

2012-02-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

1. Thank you SO much for all of the sweet comments on my last post. You guys made my WHOLE week. :)

2. It's never fun when the smoke detector starts chirping at one in the morning. Good thing my hubby loves me and went to find a new battery for it! :)

3. I'm so sorry I haven't been commenting on people's blogs lately. I've been sick. Nothing 7 more months won't fix. :) Yep. I'm pregnant with my 4th child. We're SO excited! :)

4. LTUE is NEXT WEEK! YAY!! So excited! If you see me throwing up in the corner, just ignore me... :)

5. I'm listening to a song about feet right now on Sesame Street. Probably going to be singing it the rest of the day...

Anything exciting happen this week? Have an awesome weekend everyone!

When Things Don't Work Out

2012-02-01T11:13:00.000-08:00

I wasn't going to write this post. I've kept putting it off and thought maybe I'll write it in a year from now when everything settles down. But it keeps nagging me and if someone is going through the same thing as me, maybe they'll find this helpful. Or feel better that they aren't alone.

Last week I parted ways with my agent. He's been my agent for a year now and although I will always respect him and think he's very capable and SO nice, he wasn't right for me or my books. Now, some of you might be thinking, "Are you freaking kidding me? He's an agent!" I know that. He's actually a great agent. I've heard stories of clients trying to get their agent to e-mail them back for months and hear nothing. He was always great about that. We just didn't fit. I knew it wasn't right.

I've been sick about this for a while now. I knew I was going to part ways with him a long time ago, I just didn't want to do it. I wanted to wait and see what happened, but when you know something is right, you gotta do it. And I couldn't put if off any longer.

Now I'm back to square one. Do I regret being with that agent for a year? No. I learned a ton about myself, about my writing and about the industry. I don't regret it for a second. Do I wish things would have worked out? Sure. I know things will work out because of all this, but it's scary. And it's hard.

So now, I'm on the agent hunt again. I don't know when or if I'll ever get another one. I don't know if the book I'm querying will get picked up. I've had a lot of thoughts go through my head the past week or so. Should I just give up? Should I stop writing? Is this even worth it, now that I have to start over?

Yes. It is.

I enjoy writing. No, I LOVE it. And I'll keep going. Keep writing books and I know things will work out when it's the right time.

Thanks for listening. It's nice to get it all out there. I'm a very private person and don't talk about behind the scenes stuff a lot, but I had to say something. You are the most supportive people out there and I knew you'd understand. If any of you ever need anything, let me know. :)

How To Survive a Writers Conference

2012-01-30T11:21:00.000-08:00

I'm gearing up to go to LTUE next week, and had to remind myself what to bring. Here's a little list for those who haven't been to a conference before.

1. Tylenol. (You never know when your brain is going to explode from of all the awesome information it absorbs.)

2. Laptop or notebook. (You never know when that great idea is going to hit. AND you will want to take notes. ;)

3. Business cards. This is especially helpful if you have a blog and really want to network. Put your name and blog address on your business cards, so people don't have to write down all of your information and lose it somewhere.

4. Camera. Hello? I love taking pictures! Especially with all of the awesome people I get to meet in person! :D

5. Be excited. Be yourself. Be ready to learn. There are so many awesome classes at conferences and so many people just like you. Writers who are striving to do better and learn the craft. It's easy to feel overwhelmed at first, but once you go to a few classes, you'll feel like a pro.

And last of all, HAVE FUN! :D Any tips from you guys that you want to add?

Winners and Random Thoughts From This Week

2012-01-27T07:57:00.000-08:00

I hate picking winners, so I ALWAYS use random.org to do it for me. :) I had a lot of entries, so thank you for entering! Now, for the winners!

Query Critique goes to : Meredith!

1st Chapter Critique goes to: Amanda Olivieri!

$10 Amazon gift card goes to: Jessie Humphries!

Yay! Congrats you guys! Shoot me an e-mail and we'll figure out the critiques. :) And no worries, I'll do another contest soon! :D

Now, for some random thoughts for the week.

1. My son turned seven. SEVEN. It's so crazy how fast time flies. I remember the day I had him. Sort of. I had so many drugs in me I didn't know who I was! Haha. True story.

2. This has been the hardest week of my writing journey. I'll share some details at a later date, but everything happens for a reason. I have to remember that.

3. LTUE is in 2 weeks! WOOT! So excited to meet some of you in person!

4. Applejacks are delicious.

5. Thank you all again for following me and reading my blog. I'm so happy I have such supportive and wonderful friends. :)

Have a great weekend!

It's Giveaway Time!

2012-01-23T09:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't done a giveaway for a while. I think I need to do one, especially since I just reached 800 followers on Twitter and I'm so close to 500 followers on my silly little blog. To say thank you, I'm going to give away three different prizes! WOOT!

1. A $10 Amazon gift card.

2. First chapter critique: I write YA, so I'd be better suited for that, but I'll do whatever. :)

3. A query critique.

Comment on this post and let me know which prize you'd like to win! And THANK YOU for being a follower. Whether it's my blog or on Twitter. I never thought I'd have so many wonderful friends. Not in a million years. You guys ROCK. :) Seriously. All of your comments make my day a little brighter.

I'll count some extra entries if you share this on Twitter or your blog. :) Just let me know in the comments.

With that being said, GOOD LUCK! :D

Contest closes on Friday. :)

Random Thoughts From This Week

2012-01-20T08:13:00.000-08:00

1. I'm almost finished with Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. Oh, snap. It's awesome.

2. After I've finished writing a book it's SO hard for me to focus on a new one. I have so many ideas, it's hard to pick just one. Does anyone else have this problem? I sort of get in a funk. I don't want to write, don't want to plot or anything, because I can't decide which idea is the best. Then, after stewing for weeks and sometimes a month or so, all of a sudden I snap out of it and know exactly what I'm going to work on. It finally happened this week. Hopefully I'll keep at it.

3. I'm ready for summer.

4. Two of my kids have birthday's in the next 2 weeks. I'm going to have a 7 year old! Holy crap! How? Why? When did that happen? And I can't believe I'll have a 5 year old either. Then in March, my baby will turn 2. Time goes by way too fast.

5. Does anyone elses hands get cold when they type on the computer? Mine are always freezing! I need some of those gloves where the tips of my fingers stick out. I may have to go look for some today...

Have a great weekend!

Awards! :)

2012-01-19T08:21:00.000-08:00

I am so horrible remembering awards people have given me. But I do remember some from the past few days! Thank you J.A. Bennett for the Great Comments Award! Thank you to Samantha for the Versatile blogger award! And last but not least, Lynne Schmidt for the Inspirational blog award! You guys ROCK!

I think you guys pretty much know all the random facts you would want to know about me, but the awards say I have to do it anyway. :) I'll just pick 5.

1. I played soccer and competition softball for years. You probably couldn't tell now...

2. I was in Madrigals in high school and sang South Pacific's Honey Bun to one of my friends for one of our concerts. I dressed as a guy in a sailor suit and he dressed as a girl in coconut shells. It was hilarious!

3. I would rather have water than any other drink. Plain Jane. That's me. :)

4. You wouldn't know from my blog, but I'm pretty shy. It takes me a while to actually get the courage to say hi to someone. This whole writing thing has been great for me. I'm learning not to care what people think of me and have made some wonderful friends.

5. Whenever hubby and I go to a restaurant, I always have a certain menu item I choose at every place. Hubby always chooses interesting things, but I have to choose my one menu item that I know I'll like. I can't order something not knowing if I'll hate it or not. I'm pretty picky. Actually, that's an understatement. I'm VERY picky! :)

Now, I hate choosing just a few people for an award, so consider yourselves awarded! I know. I'm lame. But I always feel bad if I don't choose everyone! :)

Books I Can't Wait to Read!

2012-01-18T08:37:00.000-08:00

This looks like something I would love! Isn't that cover awesome?

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon. But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks. Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Implanted computer chips and no feelings or thoughts? Yes, please.

In the Community, there is no more pain or war. Implanted computer chips have wiped humanity clean of destructive emotions, and thoughts are replaced by a feed from the Link network. When Zoe starts to malfunction (or "glitch"), she suddenly begins having her own thoughts, feelings, and identity. Any anomalies must be immediately reported and repaired, but Zoe has a secret so dark it will mean certain deactivation if she is caught: her glitches have given her uncontrollable telekinetic powers. As Zoe struggles to control her abilities and stay hidden, she meets other glitchers including Max, who can disguise his appearance, and Adrien, who has visions of the future. Both boys introduce Zoe to feelings that are entirely new. Together, this growing band of glitchers must find a way to free themselves from the controlling hands of the Community before they’re caught and deactivated, or worse.

I've been loving contemporary lately and this book looks very interesting...

An intense look at the rules of high school attraction -- and the price that's paid for them. It happens every year. A list is posted, and one girl from each grade is chosen as the prettiest, and another is chosen as the ugliest. Nobody knows who makes the list. It almost doesn't matter. The damage is done the minute it goes up. This is the story of eight girls, freshman to senior, "pretty" and "ugly." And it's also the story of how we see ourselves, and how other people see us, and the tangled connection of the two.

Any books you're excited for? Do tell!

Books to Movies

2012-01-17T09:09:00.000-08:00

Lately, there have been quite a few books turned into movies. I'm sure you've noticed a few of them...

If you were to get a movie deal with your book, who would you choose to play your main characters?Here are my characters for INBETWEEN!

Andee:

Gabriel:

Kate:

Cohen:

I would LOVE to see or hear about your characters! :D

Ask Me Anything Day!

2012-01-16T08:57:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know, I'm not that interesting, so I won't be surprised if no one comments today ... BUT, my little guy is sick and I'm not feeling too great either. In other words, my brain isn't working... With that said, if you guys have a question, whether it be about writing or me or whatever, ask away!

And David Powers King just reached 500 followers! Woot! Go check out his awesome contest, here! :)

Random Thoughts From This Week

2012-01-13T07:57:00.000-08:00

1. Our bathroom remodel is almost done!! Yay!! Now I don't have to shower at my mom's house anymore! :)

2. I have so many books to read. My goal this weekend is to read a whole book. I haven't done that forever, since editing has been on my mind the past few months. So this weekend, I'll finish The Daughter of Smoke and Bone. AND, I really want to read Shatter Me as well. :)

3. That darn "buy now" button on my Amazon account gets me every time. Darn you cheap Kindle books!

4. Critique group was last night. It was fabulous. And hilarious. I love going over our stuff and then chatting and getting sidetracked for an hour... lol I had a blast!

5. 4 day weekend for my little guy. He's so excited not to have to go to school until Tuesday. He's silly. He told me the other day that he was tired of going to school every day. I told him to get used to it, since he was going to be there for 11 more years. Poor kid. Been there.

Anything exciting happen this week? Have a great weekend!!

Books I can't wait to read!

2012-01-11T07:44:00.000-08:00

I decided that Wednesday's are going to be book days. I'll either gush about an amazing book or spotlight a few books I'm excited to read this year. And I'd love to hear about some books YOU are excited for as well. Since I love to read YA and love to write it, it makes sense! :) And I love supporting YA authors too. I'm sure the occasional adult novel will be thrown in here as well. I do like to mix it up a little.

*This first book sounds like something I would love. Romance, mystery, a girl who can speak to fish? Cool!

Emma and her friend Chloe are spending vacation in Florida. When Emma (literally) runs into a hot guy named Galen on the beach, little does she know he’s a prince of the Syrena. Galen and Emma both feel something strange – is it attraction? – and Galen suspects that Emma might well be the girl he’s heard of – a human who can communicate with fish.

What follows is a deadly scene with a shark in which Galen witnesses Emma’s gifts. He must know more about her, and follows her back to New Jersey, and high school, to find out for sure if she’s the key to saving his kingdom. Soon, Emma can’t deny her feelings for him, but can’t explain them, either – and both she and Galen must learn more about where she comes from and what her powers are before they can trust one another and their feelings.

*So ... I didn't know Dan Wells had something else up his sleeve. Turns out, he does! The author of I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER has written a dystopian book for young adults. Not sure if it's a series, but it sounds cool!

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic in training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws threaten to launch what’s left of humanity into civil war, and she’s not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will discover that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them—connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

*I won't add a blurb for this one, since it's a sequel. And I'm sure some of you haven't read Divergent yet. All I know, is that I CAN'T WAIT! Seriously. DIVERGENT was amazing!

Any books you're excited for this year?

Conferences

2012-01-09T12:16:00.000-08:00

I'm so happy to say I've registered for two conferences this year. LTUE and LDStorymakers. I'm SO excited to go to both this year. I went to Storymakers last year and it was amazing. This will be my first year at LTUE. WOOT! I've heard it's great!

Have you guys ever been to a conference? Was it awesome? Are you going to any this year?

(Sorry this post is so short. Today has been full of crazy!)

Random Thoughts From This Week

2012-01-06T06:58:00.000-08:00

1. Re-modeling a bathroom is fun to do. Fun to do, to do to do. Ya. Not really. :P

2. My alarm didn't go off yesterday, so my 1st grader was late for school. Funny thing is, I told my sister the day before that he'd never been late. Grrr....

3. I watched an episode of SHERLOCK last night. It was awesome. I'm thinking I need to watch the rest, like now. If you don't know what I'm talking about and have Netflix, Season 1 is on there. It's sort of like a mini series. And it's a contemporary take on Sherlock Holmes. I loved it!:)

4. Diving in to my new book. And it doesn't have a title yet! Gah!! That never happens! I'd better think of one soon. It was really hard to choose which book to write, but I think I've made the right choice for now. We'll see how it goes.

5. Words With Friends is SO addicting. I love it! (And Ruth, you're so going down.) ;)

Have a great weekend everyone! :D

Handling a bad review

2012-01-04T11:02:00.000-08:00

How many of you have roamed Goodreads or Amazon reviews before you buy a book? If you're anything like me, you always read a few reviews before you make that purchase. Have you ever seen a horrible, awful, plain nasty review? I have. Have I ever written one? No. Have I given a book one star before? Yes. If I ever sell a book, I know for a fact I'll get some bad reviews. And that's okay. Authors have to get thick skin. It's just like getting a rejection from an agent. Not everyone will love your book.

This post is inspired by something I heard that happened on Goodreads a few weeks ago. I'm sure some of you have heard of this. An author got a bad review. One star I think, but I'm not totally sure. A friend of said author defended the author of the book and slammed the reviewer and her review. Then another author got involved and slammed the reviewer as well. Book bloggers and authors got into it. A whole reviewer/author battle broke out and I'm sure feelings were hurt, reputations were damaged and it turned out to be a huge mess.

Now I'm not a confrontational person. Like, at all. I avoid it at all costs. If someone ever gives me a bad review, I'll take it. It may hurt, but I would never ever attack that reviewer personally. It was their opinion. That's all. Not everyone likes the same books I do. I see bad reviews for books I love and great reviews for books I hate. It's part of the business. One book will not be for everyone. You know what I mean? Take it for what it is. An opinion. Don't freak out at the reviewer and go read some happy awesome reviews to make yourself feel better. :)

How would you handle a bad review? Or if you're already published, how have you handled a bad review if you've gotten one?

A New Year and New Goals

2012-01-01T21:27:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it's 2012?! Holy crap. That's crazy! Seriously. 2011 had some ups and downs. I'm hoping 2012 will bring great news and opportunities for all of us. :)

Since everyone is making resolutions for the year, I'm going to join in. I have several goals I'd love to accomplish this year. I'll just share my writerly ones to you guys. Some will be a little harder to achieve, but I'm writing them down anyway. :)

1. Sell a book. (Yes. This will be hard and completely out of my control, but I can dream, right?)

2. Write 3 new books and polish at least two of them.

3. Go to two conferences.

4. Manage my time better.

5. Be more patient. (HA!)

6. Read 50 books.

7. Keep up my blog.

8. Make new bloggy friends! :)

Hopefully I can cross a few of these off a year from now!

It's good to be back! How was your holiday and do you have any resolutions for this wonderful year of 2012? ;)

Yep, you guessed it.

2011-12-19T07:02:00.000-08:00

It's break time. My kids have school until Thursday, but I have so much to do this week. Blogging will probably be the last thing on my mind, so I'll be taking the next 2 weeks off. Stay safe and have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! See you in 2012! :D

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-12-16T08:19:00.000-08:00

1. You know that show E.T. that everyone loves? Of course you do. It's a classic or whatever. Anyway, it scarred me for life as a child. I hate it. Refuse to watch it. I think it might have had to do with my mom going to see it in theaters when she was pregnant with me. She said I was out of control kicking her. And I still hate it. My hubby would have to drag me kicking and screaming to make me watch it! Creepy little alien.

2. Just finished beta reading a fab book from an awesome blogger. And now I have another one to read and I'm so excited! I told you I was taking December off from writing! Even though I did write the first chapter to my new book. ;)

3. Renee Collins, just signed with an agent. I'm all sorts of happy for her. She totally deserves it. Her book is AWESOME. Go check out her blog and tell her congrats!! :D

4. Presents are all wrapped and under the tree. Boo-yah.

5. It's cold. Is it possible to love the snow and hate the cold that comes with it? I love watching it out the window, but going outside? No thanks. I freeze my butt off every single time. And does anyone else seem to have cold feet and fingers all winter long? Maybe it's just me...

Have a great weekend! :D

What are your strengths?

2011-12-15T08:21:00.000-08:00

I know we all point out our weaknesses. I have a lot. My worst thing I think, is world building. I can write the story out, but it takes me a long time to make my world believable.

There are also those pesky words I use over and over and over. My favorites?

*Just

*Even

*Stared

*Was

It never fails. I have to go in and change a ton of them after every first draft. But that's what first drafts are for, right? :)

Anyway, I've been thinking about what I'm good at. Honestly, I don't really know. I'm so critical about my own writing that I always point out my weaknesses. I have a hard time seeing my strengths.

Does anyone else have this problem? I'm sure we all do.

So, today, I want everyone to write one thing they know they're good at in the comments. One thing about your writing that you know you ROCK at.

I'll start, even though I really have a hard time with this. I've been told I'm great at chapter endings. One of my crit partners said I was the Chapter Ending Champ. lol :) Made me feel good about myself! :) So, every time I'm feeling down on my writing, I think of that compliment. Even though it's just one thing someone said, it makes me feel better about myself.

So, my friends. What are you great at? We all need a little pick-me-up every once in a while. :)

Just a Little Laugh. :)

2011-12-14T11:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Wednesday! ;)

Christmas Wishes

2011-12-13T08:07:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about gifts today, since I have one more to buy for a family member, and thought of my MC. What would she want for Christmas?

That got me thinking! I love being the only one who knows my MC's personality. Her likes and dislikes. I'm pretty sure she'd ask for the new Coldplay CD, or some classic books, like Pride and Prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird and things like that. She likes old things, like jewelry and antique furniture, and is very interested in her family history. Can't really say why, but lets just say she has some crazy relatives. So, really, she wouldn't ask for much. She's pretty laid back.

What would your MC ask Santa for?

Interesting Facts about 2011

2011-12-12T08:54:00.000-08:00

Since the year is winding down, and the next few weeks will be all kinds of crazy with Christmas parties and stuff, I thought I'd throw some stats out there. I love doing stuff like this. Not sure why...

Last year at this time, I was polishing up my query letter to send to agents. I sent my first one on December 14th. A LOT has happened since then. You could say that first query changed me a little. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Well, I sort of did, but didn't think writing would become such a huge part of my life. I had no idea my blog would take off so well either. Anyway, here are some writing stats from this year. It's been a crazy year with a few things I can't share, but someday I'll be able to. Maybe next year. :)

1. Signed with my agent in February.
2. Went from 5 blog followers to 448 in 9 months.
3. Attended my first writing conference.
4. Found some amazing critique partners and betas! And SO many new friends!
5. Started 6 books.
6. Finished 3 books.
7. Revised 2 books.
8. Scrapped one book.
9. Wrote over 200,000 words.
10.Beta read some amazing books for my critique partners.

To top it all off, several friends got book deals, landed agents and had books come out this year.

It was a great year. Hard and emotional, but great. I've grown a ton as a writer. I have 2 more books under my belt. I have some amazing crit partners who have helped me so much. I honestly know I wouldn't be where I am today without them. And thank YOU guys. You've made me feel like people actually like me! lol :) I heart you guys.

2011 was great, but here's to hoping 2012 is even better! :D

What were you doing this time last year? Have any stats you want to share?

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-12-09T08:02:00.000-08:00

1. Have you seen the clumbsy thumbsy segment on Ellen? So. Funny.

Has that ever happened to you? If so, please share! LOL

2. I really need to send my Christmas cards out! Like, today. I'd better get on that...

3. Our little family went to the Zoo last night. They had Christmas lights everywhere. It was really cute and we actually saw a bunch of the animals awake! Too bad I froze my butt off. Seriously. It was SO cold. The kids had fun though. :)

4. I'm obsessed with candy cane kisses. Oh. My. Seriously. Go get a bag. I swear to you, it will disappear in a matter of hours!

5. Really. Go get some. I may or may not have eaten an entire bag myself... They're THAT good.

Have a great weekend!! :D

The floor is yours.

2011-12-07T08:32:00.000-08:00

I'm at a loss of what to blog about today. So, my dear friends, I would love to hear about what you're writing right now. Give me a pitch. A blurb. Whatever. I'd love to hear about the amazing books you're working on or querying or getting ready to pitch to an agent or editor.

What genre do you write? Adult? YA? Do tell!

And if you have any questions for me, I'll be around all day. Querying, agents, critique groups, betas. Anything! :)

I'm going to make some hot chocolate now. YUM! I love it when it's ALMOST too hot to drink. Not quite burn your mouth off hot, but almost almost burn your mouth off hot. He he. Not sure what that has to do with anything, but whatevs. ;)

Write what you love.

2011-12-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

I've heard so many different things about trends lately. About the most popular upcoming genre. What editors are dying to get their hands on right now. I've heard around the blogosphere that editors are looking for thrillers, gothic novels, and sci-fi right now. Also contemporary, which is a hard sell I've heard, but they still want it.

And guess what? I don't write any of those. In fact, my book I just finished? It's paranormal. And editors are tired of paranormal. (Or so I've heard.) Am I going to put it away and write a thriller that I know I can't pull off? No. I write what I like to write. And you know what? Even if it doesn't sell, I'll be okay. Because timing is everything. What doesn't sell now, may sell later. You never know. That's why it's so important to keep writing. Even if you're querying one book, write another. Even if it's been a week or so since your agent put your book on sub, work on something new. Believe me. You'll go crazy if you don't. I think it's so smart to always have a backup plan, because the ugly truth is? Your book might not sell. Your precious baby that you've worked on for so long, may not catch an editors eye. And it's nice to know you have another book finished in case that happens.

Also, don't follow the trends. The market is so fickle. What's popular this year won't be next year. So, instead of waiting around for a trend to go out or come in, write the story that's calling to you. Perfect your craft. Every book you write, matters. Even if they sell or not. You get so much practice and learn SO much with every book you write. I have 5 books behind me. Five. And I'm pretty sure I don't have a book deal yet to show for it. And that's okay. I've learned so many things on my journey from those 5 books. A few I'll go back to, but some I won't ever touch again. I loved them when I wrote them and they'll always have a little place in my heart. And every time I get discouraged, thinking I won't be able to write another book, I look back and think, "Wait a minute. I've finished 5 books. I can do another one." That's all that keeps me going sometimes.

So, the moral of this post? Keep writing. No matter what happens with the market. No matter what trend is popular or going out of style. Keep writing what you want to write. Write what you love and things will happen. This business is so hard. SO frustrating. But if you keep at it, you'll be okay and things will work out when they're supposed to.

Okay. Enough sappy stuff. How was everyone's weekend? :)

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-12-02T06:54:00.000-08:00

1. I don't like wind.

2. My 4-year old named a horse yesterday. It's always eating grass in a field by my son's school and my girls point at it every day. It's boy horse. She named him Linda.

3. I heart banana bread. Yes, I realize I've written this fact before. I'm very surprised I can make it without gagging, since bananas are the most disgusting thing ever invented. But banana bread? Heaven.

4. Christmas music makes me happy. Until I've heard the same song over and over and over and over and over again. Then I want to throw my radio out the window. Or listen to some angry music. Sometimes Christmas music makes me feel a little too jolly for my liking.

5. Has anyone seen The Best of Will Ferrill on SNL? Oh, man. Hilariousness. My favorite? Jeopardy. So funny.

Also, I've got a fever. And the prescription is MORE COWBELL!

That is all.

Have a great weekend! :D

NaNoRevMo

2011-11-30T08:21:00.000-08:00

Since NaNoWriMo was an epic fail for me at the beginning of this month, I'm happy to say, that after joining NaNoRevMo, I finished my revisions on Inbetween. I'm not saying I won't have more, since I'm waiting for a few betas, but that round is DONE.

I'm SO happy for all of you that finished NaNoWriMO OR NaNoRevMo. It's so hard cramming all those words and revisions into one month. But as I've seen on quite a few of your blogs, most of you were able to finish whatever you were working on. And that is awesome.

I still don't know why they picked November of all months to do this though. With Thanksgiving break any everything... Oh well. Might as well get used to it, right? ;)

So, how did November go for you guys? I'm curious to see how YOU did! What are you working on now?

I think I'm taking December off from any serious writing. Unless I have more to fix on Inbetween, but I'm not going to worry about that until I get some notes back. ;) I love Christmas time and I'm going to enjoy it. :)

I'm BACK!!

2011-11-28T09:16:00.000-08:00

Yay! It was so weird not blogging for a week! I don't think I've ever taken that much time off.

So, how was your Thanksgiving weekend? Or your non-holiday weekend? :) I actually got a lot done. Maybe I'll make a list on the things I accomplished...

Things I did last week.

* Cooked my own turkey and instead of it sucking, it turned out GREAT!
* Ate tons of pie. Like, way too much. Pumpkin, Coconut, Chocolate... Mmmm.... The extra pounds I packed on were totally worth it. Now to get rid of them...
* Went shopping on Black Friday! Stood around a thing full of DVD's at Walmart. Made a bunch of friends so we could help each other get what we wanted. When the time to take the wrap off the DVD case thing, I got trapped underneath everyone. I may or may not have punched my way out of the mess! (I did not. But I wanted too...) I'm glad all my Black Friday friends got what they wanted! They were very nice ladies. :)
*We went to Kohl's after. I don't think I've ever had to pee so bad in my life. And waiting in the cold did NOT help. Yes. Probably more information than you really needed to know.
*Finished with revisions on my book. I'm going through every scene now and making it shine. Beta's get ready. ;)
*My family is the greatest. I had so much fun spending time with them.

How was your weekend? Did you brave the crowds? Did you hear about that lady who pepper-sprayed people over a stupid X-Box? INSANE! I swear it wasn't me. ;)

I'm Thankful For...

2011-11-21T09:25:00.000-08:00

Can you believe Thanksgiving is this week? Crazy. In honor of this yummy holiday, I'm taking the rest of the week off to be with my family. We had a really rough weekend and what better week to spend time together than this one? But first I wanted to put up this post. My friend Jenn did this on her blog today and challenged us to list 10 things we're thankful for on our blogs. So, here I go. :)

1. My family. Of course. :)
2. My faith. Because I know everything will always be okay. Even if life gets hard.
3. My beta readers and crit partners. You are all SO amazing and talented. I love every one of you.
4. Writing friends. Because I wouldn't be blogging without you guys!
5. The publishing industry. One day I'll be a part of you. With a book out into the world. Just you wait. :)
6. My health.
7. My agent who took a chance on me. And still is.
8. My stubbornness. Who knew It would come in handy when I feel like I want to give up in this industry?
9. My friends. Old and new.
10. My talent to tell a story. Even if no one will read it for years to come, I'm so thankful I love to write.

Have an amazing week with family and friends. If you want to join in on this little thankful chain, go to Jenn's blog and link. :) See you next week!

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-11-18T08:22:00.000-08:00

1. Sexiest Man Alive. Do you agree? I love Bradley Cooper. I've loved him since Alias.

Uh ... what were we talking about? I got lost in those gorgeous eyes. (And yes, I love my husband very much. :)

2. I'm almost finished with INBETWEEN! WOOT! I finished revisions and now I'm editing, editing, editing. I'm excited to get this done and move on to my next project that looks oh so shiny. And pretty. My precious...

3. My 20 month old is starting to throw tantrums. She screams really high and loud, bends over and puts her head on the ground and usually ends up doing a somersault. It's pretty hilarious actually. Not the screaming, but when she rolls over and looks up at me like, "What the freak just happened?"

4. Sometimes publishing is hard. But I keep writing. Keep perfecting my craft. Someday, it will all pay off. Hopefully.

5. Thanksgiving is next week. Holy crap. November has gone by SO fast!

What are you guys doing for Thanksgiving? We're going to my parents house this year. And I'm still trying to decide if I want to face the crowds on Friday morning. Is anyone a black Friday crazy? I admit I usually go out every year. :)

Have a great weekend!

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing Erin Summerill

2011-11-17T04:00:00.000-08:00

Today I'm excited to have Erin with me! She is one of my newer writer friends, but she is the nicest person ever! And did I mention she's hilarious? Check out her blog, here. :) You will NOT be disappointed! :D

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Growing up, I loved writing short stories. But it wasn't until my second year of teaching high school English that I decided to write a book. That year I made a goal to read every book that the kids read. Well, there were a lot of books that I fell in love with, and a lot that didn't thrill me. So I figured writing couldn't be that hard, right? Ha. So very wrong. Still plugging away on that goal.

You taught high school English? I totally wanted to do that. And then I thought of all the papers and essays I'd have to grade...

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

I write something every day. Even if it's just a line. My kid's nap time works best, or late at night. I don't do early. Not at all.

I didn't do early until this year. And I still have a hard time getting up. Oh well. Maybe I'll get used to it someday. Or not.

Could you tell us a little about yourself?

I started teaching aerobics fourteen years ago because I HATED working out. I figured I'd stick with it till I learned to love it. Now I love it and I can't stop. The only time I hate it is after I've stayed up till three in the morning reading. Like last night. Ugh. Today's class blew.
I like to take pictures, and sometimes people pay me for it. Which, frankly, is pretty cool. Mostly I like to shoot people kissing. That's not weird. Is it?

FYI, her pictures are AMAZING. Seriously.

Random facts?

I don't wear deodorant. Ever.

Ha! I wish I could get away with that! ;)

Hidden talents?

Nada.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

Books. I buy books as often as I buy shoes. So I guess shoes too! Add an icy Coke Zero and a bag of M&Ms, and I'd be sitting pretty.

Okay. I heart you even more now. M&M's are pretty much the best thing ever.

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

I can't. For some reason I really can't re-read books. It makes me feel anxious.

He he. :)

What book are you dying to read this year?

I just read these three after waiting all year for them:
The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa (Perfect final book. Great hero's journey.)
Tiger's Voyage by Colleen Hueck (Now I'm dying for the next installment.)
Prized by Caragh O'Brien (LOVED THIS! And hated one part. sigh.)

I'm dying to read The Iron Knight. I gotta get on that. And Prized. I've been looking forward to that one since I read Birthmarked last year. Too bad you hated one part though. Which means, I'll probably hate it too I'm guessing.

What genre do you write and why?

I write YA. My current WIP is a contemporary spy novel with a killer romance. I mostly read YA, so it makes sense to write YA. And I'm a geek all the time, so it's easy to get into my young adult character's mind.

Yay for spys! Another yay for romance, and a double yay for geeks! :D

Do you have any writing rituals? Music, silence, eating, etc.

Coke Zero and M&Ms - Always.

I'm curious. Are you a plain girl or peanut girl?

Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams, while driving, etc?

Daydreaming during really boring meetings for my other jobs. Shh, don't tell.

Ha! My lips are sealed.

Any advice for other aspiring authors?

Keep at it. I once took a class from Brandon Sanderson. And the number one tip I took away from all his awesomeness was that writing is a skill of time. The more time you invest the better you get.

Great advice. I still have to read one of his books...

Random Writing Question: If you could rewrite a main character in any book, who would it be and why? It doesn't have to be because you hate the character either. ;)

Katsa from Graceling.
She's pretty much a kick-A protag, that rocks. But I couldn't get past her commitment issues. I don't want to give away the ending of the book for those that haven't read it. But I would've arched her character to learn and grow in that area so the ending was, well, better.

I AGREE!! Thank you so much for being here today, Erin!

*Also, I'm taking Thanksgiving and all of December off from interviews. Too much craziness to keep on top of things. If you'd like to be featured on my blog in January, shoot me an e-mail anytime! :)

On critique partners and betas

2011-11-15T08:07:00.000-08:00

You know those times when you're revising and rewriting and you start to get sick of your book? Yep. That's totally me right now. I still love the story, but all the words are starting to blur together. I think I need a break from it. But I really want to get it done. I don't have writers block or anything. I know exactly what I need to do to finish it, but it's turning into more of a chore. I want this book to be awesome. To be great. But how do I know what I need to do to make it that way?

Critique partners/Beta readers.

They are SO important to have. Once I finish this draft, I'm sending it out again. It helps so much to have fresh eyes look at my books. And honestly, I don't think I've ever had so many people look at one of my books before. Which means I'm serious about this. I want to get better. I want my book to shine. I've gotten some thick skin and I'm actually to the point where I like getting my critiques back. Even if they sting a little. I like knowing how to make it better. I've gotten so much feedback on this book. Positive things, things I need to work on and places in my book where I need to explain things so the reader isn't confused. Everyone has nasty little habits that you can't help putting into your books. It's nice to know what they are so you can avoid them in the next one. Personally, it makes me a better drafter. :)

I used to think I could spot anything myself. If I edited my book and understood it, everyone else would too. So. Not. True. I've learn so much about my own writing when my betas read for me. Good and bad. No one is perfect. That's what critique partners and betas are for. To make you LOOK perfect. And to lift you up when you're feeling down. ;)

So, if you don't have a crit partner or beta, make sure you get one before you send your baby out into the world. Your book may seem perfect to you, but trust me. You need some fresh eyes to look at it. There will always be something that needs work. Even little things like repetitive words and phrases.

Moral of this blog post? Critique partners ROCK.

That is all.

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-11-11T07:56:00.000-08:00

1. I'm cold.

2. I'm obsessed with hot chocolate. Mmmm.... Love. And not the knock off brands. This is one thing that I have to have a name brand of. I don't want to spend time making a hot chocolate that tastes like water and dust.

3. I'm about half way done with my revisions on INBETWEEN. Woot! Now to find some more betas... Mua ha ha ha ha!

4. So ... it's 11-11-11. Is that weird to anyone else?

5. Harry Potter came out today. I haven't seen it. I know. I'm ashamed. But I will be getting a copy soon! :)

What has made you happy this week? Anything exciting? Any fun plans for the weekend?

See you next week! :)

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing Angie Cothran

2011-11-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to have Angie with me here today. She is one of the nicest bloggers I've met. She's always stopping by my blog and I see her comments on so many others. She is awesome! And tons of fun! :) Anyway, check out her amazing blog, here.

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I came to writing later than a lot of people. I’ve always loved books since I first learned to read, but I never once thought about writing. In college I studied History and Interior Design, but I took Shakespeare and Advanced English Lit for fun. It seems funny now, looking back I can see I always had a passion for books. About five years ago I started wondering if I could write a book—and it turns out I can :)

Shakespeare and Advanced English Lit for FUN? You are WAY smarter than me! lol

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

I’m not a very scheduled person. I’m lucky enough to get to stay home with my kids, so I have large chunks of day that I can use to write. But I am a night owl and I write every night when everyone is in bed.

I'm not very scheduled either. Writing at night or early in the morning are the only times I can find the time to write. I'm sure it will change someday. ;)

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

Random fact: In 1994 I was Idaho’s Jr. Miss and I paid for college with the money I won. Because I had to be in front of people and talk all the time I learned public speaking. I can speak in front of a group without feeling nervous at all.
Hidden talent: If you give me a piece of paper I can cut out anything you want—elephants, people, cars, insects—you name it, I can make it with paper. My kids think this is a fun talent.

LOL! That's awesome about the hidden talent! And I freeze up when I'm supposed to speak in front of people. I don't know if I could handle it if I ever get published! lol You can teach me. :)

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

If I had my family and my laptop the only things I would need are books and chocolate. I know a Kindle would be convenient, but I want real books that I can hold and smell. And if I’m reading I need chocolate. I heard author Jessica Day-George say that every book should come with chocolate.

Mmmmm... chocolate...

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

I reread books all the time. I buy almost every book I read, because I plan on rereading them. But I think the Harry Potter series are books I could reread no matter my mood. I think I’ve reread every book four or five times.

I love Harry Potter. I don't think I'll ever get tired of that series.

What book are you dying to read this year?

I have a few:
Crossed by Ally Condie
Inheritance by Christopher Paloni
The Next Door Boys by Jolene Perry
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan—Yay for Christmas :)

I have all of those on my list! So excited for Inheritance! Finally!

What genre do you write and why?

I write YA, but I do dabble in MG and Chick Lit. If I have an idea that I like, I write it down and not really worry about what genre it is.

That's awesome. I need to try my hand at MG. I'd love to do a fun series. We'll see, right? :)

Do you have any writing rituals? Music, silence, eating, etc.

I can write anytime (except early morning) and anywhere, so I don’t have a ton of rituals, but one thing I always do is pray before I write. It isn’t like I think I’m writing anything spiritual at all, it is just that I feel like my creativity is blocked if I don’t. I bet I’m not the only writer who does this :)

I don't know why I haven't thought of doing that... That is so great.

Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams, while driving, etc?

I get ideas EVERYWHERE—but my best ideas come from nowhere while I’m writing. I try and plot through a problem and only give up in frustration. Then I write with no idea where I’m going and I get the best ideas. Go figure!

You sound like me. ;)

Any advice for other aspiring authors?

I did an interview with the lovely Abby Fowers a few weeks ago and she asked me this same question.
1) Write—Write every day. The more you do it the better you get.
2) Read—Find the time to read. You can’t be a great writer without having a passion for books.
3) Learn—However you want to do it: books, classes, conferences. Learn as much as you can about the craft of writing.
4) Listen—Find people you trust and listen to what they say about your writing. Be humble enough to take their advice.
5) Be Brave—One of my favorite quotes reads, “Do one thing every day that scares you.”- Eleanor Roosevelt. There is no way you can live your passion if you worry about failing.

GREAT advice. Really. Love this.

Random Writing Question: If your main character could go anywhere in the world, where would he/she go and why?

I had to think a little bit about this question. My MC, Jocelyn is touched by tragedy. Her family has been murdered by her betrothed, and now she is running from him. I think if she was safe and free to go anywhere, she would go home. Even though her family is gone, home has a strong emotional draw for her. It is a place where she was last happiest.

How tragic and happy at the same time! If that's possible. :) I can't wait to read your book someday! And thank you so much for being here! :D

NaNoWriMo .... Fail?

2011-11-08T08:09:00.000-08:00

Yes. I failed. BUT, I didn't fail entirely. I'm doing NaNoReMo instead. And it's going GREAT! My book is getting stronger, and I know I'll be done before December. Well, hopefully... He he. You never know, right? :P

How are you all doing with your NaNo's? Can't wait to hear!

Pen Names

2011-11-07T11:46:00.000-08:00

Have any of you thought of using one when you get published?

I guess there are some pretty good reasons to use one.

*You don't want your mother to know you write erotica romance.
*You write in two different genres.
*Your name isn't different enough to stand out.
*You've hated the name your parents gave you ever since you were born.
*You'd rather keep a secret identity if you go all famous like Stephenie Meyer.
*You like making up new names. We make up characters all the time, right?
*You've had your heart set on naming a child your favorite name, but your hubby won't agree with you. So, why not use it as a pen name instead? ;)

He he. I know some of those are a little out there, but oh well. I've thought about using a pen name instead of my real name a few times. I've decided not to do it though. I'd like to be published with my real name, since it's pretty different. If I decide to write women's fiction or something else down the road, I may do a pen name if I've already published in YA. I have no CLUE what I would choose though.

Have you guys thought of pen names for yourselves? Or will you use your real name? Do tell! :)

Oh, and check out this awesome contest Abby is having over at her blog! She's wanting ideas for a pen name for her. Go check it out and give her some ideas! :)

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-11-04T07:52:00.000-07:00

1. Kit Kat's do not help diets.

2. Reading all these pirate books has basically turned me into a pirate lately. Have you seen the pirate feature on facebook that turns your profile and everything into pirate speak? Hilarious. I think my kids are getting sick of me saying Arg and calling them matey's...

3. Any good book recommendations? I really need one right now. :P

4. Can you believe it's freaking November? Where the heck did 2011 go? Seriously!

5. I'm getting excited for Thanksgiving. I love me some turkey. And potatoes and gravy. And the rolls. I get sort of sad when Thanksgiving goes into the shadows of Christmas. It's kind of forgotten a little. I'm a scrooge when it comes to listening to Christmas music. I don't until the day after Thanksgiving. I don't like that holiday getting overlooked. Call me weird. I don't care. :)

Have a great weekend! :D :D

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing Elizabeth Reinhardt

2011-11-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

I "met" Elizabeth about a month or so ago and I just love her. Her blog is hilarious and she is super nice and fun. Check her blog out here. :)

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Mrs. Schroth was the strictest, smartest, most no-nonsense teacher I ever had. She assigned our eighth grade English class to either act out a scene from Romeo and Juliet or rewrite the ending.

I was a monstrously tall twelve-year-old with feet like canal boats, and traipsing in front of my class in a play was NOT my idea of fun, especially since I knew I’d want to be Juliet, but would have been cast as Montague Thug # 3 or Wizened, Toothless Apothecary.

I opted for the re-write, and it was like Texas Goblet O’Poison Massacre. There were a lot of soon-to-be corpses moaning all over the pages, saying poetic, melodramatic things.

And Mrs. Schroth was smitten! She read it out loud, gliding around the room and giving the characters all of this life with her perfect reading voice while I blushed with the purest happiness I’d ever felt! Everyone else was probably just glad we didn’t have to spend the period reviewing SAT vocabulary lists, but I got bit by the writing bug big time! I always secretly hope Mrs. Schroth stumbles on one of my books someday and feels proud!

I love this! So awesome! I'd rather re-write as well. Acting is not one of my strong suits...

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

What I have is a five year old!

She’s extremely charming. And extremely good at convincing me that it would be so much more fun to bake cookies/have a picnic/make tissue paper butterflies/dress up as princesses/read Pinkalicious just one more time/play hide and seek than type at my computer!

But I get caught up in my stories, and try to keep a really strict word count. If it’s been a really busy cookie/butterfly/game /book day, I just give my husband a call when he’s on his way home from work, and he lays on her floor in a tiara or plays endless rounds of Guess Who to keep her occupied.

I write every second I get, for as long as I can and lose lots of sleep for it. I have no particular place or background noise or schedule, because I can’t! It gets crazy, but sometimes I wonder if I could do it any other way…writing is my time that’s just for me, all for myself, and I really treasure it! It’s definitely not a chore at all.

(Though I do sometimes watch longingly as my husband and daughter play long, complicated games of Rapunzel and the Horses Visit Mermaid Town and Get Their Hair Done. That game is one NO ONE wants to miss!

Writing is definitely "my time" as well. It's so nice to sit down and just write. Relax. Not worry about chasing little kids around after they go to bed. It's one of my favorite times of the day.

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

I am double jointed in both thumbs! It’s proven completely useless so far, but I’m fairly convinced one day I may get kidnapped by pirates and need this skill to wiggle out of the ropes they’ve tied me up with.

My mom named me Elizabeth Garrett Gorman, after the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I wound up winning the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Contest in high school. My mother immediately declared herself directly responsible based on her choice of name alone. And I never argue with my mother!

My little sister and I don’t look much alike (she’s a petite, fine boned beauty; I’m a gawky, smiley giantess), but once in a while people would randomly say, “Wow, you two look so much alike, you could be twins!” To which Katie (my sister) always replied, “Oh, we were triplets, but Liz ate the other one in utero.” Two years ago, I had to have a cyst removed from an ovary. When they opened it, it was full of human hair. When she saw me after the surgery and heard the news, she crowed, “See! I told you! You DID eat the other baby!” (I didn’t. I swear, I have no idea what was up with that cyst!)

Oh. My. Heck. I am laughing SO hard right now! Ba ha ha ha ha!!!! That's so gross, but so funny at the same time! :D

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

A huge tub of the highest SPF sunscreen known to man , because I have never been able to be in the sun for longer than three minutes without turning a lovely shade of lobster! I’m like a vampire…not the kind that sparkle!

Ditto! ;)

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. I have this huge love for my mom and for my daughter, and Tan’s story is just so gorgeous and real and wonderful…and, sorry, I’m drooling all over and brimming with envy and completely in love! Tan just makes me a giggly, insane fangirl!

I'm sad to say I've never read it. But I'm adding it to my list right now! :)

What book are you dying to read this year?

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins!

Are you all counting down?! I am! Were you all in love with Anna?! I was!!

And I had this lovely, sweet reviewer who I just wrote to and told her how psyched her review of Lola made me and she wrote, “I wish I knew you wanted it! I just gave my ARC away, and would have been happy to send it to you!”

I am not ashamed to say I gorged on comfort pudding and sniffled for a while after. I am SO READY to read this book!!

I have to ask ... have you read this yet? What did you think if you have? I know it came out after I interviewed you. Just curious! :)

What genre do you write and why?

My first love is YA contemporary romance.

After I killed off every single character in Romeo and Juliet back in eighth grade, I guess I just got all that misery and tragedy out of my system.

I’m a huge romantic at heart. And sixteen. I love new love, first kisses, first crushes, prom, dates…the whole thing. I love how raw and real and obsessive that whole time is.

I really enjoyed my teenager-hood, but I also love thinking ‘what if.’ And I was a really, really good teen and my husband was a big rebel, so I always wondered what it would be like if we met in high school.

Oooohh! So, do you like the rebel guy in books? I'm guilty of the bad boy syndrome. Can't help but love them.

Do you have any writing rituals? Music, silence, eating, etc.

I LOVE my iPod, Pandora, Youtube…and earbuds!! I love having background mixes and replaying certain songs. Some people need silence; I just need to not constantly hear the theme song from Yo Gabba Gabba! (Muno!...He’s tall and friendly!...Foofa…She’s pink and happy!...)…

Luckily my kids have never had the urge to watch that one. I've heard interesting things about it...

Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams, while driving, etc?

I love when I read a book or watch a show and connect with what’s on, but think, “Wow, if I wrote/directed this, it would be so different.”

A huge catalyst for Double Clutch came from reading Meyer’s Twilight series and standing at the ironing board, ironing on letters for my Team Jacob shirt.

Please stop laughing. I know you’re jealous!

As I was ironing letters on for my sister, sister-in-law, and myself, I started to think about writing a book where it would be really, really hard to pick which guy’s team you’d be on. Because, even though I am firmly Team Jacob, I knew that as far as a romance with Bella was concerned, that boy didn’t stand a chance!

You know, I think I’m going to make a Team Saxon/Jake shirt for myself! Or maybe I’ll just be Team Brenna. I love her best anyway!

I totally have a Team Edward shirt in my closet... No shame here. :)

What has your publishing journey been like so far? The good, the bad, the ugly?

The good has been the amazing, wonderful, very cool blog/FB/Twitter/Goodreads community that is taking an interest in my book and just being generally awesome! I had this huge fear that I’d put my book out there and would wind up facing a ton of criticism. But it’s been the opposite; everyone has been really willing to help and had such supportive things to say!

The bad was the road I took to getting this published. Not that it was so bad, but I had this thought in my head that traditional publishing equaled success and self-publishing meant you had given up. Now I realize that there are so many ways to interpret success, and so many ways to find it. I had to decide what was more important; sticking to a set of “rules” I’d made up for myself or getting my book out there for readers to enjoy. I’m really glad I made the decision I did!

The ugly, I have to admit, is mostly in my own head. I think every writer struggles with self doubt, but for a traditional writer you probably have an agent who loves you and editors excited to see your work and other writers in your agency who tell you it’s all going to be all right even when you just worked a crocodile attack into your romance and don’t know how to get your hero out of the swamp now that his arms have been bitten off!

And self-pubbed writers can have a great support system, but it’s up to us to unearth our own supporters and reach out to them. When I feel really discouraged or scared or obsessive, I now have the people I know will give me the support I need and be really cool about encouraging me!

I totally agree about the writing community being amazing. It doesn't matter which road to publishing you take. There are so many supporters and friends to meet along the way that want you to succeed whichever way you choose! :)

Tell us a little about your book.

Double Clutch is about this very cool girl, Brenna, who’s kind of the girl I wanted to be in high school. She designs t-shirts, runs track, does share-time at the academic and vocational high schools, and has two really hot, drool-worthy boys desperate to be with her. Through the book she learns about these two guys, who are each wonderful and flawed in their own way, and she has to decide who to give her heart to. But she also learns so much about herself.

My favorite thing about this book is that it’s about being true to yourself. When I was in high school, I was totally floundering to find my own style and way to stand out. What I wound up doing was just kind of being weird or goofy to get noticed. But since I was writing this book myself, I was able to give Brenna anything I wanted. And the biggest gift I could give her was self confidence. There are a million ways she could have been the coolest girl ever, as long as she liked who she was.

And there’s also lots of kissing and angst, late night phone calls, motocross races, punk concerts, more kissing, Dirty Dancing, even more kissing and a teaser chapter for my next book, Junk Miles, which is coming out in November!

My kind of book! :D

Advice for aspiring authors?

YES!

Find someone whose writing you love and who you really like as a person and switch manuscripts with them.

You can search online, ask around at school, watch people at Starbucks with their laptops, but find someone. Preferably a few someones.

Let them read your stuff.

Tell them to be honest.

Buy a lot of pudding, or whatever your comfort food is.

They’re going to send your work back to you with their comments.

DO NOT OPEN THE COMMENTS!

Immediately write them or call them and tell them how much you love them and how much you appreciate the work they put into your writing and let them know it’s such good stuff, you need a few days to look it over.

Open the work up and look at the comments.

Shake your fist in the air! Tell yourself you DO NOT abuse adverbs/overuse dialogue tags/make everyone smile at least three times on each page! And even if you do, so what! You are an artist!

Get it all out!

Gorge on all the comfort pudding!

Then think about their suggestions. Don’t worry about every single one. Just try implementing a few little ones. Ask yourself if it helped. Ask yourself if your writing is better/stronger/cleaner. If it is, keep sifting through and make any changes they suggested that are good with your gut.

When you’re done, write them a real email/note that genuinely thanks them for loving you and your work enough to tell you where and how you could improve. And if you are lucky enough to have a people who wind up being both awesome critique partners AND good friends, hold on and NEVER LET GO! You, my friend, are lucky!

AMEN! Love this. Thank you so much for being here, Elizabeth!

If you'd like to check out Double Clutch, click here.

NaNo. I'm so ready to take you on.

2011-11-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

I'm actually excited for NaNo this year. I tried it last year and failed miserably, but this year I'm really ready to give it a go. I have a shiny new idea, and though I'd rather research it a little more, I'm going to dive in.

So, Tuesday's will be my NaNo updates. If you're doing NaNo or revising or whatever, you can update with me!

So, first day of NaNo. How many words do I have? A big fat Zero. I didn't get up early this morning. It was rainy and cold and I liked my bed. So I'll start tonight when the kidlets go to bed.

Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-31T08:46:00.000-07:00

I hope you all have fun taking your kids out or going out yourselves tonight! I'm still trying to figure out what to dress up as. Probably myself... lol

And tomorrow is NaNoWriMo!!! :D I'm doing it. Anyone else? Let me know so we can cheer each other on!

Have an awesome and safe Halloween! See ya'll tomorrow! :D

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-10-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

1. Pumpkin walks are fun! We went to two this year. I have to say the one we went to last night was awesome. Carved pumpkins everywhere! The whole family had fun. Even if we froze our butts off!

2. I've been editing INBETWEEN all week. I'm getting ready to send my book to more betas. Then it's off to my agent! Hopefully he likes it...

3. Still not sure if I'm doing NaNo. I have a book I want to write, but it requires research. I've never researched for a book before. Actually, that's a lie. I did a tiny bit of research on the Salem witch trials for INBETWEEN, but not much. Anyway, I have a huge, awesome idea for my newest book. It's shiny and new and gives me all sorts of warm fuzzies when I think about it. It's different, and that's good. It could be pretty cool. I just have to finish researching and write it. :)

4. It's freaking freezing!! I'm ready for winter, but not. If that makes sense. :P

5. My kids finally know what they're going to be for Halloween. Kid 1: Anakin Skywalker. Kid 2: A pirate. She's so excited. Kid 3: Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She even has ruby slippers!

Honestly, I'm not the biggest fan of Halloween. The older I get, the more I just want to get it over with. Anyone with me? lol I think it's fun for the kids though. And I like ... uh ... borrowing my kids treats after they go to bed... ;)

What candy are you going to"borrow" out of your kids bags? I know I'll be looking for Almond Joys and Kit Kats! :D

Have an awesome spooky weekend everyone!

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing Kindal Debenham

2011-10-27T04:00:00.000-07:00

This is actually a funny story. I used to be a book blogger. Yep. I did. And I really did liked it, but realized I liked writing more! :) Anyway, I met another book blogger a few years ago. Her blog was called Gamila's Review. Little did I know, her husband is a writer! They found me about a month ago and he was excited to do an interview on my blog. :) Oh, and check out his blog here. The name of his blog is pretty hilarious. ;)

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Well, I’ve wanted to be an author since I wrote my first attempt at a novel in high school. It’s always been a dream of mine, though I’ve wandered towards other careers from time to time. After all, there’s no end to the people who will tell you that writing is an awful career that will never support a family. Around March of this year, though, I got tired of running circles around what I really wanted to do and just decided to go for it.

I think we all get to the point where we realize it's something that the need to write is never going to go away. Good for you!

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

My current job in the emergency room kind of precludes any specific writing schedule. One day might be very relaxed, while another might have been full of patients coming in with critical problems. Mostly I just try to scrounge writing time whenever I can get it, which generally tends to be late at night. I might miss a little sleep, but it is worth it.

Agh! The emergency room? I think I just passed out thinking about it! lol I'm sure you've seen some pretty crazy things. And lack of sleep is rampant among us writers! :)

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

I like to make up game systems. That hobby started in high school and even earlier, when I made up a roleplaying game for my friends and I to enjoy. I kept it up until college, and even used some of that roleplaying material in the first novel I cobbled together. Since then I haven’t really put a lot of effort into it, but occasionally it is kind of fun to tinker with an idea for a game or study what’s already out there. Kind of a weird thing, but it has really added to my worldbuilding skills for writing.

Cool! Sounds very interesting!

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

A set of pens and a notebook. Laptops are good and all, but I have an almost unhealthy obsession with pens and notebooks, if only just to jot my thoughts down. Plus, when you’re stuck somewhere isolated you’re supposed to keep a journal as you descend into madness, right? Or so I’ve been told.

I love my notebook as well. I do type on the computer more, but you never know when a scene is going to pop out of nowhere. I always have mine with me. For creative emergencies. :)

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

I, Jedi, by Michael J. Stackpole. It’s a great book with one of my favorite characters that I’ve been rereading for like half my life. That, and I am a total Star Wars nerd, and Mr. Stackpole really kind outdid himself with the universe in the story.

I've never read anything by him. I'll have to look into it! I do love me some Star Wars though. The older ones. Not a huge fan of Anakin going all psycho in the newer ones. But I do love Ewan McGregor, so I guess I did like the newer ones a little. ;)

What book are you dying to read this year?

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson. He’s an awesome writer and his Mistborn series is an incredible read. An opportunity to see the world left behind by that series really appeals to me, and I’m betting that Mr. Sanderson won’t let me down.

Another Brandon Sanderson fan! I swear I've had twenty recommendations to read his books this year. I really have to get on that.

What genre do you write and why?

I write science fiction. That was the genre that really captured my imagination as I read during my own childhood, and it seems to come a bit more naturally to me than other genres. Within science fiction, though, my interests have so far tended to wander a bit. Wolfhound is an action adventure story that would fit into the typical space opera mold. I chose that because I wanted to show heroism and space opera fit very well. Steampunk was the next bit of science fiction I explored, with an upcoming novel I called The True Adventures of Hector Kingsley. From there I bounced back to space opera with Iron Angels, and then I think I might do a cyberpunk novel. I guess that might be part of the reason I chose science fiction; my ideas and interests have the freedom to explore and create without having to worry about a lot of traditional rules and conventions. Pushing the limits and redefining boundaries is part of what science fiction is all about, and I am more than happy to have the chance to be a part of that.

That is so awesome. I've never tried to write science fiction, but I'm very impressed by those who can. Thank you so much for being here today and good luck with publishing Wolfhound this winter! Let us know when it's available! :)

Taking the next few days off!

2011-10-24T21:20:00.001-07:00

This week is CRAZY! I won't be blogging until Thursday. I'm going to take tomorrow and Wednesday to catch up on life and visit your blogs. I hope everyone is doing great!! :D

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-10-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

1. This exercise thing is going great. Besides getting up at 5:40 in the morning. :P But, it's giving me more writing time and getting me into shape. I think I'll stick with it. Even though I want to throw my alarm across the room when it goes off that early. So not a morning person. But I'm working on it.

2. I think I'm going to attempt NaNoWriMo this year. Oye. Do I really want to do that? Really? It would be perfect for my super secret project. I've just never written a book that fast. My fastest is two months. Could I do one in 30 days? Anyone else doing it? Want to talk me into it? lol

3. I got my little guy's first grade pictures back. First thing I noticed? He's wearing his jacket in it. The next thing? He's not smiling. Well, technically he is, but you can barely see one side of his mouth turned up. Aren't school pictures the greatest? I asked him why he was wearing his jacket and he told me he wears it all day every day at school. He never takes it off. WHAT? I swear I don't wear my jacket all day long at my house! I'm not sure where he got that from. Boys.

4. I hosted book club last night at my house. It was a blast. We read Divergent for it and all of us loved it. Which, usually we have at least one or two people not like the book as well. But we all agreed. Divergent ROCKED! We talked about the book for a few minutes and spent the next 3 hours just talking and laughing. I love girls nights. They make me happy. Even if we stayed up way too late and were all exhausted when everyone finally left. Good times. :)

5. Random fact: I hate bananas, but I LOVE banana bread. Is that weird?

Have a great weekend everyone! :D

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing E. R. King

2011-10-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

I love this girl. When she started following my blog a while ago, I hopped right over to hers and wasn't disappointed. I love it. She is so honest in every post and is so cute and funny. Isn't she gorgeous? To check out her fabulous blog, click here.

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always liked telling stories. Being a writer was an obvious choice, though it took me until I was eighteen years old to embrace the challenge. That was nearly ten years ago. All these years I’ve been writing, and I’m glad for the practice. It’s been excellent training.

That is awesome that you've been writing for so long. It took me until I was 25 to figure out I should write my stories down. :P

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

My only rule is to write everyday. When I’m in first draft or revision mode, I’ll write for hours a day, day after day, until I get it done. You know that old saying “Don’t poke the bear”? That’s me when I’m in my writing world. My family is very understanding.

That is awesome. My kids don't know when to leave me alone! lol ;)

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

I’m an organizational freak, rain calms me, and I’d wear boots every day if I could. Cuddling a baby turns me to goo, I like to drive really, really, really fast, and I believe everything happens for a reason.

I love the rain. *sigh* And don't talk about babies. I'll want another one too soon... ;)

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

My notebook. I have a travel-size one in my purse that I take with me everywhere. I don’t know what I’d do without it!

Me too!! Travel-size notebooks are the best!

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

I’ve read Jude Deveraux’s REMEMBERANCE at least six times, and I cried each time. It’s everything a romance novel should be.

I've never heard of that one. Sounds great! I love me a good romance.

What book are you dying to read this year?

KILL ALEX CROSS by James Patterson. I squeeze every last ounce of entertainment out of his books. They don’t disappoint.

Would you freak out if I told you I've never read James Patterson? True story. *hides*

What genre do you write and why?

Young adult, and not because I want to relive high school. My father was my high school principal. I know what you’re thinking,” that poor girl!” Don’t feel sorry for me, the experience was unparalleled. My father handed me my diploma when I graduated and I was able to hug him on stage in front of the entire graduating class and their families—how many kids can say that? But it was trying at times; the other kids and teachers were often unkind. I realize it wasn’t a normal high school experience, but I wasn’t a normal high schooler. I met my husband at fourteen and I knew I wanted to marry him when I was barely sixteen. Because of who I was then, I have very high expectations of our youth. I believe young adults are capable of genuine wisdom, self-sacrifice, and deep emotions. Teenagers are often portrayed as gratification-seeking, hormone-driven, immature little snots, and while I agree some are, many are not. I will not talk down, or write down, to our youth.

I LOVE this. And I really want to hear you and your hubby's story. So cute.

Do you have any writing rituals? Music, silence, eating, etc.

I must have a Diet Coke (or three), my notebook, and a pen. Music is necessary when I’m writing a fight sequence or romance scene. I like to set the mood. ; )

Oh, and I prefer background noise. My husband and our three children live in cramped quarters, so when they’re asleep, and all is quiet, it’s eerie. I turn on the TV or listen to music to break up the silence.

LOL. Oh, Diet Coke. I'll have a sip every now and then, but I prefer water over everything. At least you aren't addicted to something gross like Dr. Pepper. (Love you, Renee! He he)
Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams, while driving, etc?

People-watching, hands-on experience, vivid dreams, and heart-felt wishes are my most common muses. My best ideas come to me while I’m in the shower. I’ve ruined two notebooks by dripping water all over them (who has time to dry off when your muse is singing?). I keep a spare under the sink now.

That's a really good idea to keep a spare under the sink...

Any advice for other aspiring authors?

Learn as much as you can. Expect to make mistakes. Listen to your gut. Write, write, write. And above all, write what you love. If you aren’t connected to every aspect of your story, your readers will know. To make people believe, you have to believe in yourself.

Great advice.

Random Writing Question: Your main character is walking down the street and walks right through a ghost. How do they react? ;)

The MC of my paranormal romance series is a demon hunter, so for him there are no ghosts, only demons. But when a demon passes through him, he feels a damp, bone-deep chill that lingers longer than brain freeze and he shudders to his toes.

Ooohhh! Creepy! ;) Thank you SO much!! It was so nice to have you today! :D

On series and stand alones

2011-10-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

How do you plan a series? Do you know when you start writing that you're going to continue the story? Or are you like me and write your first book and realize you have more story to tell?

My first book was a stand alone. Although, I want to re-write it and I have an idea for a companion novel to go with it. Not a sequel though. Those characters have had their fun. Someday I'd like to torture their children. ;) That sounds morbid, but I swear it's not! lol

Let's skip my second book and head to my third. I wanted it to be a stand alone. When I got to the end, the story kept going. Kept calling me. So, someday I'll write a sequel to it. Because those characters have more to go through. More story to tell.

My fourth book I really wanted to be a series, but I put it away for a while. You all probably remember BOUND. The one I had a really hard time writing. It's on the back burner and I may or may not go back to it.

My fifth, I started as a stand alone. I had no intention to turn it into a series. But, like my third, I realized there was more story to tell when I finished. I'd love to visit that world again after I finish editing it. And after it hopefully sells. Maybe. You just never know. I've actually never started a sequel. I've outlined a few...(as far as my outlining goes...) but I want to make sure the first book sells before I start writing a sequel. Maybe that's stupid of me, but oh well.

My sixth book I'm working on right now, well, I'm only at 5000 words, so I have no idea if it will be a series or not. Right now, I'll say no. But, that usually changes judging by my other books I've written. HA! :)

So, how do you decide if you want to write a stand alone or a series? I'm curious!

INBETWEEN in pictures.

2011-10-17T06:56:00.000-07:00

I love seeing people's books in pictures. I searched for some really good ones that would do INBETWEEN justice, but couldn't find exactly what I wanted. So,these will have to do. Enjoy!

I'd love to see yours! :D

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-10-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

1. I'm losing my mind. Seriously. I've done several things this week that confirm the fact that I am a total moron sometimes.

2. Two betas liked my book! Woot! Waiting on a few more. I'm loving the feedback I'm getting!

3. I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. That's right. BOO-YA! :D

4. I started my new book while waiting for my betas to get back to me. It was going to be a dystopian, but I decided to do a contemporary fantasy instead. It's very different. And I love it.

5. I've made three batches of cookies in the past 2 weeks. Pretty sure I need to start exercising again. Yep. Really sure. I'm starting next week. Goal: Lose 15 Pounds. Ugh. It sounds so daunting. Maybe I'll make another batch of cookies to prepare myself...

Also, Peggy Eddleman just nabbed an agent! Woot!! *throws confetti* Head over to her blog to congratulate her!

And David Powers King just passed 400 followers on his awesome blog. Go enter the amazing contest he's having!

Have a great weekend everyone! :D

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing Jeanne. AKA Jeigh!

2011-10-13T06:46:00.000-07:00

Don't you love that name? Jeigh. Awesome. If you haven't stopped by her blog, Still Writing, you are totally missing out. Head on over there and give her a follow. She. Is. Hilarious.

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Hm, that’s a tough one. I always loved writing and making up stories. Ever since I was seventeen I imagined what it might be like to be a (drumroll) Published Writer.

Love the drumroll. ;)

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

I try to stick to a schedule of late afternoon to evening is writing time, but I’m not too rigid about it. Some days it has to be later, some days it has to be when I can. But if I start slacking, then I really enforce it.

We gotta write when we can, you know? Every day is different for me. I swear.

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

Well, I’m shy, so talking about myself makes me blush. Does that count? But seriously, one random fact/hidden talent is that I’m super good at organizing things, whether it’s a list of things to do or a messy room. All those years of Tetris really paid off ;).

Oh, I hear ya on the shyness. Working on it. :P And you can come organize my house! You know... If you want...

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

Books. If I had a nice library, I’d be fine : )

Woot! Great answer!

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

Pretty much any book. If I buy it, I’m going to read it over and over again.

Sounds like me. Awesome. :)

What book are you dying to read this year?

Book, singular? Well…my most recent “I can’t wait until I finally buy it!” is POSSESSION by Elana Johnson. It’s one of those ones that I can never find in the bookstore.

I love that cover. And I really need to read it. It's sitting on my bookshelf just staring at me.

What genre do you write and why?

YA Dystopian. Honestly, I’m not sure there’s an explanation for it. It’s just how most of my ideas come out. I do get other ideas, but I’m always most excited about these ones.

Yay for Dystopian! I love me some Dystopian.

Do you have any writing rituals? Music, silence, eating, etc.

Definitely music. The angrier and more depressing, the better. It really helps me write.

Isn't it funny how angry music helps get those creative juices flowing? Love it.

Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams, while driving, etc?

Dreams are a big one, as is that moment just after I wake up and I’m turning the dream over in my head. My brain is so loose that I can take a smidgen of a dream and grow it to something huge.

Another dreamer. *sigh* So jealous you remember your dreams.

Any advice for other aspiring authors?

There are going to be times when you are rejected or you can’t make the story work or you feel like a total failure. You’ll want to give it all up. Remember that your judgment at this time? It’s not so good.

GREAT advice. And it's so true!

Random Writing Question: There is a sale on weapons at a store down the street. What would your MC buy to take down his/her villain?

If she’s really looking to take them on, a Death Star.

Best. Answer. Ever.

Thank you so much!!

Winner of MONARCH by Michelle Davidson Argyle

2011-10-10T19:52:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Random.org, the winner of Monarch is...................................

Jeigh at WriterBrained!

If you could shoot me an e-mail with your address, that would be great!

Congrats!!!

I'm BACK! Sort of...

2011-10-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

Not having internet sucks. Seriously. I'm pretty sure I have a problem. My friends live in my computer. When I can't talk to my friends, I sort of have a panic attack. No joke.

Our internet company was supposed to come to our house last week to look at our lines outside and fix them. They called and canceled to this week. I was REALLY happy about that, if you can imagine. Anywho, I think we'll be getting it back today. Hopefully. Please...

So, how is everyone? I swear I've fallen off the face of the blogging world the past 2 weeks. And it sucks. Once we are back online I'll be around to visit you. I miss my friends.

In other news, I had a beta reader get back to me today with feedback on my book. She was SO sweet. I love her. She freaking rocks! And she liked it!! :D :D :D SCORE! I'm still waiting on a few more betas, so I'll start my revisions when I hear from them.

I've been torn between starting three different books. I have to write something while I'm editing another one, but I can't decide which one to write. Gah!! Dystopian, Paranormal, Contemporary fantasy... Hmmm... What to choose?

I finished DIVERGENT by Veronice Roth. LOVED! Read it. Now.

Anyway. How are you guys? Seriously. What's going on? Have I missed any good news, or fun things that have happened? Spill it! :D

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing J. A. Bennett

2011-10-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

So, I'm sitting in the Burger King parking lot at 10:00 at night because my stupid internet still isn't working. Grrrrr..... I've seen quite a few interesting characters around here though. I'm taking notes! LOL

Anyway, today I wanted to welcome, J. A. Bennett! She is so nice and full of awesome and has an amazing blog. Check it out, here. ;)

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I always enjoyed writing, but I never thought I would be good at it. I always assumed that being a writer meant that you had to have perfect spelling and grammar. It wasn't until I got a great English teacher in high school that taught me writing was so much more than that. He really believed in me and pushed me to the limit.

Ha! Perfect Spelling and Grammar. That's funny. :)

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

I wake up at 4:30 in the morning so that I can write. My husband gets up at that time so it works for me. There are days when I don't quite find the energy to wake up that early, but I always beat myself up about it when I don't so it's worth it in the end.

Holy freak! 4:30? *dies* You. Are. Amazing.

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

I actually love to cook. Food is my other passion. I'm big at finding ways to make my favorite foods healthier so that I don't feel guilty eating what I like. Plus it's fun to find new ways to make tasty things :)

Send some of that loving to cook vibe over here! I can cook, but I don't love it...

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

Going back to my previous statement, I would probably say a place to cook (and an island stocked with amazing food)

Ha! Awesome. At least you wouldn't starve to death, right? :)

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

I have a few favorites but right now I'm going to say Divergent. I just want to pick the thing apart and find out how it ticks.

I'm reading that RIGHT NOW! :D I love it and I'm only on the second chapter! lol

What book are you dying to read this year?

Possession is pretty high on the list, also Matched and Crossed. Why haven't I read these yet? I need get on that...

Matched is a great one. Can't wait for Crossed! I also have Possession on my bookshelf waiting to be read!

What genre do you write and why?

I write YA fantasy because it presents a range of emotions and possibilities. I like my writing to be elastic.

Love this.

Do you have any writing rituals? Music, silence, eating, etc.

I have to have my headphones in. When I am in my world I don't want to know what anything else exists. Even though my kids are asleep when I write if I don't have music plugged into my ears I just worry that they are going to wake up.

I love my headphones. I love writing with music, but I have to edit in silence. ;)

Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams, while driving, etc?

I look for inspiration everywhere, I over analyze why I like something or don't like something. I think about why other people like things and what makes them great stories. I observe everything and then I take what I can from that.

Awesome. It's amazing where you can find a little inspiration, huh? Even the littlest things spark great story ideas. At least for me.

Any advice for other aspiring authors?

People are going to be constantly telling you what is right and what is wrong. Take everything with a grain of salt and don't let anyone tell you can't do it. You can just stand up and take what you want.

Totally agree. Love this.

Random Writing Question: If your MC could choose to have any magic ability, what would it be and why?

My MC does have a magic ability, and it suits her well. She has the power of the element of the Earth. :)

Oh, man. I LOVE Elementals! :D Thank you so much for being here today!!

Monarch by Michelle Davidson Argyle and a giveaway!

2011-10-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

I have been a HUGE fan of Michelle's blog The Innocent Flower for a very long time. It was one of the first blogs I followed and I love it. She has wonderful advice and is so honest in each and every post. Check it out here.

I was so excited to be able to read a copy of MONARCH and be part of Michelle's blog tour. I must say, I don't read a lot of adult fiction, so this was a change for me, but I was not disappointed. MONARCH starts off with a bang and keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire rest of the book. I loved the characters. Every one of them was unique, flawed, and very well written. I really like books that have characters with problems. And baggage. I love seeing them grow and figure out their lives throughout the story. And can I just say the fight scenes were awesome? Michelle really knows her stuff! Especially her weapons! ;) I also loved how the Monarch Butterfly was tied into the story. And the cover is freaking awesome. Creepy, yet beautiful.

All in all, Michelle is a fantastic writer. The book was full of twists and turns, with so many things going on. Definitely a thriller you want to add to your list. I really want to say more, but I don't want to give anything away! lol So, I'll just say this. READ IT! You won't be disappointed.

Here is the blurb...

Nick's life as a CIA spy should be fulfilling, but it has only given him unhappiness, a wife who committed suicide, and two daughters who resent everything he has become. Now, stuck in the Amazon on the last mission of his career, he must track down Matheus Ferreira, a drug lord and terrorist the United States has tried to bring down for years. If he succeeds, he'll have the chance to start his life over again. Just when he's on the brink of catching Ferreira, he's framed for a murder that turns his world upside down. His only chance of survival lies in West Virginia, where Lilian Love, a woman from his past, owns the secluded Monarch Inn. He's safe, but not for long.

Anyone want to win a copy of Monarch? Because I'm giving one away!! Woot! All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post. That's it. I'll announce the winner next Tuesday. ;)

*US residents only* (Sorry international readers. I swear I'll have a giveaway for everyone soon!)

Still MIA

2011-10-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

We are still having computer issues, so I'll be posting a book review tomorrow and an interview on Thursday for this week. Hopefully we'll get everything up and running by next week. And thank you all SO much for being excited with me about finishing my first draft. I've had a really hard time with my writing lately and this book has made me feel better about everything. You guys and your sweet comments have helped me so much as well. Have a great week and hopefully we'll get our internet working again soon! :)

I'd love to hear how your writing is coming along. What are you working on? Writing, revising, editing, querying? Spill it! :)

No internet and stats

2011-09-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

Our modem died. I don't have the internet, so I'm writing this from my parents house. I'm sorry I haven't gotten around to all of your blogs this week. I'll make it up to you next week! Hopefully I'll be back online by then! I feel naked without it...

On a happy note, I finished my first draft of INBETWEEN last night!! :D :D :D I am so excited to get this book all finished and polished. I love it.

I think stats are fun, so here are my stats.

Started: July 20, 2011
Finished: September 29, 2011
61,300 words.
45 chapters

This is the fastest book I've ever written. Crazy. Now I'm off to edit it a little and then I'll send it to my betas. WOOT!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing, Ru!

2011-09-29T04:00:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to have, Ru with me today. She is so awesome and funny. Her blog is hilarious. Check it out, here.

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I think I've always had the idea of being a writer in the back of my mind. When I was little, I would draw picture books and staple them together. In sixth grade, I started writing short stories on my parents' brand spankin' new Gateway as I taught myself to type. (It took me nearly a year to figure out the SHIFT key was a better option than hitting CAPS LOCK every time I wanted to start a new sentence.)

LOL! I totally did the CAPS LOCK thing too. ;)
Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

I generally sit down whenever I get a spare moment. This is one reason I miss college - it was so easy to just sit in the living room in my sorority house and type for a few hours. This being a grown up is a fool's game.

I hear ya. :P
Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

Random fact: I have a serious fear of getting into bad situations while wearing inappropriate footwear. When I cross the road in flip flops or heels, I'm way more afraid of getting hit by a car than when I'm wearing sneakers. Sometimes I'll leave the house and pause by my car to decide whether that day feels like a day I might get chased (by what? zombies, I don't know) and then I'll go back inside and change into flats.

Oh, my heck! That is hilarious! You never know when you'll be chased by zombies. :)

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

I don't know, that one's tough. I figure I'd bring a bikini and just make the best of the situation.

Me and bikinis aren't friends. I'm sure you'll rock yours though! ;)

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

Oh my gosh, I feel like I've gushed about The Stand about a thousand times online, but it's just true. I read it every summer. There are so many different characters, so many different subplots--I really do notice different things and remain engaged every single time.

Yet another one to add to my TBR pile. Sounds awesome!

What book are you dying to read this year?

Dang, so many. Well, for starters, EVERNEATH, by Brodi Ashton; A DANCE WITH DRAGONS by George RR Martin (yes, I know it's already out, but I haven't gotten to it on my list yet); STRANGE FATE by LJ Smith (I've actually been waiting on that one since 8th grade ... fingers crossed it comes out someday); and ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS by Stephanie Perkins (yes, I know, I'm super behind!).

Yay for Everneath! That seriously looks so good. I've gushed about that gorgeous cover many times. Never heard of Strange Fate, but Anna and the French Kiss is excellent. And I've heard I'm missing out on A Dance with Dragons. Gotta add those to the pile too. :)

What genre do you write and why?

I have written chick lit, commercial adult fiction and contemporary young adult. There's no real rhyme or reason, since I love to read all sorts of books. Mostly, I just want to make people laugh, and some genres make that easier than others. I've tried the paranormal romance thing, I've tried to be literary and serious -- it just never flows for me as well as writing about people who are spunky and sarcastic and generally not all that grim.

I agree. Gotta love sarcasm. And I do. :)

Do you have any writing rituals? Music, silence, eating, etc.

Diet Coke is really my only constant. Sometimes I want music, sometimes I want the TV on in the background, sometimes I want total silence. My best writing has usually happened late at night, and I'm trying to change that habit so I can start getting more done in the mornings before work.

I get so much more done in the mornings now. And I'm NOT a morning person. Like, at all. My hubby gets scared of me in the morning. He he. Kidding. Sort of...
Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams, while driving, etc?

I love thinking about writing when I'm driving, but I still remember when I got my best idea thus far--sitting in a hot tub. I clearly need to invest in a hot tub of my own.

A hot tub would be awesome. Someday...

Any advice for other aspiring authors?

Take advantage of any time you have to write now, because you never know when your life is going to get out of control and that time is going to evaporate. I really wish I would have written more in school, because it only got harder to find the time after that. (But to be fair to the former me ... Greek Philanthropy Week and the law school Halloween Party weren't going to plan themselves!)

LOL! Great advice! :)
Random Writing Question: Who would your MC rather fight? Darth Vader, or Voldemort?

Voldemort, for sure. I hope no one hates me for this, but I really do not get Darth Vader as a character, probably because of Episode I - III. Sure, he can force choke people and he murdered a whole planet, but I just don't find him scary. Worse, I don't find him all that conflicted. Voldemort, I think, scares the crap out of everyone, and the fact that he has all these exploitable weaknesses makes him interesting. Darth Vader killed a bunch of Jedi babies just so he could hold his girl like that one time by the lake on Naboo? I'm baffled. I think The Situation from Jersey Shore makes a more credible bad guy. (Oh snap, I went there.)

Ha ha ha! Oh, dear. The Situation. :P And I'd totally pick Voldemort as well. ;) Thanks for being here today, Ru! :) Oh, and I'm being interviewed over at Reece Hanzon's blog today! Go check it out, here! :)

Oh, Fall. How I heart you.

2011-09-27T06:50:00.000-07:00

I'm pressed for time today, since I'm going on a field trip to a pumpkin patch with my preschooler. She is so excited. Even more exciting? I'll be chasing her little sister around the pumpkin patch, making sure she keeps her pants on. Good times, my friends. Good times.

And later I get to go search for a Luke Skywalker costume. My son refuses to be anything else. I'm pretty sure I might have to just grab an old brown blanket and tie it around him to make a robe, since I can't find one under fifty bucks. Oh well. At least my preschooler knows what she wants to be. A pirate. She's obsessed with Jake and the Neverland Pirates. It's on Disney Channel, but since we don't get cable or whatever, she watches it online. :)
As for 18-month old? She'll probably be going as a nudist, since she won't keep her clothes on. :P

Last year I went as a rock star.

I'm the one with the guitar. Oh, yes. I can play a mean Guitar Hero. Besides that stupid orange button. My fingers aren't long enough to reach it. I'm obviously on the shorter side... And with that happy, embarrassing photo, I'll leave you alone now.

So, what is your favorite thing to do in the fall? Do you pick pumpkins? Make cider? What are your kids going to be for Halloween? Or what are YOU going to be for Halloween? ;)

What was your first idea?

2011-09-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

Every story starts with an idea. When I first started writing, I'd had this idea in my head for a couple of years. I'd think about this character in the shower, while I drove, as I fell asleep at night. It was a classic fantasy. Swords, magic. No elves or dwarfs or anything like that, but a princess who saw her family murdered and she was the only one who escaped.

Ava was tough. She joined the army of the man who killed her family. Got close to him and plotted his demise. There was a prince, family secrets, betrayal and death.

I loved it.

But it didn't work. I had no idea what I was doing. While my story was cool, (in my mind) I didn't know the mechanics of writing. I didn't know what a critique group was, or what deep editing and revising was. I did edit, but not like I do now.

I did query my book, but only got one bite. It was sad to put it aside, but necessary. I know it wasn't good enough. Neither was my dreaded second novel. But that's why we write. To learn from our first few attempts. It only makes us better. :)

I wish I knew then, what I know now about writing. I can see I've improved. A lot. I actually call myself a writer now. Probably because I realized how much writing means to me. How it makes me feel when I finish a chapter or a scene. I can't even describe what finishing a book is like. All I can say is that it's awesome. Every. Single. Time. And even though I put my first book away, it's one that will always be with me because it was the first book I wrote. And someday, I really want to revisit that world. I've been thinking about it for a long time, actually. I will rewrite it. Probably from scratch and in a whole new way, but I would like to do it.

I have to finish a few others first though. ;)

Are you working on your first book? Did you put your first book aside? What was it like? Do you still love it?

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-09-23T07:11:00.000-07:00

1. I love Criminal Minds. It's disturbing and sometimes gross and scary, but I can't look away. The characters are awesome, the bad guys insane and the scenes intense. I'm surprised I don't get nightmares from watching it. There is no way I could watch it without my hubby home though. It would freak me right out!

I LOVE Spencer Reid. The one on the left. And Derek Morgan. The third from the left. YUM!

2. Being in a book club, ROCKS! Just sayin'. Discussing books is one of my favorite things. And there are very different opinions and some hilarious ladies in my book club. It was so nice to get out of the house when it was dark outside! LOL And talk to real people face to face! I don't get out much...

3. I'm getting back into reading again. YAY! I haven't had time while I've been writing my WIP. I miss it. And love it. My WIP is at 51,000 words. While I didn't get a ton of writing done this week, I'm still going strong on it. Should be done within the next week or so. Then off to betas and time to revise!

4. I love my Kindle. Anyone else have an E-reader? I've been reading Marcia Lynn McClure books lately. I love them. They are so sweet and lovey and happy. If I ever need a light and feel good book, I always pick one of hers up. I can always count on a happy ending with every one of her books! :)

5. Anyone watch the X-Factor? Is it worth watching? I'm a big Simon Cowell fan, even though he would probably scare the crap out of me if I ever met him in person. I didn't watch the premiere this week. How as it?

Have a great weekend!

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing David Powers King

2011-09-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to introduce David Powers King today. Don't you love that name? I do. My hubby's name is David. :D And David Powers King just has celebrity written all over it. Or, best selling author. Anyone else agree? Say it out loud. Awesome. ;) Anyway, I know most of you already know this guy. He is an awesome blogger. Hilarious and smart. Honest and fun. If you haven't started following his blog, get over there right now! You won't be disappointed. :)

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

- Always - I just didn't know until I finished my first book at 15. Ender's Game (the first novel I ever picked up and read on my own without a teacher telling me to) was the nudge out the door I needed. My mediocre grades in English told me otherwise. That held me back for a while. Thanks to an awesome idea, I dug up an unwanted computer (with a B: Floppy), and typed away. I haven't stopped since (but I have upgraded).

Isn't it crazy how much computers have changed since then? It blows me away.

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

- I prefer a writing schedule, but things as they are at the moment (house renovating, commuting, diaper duty), I write whenever I get a chance. Sometimes late at night. If I wake up early, I get up and write before I go to work instead of going back to sleep. Sadly, I work best in a quiet place. It can take me a good half hour just to warm up sometimes (leaving two hours a day, at best). That doesn't include blogging and etc.

I work best in quiet as well. And I hear ya about the diaper duty. Good times.

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

- I take every challenge as something to face and not shrink from. I don't interpret rejections as "you're not good enough," but rather, "you can (and you will) do better." I also make really good pizza, saved a girl from a kayaking accident, and can eat a habanero pepper without freaking out . . . too much. I may be the quiet one in the group, but that's because I'm a good listener and love to observe things as they happen.

Yay! I'm the quiet one in the group as well! Most of the time. Some people would say otherwise... And I'm pretty sure I'll never eat a habanero pepper. I'd rather burn my taste buds off with a cup of hot chocolate. :)

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

- If I had my family and a laptop, I'm set! That's another odd thing about me. I'm not much of a material guy. Things are things. If there's food and water on the island, I wouldn't mind a kayak (if you've ever kayaked in the ocean before, it's a blast!) If not, then food and water is what I can't live without (for obvious reasons).

I've never kayaked anywhere... It looks dangerous, but fun!

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

- I could (and have) read Ender's Game repeatedly.

*hides* I've never read it. I know. I suck.

What book are you dying to read this year?

- I'm really looking forward to The Death Cure. I don't know why, but the Maze Runner books have really jumped out and come to life for me. I'm on the edge of my chair here. I wanna know how it ends!

I loved the Maze Runner! It was totally weird, but I couldn't put it down!

What genre do you write and why?

- I started with sci-fi. Then my wife challenged me to write her a YA fantasy novel. Turns out I'm a heck of a lot better at dragons and magic than spaceships and lasers. For now. I plan on going back to sci-fi one day. There are some great stories to be told there. But for now, fantasy is teaching me how to write better.

Oh, man. Spaceships and lasers freak me out. I can't write sci-fi. I will read it, but I prefer writing and reading fantasy more. :) I love magic too much. And dragons. Gotta love the dragons. :)

Do you have any writing rituals? Music, silence, eating, etc.

- Film scores. I have a collection! Whenever I edit, I have playlists to match whatever mood the chapter or passage is meant to convey. Shuffle is always on. When I have those block moments, I reward myself with a Jelly Belly for each new page. That's the only time I'm allowed to have Jelly Bellies. Cruel, but effective!

I LOVE film scores! Have you heard Inception's? I love that one. It's a new one I just discovered. And I really love Hans Zimmer. The Call of Duty soundtrack is good too. I'm a total nerd, but I really like that one. And no, I've never played the game. You should try Spotify. I listen to my music through that when I write. Best. Thing. Ever. And YAY for Jelly Bellies! :D

Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams, while driving, etc?

- Some come from dreams. Others from driving. Others while scrubbing crusted cheese off a baking sheet at the kitchen sink. I kind of think of myself as a conduit--an antenna. The story and the ideas for it already exist. I just have to be in the right place, doing the right thing, to receive the transmission. It's not always clear and the entire message doesn't come at once. For every project I've started, I've scrapped a dozen.

Mmmm... crusted cheese. ;) I know what you mean about starting one project after scrapping a dozen. I think every writer goes through that. It's hard to scrap those ideas, but I love the feeling of finding the one that's right. You know?

Any advice for other aspiring authors?

- If you have an idea for a story and believe in it, go for it. If you want to write, start NOW! If you want to be published, keep writing and build a web presence (blog/website) NOW! If there are writer's conferences in your area, find them. Attend them. Get to know your genre, market, and meet the authors who write them. And don't stop. If I had known this ten years ago, who knows how much further along I'd be in my journey.

I totally agree. Great advice.

Random Writing Question: If your MC could dive into any other book, which one would they choose and why?

- Just because I made the mistake of reading The Lord of the Rings during my second book, I'd love to see how my MC at that time would react to the likes of Aragorn and Gimli. I'm laughing right now. It's that funny!

Oh, Aragorn. I heart him. And Legolas. I'd probably be about the same size as Gimli though.

Thank you so much, David!! :)

Not My Type: A Single Girl's Guide to Getting it All Wrong by Melanie Jacobson

2011-09-21T06:32:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I love Melanie. I started following her blog years ago. She is hilarious and full of awesome.

I was so excited to read her book The List when it came out. It was so cute and funny. I even got it signed by her when I met her at the Storymakers Writers conference in May. She taught a class on dialogue and she is just as hilarious and sweet in person.

When she asked me to read and review her new book, I jumped at the chance. I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. It was so cute. SO funny. I recommend it to everyone. And it doesn't hurt that it has a stinkin' cute cover!

A little about the book:

Twenty-three-year-old Pepper Spicer is not living the dream. She ended her engagement at the last minute because her fiancé — a musician and soon-to-be reality TV star — wanted her to sacrifice her own career ambitions for his.

Now she's stuck at home sharing a room with her little sister, trying to pay off massive debt for a wedding that didn't happen, and spending Friday nights Facebook-stalking everyone who has a better life. Her therapist father urges her to choose her career dreams and count her blessings by writing weekly thank you notes, but gratitude is a tall order when she botches an important job interview and has to settle for writing an undercover dating web-zine column — the
last thing in the world she wants to do. Still, as Pepper (byline: Indie Girl) chronicles her bizarre and hilarious blind dates, she gives her father's challenge a try and slowly finds herself leaving self-pity behind. Life takes a major upswing as Pepper's column hits the big time and she tastes the exhilarating thrill of success. But there's one tiny problem: the intensely hot man she's falling for is having issues with her job (again). Will Pepper trade her personal ambition for another chance at love?

Doesn't that sound so cute? Well, it was. It was also hilarious. She's named after a spice for one thing. And so are all of her siblings. I didn't even notice until she pointed it out in the book. Pepper Spicer? What were her parents thinking! LOL

One thing I loved about this book were how the chapters started with thank-you notes to various people in Pepper's life. Some are touching and sweet, but some are seriously hilarious. It made me want to write thank you notes to people in my OWN life. Still thinking about it actually...

Another thing I loved, was Pepper's love life. This book is full of awkward blind dates. She has some pretty interesting things happen on them that had me rolling! There is also a sweet romance with a hot, but flawed guy and did I mention the awesome kisses? Oh, and there is a mountain biking scene that had me laughing my head off. Since my hubby took me mountain biking for the first time this year, I knew exactly what she felt like! Ha ha! :)

Anyway, this book is so much fun. I really enjoyed it and I just love Melanie. If you ever get a chance to hear her present at a conference or to go to one of her signings, DO IT! She is so sweet and fun. Thank you Melanie for letting me read and review your book! Can't wait for the next one!

Beginnings

2011-09-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

How many of us have read a book that started right in the middle of the action and ended up thinking ...

Huh?

Beginnings are hard. You have to introduce the character, the problem and sometimes the villain. It's hard to know where to start. We've all heard the cliche ways of course...

*A character waking up in the morning.
*Someone being chased.
*Someone running through a forest.
*A description of the weather.
*A character describing him or herself in the mirror.
*The MC's view on some emotion or concept. Like love or something.
*The MC getting ready for work or school.

And my least favorite:

*An awesome or exciting scene that turns out to be a dream.

So, how do we make an opening scene different?

I think it has a lot to do with the character in general. For me, I like to get to know the character a little before they dive into some chase scene or something. Get to know their personality. Even if it's only a few paragraphs. How they look at the world. A little dialogue can tell a lot about a person. You can do so much with just a few sentences.

So, how do you guys start a book? How do you figure out what works for an opening scene and what doesn't? I sometimes struggle with the first scene. I tend to do better at endings. :) And to make myself clear, there is nothing wrong with starting your book with some of the scenes I mentioned above. I was only saying they are used a lot. It's okay if you have a scene like that in your book. :)

100 YA Books Chain

2011-09-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

Being a writer, I am a HUGE reader. I love to read. I saw this list of YA books on Robin Weeks blog. I haven't read even close to all of these, but I have read some! Let me know if you want to post your own list so I can come check it out!

Bold = I've Read It
Italics = I Own It
Underline = Started, didn't finish

1. Alex Finn – Beastly
2. Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones
3. Ally Carter – Gallagher Girls (1, 2, 3, 4)
4. Ally Condie – Matched
5. Alyson Noel – The Immortals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
6. Anastasia Hopcus – Shadow Hills
7. Angie Sage – Septimus Heap (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
8. Ann Brashares – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1, 2, 3, 4)
9. Anna Godbersen – Luxe (1, 2, 3, 4)
10. Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
11. Aprilynne Pike – Wings (1, 2, 3)
12. Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush, Hush (1, 2)
13. Brandon Mull – Fablehaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
14. Brian Selznick – The Invention of Hugo Cabret
15. Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments (1, 2, 3, 4)
16. Carrie Jones – Need (1, 2, 3)
17. Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (1, 2, 3)
18. Christopher Paolini - Inheritance (1, 2, 3, 4)
19. Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles (1, 2, 3)
20. Colleen Houck – Tigers Saga (1, 2)
21. Cornelia Funke – Inkheart (1, 2, 3)
22. Ellen Hopkins – Impulse
23. Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
24. Faraaz Kazi – Truly, Madly, Deeply
25. Frank Beddor – The Looking Glass Wars (1, 2, 3)
26. Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere
27. Gail Carson Levine – Fairest
28. Holly Black – Tithe (1, 2, 3)
29. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
30. James Dashner – The Maze Runner (1, 2)
31. James Patterson – Maximum Ride (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
32. Jay Asher – Thirteen Reasons Why
33. Jeanne DuPrau – Books of Ember (1, 2, 3, 4)
34. Jeff Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
35. John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
36. John Green – An Abundance of Katherines
37. John Green – Looking for Alaska
38. John Green – Paper Towns
39. Jonathan Stroud – Bartimaeus (1, 2, 3, 4)
40. Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – Caster Chronicles (1, 2)
41. Kelley Armstrong – Darkest Powers (1, 2, 3)
42. Kristin Cashore – The Seven Kingdoms (1, 2)
43. Lauren Kate – Fallen (1, 2, 3)
44. Lemony Snicket - Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
45. Libba Bray – Gemma Doyle (1, 2, 3)
46. Lisa McMann – Dream Catcher (1, 2, 3)
47. Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
48. M.T. Anderson – Feed
49. Maggie Stiefvater – The Wolves of Mercy Falls (1, 2, 3)
50. Margaret Peterson Haddix – Shadow Children (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
51. Maria V. Snyder – Study (1, 2, 3)
52. Markus Zusak - The Book Thief
53. Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger
54. Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
55. Mary Ting – Crossroads
56. Maureen Johnson – Little Blue Envelope (1, 2)
57. Meg Cabot – All-American Girl (1, 2)
58. Meg Cabot – The Mediator (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
59. Meg Cabot – The Princess Diaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
60. Meg Rosoff – How I live now
61. Megan McCafferty – Jessica Darling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
62. Megan Whalen Turner – The Queen’s Thief (1, 2, 3, 4)
63. Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road
64. Melissa de la Cruz – Blue Bloods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
65. Melissa Marr – Wicked Lovely (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
66. Michael Grant – Gone (1, 2, 3, 4)
67. Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion
68. Neal Shusterman – Unwind
69. Neil Gaiman – Coraline
70. Neil Gaiman – Stardust
71. Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book
72. P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast – House of Night (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 )
73. Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials (1, 2, 3)
74. Rachel Caine – The Morganville Vampires (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
75. Rachel Cohn & David Levithan – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
76. Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
77. Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
78. Rom LcO’Feer – Somewhere carnal over 40 winks
79. S.L. Naeole – Grace (1, 2, 3, 4)
80. Sabrina Bryan & Julia DeVillers – Princess of Gossip
81. Sarah Dessen – Along for the Ride
82. Sarah Dessen – Lock and Key
83. Sarah Dessen – The Truth about Forever
84. Sara Shepard – Pretty Little Liars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
85. Scott Westerfeld - Leviathan (1, 2)
86. Scott Westerfeld - Uglies (1, 2, 3,4)
87. Shannon Hale – Books of a Thousand Days
88. Shannon Hale – Princess Academy
89. Shannon Hale – The Books of Bayern (1, 2, 3, 4)
90. Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
91. Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry (1, 2, 3)
92. Stephanie Meyer – The Host
93. Stephanie Meyer – Twilight Saga (1, 2, 3, 4)
94. Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees
95. Susan Beth Pfeffer – Last Survivors (1, 2, 3)
96. Suzanne Collins – Hunger Games (1, 2, 3)
97. Suzanne Collins – Underland Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
98. Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching (1, 2, 3, 4)
99. Tonya Hurley – Ghost Girl (1, 2, 3)
100. Wendelin Van Draanen – Flipped

Which books have you read? Which do you think shouldn't or should be on this list? Let me know if you post your own list. I'd love to check it out. :)

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-09-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

1. Pink eye sucks. Like totally sucks. My 18 month old woke up this morning with it. Awesome, right? At least it's just in one eye though.

2. My sister and I were discussing our childhood the other day. We got on the subject of the library and I told her I remembered checking out The Dinosaur Dictionary every time we went to the library. Yes, I'm a girl. Yes, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. I remember that book was SO huge! And I got it every time. My mom would always ask, "Chan, why don't you get another book? Like a princess book or something like your sister?" And I'd always tell her no. I wanted to read about Triceratops. My favorite dinosaur.

Or T-Rex. Because those were just plain awesome!

(I still know a ton of dinosaur names and random facts. Yes, I'm a nerd. And proud of it!)

3. I'm at 42,000 words on my WIP INBETWEEN! WOOT! SO excited to get to edits on this one. I think it will end up being around 55-60,000 words. I'm ROCKIN' this first draft! :D

4. I tried that cinnamon roll cake I talked about last Friday.

Uh ... totally awesome. Here is the recipe if you're interested. It's the best the first day you make it. :) Rolo cookies are on the menu this weekend.

5. My weekend is going to consist of bottling pears, peaches, stew tomatoes and salsa. I'm already dreading it, but it will be worth it!! :D

Anything fun planned this weekend? Anything random you want to share?

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing Peggy Eddleman

2011-09-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to introduce Peggy today. She is so awesome and has such a wonderful, fun blog. Seriously. It's SO cute. You should go follow it. Like, right now. :) Click here to check it out.

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Knowing I wanted to be a writer is completely different from thinking it would be fun to write. I love Joss Whedon. I think he is a GENIUS. After a couple of friends discovered the brilliance of the show Firefly, I enticed them with another Joss Whedon series– Buffy the Vampire Slayer. After they watched all 200+ episodes of Buffy and also Angel, I figured it would be fun to write them into a story set in that world and give it to them as a gift. 40,000 words later, I found out that fun didn’t even begin to cover it! I was still sitting in the “It’d be fun to write” mind set, though.

I read MG books to my kids every night, and have for a whole lot of years. But when I read them the story I wrote, it was beyond anything I had ever experienced before. I knew at that moment I wanted to spend the rest of my life writing books, and that I was willing to learn and grow and work hard and persevere and do what it took to be published.

Is it bad to admit that I've never seen an episode of Buffy? *hides* And I think it's awesome that you can write middle grade. I cannot do it. I really want to once day though.

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

During this summer, I set 7:00-10:00 am as my writing time, and treated it as sacred. Actually, I treated it the same as I treat sleep at 3:00 am. Can I wake up and do something at 3am if it’s really important? Of course! But usually sleep is the most important thing at that time. Writing was the most important thing from 7-10. Now that school has started and I’m back at work, writing time takes a lot more creativity to find.

I wish I had three straight hours to just write! That would be awesome. Someday...

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

Random facts... Because of torn ligaments, my limbs aren't fully attached. All four of them. Sorta like they are tied on with a rope and the rope is fraying to varying degrees, depending on the limb. If I lived in medieval times and the king ordered me quartered, it wouldn't take four of his best horses. He could probably use bunnies or something.

LOL! Bunnies. :)

Hidden talents... I can do an impressively long hand stand. Oh, wait. That was the cause of two of my limbs not currently being fully attached. I guess we better leave it at I USED to be able to do an impressively long hand stand.

I wish I could have timed you! Do you know you're record time?

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

Can I say Internet connection, or is that totally cheating? I mean, if I’ve got the laptop with me...

Uh ... maybe it can be an island that has wi-fi. ;)

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

That's hard! There are way too many books in the world to keep reading the same ones. :) I’ve read Harry Potter and the Eragon series myself, and have loved reading them again to my kids. I also loved reading the Deltora Quest series and the Gregor the Overlander series to my kids multiple times. As far as just myself? I’m going to go with Shannon Hale’s books of Bayern (Goose Girl & companions), because the language in them is SO BEAUTIFUL.

I LOVE Shannon Hale's books! Love. And Harry Potter. And Eragon.:)

What book are you dying to read this year?

Divergent and Possession. Two books I still can’t even believe I haven’t read yet.

Ditto! I have both of them on my shelves and haven't gotten to them yet!

What genre do you write and why?

I write middle grade, mostly adventure tinged with science fiction to make it feel a bit like fantasy. My latest is post-apocalyptic.

Why? Three reasons, really.
1. Because 3rd - 7th graders rock the world.
2. Because I blush writing kissing scenes, and MG rarely has them.
3. Because not every kid is willing to pick up a fantasy book, yet there’s so much room to play with fantasy! But really, the technology we have now seemed like magic 100 years ago. I found that if you give something a little bit of science fiction, it opens up a LOT of room to play.

Fantasy rocks. Seriously. And you're totally missing out on writing kissing scenes. ;) That's one reason I can't write middle grade. I have to have my romance!! :D

Do you have any writing rituals? Music, silence, eating, etc.

Silence usually, eating occasionally, headphones with Pandora when the room around me is way too chatty. When I am editing, I work on my desktop because I love the big screen and the bigger keyboard. When I’m drafting, I use my mini laptop and go somewhere. The park, a place that has a similar feel to the book, a café, or even my kitchen table. I write best when I’m not at my desk.

I wish I could go somewhere else to write sometimes. Alas, I'm usually home in front of my desk top. Or I have my mini laptop on my lap while the hubby is watching a movie next to me.

Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams, while driving, etc?

I have a reinforced steel wall in my brain, behind which all ideas, plot, scenes, and answers lie. I beat and beat and beat on that wall until I punch a hole. I pull out everything I can reach, then start punching a new hole. It’s probably not the easiest way.

As far as the first thing that sparks an idea for a book? For my first book, it came from a location in my childhood. The book I’m querying came from flying in an airplane over clouds. The one I’m drafting came from the last four seconds of a dream in the wee hours of the night before a child burst into my room saying they were sick. Apparently, sometimes four seconds is all you need. :)

Oh, I love those nights when a child comes in my room after they've thrown up in their bed. Best. Nights. Ever.

Any advice for other aspiring authors?

Oh, you mean besides sit and stare at this blog because it’s the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen?

Convince yourself that you are good at this! That you have what it takes to persevere. That you have the ability to beat odds that most people can’t beat. You’ll need to fall back on that A LOT.

Ha ha! You are so cute! :) And great advice. You really do have to have a good attitude about everything or rejection will eat you alive.

Random Writing Question: If you could put your current main character in a fantasy world from a different book, what would you choose and why?

That’s a hard question! My MC, Hope, is bold, capable, physical, daring, impulsive and smart. I’m going to have to go with Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. If you haven’t read it and like fantasy even a smidgeon, read it! It’s mind blowing. The magic system is based on metals, and they use it in ways that if it were ever made into a movie, it’d be the most visually stunning ever. I’d love to put Hope in there and see what new kinds of things she could do with their magic, and what kinds of trouble she’d get herself in. It’d be epic.

Another person recommending Mistborn. Now I HAVE to read it! It sounds fantastic. :) Thank you so much for being here today, Peggy! You are SO much fun!

*If any of you want to be interviewed for my Aspiring Author Thursdays, shoot me an e-mail and let me know. :) I'd love to have you.*

Celebrate!

2011-09-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

I've passed 400 followers! Holy freak! I never thought I'd have so many writer friends! I heart you guys SO much!! :D

I just wanted to say thank you. You guys are the reason I blog. You always have the sweetest comments and are SO supportive. I heart you. I really do. I've made some amazing AMAZING writers through my little old blog this year. I feel so lucky to have so many friends that are going through the same things I am in my writing journey. You guys are all so awesome and I'm excited to see what the next year brings for all of us! :)

I wish I could have a huge giveaway or something, but I have no idea what I'd do. I'm a little short on funds for a book or something right now, but I'll definitely have more giveaways like that in the future. I'll think about what I want to do. I have to do something. It's a celebration for crying out loud! Any suggestions?

Anyway, today I wanted to talk a little about goals. I don't normally post on Wednesdays, but I'm breaking my own rules and doing it anyway. :P I've made a few goals this week. And I've decided I'm going to lay my goals out there for you guys to see so I'll actually do them! lol

So, my first one: Finish my first draft of INBETWEEN. I'm at 39,000 words right now and want to be finished by the end of September. That gives me a few weeks. I think I can do it. I want to send it to betas in October, revise and edit when I get their comments back and have it all polished and ready to send to my agent in November. And then I'll most likely have more revisions. Which is fine. That's what agents do! ;) Think I can do it? I hope I can. :P

Also, I have two Dystopians I'm dying to write. I have to decide between them. I may have to ask you guys for your opinions. They are both so different, yet I'm having a hard time figuring out which one I want to work on next. I have one of them outlined ... or as much of an outline that I'm able to do since I'm a total pantser. The other I have outlined in my head. If that makes sense. Anyway. I definitely want to work on one of those when I'm done with my first draft of INBETWEEN. I always have to be writing something if I'm editing something else. Once I decide, which hopefully will be soon, I want to at least start on it by November and be finished with the first draft by January.

I'm a pretty fast drafter, so I'm hoping I'll be able to do it!

So, what are your goals? Long term? Short term? Hit me with them!

An interview with Natalie Whipple!

2011-09-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

No, it's not Aspiring Author Thursday. BUT, I thought this interview would pull me out of the slump I was in yesterday. :)
I've been following Natalie's blog for a long time. I just love her sense of humor and how honest she is about her publishing journey and publishing in general. She has had an amazing writing journey so far. One full of blood, sweat and tears. She is SO nice and hopefully I'll get to meet her one of these days! Anyway, I thought it would be great to have her on my blog before she starts doing stuff for her book TRANSPARENT that's coming out Summer 2013! Woot! I can't wait to read it!! :D Anyway, here is her blog, Between Fact and Fiction. She always has great advice and if you're not following her, go follow her right now! You won't be disappointed. :)

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Oh, forever ago. I have always wanted to be a writer, since I was little. But I didn’t think I could actually be one up until about five or six years ago. It was always a dream—not something I could do seriously.

Then one day I was working out “life goals.” I’d just finished college. I had a newborn. I was married, and it seemed like I had accomplished so many of my long term goals. Well, it was time to get some new ones. Traveling went on there, as well as keeping up with some of my hobbies and learning languages and such.

And, to my surprise, the number one thing I still wanted to do with my life was write stories. I still didn’t know if I could do it, but I decided to give it a shot. I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t at least try.

Isn't it funny how many of us start writing after we have our kids? I love it.

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

I do have a schedule, but it’s constantly changing, if that makes any sense. It largely revolves around where my kids are in their lives. Early on, I’d write during nap time always. When that went, I’d save a movie for afternoon and try to slip in a few words. When they started school, I’d work then. During the summer we went back to movies/video games. Now we’re back to working during school.

I have to work during the day though. I am useless after like six in the evening, when it comes to generating creative material. I really wish I could work at nights, but it’s always a struggle.

I wish I could stay up later than I do, but I've been getting up early lately. It's been hard, but writing first thing in the morning has done wonders for my books. :)

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

Uhh…what do you want to know? I guess I can go for my old fall back—I’m left handed. Pretty proud of that. I’m a pretty hardcore introvert, and I’ve been told (by friends, mind you) that I don’t make a very good first impression. I’m shy! Really. And I’ve discovered that sometimes that is interpreted as “I am stuck up and don’t want to talk to you.” When really I’m standing in the corner thinking, “What do I say to people? Why would they ever want to talk to someone like me? I’m so lame!” Go figure.

As for hidden talents and random facts…I can tie a cherry stub with my tongue? Um, that’s silly. I quilt, or use to before I started writing. I’m part Polynesian—my grandmother was from New Zealand, and she was part Maori. I played the flute in junior high. I’ve had more crushes on cartoon characters than actual people (Anime fan). And my favorite Final Fantasy is VIII.

Oh my heck! I'm the same way! I'm super shy and some people have told me it makes me look stuck up. I swear I'm not! I just don't know what to say to people. I'm scared they'll think I'm a huge dork or something. Yes, I'm lame as well. :) We can be lame together! Oh, and I also played the flute in junior high. I'd say lets get together and play a duet, but I can't even remember how to make any sound out of it anymore. :P

You write young adult. What is your favorite genre within young adult to write?

Man, I like them all, honestly. I haven’t written historical yet, but I wouldn’t put it past me. I’ve done just about everything else—contemp, sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, steampunk, etc. I enjoy jumping around. It keeps things interesting.

Yay for interesting! I do the same. I usually go for fantasy though. And I can't write sci-fi...

Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams? While driving?

A little of everything. They come while doing chores or in conversations with friends. They sneak up on me while driving or while I’m working on another book. I get quite a lot of inspiration as I watch anime and draw, as well.

I so wish I could draw. Your drawings are awesome. :)

Tell us a little bit about your path to publication. Your story is so inspiring.

Whew, that’s a long story! I will try to make this short. I started writing seriously around 2005/2006. I resurrected one of my high school ideas and rewrote it 100% from scratch. It…was awful. After 5 equally awful queries, I started writing novel #2, finished about six months later, did far too little editing, and began querying. During that came #3 and #4, and after about 25 queries on #2 I jumped to #3 in querying.

I was sure #3 would be The Book. THE BOOK. It wasn’t. But I kept at it, racking up about 100 queries on that one while I wrote book #5, #6, and #7.

Should I mention books 2-7 all got written in one year? It sounds awesome, but really all I had were a bunch of first drafts on my hands, since I didn’t really know how to edit. So I wasn’t getting past a partial request, and there was a mound of frustration to be had.

Then I wrote a paragraph for Nathan Bransford’s first paragraph contest (in 2008). It was about ninjas. It happened to win. I wrote the draft in six weeks, was stupid enough to send in the partial for my prize crit, and nine months of editing later Nathan took me on, bless his heart (in 2009).

Submission to editors…did no go well. The ninjas were either too “boy” or too young or too weird or just not what editors were looking for at the time. A year and four or so months later, I still didn’t have a publisher and my wonderful agent had to leave the biz. Luckily, he set me up with the wonderful Anna, and after talks we decided to go out with something new. I finished up the edits on TRANSPARENT, and after about 6 rough weeks on submission we had an offer (in 2011). And my book first book will finally be out in 2013!

I think it’s more of an average story than people think, in that I had many roadblocks and detours and setbacks. Publishing is just hard, wherever you’re at. Somehow it’s still worth it, and I still have fun.

…and that wasn’t very short. Sorry.

It's alright. I love your story. Like I said. It's so inspiring. Thank you for sharing. :)

Can you tell us a little about your writing/editing process? I love hearing how others do things. Everyone is so different! :)

Well, I usually get a premise/opening when I get ideas. The rest of my first drafting consists of trying to figure out what happens AFTER the beginning. It’s mostly fun. I write out rough notes and outlines, sketch characters, and research all manner of things. I like drafting far more than editing, for sure. I run into issues and blocks, but not knowing everything is what keeps me excited.

Editing…is another story. It’s not technically hard for me, but it does a number on my emotions. I get really down on myself and my work in edits, which causes me to be less motivated. I really have to keep to a schedule and push myself throughout the process.

Oh, man. Editing is so worth it but it's such a downer sometimes. I know exactly how you feel.

How do you handle those moments when you doubt your writing? I know everyone has those feelings at times.

Not well, honestly. I mean, I get through them, but there’s crying and eating of fatty things. There is usually an anime binge in there, too. I can wallow with the best of them. But what I always try to do it set a deadline for my moping. I don’t let myself stay that way. I say, “Okay, today you can mope, but tomorrow you are working again.” Getting back to work is usually what helps most.

Great advice. Mope today and back to work tomorrow. :)

What is one thing you wish you knew before you started your journey to publication?

Just how long it would actually take. I’m not patient at all, and I had these timelines in my head. Well, it took usually double that time if not more. I wish I really had a grasp on taking it slow. I also wish I would have known it would take seven years to see my book in print, so at year three I wouldn’t have been like, “WHY is it taking so long?”

Amen to that. The publishing world is SO slow. But we just keep hanging on. And waiting. And waiting some more. :) Thank you SO much for being here today, Natalie! You are so awesome!:D

A Little Thing Called Doubt

2011-09-12T08:27:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel like I want to give up. Which sounds stupid because I tell people not to all the time. Especially on my blog. I can't help feeling that way sometimes though. It's only natural to have that sneaky feeling called doubt creep in. Usually when you're already feeling down. He finds his way in, making you doubt your writing. Making you doubt everything you've worked for and makes you second guess if you really should be writing anything at all.

It sucks.

I hate those days. The days that I read over my WIP and realize I suck. That I won't get published in a million years. I always think to myself, "Why? Why am I doing this? There are so many people out there that are better than me."
And the truth is, there are. There are so many great writers in this business. How could I ever compare to them?

I had a doozy of a week last week. Nothing specific happened to make me doubt myself, but I did just the same. I was stuck at home, sick with a stupid cough, laryngitis and pink eye in both eyes. In other words, I was feeling a little down. And then the doubt crept in. Crushing, horrible doubt that made me want to throw in the towel and stop writing all together. I don't think I've ever been that bad. But I was. As I think about last week though, I've realized what my problem is.

I cannot compare myself to other writers.

I can't compare myself to them because I'm NOT them. I'm not someone else. I don't write like anyone else. I don't have the same journey as someone else. We are all unique. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Their own struggles of self doubt. I'm sure even published authors go through this. I'm positive that they do. This business is tough. Everyone's path to publication is tough. Even if it doesn't seem like it. There are so many things that go on behind the scenes, that we have no idea what everyone else has gone through to get their book on the shelves. Everyone goes through tough things. Whether it's finding the right agent, being on submission for years and not selling a book, going through rounds of brutal edits that make you want to tear out your hair. Shelving a WIP you've worked your tail off on. It's hard.

Everyone has their own journey. And I'm starting to realize that if I'm in this for the long haul, I have to accept my own.

So, no more doubting. I have to believe in myself. I have to write more books. I have to hang on to you dear writing friends of mine and know that we have to help each other through the doubt. Through the pain of seeing others succeed and thinking we never will. We will succeed someday. We can do this. No matter where you are in your journey. We can do this.

How do you handle the doubt and discouragement when it comes to your own writing?

My Thoughts This Week

2011-09-09T07:10:00.000-07:00

1. I'm starting to lose my voice. Seriously. I sound like a dying animal of some sort every time I open my mouth. It's not pretty. My kids are scared. I also can't hear out of one ear. I really need to get over this stupid cold. Or sinus infection. Or cough. Or all three. :P

2. My hubby and I are addicted to Criminal Minds. It's on every night. 2 episodes. Why do I watch it when it gives me nightmares? Just kidding. I really don't get nightmares, but it does freak me out sometimes and makes it hard to fall asleep. I love it though.

3. I'm watching the Newsies this weekend. I heart that show. I had a crush on Jack (Christian Bale), when I was younger. And Spot Conlon. I thought he was hot because he was tough and everyone was scared of him. See? I liked the "bad boy" even in my childhood! lol My sister has never seen it and I told her it's unacceptable. I know every word to every song. I may or may not know all the actors lines as well ...

4. Writer friends are the best. They always make you feel better about yourself when you feel like crap about your writing. I love them. And I love getting on my blog and finding comments from all of you. It makes me so happy.

5. I have like a million dessert recipes on Pinterest that I'm trying to decide what to make this weekend. You know, to just take a bite of and then give it away to someone else... I'm such a liar. I'll eat the whole thing. Anyway, help me pick!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookie. Uh ... yes please!

Cinnamon Roll Cake. I have no words...

Rolo Cookies. Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard...

I'd say I have a pretty big dilemma deciding which one of these delectable treats to make! They all look SO good!

Have a great weekend! Oh, and I'm so sorry I haven't been around to blogs much this week or answered a lot of comments. I promise I'm reading them and I'll get back on my feet next week after I kick the crap out of my stupid cold this weekend! :)

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing Jenny S. Morris

2011-09-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to have Jenny here with me today. She has such a fun blog and I love reading her posts. Click here to check it out! :)

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I didn’t write growing up, I played pretend. Which meant I didn’t realize I liked writing until I was an adult. I was going through a period in my life when I didn’t read that much (babies will do that to you) and a friend suggested I read the Twilight series. She said her daughters loved them, so I took her up on it. A week and half later I had the whole series read. When I was done I kept asking myself- why do I like these books? Then, it came to me-THE CHARACTERS! And through that I realized I wanted to create people, too. So, I sat down and created the characters in my first novel. That was 3 years ago.

Oh, that dang Twilight. Just kidding. I love those books. :)

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

Don’t I wish I had a writing schedule? I usually write on my lunch breaks at work, after the kids go to bed, and sometimes I shut myself in my room with a notebook and pen on the weekends.

I love writing with a notebook and pen. It's kind of calming I think. I've gotten some of my best ideas and written some of my best scenes that way.

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

Hmm…my mom thought I was a boy until she had a dream and they lifted up my shirt and I was definitely not a boy. She was disappointed because she almost had the Brady bunch. I give concerts in my car every morning and afternoon. (I’m actually not a bad singer; I was in choir during high school and college.) I would die if I did not have spell check, and I’m secretly a southern girl that lives in a Pacific North westerner’s body.

LOL I'd like to hear one of those concerts! Maybe we could do a duet! ;)

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

Sunscreen. I am white as a ghost and I would burn really bad. (I know boring, but who wants to be uncomfortable on an island?

Ditto.

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

This one is tough for me. I live for figuring out the end. I turn pages and sometimes find myself skipping parts to get there faster. (I know, I know the writer put their blood, sweat and tears into every word.) So, I don’t usually re-read books that often. But, I would have to say Chronicles of Narnia and To Kill a Mockingbird.

I love To Kill a Mockingbird. That's actually one classic that I like! :)

What book are you dying to read this year?

I assumed you meant books...The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder, Prized by Caragh M. O’Brien, The Next Door Boys by Jolene B. Perry, (if you haven’t seen her shiny new cover, you should check her website out. It’s beautiful.) and Crossed by Ally Condie.

I'm SO excited for Prized! And Crossed! And The Next Door Boys! Holla Jolene! :D

What genre do you write and why?

I write YA Urban(?) Fantasy, but I also have an idea for an Adult Contemporary and when my boys get a little older I plan on writing a full MG Fantasy with their input. I started with YA because that’s the age of the first characters that popped in my head and I don’t read adult books that much. I write fantasy because even when I’m trying to write something normal, imaginary creatures pop up in the story, I just can’t seem to help it. Oh and I love the “what if” of fantasy.

That's exactly why I write fantasy as well. I love the "what if" factor. And I LOVE imaginary creatures!

Do you have any writing rituals? Music, silence, eating, etc.

I don’t listen to music while I’m writing, unless I’m trying to feel the character’s mood. I usually have a cup of coffee somewhere nearby, and I almost always start with pen and paper. It’s my way of outlining a scene. Paper allows me to be messy and just get down the framework. Then, I type it up on the computer and add the details and emotions.

I love that. "Paper allows me to be messy and just get down the framework." So true.

Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams, while driving, etc?

The ideas tend to just pop into my head at random times and they are pictures or conversations. I try to think about what I’m working on before I go to bed, then my brain puzzles over it while I’m sleeping and I wake up with a clearer picture in the morning.

That's awesome. I wish my brain could work things out while I slept.

Any advice for other aspiring authors?

Surround yourself with great people. Writers, friends, and family will all help you through the hard times and be able to rejoice with you when the good times happen. I have been blown away by the writing community and how helpful everyone is. It’s like we’re all on a team. I don’t know many professional communities like that. Get a Critique Partner if you don’t have one, and try to listen to what they have to say. Try not to compare yourself. (I’m still working on this one.)

It's so hard not to compare ourselves to others. I'm working on that one as well. :)

Random Writing Question: What character out of any book would you love to meet. And why? :)

OK, I am going to cheat, I mean REALLY cheat. I’m going to throw a dinner party and invite a few friends. Aslan sits at the head of the table, then surrounding him are Lucy Pevensie, Anne of Green Gables, and Nancy Drew. Here’s why-Aslan is a character I fell in love with-his warmth and love reach through the pages (and screen) and envelope me every time. Lucy because I love her almost as much as Aslan, and I think Queen Lucy would love to teach me how to fight with a sword. Anne because I think her chatter would liven up the party, and Nancy Drew because she’s been my friend since childhood and I don’t think this party would be complete without her, and she might invite the Hardy Boys.

That would be one rockin' party! :) Thank you so much, Jenny!

Flash Fiction Challenge

2011-09-06T08:24:00.000-07:00

The first challenge in the Platform Building Campaign is to write a short story/flash fiction under 200 words. I'm no good at writing short things. All of my short stories turn into like 60-70,000 words.So this was definitely a challenge for me. And to top it all off, I'm doped up on cold and flu medication, so that makes it so much better! LOL
If it doesn't make sense, oh well. I tried. And it sounded good as I wrote it, but it may be the medication talking. ;)

So, here are the rules.

Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “The door swung open” These four words will be included in the word count.

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), use the same beginning words and end with the words: "the door swung shut." (also included in the word count)
For those who want an even greater challenge, make your story 200 words EXACTLY!

***

The door swung open.

I glanced up as two men dressed in gray suits stepped inside. They studied my family as we ate dinner.

I didn't miss the silver handcuffs that hung from the first man's belt. My heart sped up as I hid my shaking hands under the table.

They knew.

"May I help you?" My father wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood, holding out a hand to greet them.

Both men stared at his hand until he dropped it.

The first man produced a piece of red paper from his pocket. "Raina Saline?"

My mother's gasp echoed through the room. I knew she was staring at me, but I couldn't look at her. I couldn't handle the shame I knew I would find in her eyes.

I stood, my hands clenched at my sides. "Yes?"

"You are under arrest. You will be transported to the detention center immediately. There will be no trial."

"Why? What has she done?" My father asked.

"Dad ... " I started.

The man who had spoken looked at me, his expression hard. "You have five minutes to say goodbye to your family." They turned to leave and the door swung shut.

Happy Labor Day!

2011-09-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well, hopefully it's happy! :) This is the first year ever that my hubby has Labor Day off work! Woot! So, I'm off to the zoo with my cute family! I'll catch you all tomorrow! :D

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-09-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

HELLO to all my new followers! :D It's so nice to have you here and to meet you!

Okay. Let's let the random Friday begin.:)

1. I read and finished a book by an awesome writer. It's not out yet, I was just beta reading, BUT I can't wait for it to get published. It was excellent. I loved it. (Uh ... by the way, Renee, write me something else. Like right now. ;)

2. I'm getting used to dropping my son off at school every day. My 4 year old cried a few times this week because he was gone all day. She kept saying, "I don't know what to do." Sad day. But she's doing better. As long as there are princesses and pet shops, she's good.

3. I have tomatoes taking over my garden. I don't even like tomatoes, but I do use them to make salsa. Mmmm... salsa. I skip the chunky stuff and go straight for the sauce. My hubby loves the chunky stuff. We compliment each other so well. ;)

4. I'm at 32000 words on my WIP. Slow progress this week, but that's okay. Hopefully I'll do better next week!

5. I'm addicted to Pinterest. Yes. Yes, I am. So many great ideas for decorating, gifts, etc.

Examples...

I would love a secret door that led to my writing cave. No one would ever find me! Bwah ha ha ha!

Uh ... I'm in love with this. I want to marry it.

Do you use pinterest? Anything exciting happen this week? Have a great weekend!! :D

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing Stacy Henrie

2011-09-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today I'm happy to have Stacy with me! She has an awesome blog and leaves the nicest comments ever. To check out her blog and give her a follow, click here. ;)

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I started writing poetry and the beginnings of stories as a kid. I even made the goal at age 11 or 12 to publish a novel one day. But I don’t think it was until I wrote my first book that I realized I could do this – I could be a writer.

That is awesome that you wrote poetry, even as a child. I can't write it at all! :)

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

When my two oldest were younger and napping, I’d write during nap time. One summer, in order to finish a book, I got up an hour earlier and wrote then. Now I tend to write more sporadically. With school in session again, I’m looking forward to getting more scheduled writing time during my daughter’s nap.

Oh, how I love nap time!

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

I love digital scrapbooking, interior decorating, and reading (obviously). I don’t really consider something a true dessert unless it contains chocolate. I did ballroom dancing and acting in high school and college. My husband and I actually met in a high school drama class. We did the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet at a Shakespeare Competition. But with no kiss, mind you. He was willing, but I was shy.

I think that is the cutest "how I met my hubby" story I've ever heard! *sigh*

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

It would be a three-way-tie between a good book, a camera, and chocolate!

LOL! :D

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

I would have to say Robin McKinley’s Beauty.

That's a great one!

What book are you dying to read this year?

I want to read Ally Condie’s Crossed, and of course, being that I write inspirational historicals, there are a bunch on the list to read.

I'm so excited for Crossed as well. I loved Matched. :)

What genre do you write and why?

I write inspirational historical romances (say that five times fast) because that’s what I’ve always loved to read. History fascinates me and I’m a sucker for a happy ending and a good, clean love story.

I love history as well. Though, I don't think I could research that much. And I LOVE happy endings. Pretty sure everyone knows that by now. ;)

Do you have any writing rituals? Music, silence, eating, etc.

I’m kind of boring when I write – no music, no snacks. I’ve tried the music thing in the past and it’s worked, but I think it depends on the project. Right now, it’s silence.

I agree. It depends on the project for me as well.

Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams, while driving, etc?

I’ve had ideas come from dreams or on road trips. Mostly they come by asking questions like “What if this happened . . .” or “What type of person would do this. . .”

I'd love to go on a road trip. That would be the perfect time to daydream. Unless I was driving of course ... That would be an accident waiting to happen!

Any advice for other aspiring authors?

Avoid comparisons. There will always be someone who writes faster, who has more books, got his/her agent quicker, got a better contract, etc. Everyone has their own journey to publication, their own way of approaching writing, and that’s okay. Be true to who you are and don’t worry so much about how everybody else does things.

I totally agree. I still have a hard time with comparisons. It's hard not to, but you'll drive yourself crazy if it's all you think about.

Random Writing Question: If you could travel back in time, what time period would you go to and why? :)

Right now I’d say Iowa during WWI – random, I know. But that’s where my WIP takes place and I’d love to get some firsthand research in.

Cool! That era is fascinating! Your book sounds awesome! Thank you so much, Stacy! :)

Witch Song Book Review

2011-08-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

I was so lucky to receive a copy of this book to read and review. I've been in kind of a reading slump lately. I've read a few books that I wasn't a huge fan of and it made it hard to pick up another one. I didn't want to be disappointed again. And after reading the first chapter of this book, I wasn't.

Blurb: The world is changing. Once, Witch Song controlled everything from the winds to the shifting of the seasons--but not anymore. All the Witches are gone, taken captive by a traitor. All but Brusenna. As the echo of their songs fade, the traitor grows stronger. Now she is coming for Brusenna. Her guardian has sworn to protect her, but even he can't stop the Dark Witch. Somehow, Brusenna has to succeed where every other Witch has failed. Find the traitor. Fight her. Defeat her. Because if Brusenna doesn't, there won't be anything left to save.

I loved this book. Not just because the author is awesome and I've been bloggy friends with her for a while, but because it was so different. It was fresh, unique. Something I'd never read before. The world Amber created was so interesting and real. Her writing and descriptions were beautiful.

The characters were rich and well rounded. They all had strengths and flaws. I loved the main character Senna. She was so timid about her power and her witch abilities, and I loved seeing her grow throughout the book. Her relationship with Joshen was sweet and not just based on looks alone. The villains were scary and I really liked how she put their point of view in the novel as well. The pacing was great. I didn't get bored. I wanted to find out what happened next and read it pretty quick. Which is saying a lot, since I don't have as much time as I would like to read anymore.

Anyway. It was a great story. Real characters with a lot of action and some romance. You all know I'm a sucker for a good romance. ;) The magic system was very unique as well. So cool. Anyway, read it. You won't be disappointed. Amber wrote a fantastic debut that is definitely worth reading. And honestly, that cover is to DIE for! Gorgeous!!

My thoughts on editing and critique partners

2011-08-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

When I started writing my first book, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know how to format anything, how to indent every time my characters talked, how to do a page break at a chapter end. I wasn't even sure how to write a compelling, real character. And don't even get me started on setting. I can't describe things creatively to save my life!

So basically, I was pretty much clueless.

We won't talk about my second book, but my third, Not Your Average Fairy Tale, I finally figured something out. There were plot holes, grammar mistakes, too many commas and overused words. But I couldn't see them, since I'd written the darn thing. I knew I had to get a critique partner to look over my stuff. So, I started looking and I found Katie. Oh, Katie, how I love you. She read through my first couple chapters and let me know what I needed to work on. Even though I was so scared to even have her read it, I loved the feedback and advice she gave me. It made my book so much stronger. And I actually knew what to look for and what to watch out for. Since then I've gained quite a few crit partners and some readers. I love them all. Their advice is invaluable. Seriously. If you don't have a crit partner, get one! It changed my writing life.

I've finished four books now. Three and a half of them I edited while I wrote. Which I will never do again. It took me FOREVER. Going through every sentence while I wrote, making sure they sounded good enough to move on to the next chapter or page. My brain finally go to the point where I stressed myself out every time I sat down at the computer. I couldn't edit and write at the same time. (If you remember how many issues I had with my book Bound ... Half of it had to do with editing as I was writing and not knowing where to go with the story.) All the stress drained my creativity. Until I realized I had a writing brain and an editing brain and they couldn't work at the same time. :)

Anyway, my WIP has been totally different. I'm getting the whole story out. Not editing one bit. It has been so much better for me. I'm learning to love writing again. To love getting the words out there and not worrying about if they make sense or not right now. First drafts always need work. ALWAYS.

My editing process has also changed. With this book I'll have 2 or 3 betas read through my rough draft. Pick out plot holes, confusing things, whatever. Then I'll go back and fix things. Line edit. Look for things like overused words and get rid of those nasty phrases I tend to use over and over and over. (My characters like to sigh a lot. And do a fair amount of chuckling. And search each other's faces. FYI.) Then I'll send it to my agent, get his thoughts. Then revise and send it out to my readers and fix all the little things. Sound fun? Yes. Yes it does. I'm so excited for this book I can hardly stand it! :)

But I'm not worrying about all the little things right now. When I get the story I want written, then I'll go back and change what needs to be changed. I'll freak out about people reading my book and not liking it. Stress about how to describe a certain thing without sounding stupid. But for now, I'm just enjoying the story. Loving my characters, and having so much fun thinking of things to throw at them. :)

How do you guys write? Edit while you go along? Get the whole draft out first?

What about you?

2011-08-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about you guys this morning . I want to know a few things about you, since you're probably sick of reading about me all the time. :) I'd like to get to know you a little better, so answer these questions in the comments. Right now. I mean, if you want. You don't have to. I'm not pushy. And I realize they are totally random, but we are writers! Enlighten me. ;)

1. What is one book you wish you had written?

2. What Disney movie is your favorite? If any? (Animated. I may or may not own them all ... )

3. Do you prefer sweet or salty?

4. What type of paranormal creature would you be? And why?

5. Something you couldn't live without? Excluding hubby's, wives, children and pets. :)

I love random questions, don't you? ;) *Grabs popcorn*

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-08-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

This week was pretty uneventful. I wish I had some silly stories, but I don't. Oh well! :)

1. My oldest started 1st grade. He loves it and I'm so glad. It's been so quiet at our house though. My girls just don't have the same energy he does. :)

2. I went and saw the play 7 Brides for 7 Brothers. I heart that play! Bless your beautiful hide!! :D Do I have any other musical lovers here? And is it bad that I know all the brothers names and in order? He he. :)

3. I was interviewed over at Kristin Thetford's blog if you want to check it out. I may or may not have an M&M problem...

4. I am 25,000 words into my WIP. I'm still in love, the writing is still going strong and I can't wait to dive in again tonight! I'm not sure if I've ever been so in love with a book I've written. And my MC's love interest? *swoon* Can't wait for you all to meet him!

5. I'm so ready for fall. And can you believe it's September next week? Crazy. This year has flown by. I'm already making my Christmas lists and looking for awesome deals. Yes, I have a problem. Yes, I'm a little OCD. BUT, I love getting my shopping done early so I can just enjoy December instead of freak out and run to the store when I realize I don't have anything for my family or friends! Nothing like standing in line for hours to get something you could have gotten a few months earlier. ;)

So, how was your week? Any fun plans for the weekend? How is your writing going?

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing Abby Fowers

2011-08-25T06:10:00.000-07:00

Oh, Abby. Where do I begin? You are so full of awesome! :D I was so excited when I found out she was writing books. We grew up pretty close to each other and it has been SO much fun hanging out with her and reading her work! :D Anyway, check out her blog and give her a follow. She is so awesome!

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Oh goodness... I guess I showed signs of it ever since elementary school. I loved writing stories for school and always did well on them. The desire and love for reading and writing just grew from there until one day I just couldn't deny it any more. I had to go for it. It was probably during high school or shortly after when I REALLY KNEW that I wanted to do it though.

I love it how so many writers knew they loved to write way back in elementary school. I can honestly say I wasn't one of them. I wish I had been! :)

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

I am working on a writing schedule. It mostly comes around nap time and bed time. I get more accomplished when my kids are asleep. However, my writing time will be cut in half once school starts because I have to fit homework into the schedule too. Ugh. I wonder if it will be worth it. Hopefully I can manage time for both.

I can't believe you do all you do. You are freaking super-woman!

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

Oh gosh, you should probably ask someone else this question. LOL. Um, I definitely have the gift of gab. I have been given the Gabby Abby award by more than one teacher. Luckily they still liked me through all my talking. I have tried to crochet but can't manage to do anything more than a washcloth. I really love photography. I even went into business with it for a while but then decided that it took all of the fun out of it. So now I keep it all hobby and all fun.

LOL! Gabby Abby. It fits you! ;)

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

Chocolate. Seriously, if I don't have chocolate on a regular basis then bad things start to happen. If life ever gets really ugly, my husband gets a scary phone call warning him that he better bring home Haagen Dazs chocolate peanut butter ice cream. I never really choose just PLAIN chocolate. (Where's the fun in that?) I love chocolate with peanut butter and chocolate with nuts. YUM! And if I didn't have it to help me through my loneliness on the island, I'd have to see how long I lasted in the ocean. :) Also, one of my favorite sayings is... "There is nothing wrong with me that a little chocolate can't fix."

Chocolate ice cream with nuts is the best. I'm also a huge fan of chocolate brownie. Drool ...

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

Just one? Hmmm, right now lets just say the HUNGER GAMES. I don't think that book (or that series) will ever get old. Brilliant!

I'm in love with those books too.

What book are you dying to read this year?

I am really dying to read about anything that is NOT on my English reading list this semester. However, I am excited to read NEXT DOOR BOYS by Jolene Perry, INHERITANCE by Christopher Paolini, THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett, and a new book I just won by Donna Hatch, called QUEEN IN EXILE. (I know that's more than one, but is there ever really just one?)

Shout out to Jolene! I LOVE HER!! :D And her book does look awesome. How long have we waited for Inheritance to come out? Hasn't it been like years? Grrr.... I am excited to read it though. :)

What genre do you write and why?

The cursed question! I like too many things! Okay, I write children's books, but when it comes to MG or YA I LOVE fantasy and dystopian. That's just how my brain works, but there is always something else lurking in the shadows waiting to make it's way into my laptop!

I so wish I could write middle-grade. I can't nail that voice though. :P

Do you have any writing rituals? Music, silence, eating, etc.

Silence is best for me right now, but music also inspires me. I am going to experiment with some film scores and see if it's for better or worse.

I love film scores. Try Inception's. I LOVE it.

Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams, while driving, etc?

Mostly just from life in general and day dreaming! I am a huge day dreamer. I also get a lot of ideas from songs or just from being with my kids, listening and paying attention to other kids and what is going on in their lives and what moves them. However, a lot of my day dreaming happens while driving. Just ask my husband. All of a sudden I will pop out with some out of the blue question like, "What's a short sword called? Not a dagger... that's a knife. I want it to be a sword, but a short one." The look on his face is priceless.

Ha ha ha!! It's so fun to surprise the hubby with a random question or fact. Hilarious.

Any advice for other aspiring authors?

Don't give up. Breaking into the writing business isn't easy. And I think with the economy agents and publishers are being extremely picky. So don't give up. Just be open and learn from your mistakes and continue to practice and make your writing better. ALSO, don't give in to peer pressure. Write the novel that YOU want to write and that you will be proud of, because at the end of the day, that's all that really matters. (This doesn't mean you can't still learn from your critique group and use their advice. They are SO important!)

Great advice. :)

Random Writing Question: If you could meet any character in a book, who would it be and why?

I was going to say Dumbledore because he's brilliant, but I'm going to have to go with Mr. Darcy from Pride & Prejudice, but ONLY if he'll choose me over Elizabeth Bennett. Mr. Darcy is SEXY and as of this evening I am taking SEXY Darcy over brilliant Dumbledore. Sad but true. :)

Thanks so much Chantele! This has been fun!
LOVE your answer! Mr. Darcy is totally hot. I'd take him over Dumbledore as well! ;) And thank you so much for letting me interview you! :)

Also, I've been interviewed over at Kristin Lynn Thetford's blog. Click here to check it out. :)

3rd Writers Platform-Building Campaign!

2011-08-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

I did this back in February and met SO many wonderful people from it. If you want to increase your followers on your blog and get a ton of support from a bunch of talented writers, look no further. This platform campaign was so much fun. There are so many writers who join and you can make new friends who write in your genre and other ones as well. They have little contests and writing challenges which are hilarious and fun. Click here to see what it's all about!

Like last time, I don't know if I'll have time to enter some of the challenges, but I hope to meet a bunch of new friends as I get around to all the new blogs! :)

A little thing called LOVE

2011-08-22T06:01:00.000-07:00

Person 1: "So, I have this character, who likes another character. They're like meant for each other."
Person 2: "That's cool, but why are they meant for each other?"
Person 1: *pause* "They just are. You know, forbidden love and stuff."
Person 2: "Okay ... Well, what's so special about them?"
Person 1: "I don't know ... They're both hot?"
Person 2: Sounds great ... *yawn*

We've all read these kinds of books. The only reason the main character falls for someone is because he/she is "hot". Smoldering eyes, dark and brooding demeanor. You know the type. So, why do girls in books fall head over heals in love with someone like that? Like after the second they lay eyes on the person.

So doesn't happen in real life.

When two people start to like each other, there has to be a mutual attraction. And a reason. A conversation usually takes place, or the girl watches the guy from the sidelines as he does something nice for someone. Or in some situations he saves her life. I love reading about a couple who get to know each other first before jumping into a relationship "just because". Give me a reason they're together. A reason they need each other and compliment each other.

Now, here is a pet peeve of mine. Lately, I guess. There are a LOT of bad boys in books. What happened to all the nice guys? I don't know about you, but I never went for the huge jerk that disrespected girls when I was a teenager. Sure a few of them were cute, but personality wise? If they weren't nice it was a HUGE turn off to me.

Why do authors tend to write in the bad boy then? The one who is so rude to the main character that she absolutely hates him, but ends up falling for him anyway? Now I'll admit, I'm a sucker for the bad boy if he's done right. Like a good juicy past, or something like that which caused him to be standoffish and quiet. There has to be a reason he is the way he is and why he treats people the way he does. You can't just slap a "bad boy" label on him and make him arrogant just because you feel like it. It has to "work". It has to go with the story and make sense.

That's why I love digging deeper into my own characters. Seeing what makes them tick. I love fleshing them out more and making my readers believe they love each other for more than just their good looks or rockin' bodies. It's more true to life. You know?

So, what kind of guy do you like reading about? Bad boys? Good guys? What about the leading lady? She has a lot to do with this subject too. FYI, I'm not a huge fan of the whiny girls who can't seem to take care of themselves without a man. You know the ones I mean. Oh, and don't even get me started on the girls that switches which guy she is in love with every two seconds. Love triangles are okay, when done right, but just throw in there just because? Not a fan.

Thoughts?

Things that made me happy this week.

2011-08-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

1. Write-On-Con: If you missed it, you can still go to the website and read through everything. I wasn't able to "be there" the entire time, but I did read the transcripts of some of the chats and read and watched some of the presentations. It was awesome. They all had amazing advice. You should really check it out.

2. My WIP INBETWEEN is coming along great! I'm at 18,000 words. GREAT progress for me. I'm loving this book. I haven't felt this way since I wrote my fairytale one last year. So, here's to awesome WIP's that make us love writing again!

3. Visiting other blogs and hearing good news. I love congratulating people. Nothing makes me happier than clicking on a blog and seeing they've gotten an agent or book deal. I've seen three people get book deals this week. Crazy and exciting! So happy for them.

4. Phineas and Ferb. Need I say more? That show is freaking hilarious. My kids have been watching it on Netflix all week. I figure since my son will be gone all day starting next Tuesday, he can have a lazy week this week. And he has. He's sleeping over at his grandma's tonight and is so excited!

5. I love my kids. They honestly make me so happy, (And frustrated, lol) all the time. They are hilarious and definitely keep me on my toes. Here are a few funny things my 4-year old daughter said at the fair last week.

"Daddy, we can't touch cows because they moo."

"That chicken looks like a bird."

She is so funny. Love my kids. My son going to 1st grade next week is going to be hard on me and my girls. He'll love it though. He is so ready. My daughter is starting preschool again two mornings a week, and me and my baby girl will just hang out by ourselves while everyone else learns and makes new friends. It will be good to spend some one on one time with her. She is growing up way too fast for my liking! :)

How are you guys doing? How was your week? Have any kids going to school this week or next? I'll see you guys on Monday! :)

Interrupting my days off for awesome news!

2011-08-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't sell a book, BUT my friend Jenn Johansson did!! Her wonderful agent sold her book INSOMNIA in ITALY!! :D If you remember my post a few weeks ago when she sold her book to Germany? Yep. She is taking over Europe! Seriously. She totally rocks. Go congratulate her! She is SO awesome! :D

Be Back Friday!

2011-08-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

I'm taking the next few days off to hang out at Write On Con and to get my son ready for school. You know, shopping for supplies and clothes. Backpacks and what not.

Did I mention he's going to be a first grader?

A. First. Grader.

As in, he'll be in first grade.

Like, he'll be gone all day.

All. Day. Long.

HOLY CRAP!!

Hopefully I'll get over this little milestone and get all my freak-outs and emotional wreckage cleared up before next Tuesday.

Doubtful.

See you Friday! Enjoy your week! :D

Write-On-Con

2011-08-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

What is Write-On-Con? I'm sure most of you have seen this floating around the blogosphere. Well, let me tell you. It's an online writers conference. And it's free! The dates are August 16-18. And they're already asking for submissions on a few things, today! If you haven't registered for Write-On-Con, hurry on over there! It's seriously worth it. Trust me.

I "attended" Write-On-Con last year. I didn't enter anything, since my book wasn't ready then, but I learned so much from all the editors and agents that participated. Their advice and expertise was invaluable. So get on over there and register. :)

Are you attending this year? Are you going to enter some of your work to get critiqued? Or pitch your work?

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-08-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely week this week. Not sure why I used the word lovely, but it works. ;)

1. I read and finished a critique partner's book and loved it. It was awesome and she's not even done writing it! She decided to keep going and I can't wait to see what else she does with it. I just love her. (Hurry up and write it, Katie! Don't make me come over there ...)

2. Got some great feedback on BOUND. I'm editing it, slowly and reading through it for the first time since the beginning of July and I am sort of starting to love it again. I still have a lot of revising to do, but I'm getting excited to do it. It's all falling into place. Remember, this book is my nemesis, so I'm trying to be friends with it. :) I'm also at 13000 words on my WIP INBETWEEN. Loving that as well.

3. We went to the fair yesterday with my little family. The kids loved it. We watched some little boys and girls ride calves like bulls. Isn't that crazy? Now, I've seen my fair share of bull riding, but calf riding? This was new to me. There is no way anyone would have gotten me on one of those! It was so fun to watch though. My kids loved it, although my son was worried one of the kids would get hurt. He's so cute.

4. Banana bread is like the best thing ever. I've made three loaves this week and the kids keep asking for more. So do I ...

5. I started a new writing schedule. Getting up way early, getting my exercise in and then writing until the kids get up. I've added about 4000 words to my WIP in two days. I'm so not a morning person, but my head is so much clearer in the morning and I don't have any distractions. I'm loving it. Even with the whole getting out of bed before the sun's up ... I'll get used to it. :)

How was your week? How is your writing going? And I hope you guys have a good weekend!

And if you love romance, hot knights and crazy battles, check out Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren. It's free on Kindle right now. And it was AWESOME!! I can't rave about it enough. Seriously. Go get it.

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing Kadie Kinney

2011-08-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today I'm excited to introduce, Kadie! She's so awesome. Her blog is so fun too. She writes about three different loves in her life. Interior Design, Gaming and of course, Writing! Head over and check it out. She has some amazing posts on how she decorates things. Everything she has done is SO gorgeous! Anyway, on to the interview! :)

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I think I’ve known on some level ever since I learned HOW to write that I wanted to contribute to the field someday. I used to write short stories all the time, and I started so many “novels” that ended up being five pages before my hand cramped up and I called it quits (pre-computer days…yes, I’m old enough to remember pre-computer days). But as for how long I’ve actually thought it was an attainable dream, I’d say it started three years ago when I began my first MS. It was something I started for fun, and it slowly turned into a passion. And now I don’t feel right if I don’t have something being worked on, whether it’s writing, editing, or revising.

Ha! Five pages before you hand cramped up. That's so funny! :) Now you can bust out 50 pages before your hand cramps up! ;)

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

I don’t have a strict schedule, no. I usually write after my little girl goes to bed at 7, so that’s worked well for me. But whenever I write, I have to be in the zone. I can’t force myself to do it if I’m distracted by other things (like designing my daughter’s big girl room, which I am currently working on. It’s all –consuming right now). However, I do try to carry a notebook with me wherever I go in case I have an idea or am struck with inspiration. That way I don’t lose those precious thoughts.

Oh how I love your designing talents... And notebooks are the best. I have so many lying around the house my hubby gets so annoyed! lol

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

You know those TV’s that hang down sporadically throughout Wal-Mart , cycling through their latest ad or whatever? I’m always afraid they’re going to fall on my head when I walk under them. I avoid them at all costs.

How’s that for random? Lol.

LOL! Laughing so hard right now!

As for hidden talents, I can touch my tongue to my nose. It’s in my genes. Oh and I can pop every finger twice (except my thumbs) and do so chronically. It’s an addiction really. I should probably stop. The odds of getting arthritis are against me enough as someone who’s typing constantly. Oh well. Oh there I go, popping one again. Shoot!

He he. I like popping my toes. Is that weird? Probably.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

One thing? ONE thing? Can it be an inclusive category, like “toiletries”? I seriously don’t know what I’d do without my toothbrush and Chapstick. Seriously. Thanks though, for including the laptop. That’s vital.

Seriously. What would we do without a computer? Hopefully I'll never get stranded on an island. Oh wait. I don't ever go anywhere! lol

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

Okay, okay, I’m going to have to say it; the Twilight books. I KNOW!!! How generic am I? But here’s why: I met my husband when I was 16. We started dating so young and I remember feeling SO many of the same things that Bella felt in those books; from the breathless rapture in the first book, to the fear of abandonment and loss in the second and third books, and eventually the total trust and oneness in the fourth book.

Oh am I cheesy or what?

But honestly, they’re an easy read (I can get through one in a day if I don’t have much going on) they’re entertaining, and they bring me back to when I first met MY Jacob. (I have a theory that he might really be a Werewolf too for example; he’s one-quarter Cherokee Indian, he’s always like 110 degrees, and his name’s Jacob. Hello??)

Other than that, I HAVE read Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice COUNTLESS times and could do so again and again.

I love the Twilight books too. Probably always will.

What book are you dying to read this year?

Blackveil by Kristen Britain. I LOVE the Green Rider series and am dying to get my hands on that one. I know it’s been out for awhile, but I’m waiting for paperback. Not because I’m a cheapskate, but because all the other ones I own are paperback and I can’t have the first three soft cover and the last one this huge hardcover. How would that look on my bookcase? *Shudders*

So I might be somewhat of a crazy perfectionist. Sue me.

Yay! Someone like me! I'm a hardcover freak though. I won't buy paperback. Is that so wrong? I have a problem. I can't help it. The hardcovers are so shiny and pretty. I heart them. Nothing's wrong with paperbacks though. I just have my preference. And there is no way I'd buy a hardcover if the rest of the series was in paperback. We can be crazy perfectionists together. ;)

What genre do you write and why?

Well I’m not sure yet. I have one MS that’s Adult Fantasy, and one that’s YA Contemporary. I enjoyed them both. I have another idea for a YA Fantasy, so I guess fantasy is probably what I’m drawn too the most. I love YA though, because it’s such a self-centered, emotion-driven time of most people’s lives. Think back to when you were a teenager; EVERYTHING was newsworthy, or exciting, or dramatic. In no other period of life could one stray sentence in the hallway cause hysteria by lunchtime like it would in a building full of teenagers.

LOVE this! Especially the last sentence! Awesome.

Do you have any writing rituals? Music, silence, eating, etc.

Music, but the type differs. For my first book it was the Avatar soundtrack Pandora station. I got epic musical scores from Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, etc. which was great; as long as the songs didn’t have words, I was fine. But for my most recent MS, it was the Adele and Band of Horses Pandora stations, words didn’t bother me, but they had to be melodic and meaningful.

Music is the best. And I love Pirates music. And Jack Sparrow, but that could be a whole other post.

Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams, while driving, etc?

I always have what I call “Movie Dreams” which are the type of dreams that last ALL night long and they’re epic and full of adventure. So I get a lot of ideas from those. My first MS was a combination of a dream I had, with an idea my husband had for a video game. It was nice though, because right when I woke up, I knew the characters; their names, what they looked like, EVERYTHING. They were never a question in my mind. That made it really easy to dive in and start world-building.

I really wish I could remember my dreams. I forget a few minutes after I wake up. Every. Time. Drives me crazy.

Any advice for other aspiring authors?

I’ll get back to you on that, when I don’t feel so lost myself. Seriously though, my advice is to just keep writing. I thought I’d write my first MS and never have another idea for a book again. Ever. But then one came, so I wrote it down as quickly as I could. And now I have another idea, that’s outlined and just waiting for me to get started. And none of them have anything to do with the other, which is great fun for me. That would be the other part of my advice; have fun. I’m not published or even agented yet, so I’m enjoying this time where I can write for myself and on my own timeline.

Great advice. Have fun and write for yourself.

Random Writing Question: If you could send your current MC into any other book or story, what would it be and why?

I would send my MC, Sistine, into Pride and Prejudice. She’s so sassy, independent, and outspoken I think it would absolutely KILL her to witness the reserve and propriety that these women based their lives on. And I think it’d be really funny to hear a conversation between her and Lizzy, who was outspoken for her time, but still tame, compared to Sistine the spitfire.

Ha! Your MC sounds awesome! Thank you so much for doing this Kadie. It was so fun to learn more about you. :)

Getting an offer of representation

2011-08-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

You've just sat down and opened your e-mail to see if your querying has paid off. Another rejection. And worse? It's on a full. You're tired, frustrated and a little devastated. So, you get out of your e-mail and start making yourself breakfast.
The phone rings. You're wondering who in the world could be calling so early and answer.
It's an agent.
And they love your book.

People have asked me several times what happens when you get an offer of representation. Well, here are a few things you should know.

I got an offer of representation. What now?

You talk to the agent, listen to them rave about your book and ask as many questions as you can think of. When I got my offer, I was so tongue tied and just plain "what the crap just happened", that I couldn't think of many questions to ask.

So, take a deep breath, tell them you need at least a week to think about it and call them back when you've calmed down a bit. Don't ever just say yes. This is a huge part of your writing career. You have to think it over for a few days and make sure it's the right decision.

Do I e-mail the other agents with my work?

Absolutely. Let every agent that has your material know that you have an offer. It will kick their butts into high gear and they'll get back to you within your time limit. I told all of mine that I needed to know within a week and they were all very nice about it. To let them know, I just sent an e-mail with OFFER OF REPRESENTATION in the subject line and then wrote a little paragraph of who I was, the book I queried and how long they had to read. Most agents will ask who the offering agent is and really, it's not a big deal if you tell them. Agents know each other and they want to know who they're up against. Also, I made the mistake of not sending my news to agents I had only sent my query letter to. I sent them to most, but I missed a few and got a few requests and a few rejections after I'd signed. One agent was disappointed she didn't get to read my work, so be sure to send your news to everyone.

What if I get another offer?

If you get another offer, stay calm. I ended up getting two offers, so I e-mailed the first agent who offered to tell him someone else offered. Then I set up a phone call with each individual agent to ask more questions. Let me tell you, I was freaking out before I talked to both of them. I'd already talked to agent 1, but I was waiting to hear from agent 2 now. Nerves ...

What kind of questions do you ask?

You can ask anything you want. Which editors or houses they have in mind for your book, how extensive revisions will be, if they're a career agent or just want to agent one book. I also asked if they were a phone or e-mail person. I tend to freeze up on the phone, so I like e-mail much better. Don't be afraid to ask things, even if you think they're stupid questions. That is what an agent is for. To answer your questions. They know a heck of a lot more about publishing than you do. And they basically work for you. Don't be shy about what you want to know. :)

How do you know which agent is the right one?

You'll know. I was so stressed out about choosing the right one, when it was completely obvious who I should go with. The first agent loved my book. Loved. He raved about it, answered every single question I threw at him without missing a beat. He was so easy to talk to, funny, had a great contract, wanted a career author, and believed in my work. He told me even if my book he offered on didn't sell, he loved my voice and wouldn't just drop me if things didn't work out with it. That is someone you want to represent you.

The other agent was super nice and came from a great agency, but there was something about her that I wasn't sure about. She had a hard time answering some of my questions and honestly, I didn't need a friend to hold my hand through the whole process of submitting and revising my novel. I needed someone to sell it. Someone who was very good at communicating with people. Who had contacts in the publishing houses. A salesman, if you will. The whole conversation was awkward and I knew we weren't a match.

Obviously I chose the first agent. ;) And believe it or not, he was the last query I sent out. I was ready to give up, even though I had quite a few fulls out with agents. But he read my book in 2 days and offered the day I got a rejection on a full. It's funny how things work out.

The contract

This part scared me. I'd never done this before, so I didn't know what a good contract was. I asked my agent about it and he was very upfront with me. I read through the contract a million times before I signed it. If there isn't a way out of a contract, be a little wary. Most agents have a way out if you're not getting along for some reason. Anyway. It was very standard for a literary agent, and if you have any questions about your contract, ask your agent. Or even someone else who knows about contracts. Don't event think about signing it without reading it.

Telling people

When you accept an offer, wait until the contract is signed before yelling it to the world. You want to make sure everything is in place and you have read everything and signed on the dotted line. Once you sign, you can announce whatever you want! And be excited! You're allowed! :D

Next week I'll talk about what an agent should be doing for you, and things you should look out for. :)

Winner and my weekend!

2011-08-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

First off, I meant to post the winner to my Matched by Ally Condie giveaway on Saturday, but I wasn't around all day. So, I'm doing it today. :) The winner is .......................

Shelly Brown!!!

Here is her entry to my "What would you do for a book deal?"

For a book deal I could
write my story in wood
with only my tongue as a pen

I’d sell all my hair
for a chain you could wear
on your lovely gold watch, and then

I’d swallow my pride
and get my skin dyed
any color that you could wish

I’d write a lame poem
and not clean my home
not even the slimy soap dish

I’d dress like a lobster
and act like a mobster
then do the splits at the pep rally!

Though a book deal is nice
I think the right price
is a nice shiny book by Miss Ally

Wasn't that SO fun! Ha ha! So creative. Check out her blog as well. She is hilarious and just a sweet person.

This past Saturday, I was able to go to Kiersten White's book signing at The Kings English. Let me just tell you, if you live in Utah, you MUST go see that bookstore. It is so fun. I could spend hours there just browsing all the books they have. I can't wait to go again. I didn't know what I was missing.

Anyway, my friend Megan and I had so much fun. Neither of us had ever been to a book signing, so we had no idea what to expect. When we got there, we were ushered back to the patio where we sat in a little audience. Kiersten came out and talked about her books, read a part of Supernaturally and took questions. She was hilarious, of course. Those of you who read her blog, she is just as funny in person. And she didn't even have to stand on a stool to talk to us. ;)

After her little presentation we were able to get our books signed. It was so much fun to talk to her in person. If I hear about any other of my favorite authors coming to Utah, I'm definitely going to go. And you guys should go too! People in the audience asked her quite a few questions about writing and she had some excellent advice.

How was your weekend?

Random Thoughts From This Week

2011-08-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

1. After 2 weeks of sickies, my kids are finally feeling better! Yay!

2. My friend Jenn got a 2-book deal in GERMANY for her book INSOMNIA!! Go congratulate her! She is awesome! :D

3. My little guy is starting soccer. Brings back so many memories.

4. I'm going to Kiersten White's book signing tomorrow. WOOT! Can I just admit this is my very first book signing besides at a conference? Lame, I know. I don't know what to do with myself ...

5. I'm writing two books at the same time. One is super secret and I'm writing it in a notebook during spare moments throughout my day. Then I type it all up when the kids go to bed and work on INBETWEEN until bedtime. Call me crazy. I've never written 2 books at the same time, but it's going well. We'll see if I can keep it up. AND, I'm not editing while I write! This is a huge step for me. I'm just going to get these first drafts out and then edit one or the other when I'm done. Oh, the joys of writing first drafts. ;)

Have a great weekend! And I'll announce the winner of Matched tomorrow morning. :) If you'd like to enter to win, just click on this link and enter before midnight tonight.

Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing Madeline Bartos

2011-08-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to interview this particular author. She is so sweet, hilarious, has an amazing blog and she's a teenager! How freaking cool is that? So, let's get on to the interview! :D

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Being the intelligent being that I am, I knew straight from the moment I was conceived. Alright. . . That’s totally a lie. I started out by writing poetry. Then Brooke (brookerbusse.blogspot.com) my poet/novelist/short story hybrid friend inspired and pushed me to write my first novel during NaNoWriMo. Then I got into blogging at the beginning of the year, and I realized being a writer was epic - and epic was what I wanted to be.

It really is epic. And you're an awesome blogger. Just sayin'. ;)

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

Right now it’s summer, which translates to “the season where I have no responsibilities.” So right now I shun schedules. During the school year, I write as soon as I get home until I complete my set goal for the day. Writing usually comes before homework. (How many moms did I just shock?) I'm sure when the new school year rolls around I'll be much more organized as a writer. I never was organized before, but I recently tried it, and now I'm a bit compulsive.

It's nice being organized. I wish I were better...

Can you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents.

I’m Madeline, almost Prudence. (My dad is a Beatles fan. My mom. . . Not so much.) I’m fourteen and love science, dance, golf, music, piano, writing, reading, blogging, and watching hockey. (Go Penguins!) I probably sound like a really disoriented person. Don’t worry - I am. I work as a soccer referee during spring and fall. In the summer, I unload vegetables from the back of shirtless boy’s trucks. (How lucky am I?) I’m extremely flexible and can put both feet behind my head. I’m destined to be a cat lady and wished that I lived in Quebec.

I heart soccer. How fun would that be to be a referee? :D And you ARE lucky working with shirtless boys! LOL

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn’t live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

Bear Grylls. I’ll soak up the sun, and he can build the fire, get me some shelter, and find some coconuts.

Hopefully you don't have to drink any bodily fluids... Love that show, but it grosses me right out!

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

The Harry potter series. . . oh wait. . . "one book". Well, we'll just pretend the question said "What are some books you could read over and over and over." All seven books are lined up on my desk. My brother has recently become sort of an HP addict, I'm so proud! I love the world JK created - so inspiring!

Great choice! :D

What book are you dying to read this year?

This year I’m excited to read Darkspell, Wither, and The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. If I’m allowed to get ahead of myself, I’m excited for the 2012 releases of Slide, Incarnate, and Under the Never Sky.

Those all sound so amazing. I've never heard of Incarnate. Looking it up now ...

What genre do you write and why?

I guess the closest genre I can tie my writing to is dystopian. It’s just that it’s not the setting or tradition of most dystopians. I like writing with corrupt settings as sort of a message as in “do you know this could be what happens?” or “do you know this terrible stuff is happening - and you don’t know about it?”

Awesome! :)

Do you have any writing rituals? Music, silence, eating, ect.

I go through phases where I have to have a certain font in a strange (usually blinding) color. During first drafts, I have to write with loud music and my eyes closed. When focus is required, I need the music off. . . And my eyes open. Oh, and I recently became superstitious of the super brain powers pickles give.

I've never heard of anyone writing with their eyes closed. How on earth can you do that? I'll have to try it now. :)

Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams, while driving, ect?

I’ve gotten all of my ideas in my bedroom, which is where my writing space is located. I recently moved my writing cove to an actual desk, so hopefully that doesn’t stop the creativity. I love reading the news, so many ideas come from there and the 1,265 songs my dad and I are hoarding away on my hard drive. I got an idea while riding in the car once and it was a completely different form of idea. A different setting, a different idea. Curious, huh?

The news is a great place to get ideas. I've gotten quite a few from there.

Any advice for other aspiring authors?

Push yourself. You need to be ambitious, and you need to be determined. Go big or go home. When you set a big goal and realize that it can’t be done, don’t give up on it, just modify it. Whatever you do, don’t give up on any goal you set. You may fail, but failure doesn't mean you just abandon the idea completely. You modify it. It's extremely helpful if you can have someone to punish you when you don't meet your goals. I heard of a guy fresh from college who paid $50 to his friend every time his goal wasn't met. He now has six published books.

Ha! I'd be broke if I paid someone when I didn't make a goal! LOL :) Great advice, Madeline.

Random Writing Question:Your MC has the power to change into any supernatural creature he/she wants. What would they choose and why?

A banshee. When someone is about to be killed, wailing would sure stop the hunters dead in their tracks and scare them out of their pants. She'd enjoy it, for sure.

Banshee's are awesome. I agree. :D

Thank you SO much, Madeline!! :D

New Schedule

2011-08-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! I hope you're all having a wonderful day. I've decided to change my blogging schedule a little bit. I will no longer be posting on Wednesday's. This is just to keep my sanity and give me a day off in the middle of the week. :) So, I'll still be posting Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, but no Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

In other news, I got Divergent by Veronica Roth in the mail today. And Supernaturally by Kiersten White. And also Entwined by Heather Dixon. Can I say I love all three covers? I do. I've read Entwined, but haven't read the other two. Any suggestions on which I should read first? :)