Blog Chain - How Do You Feel About Non-Fiction

This round's topic was chosen by the lovely Sandra who wants to know:

We all know it's important to read fiction if you want to write fiction, but what about reading non-fiction? How much non-fiction do you read? What kinds of non-fiction books do you read, and why? Has reading non-fiction influenced your fiction writing style?

I read a LOT of non-fiction. Biographies mostly. Most specifically, biographies of historical figures (mostly women). I've always been fascinated with the whole royalty scene, queens in particular. Maybe because historically women are seen as a little less capable of ruling than men (and most of the women who have made history have disproved that in spades. What's that saying? Well behaved women rarely make history? So true). :D

Some of my favorites: Eleanor of Acquitaine (this woman ROCKS), Catherine the Great, Lucrezia Borgia, Isabella of France, the wives of Henry VII (and his sisters), Elizabeth I, Marie Antoinette - to name a few :)

I'm also fond of reading encyclopedias. Researching has always been a bit of a time suck for me because I'll start looking up info on one subject and will find myself sucked into a million other fascinating facts. Back in the old days ;) BG (before Google) when we had to open an actual book to research things, I'd sit down with an encyclopedia and a few hours later realize I'd read through half the volume and still hadn't gotten the info I'd originally looked up :)

As a historical romance writer, research is still a big factor in my writing. I try very hard to make sure all the details in my stories are accurate (even in my contemporary stories, there is usually quite a bit of research to be done). I love this part of the process. But, I'll often just leave myself notes in my drafts such as [research this] - because if I take the time right then to research the details, I'd never get that first draft done. So once I'm in the revision stage I generally go through and spend some time researching (as well as researching before I even start writing, during the outline stage).

I also tend to research things I come across in my reading or tv watching or daily life - anything that strikes an interest that I want to learn more about. For instance, I had a lot of fun watching the Ancient Alien series which led to a bit of research on fun things like crop circles and weird phenomenon. :D I also have books on homeopathic medicines, crafty things, lots of How-Tos, (my hubs has an entire bookcase of cookbooks), a few memoirs, and a few other assorted NFs :)

How about you - do you read non-fiction? What sorts of things do you like to read about?

Be sure to stop by Katrina's blog to see what NF tickles her fancy, and stop by Alyson's tomorrow to see what she likes :)

And don't forget to enter my celebration giveaway! You could win a $25 gift card!!! (scroll down to next post) Entries are being taken until Saturday and the winner will be announced on Sunday the 14th!

Blog Chain - a Boo Boo and a New Topic

K, so apparently the topic I posted it about last time was the topic for THIS chain (oops!) sooo, I will post about the last topic this time and this is the link to my last post on the current topic that everyone else will be posting on this time. Clear as mud? :D

Okay, so what I was supposed to post on last time was Katrina's topic which was:

Write about your next writing project. What is the genre? Is is one you've written before or is it a new venture? Do you have it all figured out or is it just a germ of an idea? What did you learn from your latest writing project that will make this one even better?

My current project is book 2 in the Blood Blade Sisters trilogy, and my next project will be book 3. They are historical romance and book 2 is well under way. Book 3....not so much lol I have a very bare bones outline done that needs to be fleshed out before I can get started on the book..

Next up after that, I have several ideas in mind that I will be batting around with my editor. Two of them are contemporary romances, one is a trilogy that is probably best defined as urban fantasy although the first book is set in ancient Egypt, one is a super secret series that I've only told my husband about because I am sooo in love with this idea that I'm afraid to utter it out loud :D Annnd I have a NF on how to write poetry that I hope to have out by Sept (that will be my project for the summer - it's about half finished).

The one thing I've learned through all my years at doing this is that I have to be ORGANIZED to the point of obnoxiousness or it all falls apart. I used to be a pantser writer....but I just can't do that anymore. Writing that way often required months, if not years, of revisions, total rewrites, and insane edits. Having a very detailed outline before I start has whittled down the whole process considerably. I can now finish a first draft in a matter of weeks, and that first draft isn't nearly the train wreck that it once would have been. :)

What is your next project? If you aren't a writer, what is next on your TBR list? Do you like to mix up genres or do you primarily stick to reading one favorite genre?

Make sure to head to Alyson's blog to see her take on both this chain's topic from the last round because she apparently did the same thing I did :D and her post on this round, and don't forget to check out Katrina's take on it all (with all the right topics because she can keep things straight lol) :)

Blog Chain - Accomplishments

Blog chain time! Check out PK's post from yesterday and head over to Tere's tomorrow. This round's topic was chosen by the lovely Michelle Hickman who wants to know:

This is the month in creating writing goals and making big accomplishments. What is your greatest accomplishment -- in writing, your life or perhaps something incidental that had a big effect on you?

This is such a great question. In my writing life, my biggest accomplishment is that I made my dream come true. I have a published book on the shelves. And while fiction is always nearest and dearest to my heart and a goal I'm still working to obtain, I gotta say I LOVE that my first published book is one geared toward helping people with something I love - writing.

In my personal life...one of my biggest accomplishments was getting my master's degree. It was hard lol Especially because when I got it I was a mommy to two very small children who had a husband that was gone for weeks at a time. I'm still not sure how I pulled it off - but I'm extremely proud that I did :)

And in my even more personal life - the fact that I somehow managed to bring two amazing kids into the world and haven't killed, seriously maimed or in any other way caused permanent mental or physical damage (that I know of) to any of us yet...though we've had some close calls :D My kids are a handful, but they are intelligent, hilariously funny, thoughtful, sweet and genuinely loving kids - it feels weird to call them an accomplishment, but I just don't think anything else in my life will ever come close to the pride I feel in those two amazing little human beings :) I am awed and blessed to be their mother.

What are your greatest accomplishments, in the writing world or in your personal life?

And - Happy Veterans Day. 

My deep, heartfelt thanks to those who make it possible for me to live the life I want to live.

Blog Chain - Monster Mash

Matt got to choose this round's topic, and he came up with a fun one :D

What is your all-time favorite monster?

At first glance, this seems like an easy question. But it really wasn't LOL See, I have different favorite monsters for all occasions. If I'm going to go with what has scared me the most for the longest amount of time, I'd probably have to say ghosts.

I reserve the right to change my mind should something more terrifying show up, but I tend to be really freaked out by things that I can't see. I mean, a big ol' yeti or something might scare my hair white, but at least I can see it coming at me. Plus, I'm pretty sure the other monsters don't exist (or if they do, they aren't bugging me). But I live in a very, very old house next to a 200 yr old cemetery and sometimes....well, let's just say weird things happen. And weird things have happened to other people I know. So...yeah...*shudder*

The monster to scare me most recently - Skinwalkers. This one is courtesy of the lovely Bethany Wiggins who regaled me with tales of these terrifying creatures while she was writing her book Shifting. Add to that the fact that we lived in the region where these creatures live, there were many locals who claimed to have seen them (and not just superstitious grannies...I'm talking big, burly oil workers who refused to drive down certain stretches of road because the last time they did something they thought was a man dropped to all fours and loped along beside their car...that was doing 40+ miles an hour), and the fact that I lived out in the middle of nowhere and my husband was frequently out of town for work (and Bethany liked to tell me that every noise I heard was probably a skinwalker LOL) - and yeah....*shudder*

Then there are the monsters of the cute, cuddly variety. The ones that make you say awwww more often than AHHH!!! Like these two:

But, I guess if I'm going to pick my all time favorite, my "go-to" monster, the one I've got dozens of books and movies on, I'm going to have to go with the vampire. I even took a class on vampires in grad school (and wrote a paper called "From Van Helsing to Buffy". It rocked, if I do say so myself) ;-) It was so much fun :D Vampires are seriously cool though. I mean they run the gambit from terrifying undead monsters to these handsome hotties:

Gotta love the versatility. Just sayin' ;-)

What is your favorite monster?

Be sure to head over to PK's blog to see what creature she most loves and stay tuned tomorrow to find out what's hiding in Tere's closet :D

Blog Chain - People I Couldn't Write Without

This topic was chosen by the lovely Sarah who wanted to know:

Do you work with critique partners? How did you find your crit pals, and what influence have they had on your work?

Oh yes. I have crit partners. Probably too many LOL but I've met so many awesome writers over the years and we pretty much all exchange manuscripts at least once in a while.

My very first group I found by googling. I met some great people on there, learned a TON. I was a very VERY newbie writer. Had finished one book, paid an editor to go through it, gotten a few good suggestions from him, but it wasn't until this group (and one awesome lady in particular, Jeannie Ruesch) got a hold of it that I actually started pulling that poor manuscript together.

I can't believe how much she taught me. Stuff I'd never heard before. The adverb rule, POV tricks/rules/no-nos, ways to show different sides to my character - for all those who have read Treasured Lies, the pea scene was suggested by Jeannie. If she hadn't taken me under her wing, I don't know where I would be right now. I think I've mentioned before that I once wrote a scene where I had FOUR povs going on in ONE paragraph. Yeah...Jeannie was the one who explained why that was bad LOL

My other critters I met through QueryTracker. Toni Wilson (we are often called the eTwins by our QT friends) - I send everything to her. I mean literally everything. She often crits my emails before I send them LOL

Kristal Shaff and Cole Gibsen - again, these amazing women read pretty much everything I write. And I've learned so much from each of them. They are all awesome with things like plot flow, word choice, motivations, plot holes (and Kristal and Toni in particular are great at pointing out when I'm going overboard on the romance LOL). These women ready all my stuff and they are so incredibly sweet about reading my pages over and over again. I think they know my stories more than I do sometimes LOL

I met Elana Johnson through QT and joined a crit group with her and the absolutely wonderful Christine Fonseca. Elana is amazing - she will tell you how it is and she doesn't let you get away with anything. I usually get my pages back thinking "yeah, I knew she'd mark that." :D I'm slowly learning to just remove it before she has to mark it up LOL

Christine is amazing with emotions - I can go way overboard with them sometimes...and sometimes I don't have enough. She keeps me on track with my plot and characters and their motivations and personalities. She is also a fellow Non-fiction writer and is my main critter for all things NF (though Toni reads some of that stuff for me as well) :) It's so wonderful to have someone I can send those pages too. I don't know what I'd do without her.

And I also have my amazing Operation Awesome gals. I joined their group not too long ago (actually...I think it's been a year or so now!) It's been wonderful having a fresh group of eyes and learning from each of them - both from their crits of my work and from my crits of their work. They are an incredible group of women and I am so lucky to be a part of their group.

When I lived in Utah I was very privileged to be part of a live group with Bethany Wiggins and Bonny Anderson. I still send them pages and am always thrilled to read theirs, though I miss seeing them face-to-face :)

I have several other friends and readers that I send my pages too. They are all priceless to me. I would never be able to make it down this road without them.

Who are your critters and how did you meet them?

Be sure to see who PK shreds paper with and stop by Tere's tomorrow to find out about her crit pals :)

Blog Chain - Worth It In The End

This round of the blog chain was started by the amazing Shaun, who wants to know:

What are three books you would tell people that they need to keep reading even if they aren't immediately sucked in by the first page?

I love this question :D And it's been very interesting reading the others' answers. Twilight and The Host by Stephanie Meyers were two that immediately popped to mind and it was interesting to see that several other people on the chain felt the same. I ended up loving both books (and didn't have a problem with the rest of the Twilight books) but those were two that took me a bit to get into.

I'm not always a very patient reader and I'm definitely more apt to stick with a book if it is A) recommended by a friend or B) written by a friend (case in point - The Hollow by Jessica Verday. It took me a while to get into this book but once I did I couldn't put it down. And I devoured the other two in the trilogy).

But, most of the time, if I care about the main character and the storyline is one that I want to follow, I'll stick with it for a good 100 pages, sometimes more, just in the hopes things will get better. So, here is my list (although yes, I cheated a little bit and mentioned a few more above) :D

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone - Once he hit Hogwarts I was glued to Mr. Potter through all seven books. I think I read them all in just under a week and I've reread them all several times. But the beginning DRAGGED for me. However, everyone was raving so much about them I stuck with it, and I'm very glad I did.

2. Diana Gabaldon's Outlander - I originally chose this book because I needed something to read on a plane ride and it was really long, had nothing embarrassing on the cover, and was conveniently placed in my grocery store checkout line. I struggled through the first little bit, but I was stuck on a plane with nothing else to do. Once Claire went through the stones and ended up in 1700s Scotland, I was completely hooked. I finished that 800 or so page book that night (totally ignoring my cousins whom I'd gone to visit in the process. Luckily, they understood...and I even got my cousin's wife hooked on the series before I left) :D

I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction although I always caution them to stick with it until she gets through the stones. And I do tend to skim her rather long and rambling descriptions. But other than that, these books are AMAZING.

3. Anything by Anne Rice - I love most of her books. Her vampire series especially. Louis and Lestat were my first vampire loves. But I think it takes a good 1 to 3 chapters (sometimes more) for me to get into her books, until the day came where I picked one up and just couldn't get through it at all. But...up until then, once I'd pushed past the first few chapters, I'd be hooked. And after reading a couple books, I knew this would be the case so it was easy to keep going, knowing it would eventually get better.

What books make your list? Why did you stick with them?


Check out Eric's list HERE and be sure to stop by Tere's blog tomorrow and see who made her list.

A Dark and Stormy Blog Chain

It's Blog Chain time again! This time the lovely Christine decided to get our creative gears rolling. Here is her topic:

Since we are all writer's, I thought it was about time for us to stretch our creative muscles and do a little writing. So, take the following topic and go crazy! Show us what you've got. 

Your story can be as long or as short as you choice. 

The topic: A dark and stormy night.

Okay...since I have incredibly lax on doing anything poetry related lately, I decided to do a sestina. (For those who don't know what that is, a sestina is a poem that has six 6 line stanzas and an envoi. The ending words in each line of each stanza follow a specific repeating pattern and the three line envoi uses all six words (usually two words per line) The lines usually contain 10 syllables each. ) :)

Anyhow...I've been really sick this week and with the flooding out in my neck of the woods the kids have been home from school all week. So...I'm definitely not bringing my A game LOL But...here you go:

****

We are hidden in the dark, moonless night.
I welcome the rain as it strikes my face,
cool drops washing away my tears, my blood.
“Breathe,” he pleads, his lips brushing mine. “Please breathe.”
I shudder, my breath escaping at his
command. “For you,” I sigh, “only for you.”

He holds me. “I won’t let them reclaim you.”
Shouts roll with the thunder through the night.
Only one life matters to me now. His.
“You must leave me.” The horror on his face
breaks my heart, but he must run. “Go,” I breathe.
They can’t find him with me, covered in blood -

Mine, his…theirs. His pained howl rips through my blood,
burns his image on my soul. “I love you,”
I whisper, shattered, unwilling to breathe,
unable to stop. They’re coming, the night
rife with vengeance. Once more I touch his face.
“Go!” I cry. One last look and he runs, his

tortured fury echoing through me, his
pain my own. They come, find me bathed in blood.
“Where is he?” they ask. But I turn my face.
They lift me. “Your father’s waiting for you.”
Others fan out, searching into the night.
They won’t find him. He’s gone…and I can’t breathe.

They carry me through dark forests. I breathe
grudgingly, praying the storm hides him, his
trail. My father’s fortress looms in the night
and too soon I am before him. My blood
freezes. “Thought you could run from me, did you?”
His drawn sword scrapes across my face.

They drag in my love; blood drains from my face.
Our eyes lock and I forget how to breathe.
Father’s rage unleashes. “Traitors! Both of you!”
The sword strikes, but my eyes never leave his.
Father screams, his vengeance soaked in our blood.
He fades. I see only my love, my knight.

“I love you,” we whisper. He strokes my face.
Our blood mingles, our lives entwine, mine and his.
The night is ours. And one last time…we breathe.

****

There are some really great entries on this chain, so I'd highly recommend starting from the beginning with Christine's post. Our fabulous new member PK posted before me, and another awesome new member, Tere, will post tomorrow.

Blog Chain - So What's the Plan?

After a nice little break, our blog chain is back in action and we are thrilled to welcome several awesome new members (check out the list on my sidebar for their links) This round's topic was chosen by our wonderful Sandra who wants to know:

Have the recent changes in the publishing industry affected your writing plans/career? If so, how?

I don't know if the rise of self pubbing and ebooks has changed my plans for my writing career, or just made me feel better about them :) Self pubbing is something I've been looking into for a few years, at least in regards to my picture books, but it's something I've held off on in the past because of the cost and the stigma attached to it.

I've considered self pubbing my picture books for several reasons, one being the control self pubbing affords an author. I never liked that I wouldn't really have any say about the illustrations in my book if I went traditional. The illustrations are such a HUGE part of what makes a picture book that it seemed strange for an author not be more involved (and I'm sure different publishers handle this differently but from what I've always understood, the process is similar to how covers are chosen...the author might get some input but at the end of the day, the publisher will go with the illustrations they feel fit the book best).

However, I didn't go ahead with my self pubbing plans in the past because I didn't have the resources to put out a book that I felt was up to par. It's expensive to print full color books. But with the rise of ebooks, this isn't as much of an issue.

I didn't truly decide to go ahead and self pub my PBs until I bought a Nook. And saw how much my kids LOVED reading PBs on it. And decided to go to CA for vacation and started thinking about lugging a backpack full of books through several airports :) I'll tell you what, that Nook is a FANTASTIC purchase if you are going to be traveling with children. You can download a hundred PBs guaranteed to keep your kiddos well stocked in reading material until you reach your destination, and just slip one little device into your purse that stores them all. Love it.

And I love that I can now produce a beautiful quality picture ebook. I'll still go traditional first when it comes to my NF and novels (though I haven't ruled out self pubbing if any of my books fail to sell in the future...I love that I have that option available) - but for my picture books, all the recent changes in the publishing world have opened a lot of doors for me that were previously closed.

What about you? Have any of your plans for the future changed with all that has been going on?

Be sure to stop by Eric's and see how he views all the new changes, and stop by our new member Tere's blog tomorrow for her take on it all :)

Blog Chain - Where Do You Go?

Okay, so it's my turn to chose the topic for this round and I toooootally spaced (I was supposed to post yesterday).

So! Without further ado, here is my question:

There are so many things we have to include in our storyworlds...characters, world details, settings, etc. No matter what genre you write, your stories are full of tiny details that help create your storyworld. I know that for me, at least, finding or creating all these details can sometimes be a bit tough. 

Where do you go for help? And what types of things are you more likely to research/search for as opposed to making up on your own? Do you have any favorite resource sites? Share links if you have them!!

For instance, I had a rather lame name for my girls' boarding school in my book. I was using it as a filler and sort of never got around to giving it a more unique name. I wanted to remedy that but after a million edits (and as it was nearing midnight and I was a little fried) I just couldn't think of anything.

I started googling and found this site, Serendipity, which has several random name generators. I took a couple of the names it came up with, combined them, and now have a school name I absolutely love.

This article on K.M. Weiland's Author Culture blog has several good links for historical writers.

This site has a lot of great Old West info (I've spent a lot of time in their Western Slang section) :D

I've emailed horticultural societies for info on what types of flowers bloom in England in the winter, doctors to find out if 100 year old skeletons would still have hair, checked out a pirate lover site to find info on pistols, and googled the history of toilets :D

What sorts of things have you looked up? Do you have any great resource links?

Head over to Margie's to see what sorts of things she might be googling :)

Blog Chain - Creative Curses!

This round's topic was chosen by the always awesome Kate. Her topic:

Curses, you've been cursed! You can write no longer. The story well has run dry, and you can't even remember how to type. Now what do you do? Where do you channel your creative energies? And to what lengths would you go to break the curse?

Honestly, I've sat staring at this topic for a while. I just don't know what I'd do. It's unfathomable lol

So, I thought back to before I wrote "for real". I've always done a few stories here and there but once I got out of high school until after my son was born, I don't think I wrote a word, anywhere. Well, some poetry. But nothing major. Instead, most of my creative endeavors were focused on cross stitching.

I loved cross stitching. And I was pretty good at it. I'd do the really big, complicated pieces. Like this one I made while I was pregnant with my son:

In fact, thinking about it now, I kind of miss doing it. I might have to get back into it :D I for sure need to do one for my daughter at the very least :D (I did start one for her, but then she came early and life got hectic...and then I started writing again) :D

So, yeah...I guess if I couldn't write, I'd cross stitch, I'd play my piano, I'd learn to play the violin I bought and never learned to use - I'd focus that creative energy somewhere. I'd probably go pretty far to break the curse as well, but not to the extent that my family was jeopardized in any way.

But really, I just can't imagine the story well running dry. And if it did, I'd probably still be sitting there, staring off into space, dwelling on all the other stories I've read. If I couldn't thin of new ones, I could still remember the old :)

What would you do if such a horrible curse befell you?

Stop by Margie's blog tomorrow to see what she would do :)

Blog Chain - Breakin' the Rulz

Today's my day on the Blog Chain and for this round, the lovely Abby asked:

There are SO many writing rules, but sometimes we have to break one or two, just to keep things interesting. Is there a writing rule you've broken on purpose? Why did you choose to break it? And if you want to post a snippet of your writing as an example, even better!

Ahhh...those rule-breakers :D I think I break them all every now and then :) But, like a few of my other blog chain buddies, I am sort of fond of sentence fragments. They just add a good sense of urgency, and extra oomph to the scene. As with everything, overusing them cuts their powers, so I try not to use them too much. But I think they can be very effective when used right.

And...something of mine to illustrate, hmm? Okay - here is a snippet of my current book, Treasured Lies :)

Her heart thumped in painful lurches. She tried to calm down. It was probably just a really big mouse. Or one of the cats? Perhaps the old place really was haunted.

She jumped as a muffled thud reverberated across the rafters. The faint sound of breaking glass had Min running for the exit. There was no visible handle on the outside so Min grabbed the edge of the door and pulled it closed behind her. She was careful to straighten the tapestry that hid the entrance. Backing away, she made sure there was no evidence of the room.

Footsteps.

Min froze in alarm.

Nearer…nearer…

It was probably just another student. Though that could prove problematic since Min wasn’t supposed to be out of bed. If she were honest with herself, she might admit that all the tales of ghostly lights and noises of late had her a little spooked. The footsteps echoed through the hall.

Min held her breath. She blew out her candle and pressed herself into the wall near the window across from the tapestry-covered alcove, half burying herself in the curtains.

The footsteps grew louder and stronger until at last they stopped a few feet from where she hid. An invisible hand reached out and yanked the draperies aside, letting the strong moonlight spill into the corridor. Min could make out the large, dark shadow of a man. She tried to keep silent. Her breath came faster, her heart beating in desperate time to her panic.

The shadow lunged.

~~~

:) Be sure to stop by Michelle Hickman's blog to see what rules she likes to break and check out Eric's tomorrow to see his rule breaking awesomeness :)

Blog Chain - Stubborn Mule the Writing Fool :D

The new chain has started and this time our lovely Laura would like to know:

What keeps you going (either trying to get an agent or to get published or finish that WIP that's kicking your butt) when you know the odds are stacked way against you? 

Great question. With an answer that kind of changes for me depending on my mood and the day and the situation :D

Always, my writer buds. I'm not sure I could have kept this up if I hadn't met the awesome people I've met. It is a huge help to have people I can turn to who understand both the lows, and highs, of this whole crazy business. And part of it is that this is just what I want to do. Plain and simple. Given that, I don't really have a choice but to keep on pluggin' on.

Plus, I'm just plain stubborn. Me =

And (according to my husband) irritatingly optimistic. :D But hey, life's too short to worry about the down side of things. Pessimism isn't fun. ;-)

What keeps you going?

Be sure to check out the hilarious Shaun's answer from yesterday and stop by the fabulous Christine's tomorrow to see how she keeps going.

Blog Chain - Getting in the "Write" Frame of Mind

Today is my turn on the blog chain. The topic for this round was chosen by the lovely Margie who wanted to know:

How do you get in the mindset of your genre? Do you research people or facts? Do you just reach into the recesses of your mind for events that would make a good story? Something else?” 

I love this question :D

My answer has sort of changed over the years. I write historicals. When I very first started, I had a hard time staying in that "historical" frame of mind, and a lot of modern terms and phrases would slip into my writing. My first book was set in Victorian England, so any time I needed help to get in the right frame of mind, I would watch An Ideal Husband. It would help ingrain the language and mannerisms before I started writing.

Since I write historicals, I do a lot of research, of course, but for the most part, I need something visual or audible to get in the right mindset. Movies help me with the language aspects of writing historicals, but for the emotional part, I'll come up with a short playlist of songs that strike the right nerve.

For the most part, I can just sit down and write. I'll go back a few pages and read and that is usually sufficient to suck me back into my storyworld, but if I need that extra help, I find a movie in the right time period or a couple of good songs :D

I'm the last link on this chain, but be sure to check out Eric's response from yesterday. And head over to Margie's blog if you'd like to follow this chain from the beginning :)

How do you get in the "write" frame of mind?

Blog Chain - It's All About Me ;-)

My turn on the blog chain today and the hilarious Cole wants to know:

How about you? What hobbies, tips, or techniques do you have for 

keeping your writerly battery charged? 

Ahhh such an awesome question. Writing is a tough job. There are lots of highs and lows and many, many hours of just plain hard work. It's easy to get burned out. It's easy to get bummed when someone else seems to be more successful than you. It's easy to get overwhelmed with blogs, and tweets, and Facebook posts, and on and on and on.

So, when I get too bogged down in it all, I stop. I stay away from my computer. I get outside and breathe real, fresh air. I watch movies (mostly comedies because nothing makes me feel better than a good laugh) and read books and maybe write, but I stay away from the internet. Aside from emails and posting on my own blog.

I think it's good to just take a step back and refocus. Get back in tune with what is really important to me. Remember my goals, remember my successes. Basically, I go totally self-centered and just focus on ME ME ME. :)

It's good to do that every now and then.

How about you? What do you do to recharge?

Be sure to stop by Eric's to see his awesome Irish Hobby Song response from yesterday, and make sure to hit Margie's tomorrow to see how she handles the writer blues. To start at the beginning of the chain, don't miss Cole's hilarious break up letter with the internet :D

Blog Chain - Expect the Unexpected

Today is my turn on the ol' Blog Chain again, and this round's topic was chosen by the absolutely amazing Sarah, who wants to know:

What has been the most unexpected part of your writing journey up to this point? What has happened that you could never have predicted? Has it been a help or a hindrance?

Awesome question. And the short answer: EVERYTHING :D

Everything about my writing journey has been unexpected. From how much I truly love it, to how much work is involved, to how many rejections one really does get (my first novel numbered close to 200), to how long (and sometimes how fast) things can happen, to the absolutely amazing friends I've met along the way.

I started out with the very misguided misconception that I could write a book, edit it a few times (myself of course, after all, I have a masters in English, I shouldn't need help, right?), send it out, and get signed within days. My first attempt at querying didn't, unfortunately, break me of this thinking because I actually lucked out and received a few requests off my horrible query letter...and one was from none other than the Godmother of Romance herself, Roberta Brown (who wasn't even accepting queries at that time but who read mine and requested a full). 

Awesome, yes. Good for my ego, yes.  Realistic, no. I was rejected, of course, but with a very nice, personal letter that praised my writing. But, it didn't take too long to learn that querying doesn't usually go as smoothly and my journey was going to be a lot longer than I thought :)

So, yeah, really EVERYTHING about this journey has been unexpected....but I can't think of any of those things that has been a hindrance. Not even the never-ending waiting and crushing disappointment. All of it serves a purpose. I've grown incredibly close to some truly amazing people while we support each other through the lows and celebrate the highs. The long hours spent working and rewriting and shredding have served to hone my craft into something that's actually publishable. I wouldn't trade a second of it. It's helped make me the writer I am now and is shaping the even better writer I will become. 

Sometimes the unexpected can be fun - like signing with my NF agent within days of querying her, getting a request from an agent or publisher I thought I had NO shot with, or meeting another awesome writer bud. 

Really, I've come to expect the unexpected along this journey. You just can't plan for anything that's going to happen, because even the things you KNOW will happen usually happen in a completely unexpected way :) 

Bottom line....I've learned to just sit back and enjoy the ride :)

What has been the most unexpected part of YOUR journey?

Make sure you stop by the ever awesome Eric's to see his answer from yesterday, and stop by Margie's on Friday to find out what she didn't expect :)

 

Blog Chain - Literary Love

My turn on the old Bloggin' Chain :D The ever awesome Shaun picked this topic. Since the chain started on Valentine's Day, Shaun wanted to know:

Who is your favorite literary couple?

This one was actually tougher for me to answer than I thought it would be. For me, it's a tie. Between:

Alex and Rane from

and Jamie and Claire from

I don't know if it's because both of the series are really long so you get to spend a lot of time with the characters or what, but both of these couples are just the epitome of devotion, passion, and undying love to me. Alex and Claire are both feisty, strong women and Rane and Jamie (a smuggler among other things and a Scottish Highland lord and outlaw and smuggler respectively (hmmm maybe I just have a thing for smugglers?)) are swoon-worthy. Just amazing couples, amazing stories, love love love them!!

Stop by Eric's blog to check out his answer from yesterday and head on over to Margie's on the 26th to see who she loves! :)

Who is your favorite literary couple?

Blog Chain - MC Fear Central

Today's Blog Tour Stops:

We have an awesome day on the Blog Tour today! I'll be featured over at:

Matt Rush's
Shaun Hutchinson's



Stop on by and leave a comment for more entries in the Grand Prize Giveaway! Matt will also be doing a giveaway so head to his blog for deets :D

Now, Blog Chain time. This topic was chosen by the lovely Christine who wants to know:

What is the main character of your current WiP MOST afraid of, and why?

 We aren't supposed to use an old WIP, but my current WIP is an old WIP that I'm rewriting so here goes :)

This is going to be short and sweet, but it's pretty straight forward :) Min is most afraid of being helpless...of having her choices taken away. Her whole motivation for everything she does in the book is to ensure that she is the master of her own life.

What is your MC most afraid of?

And, as promised a few days ago, a picture of the super huge Grand Prize Basket that will be awarded to one commenter from my Blog Tour!

The winner will receive his/her choice of T-shirt, a signed copy of my Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers, a copy of Homework Helpers: English Language and Composition, an aluminum water bottle, a spiral notebook, bookmarks, custom pens, postcards, a calendar magnet, a mouse pad, and various other stationary items and edible treats (they aren't pictured but they'll be included because, well, I like various stationary items and edible treats) :D

The more blog tour stops you comment on, the more entries you get for this drawing! Go comment! :D

Game Two Winner and Blog Chain Time!

First off.....congratulations to Game Two winner....

Toni Kerr!!!

Shoot me an email and I'll get your prize pack out to you (upon the book's release of course :D)

Second - my day on the blog chain :D

Our wonderful Sandra asked the question this round and she wanted to know:

What do you think your strengths and weaknesses as a writer are? Did you have to develop your strengths, or did they come naturally to you? How are you trying to overcome your weaknesses?

This one I had to think about. I mean, it's stuff I've thought of before. My weaknesses I'm pretty familiar with :D I love adverbs too much; I repeat things like crazy (even though I'm aware of this and try to watch for it); I take breaks that turn into month long vacations, that turn into several months long vacations (I really need to stop doing this...I might finish more than one book a year if I could reign it in...working on it :D); I don't have enough confidence in myself and my work at times (working on this one too).

How do I overcome them? Work, work, work, practice, practice, practice :) And being aware of what they are so I CAN work at them :)

My strengths....it's always so much easier to pick on the bad stuff - but, I think I'm pretty good at descriptions. Sometimes I put a little too much in there :) but for the most part, I think I do okay. I think my dialogue is pretty good - I get a lot of compliments on it.

I think one of my biggest strengths is sheer stubbornness.....I just don't give up. Sure, I get discouraged (a lot), and take breaks (many and far too long), and I teeter on the edge (I'm usually the one throwing the parties), but eventually I pull myself up by my quill straps and get back to it. Whether it's finishing a book, querying through hundreds of rejections, tackling a rough edit, or rewriting a book I just can't let go of, I'm pretty good at sticking with it.

Check out what our awesome Eric had to say yesterday and head to the lovely Amanda's blog tomorrow to see her answer :)

So what about you? What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Blog Chain - Tales of Totally Random Awesomeness

All right, my blog chain lovelies :) For our last blog chain of the year, I get the honor of picking the topic. So I thought we'd have a little fun :D Her Royal Sharkness Janet Reid often runs fun little contests in which she'll list 6 totally random words that entrants must form into 100 words or less stories. I've participated. I've enjoyed. Now I want to see what you guys can come up with :)

Soooo, thanks to my husband's awesome flip-through-the-dictionary-randomly-stopping-and-blindly-pointing-to-a-word technique, here is your task:

In 100 words or less, write a story using the words ride, post, soulless, local, dehydrator, girdle. Your story may take on any form you wish. The only two rules are 1. you can't simply list the 6 words; you must actually craft them into something creative, and 2. you must use ALL six of them.

Have fun :D Be sure to stop by Shaun's blog tomorrow to see what he comes up with! In the meantime, here is mine :)


The soulless girdle squeezed the life out of me. Every breath a fresh tidal wave of pain. But I looked good. The local boys wouldn’t know what to do with themselves. I twitched, paranoid my ridiculous undergarments would ride someplace unfortunate. I sighed. I’d never be one of those girls on the cover of the magazines, the ones that looked like they’d had one too many run-ins with a dehydrator. But I had curves no stick-post runway model would ever have. I gave my dress a final tug and stepped into the flash of camera lights. Show time. (98 words) :D

Characters on the Blog Chain and a Thanks to my Editors!

Today you get a twofer because it is both my turn on the blog chain and Thankful Tuesday (a la Christine Fonseca) - First up....the thank yous :D Today we are thanking our wonderful editors, without whom our books would quite literally suck :D

I've had the pleasure to work with several editors, along with a team of other awesome people who are working hard to get my book all polished and shiny and ready for its debut in Jan. Adam Schwartz is the awesome acquisitions editor who signed my book - he is the one who started me off on this dream come true and I am more thankful than I can say that he decided to take a chance on a new author with a tiny platform and believed in my book enough to make an offer for it. Along with Adam, Michael Pye, the senior acquisitions editor at Career Press, has been a tremendous help and has fielded several newbie questions from me with patience and kindness, for which I am eternally grateful.

Then I had the pleasure of working with my developmental editor, Kiersten Dalley. She was absolutely amazing, had incredible ideas, and even came up with an idea for a new chapter that I just love. Saying Thank You seems so inadequate, but THANK YOU!!

Most recently, I've been working with my line editor, Diana Ghazzawi - she has really helped bring my book up from just okay to pretty dang snazzy :D Just an FYI, don't ever think you'll be able to get away with anything once your editor gets a hold of it - they call you on EVERYTHING and make sure you fix it :D She helped me make my examples more fun and interesting, had me add a much-needed new first chapter, and literally went through every line of my book to make sure everything was as it should be. And fielded a million questions from me in the process. She has been amazing to work with and I am so thankful for every minute of time she spent on my book. Thanks so much Diana!

And now for our blog chain question - this one was chosen by the awesome Abby who wants to know:


Where do your characters come from? And once they've been introduced to you, how do you get to know them?

For me, it sort of depends on the character. I have characters pop into my head all the time. Sometimes they have names, sometimes not. Sometimes I change their look a bit from what I see in my head (I just lopped a finger off a character....he needed something a little more amped up than a simple facial scar like he'd had :D ) and sometimes I write them like I see them and they stay that way. There is always some aspect of their personalities that changes - with my first MC, Min, I toned down her klutziness, amped up her intelligence, made her less trusting, more ambitious, and a little more feisty than when she first appeared. The basic character of Min stayed the same, but the specifics needed tweaking.

I get to know them by writing them. I don't do character sketches or interviews or collages, though I see the value in doing them. For me personally, doing something like that, at least right off the bat, feels forced. For the most part, I write what I see for the first draft and then, with subsequent drafts, I go back through and make sure my characters are who they need to be. The more layers I add, the more times I read the manuscript, the better I get to know them and the more "real" they become to me.

Just like with any "real life" relationship - the more time I spend with my characters, the better I know them.


How do you get to know your characters? Do you craft them one characteristic at a time, or do they show up fully formed and ready to go?

Be sure to check out the lovely Laura's answer from yesterday and swing by the spectacular Shaun's tomorrow to see who his characters make themselves known.