Abby Annis

Blog Chain: The Things That Move Me

2012-01-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

This chain was started by Kate.

Post pictures, songs, movie clips, poems, or novel excerpts that make you feel. Feel what, you ask? Feel anything. Happy. Sad. Angry. Nostalgic. Hopeful. Hopeless. Jealous. Joyful.

I have read in several different places that YA novelist John Green said of his latest novel, The Fault In Our Stars that he wants to make his readers "Feel All The Things." I would love that someone could go through this blog chain and through what we all choose to post have that same Feel All The Things feeling.

Here are mine:

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"Gram is worried about me. It's not just because my sister Bailey died four weeks ago, or because my mother hasn't contacted me in sixteen years, or even because suddenly all I think about is sex. She is worried about me because one of her houseplants has spots." ~The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

I love this book. Go read it. You can thank me later. :)

And this because it makes me laugh:

I totally believe in the power of the blanket, btw. It's protected me from that Pet Semetary kid for years. ;)

Be sure to check out Christine's post from yesterday and Amparo's post tomorrow.

Blog Chain: Pieces of Me

2012-01-06T18:57:00.002-07:00

It's blog chain time again and I'm late. Despite being a short week thanks to the holiday, it's been a very long week.

This round was started by Jon.

Imagine the home(s) where you grew up, and start drawing a floor plan. As you draw, memories will surface. Grab onto one of those memories and tell us a story.

I tried to come up with one particular story, something to capture the essence of my childhood, but whenever I think of that house, it's a collage of small moments, a thousand little things.

Sharing a tiny bedroom with my three younger sisters. Torture for a teenage girl, but I survived.

Sitting in my older (and only) brother's room, planning a novel for which we never came up with a premise, much less any sort of plot. But it was going to make us rich and famous, of course.

Kittens, kittens, and more kittens. So very many kittens.

The summer monsoons followed by a plague of baby toads, which we gathered in buckets and brought home. I always loved those tiny toads.

Rain coming down in buckets. I used to sit at the window and watch it flood the road in front of our house until it flowed over the edge of the sidewalk. An Arizona thunderstorm is still one of my favorite things to watch.

The smell of orange blossoms from the groves that surrounded our street. We loved to play hide and seek (and whatever else we could think of) in those orange groves--totally against the rules--and never got in trouble because we never got caught.

Or hopping the fence to swim in the irrigation ditch behind our house--also against the rules and we did get caught a few times but that didn't stop us. I mean, it was an irrigation ditch. Hours of endless fun.

Hanging out in the kitchen with my mom, learning to make bread, and fudge, and pies. For being the diet queen, my mom always made the best fattening foods.

Many hours at the kitchen table with my mom, learning to sew, or just talking for hours about anything and everything.

And late nights with my mom and sisters spent laughing at nothing. A sound that still echoes in my thoughts whenever I think about that house.

What about you? Anything about your childhood home you want to share?

Be sure to check out Michelle's post from Wednesday and Amparo's post today. :)

Blog Chain: Where and When

2011-12-02T10:02:00.001-07:00

This round of the chain was started by Tere. She asked:

What conditions do you need to get your best writing done? Closed door, crowded coffee house? Computer or notebook? Can you just sit down to write, or do you need to wait for the time to be right?

This varies for me. If I'm on a roll, I can usually tune everything out (TV, video game noise, fighting children) and just write. Okay, that's not entirely true. My oldest daughter has recently developed the habit of listening to her current favorite song over and over and over. And over. This is VERY distracting and does stop me from making progress.

Any other time, if I'm stuck or I find that I'm easily distracted by email, Facebook, Twitter, and other internet things, it usually means the story isn't going in the right direction. Once I realize this is happening--I'm slow, so sometimes it takes me a while--I'll grab a notebook and move somewhere without immediate access to my computer. And in this situation, I need quiet, so I can think.

Now, I'm not saying I can't find ways to procrastinate with just a pen and paper. My notebooks are filled with doodles in the margins and in between paragraphs. But those are usually pretty mindless and help me think. And I don't know what it is about notebooks, but they have this magical way of getting me unstuck. One time, I was stuck on a scene for over a week. Every time I sat down and opened Word, I made no progress. But as soon as I turned to the notebook, it all worked itself out, and it only took me a couple of hours. Totally magical. ;)

As far as time of day or location, it doesn't matter. With kids, I've had to learn to be flexible.

What conditions do you need to get your best writing done?

Be sure to check out Jon's post from Wednesday and Amparo's post tomorrow. :)

Blog Chain: Greatest Accomplishment

2011-11-18T20:46:00.002-07:00

This round was started by Michelle Hickman. She asked:

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?

I'd like to say I've accomplished a lot over the years, but my life seems to be filled with many, many half-finished projects and ideas that probably could've gone somewhere if I hadn't gotten bored with them. At one point, I thought maybe my kids were an accomplishment, but truthfully, they're really only halfway to adulthood. Not that I'm giving up on them, not at all, but most of the time, I think the accomplishment belongs to them, for surviving another day with me as their nutso mother. ;)

Two years ago I probably would've said my greatest accomplishment was that I'd written a novel, start to finish. And I could've stopped there, patted myself on the back, and congratulated myself on actually finishing something. But now I know it wasn't really finished, and I think deep down I knew it then too. My subconscious just knew better than to make me aware of that fact because it probably would've stopped me from moving forward. I mean, a year to rewrite the entire thing from scratch and then another nine months to do it again? Talk about daunting.

So, at this point, I'll say my greatest writerly accomplishment is sticking with that story until it was as good as I could make it, despite HATING it at least 50% of the time I was working on it. Now I just have to muster the courage to query the thing. I know I said I sent a query out a couple of weeks ago (and I did), but that one doesn't really count since it came with a safety net. It's those this is your ONE chance to impress me queries that keep stalling me. Maybe that'll be my actual greatest accomplishment: hitting send on an email. ;)

What about you? What is your greatest accomplishment, writing or otherwise?

Be sure to check out Jon's post from Tuesday and Amparo's post tomorrow. :)

The Hunger Games!!!

2011-11-14T10:51:00.001-07:00

Can't wait! :)

Blog Chain: My Favorite Monster

2011-11-05T14:58:00.000-06:00

It's blog chain time again. This round was started by one of our awesome new members, Matthew MacNish. He asked:

What is your all-time favorite monster? You can take this in any direction you'd like. For example: my most bad-ass monster would easily be a dragon, and it is my favorite in some ways, but you don't have to go with that kind of measurement. Like me, you could go with the most ridiculously hilarious monster you ever heard of, or, like Stephanie Meyer, you could go with the most romantic creature to ever grace the pages of mythology. Or like Carrie Ryan, you could choose the old standby: Zombies. One alone might not be much to handle, but the horde is probably the single most powerful monster force ever invented in gaming, film, literature, or legend. It's up to you: what's your favorite monster?

As much as I love Halloween, this should've been an easy one for me, but I can't really come up with a favorite. Other than loving dragons when I was younger, I've never been that big on monsters.

That doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good scare. In fact, I love scary movies. I just prefer something more psychological than physical, I guess. :)

The first scary movie I ever watched was The Watcher in the Woods. Now, I know that movie isn't that scary, but it's pretty creepy, and I was young, maybe seven or eight, so it scared me. A LOT. But that didn't stop me from watching it over and over till I'd memorized most of the lines. ;)

Anyway, since I can't come up with a favorite, I guess I'll go with the one that has scared me the most. And maybe I'm cheating a little because I'm not sure if this is technically a monster, but the kid from Pet Semetary totally freaked me out. I saw that movie when I was thirteen and I couldn't sleep with my feet outside the covers for years. Even now, the thought of that little dude slicing through that guy's Achilles tendon gives me the heebie jeebies. *shivers* Shield your ankles, people! ;)

So, what about you? What's your all-time favorite monster?

Be sure to check out Christine's post from yesterday and Amparo's post tomorrow.

NaNo... Out... Mo?

2011-11-01T05:00:00.001-06:00

I'm sure all of you are aware that NaNoWriMo starts today. I thought about participating, but I just can't write that fast. I'm too much of a perfectionist. Yes, I realize getting over perfectionism is a really good reason to do NaNoWriMo, but I think it would be counterproductive for me. I tried it once, for a week and a half, and I wrote a lot (around 18,000 words). But I got so burnt out, I couldn't write anything for like a month. So, yeah, not happening.

I'm a pantser through and through, but I think I might be able to outline successfully if I really dedicate myself. So that's what I'm gonna do. I've had a story bouncing around in my head for several months now as I've been wrapping up the last round of rewrites on Embrol. And now that I'm querying Embrol--first query goes out today (yikes!)--Descent can finally have my undivided attention. Poor Descent. So neglected. ;)

Armed with my shiny new copy of Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success by K. M. Weiland, my goal is to have my whole story completely mapped out by the end of November. And the number one rule is NO WRITING. This will be hard so for me. Every time I try to outline I only make it through three or four chapters before I just want to get going on it already and then it's bye-bye outline and hello 7000 rewrites. :(

So, who's with me? Any pantsers out there who want to join me? Maybe we can form a support group. ;)

Good luck to everyone doing NaNo!

Query Contest

2011-10-31T08:10:00.002-06:00

To celebrate her move to Nancy Coffey Literary, Suzie Townsend is doing an awesome query contest. Submit your query to her between 9-10 am EDT tomorrow and she'll respond with complete honesty. Totally scary, but so awesome at the same time.

Plus, in the comments she said that if you query her for the contest and she rejects you, you can resubmit your revised query later as a regular query. And if you've queried her before and been rejected, you can still submit to the contest. So cool, right?

You can check out all the details, here. Don't wait. The entry window is really small. Good luck to all of you who enter! :)

Spaghettification: Making Up Words for Your Story

2011-10-24T11:49:00.001-06:00

For those of you who are not familiar with black holes, spaghettification is a real-life term used to describe how the gravity of a black hole (or anything with a very strong gravitational pull) affects objects that get too close and are subsequently sucked in to their deaths or maybe transported to another place or time. Lots of sci-fi possibilities in black holes. If you want a more detailed explanation, you can find one here.

I'm not a scientist, so I don't know how frequently this term is used outside of television (I watch a lot of astronomy shows because I'm a huge nerd), but every time I hear it, it makes me laugh. And the last episode I watched on black holes had the black holes rolling around in space looking like space Roombas, so I don't think that helped.

And then at the end of that episode, the narrator said something to the effect of, "Black holes truly are the masters of the universe." Which could only lead to this:

Because I have nothing else I should be using my time for. ;)

Anyway, the use of the term spaghettification (and my amusement over it) got me thinking about how it applies to writing. Doesn't everything apply to writing?

If you write in the worlds of science fiction and fantasy, you've probably, at some point, had the need to make up words unique to your worlds. But how do you know what works and what doesn't? You don't want the reader to laugh because it sounds too ridiculous or totally made-up.

Personally, nothing pulls me out of a story like a made-up swear word. I know that most pretend worlds wouldn't have the same swear words that we do, but most of the made-up ones sound silly and we all know what they're supposed to replace so why not just use the real thing? Okay, so that may or may not be one of my pet peeves. ;)

In my own writing, if I need to come up with a world-specific word or even a name, I'll usually turn to other languages and try to find something I can tweak to fit my world. Or I might type the meaning into a baby naming site and see if there's something I can use there, and not just for names. I've come up with at least one world-specific word using a baby naming site. Even then, I'm not always sure that what I've come up with is working. I just try to go with what feels and sounds right for the story.

And I always google the word to make sure it doesn't already exist. Except for when I forget to do that and one of my crit partners has to point out that one of my character names is a gelato flavor. :)

What about you? How do you feel about made-up words in stories? Have you made up any words for your own stories? If so, how did you go about it?

Backing Up

2011-10-17T10:25:00.001-06:00

You'd think I would've learned this lesson already.

Friday morning, I sat down at my computer to find that some "wonderful" updates from Microsoft had been applied during the night and my computer had been rebooted automatically. I'd saved everything I was working on, so no big deal. Well, except that the computer kept locking up. So I restarted it, since that usually corrects any issues.

That was the beginning of the end. Okay, so maybe it wasn't that dramatic, but when it got stuck on the welcome screen (probably not the actual name of the screen) and refused to boot, I freaked out a little. Other than the whole I can't write without my computer concern (yes, I know technically I can still write without my computer), I was mostly worried because it's been at least six months since I backed up my hard drive, probably a lot longer.

Periodically, I will save my WIP to my hard drive and then to a flash drive where I keep the most recent version, plus I recently uploaded it to my crit group and printed it out, so I knew that was okay. My photos and all my other documents, on the other hand, are only on my hard drive. Fortunately, my computer is setup with a recovery program, so I was able to go in and backup all my files--four very stressful hours, especially when it got stuck at 89% for over twenty minutes, but it did work.

Then it took three tries, but System Restore finally decided to cooperate (I swear System Restore HATES me) and I haven't had any problems with it since. Well, except for my Norton Internet Security which either got damaged in the process or was the cause of the problem (and probably the reason System Restore hates me), but that's taken care of, too.

So, my point? Remember to backup your files on a regular basis. This could've been so much worse. Losing my writing would be hard, but my photos? I once lost six months of photos (including my youngest daughter's first birthday) thanks to a computer crash and I was sick for a week. It still makes me a little nauseous when I think about it.

What about all of you? Do you backup your computer regularly? Is it set up to run automatically or do you run it manually each time? Anyone using an online backup system? If so, how do you like it?

Photo credit.

Writer Therapy

2011-10-12T10:16:00.000-06:00

Ever had one of these days?

I've threatened to do this many times, but have never followed through.

Just using a lighter does not work. Plain old matches don't work either. The stack is too dense to get hot enough fast enough. I finally spread out some dryer lint across the top and that got it going really strong. Dryer lint is SUPER flammable. If you feel compelled to do this, you'll probably want to do it outside on a grill or something else non-flammable. You know, so you don't set your house on fire. :)

And now I smell like smoke, but I do feel better. :)

How do you vent your writerly frustrations?

Blog Chain: Critter Love

2011-10-08T10:56:00.000-06:00

This round of the chain was started by Sarah. She asked:

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

I have to say, I smiled when I read this round's topic. This is an easy one for me. :)

Yes, I have critique partners. I belong to a the best critique group with three awesome writers. Love you, Tere, Plamena, and Jade! I also have a few other people who I've swapped manuscripts with and gotten great, honest feedback.

My longest standing crit partners (and writerly friends) I met through Query Tracker. If you're looking for critters, QT is an excellent place to start. Lots of helpful folks over there. I think I've found all my other critters through blogging or through other crit partners.

Having crit partners has had a HUGE impact on my writing. Sure, it was super scary putting my work out there for the first time, but I don't think I ever would've realized what a crapfest my first draft was without the awesome people who were willing to read and comment on that crapfest. And no, crapfest is not an exaggeration. It was so bad. The people who read it and didn't tell me it was hopeless should be given medals. And chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. ;)

And the emotional and mental support I've received from my crit partners (especially Tere--you rock!) can't be measured. I really could not do this writing thing without them.

I've heard horror stories about critique partners from Hell, so I consider myself truly blessed that I've connected with so many great writers and gotten so much helpful feedback. And now I'm totally addicted to critiques. Seriously, I think I might like feedback a little too much. ;)

I know I've shared this before, but I believe this commercial shows the critique process very well--painful, but necessary--and it makes me laugh every time I watch it. :)

What about you? Do you have crit partners? How have they influenced you?

Be sure to check out Christine's post from yesterday and Amparo's post tomorrow. :)

This Made Me Laugh...

2011-10-03T09:03:00.002-06:00

Happy Monday! :)

Pinterest is Awesomely Evil and a Kindle Giveaway

2011-09-26T09:42:00.001-06:00

First of all, Pinterest will be my undoing. Seriously, what was I thinking joining this site? Having said that, have you joined Pinterest yet? Why not?! It's so awesome! I can almost convince myself it's productive procrastination. ;)

Second, have you heard about the official launch of K.M. Weiland's book Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success?

She's giving away a Kindle and over $100 worth of craft books, plus a bunch of other prizes to celebrate!

I know I'm a pantser and you're probably wondering why I'm promoting this, but through her videos featuring the first chapter of her book, Weiland has convinced me to give outlining an honest try. Maybe if I can master it, my next book won't take me a million years to finish. ;)

Want more info about the book? Here are links to the videos that reeled me in:

Should You Outline Your Novel? - Book Trailer for Outlining Your Novel, Pt. 1 of 3

Misconceptions About Outlining - Book Trailer for Outlining Your Novel, Pt. 2 of 3

Benefits of Outlining - Book Trailer for Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success, Pt. 3 of 3

And a link to the giveaway: Win a Kindle and over $100 in writing craft books!

In addition to the book, K.M. Weiland's blog is awesome. You know that short list of blogs you check every single day regardless of how much time you actually have to blog? If you're a writer, her blog should be on that list.

Blog Chain: You Keep Me Hangin' On

2011-09-22T10:05:00.000-06:00

This round was started by Shaun. He asked:

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?

This one was hard for me to answer. Before I started writing, I rarely put a book down because it didn't grab me right away. Now, I'm not so patient. There are just so many books I want to read, and my time is so limited, that if it doesn't hook me right away, I'm probably going to put it down and move on to the next one.

And this is why I've rewritten my opening 7,483 times. <That might be a slight exaggeration. ;)

Okay, here are my three. Please don't throw rocks at me for the first one. *ducks*

1. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Even though this is one of the best books I've ever read, it took me a really long time to get into it. But everyone kept telling me I had to read it, so I persevered. And of course, once I was in, I was in. Excellent story, characters, pacing. If you haven't read it... Wait, are there still people who haven't read this book? ;)

2. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. She uses a lot of description, which made it difficult for me to get going on the first one. And some of the dialogue is kind of cheesy and over the top. But there's something so compelling about her stories and her characters, that even with a slow start, I'll keep reading, because I know it'll suck me in eventually and ultimately be a fun read.

3. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. It's been almost twenty years (that number can't be right o.O) since I first read this book and I can still remember slogging through the prologue and wondering what was happening and if the whole book was going to be that confusing. But my dad insisted it was good and that I'd like it, especially after flying through the Lord of the Rings trilogy in a month. And he was right. I love the whole Wheel of Time series and I've read Eye of the World at least four times and the rest at least twice. Well, up to book 10. At this point, I'm waiting until all the books have been released so I can start over from the beginning and read straight through. :)

What about you? Any books you recommend that might not hook you right away but are worth it in the end?

Be sure to check out Christine's picks from yesterday and Amparo's picks tomorrow. :)

Done!!!

2011-09-21T14:38:00.000-06:00

I know I've been MIA, but I've been in my writing cave, wrapping up my rewrite. And now I'm done!

Now life can get back to normal. Ha! If there is such thing. ;)

Blog Chain: It's Writing Time!

2011-09-02T17:51:00.001-06:00

It's blog chain time again already! This round started just yesterday with Christine.

Since we are all writers, 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 choose.

The topic: A dark and stormy night.

This is a possible scene from my currently on the back burner WIP, Descent. I say possible because most of it is still in my head and the plot is unclear at this point. I know it's rough. I just whipped it out this afternoon, so I apologize in advance if it's awful. I can never be objective about something I've just written.

*****

I winced as a branch slid off Ethan and snapped me in the face. Again.

“Almost there,” he said for the thousandth time. Apparently, he only thought he knew where we were going. “Sorry it’s taking so long, Brynn. I’ve never hiked it in the dark.”

Another apology. He should change his name to Repeat. I took a deep breath. My crappy situation wasn’t his fault. Unfortunately for him, he just happened to be in the line of fire. And he was being way too nice about it.

“It’s okay,” I said, forcing a tight smile. “You’re sure Luke’s there? Because if he’s not…” Out of money and things to sell, this was my last chance. If Luke wasn’t there, I couldn’t afford to get home. Not that there was any reason to go back without him.

“He’s there.” Ethan put his arm around my shoulders—like he’d known me more than four hours—and gave me a half-hug. “Maybe seeing you will help him remember something.”

“Maybe.” I slipped out from under his arm and trudged ahead. If Luke really had memory loss, that would explain why he never came home, but it still stung that he could forget me so easily.

“So…” Ethan said, stumbling behind me. Good thing we didn’t need to be quiet. “Are you like Luke?”

“What do you mean, like Luke?”

“Uh, you know…”

I did know, but I didn’t want to talk about with him.

He cleared his throat. “Can you fly?”

“No.” We all had unique abilities, but that was none of Ethan’s business. If Luke wanted to tell random strangers he could fly, that was his choice.

The path ended abruptly, opening into a clearing in front of a small, wooden building. It was completely dark except for one narrow window illuminated by a dim, flickering light. I peered through the glass, my whole body trembling, and there he was, staring into the fire.

Luke was alive. A weight I hadn’t noticed slipped from my shoulders.

“You wanna…?” Ethan stopped behind me as a cute brunette walked into the room. “What’s Daisy doing here?”

Daisy? She wrapped her arms around Luke’s waist. He didn’t hesitate before he returned the embrace and kissed her on the forehead.

I barely noticed the biting wind that picked up, swirling around Ethan and me. A distant thought told me this was something I should be concerned about, but all I could see was Luke with that girl. He glanced up at the ceiling as freezing rain began to drum the metal roof. It quickly turned into a downpour, drenching me in seconds.

Ethan tugged on my arm, saying something about going inside, but I didn’t really hear him. I just stared, unable to move, as Luke pulled Daisy closer. How could he forget me so completely? Thunder rumbled in the distance. She slipped her hands into his dark hair and pulled his lips to hers.

Lightning struck a tree to my right. Then the tiny porch. That got their attention. And mine.

“Crap,” I mumbled.

“What the hell?” Ethan backed away from me, pointing at the tiny arcs of electricity crackling over my fingers. “You are like him.”

*****

Thanks for reading!

Want to participate? Feel free to take the topic and post your own story on your blog. Be sure to leave me a link so I can check it out.

Don't miss Amparo's post tomorrow. :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Photo credit

Blog Chain: Changes in Publishing

2011-08-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

The blog chain is back! This round was started by Sandra. She asked:

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

At this point, I'm going to say no. I haven't queried anything in quite a while, so I'm still in that delusional "I'm going to get published no matter what, because I'm awesome" mindset. Well, most days anyway. Today isn't one of those days, but yesterday was, so I'm sure I'll get back to that soon.

I'm really close to the end of my rewrites, so maybe I'll change my mind later, but for now I'm hoping to go the traditional route. Besides, I want to be able to hold my book, and I really want to see my book on a shelf in a bookstore with a pretty hardcover. Aim high, right? ;)

So what about you? Have the changes in publishing affected your writing plans?

Be sure to check out Christine's post from yesterday and Amparo's tomorrow. :)

Totally Random Friday: Tagged

2011-08-26T13:56:00.001-06:00

I've been tagged by the very awesome Rebecca Knight. The rules state I have to tell you 10 random facts about myself and then tag four other bloggers. I've done this a few times before, so it was harder than I expected to come up with some new stuff, but here's what I got:

1. I'm left-handed, but I still feel more natural doing a lot of things with my right hand. Like throwing a ball or a punch. Or shooting a rifle. Tennis. Serving the ball in volleyball. Though I do bat and play miniature golf left-handed.

2. #1 makes me sound like an athletic person, which is really funny, because I'm about as far from athletic (and coordinated) as a person can get.

3. When I was in fifth grade I wrote a report on... um... I don't remember what it was about, but I was particularly proud of the writing. My teacher returned it with a lot of red marks and the words "Don't copy from the book" (I didn't, jerk teacher) written in big letters across the top. Turned me off on putting any effort into anything I wrote for a very long time.

4. I love paper. Especially the particularly heavy paper that feels all soft and smooth between my fingers. And scrapbook paper. I think the only reason I ever started scrapbooking was so I would have an excuse to buy the paper, because it always made me sad to have to cut it up and actually, you know, scrapbook. ;)

5. Same with books. I enjoy reading them, but I LOVE the way they look on my shelf. :)

6. I met my husband when I was nineteen at a Beastie Boys concert. Dated for two months. Engaged for three months. We'll be very happily married sixteen years in November.

7. When I was a kid, my brother and sister and I started a band called Electric Zodiac. Our instruments: the flute and the piano. Totally rockin', right? We were going to learn how to play the guitar and the drums. Someday. Maybe. For some reason we never actually made any music. ;)

8. Also when I was a kid, my brother and sister and I decided we were going to write a book. I don't think we ever made it past "It was a dark and stormy night." Yeah. Awesome.

9. I prefer to eat fried chicken cold, the day after it's made.

10. If I'm listening to music on shuffle, it drives me crazy when someone scrolls through and selects a specific song, interrupting the shuffle. Feels like they're messing with the natural order of things.

And that's it. Super exciting stuff, I know. Okay, now for the taggees. I'm going to pick on some of my newest bloggy friends:

AveryMarsh
Katrina Lantz
JRuud
Rachel Brooks

Happy Friday, everyone! :)

Brain Science According to the Experts

2011-08-24T11:08:00.000-06:00

I was going to do a Word Tip Wednesday post today, but I'm too lazy. And with my kids home it would probably take me a solid ten hours (not exaggerating) to put it together, so I'll wait. School starts Monday, so next week, for sure. :)

This episode of Look Around You goes along with the post I did on Monday, and though it's absolutely ridiculous, it's too awesomely hilarious not to share. Enjoy!

Happy Wednesday, everyone! :)

WANTED: Stream of Consciousness Recorder

2011-08-22T12:10:00.000-06:00

Recorder should be especially accurate in capturing the perfect phrasing for my query letter that runs through my mind right before I fall asleep. I need it as soon as possible, so if you have a Stream of Consciousness Recorder I can borrow or you know where I can get one, please let me know in the comments. ;)

Disappearing for a while...

2011-07-19T11:15:00.000-06:00

I know I haven't been super-present lately, anyway, but I'm going to be unplugging for a while. I've got a million things going on (so much for life slowing down in the summer) and WriteOnCon is coming up next month. Can't wait!

My rewrite is so close, I'm hoping to have it done and polished before then. With my kids home all day, every day, the distractions seem to be never ending. So by eliminating a big one, like the Internet, hopefully I'll be able to get this sucker finished.

When I return, I'll try to get back to a more regular blogging schedule. I already have more Word Tip Wednesdays planned. :)

I hope you're all having a fabulous summer! See you in a few weeks!

Winner!!

2011-07-12T14:50:00.002-06:00

Congrats Donna K. Weaver!!!

You're the winner of LEGACY OF THE EMPRESS by Rebecca Knight!

Click on the contact button on the right and shoot me an email and we'll get you your prize! :)

How Did I Get Here?

2011-07-11T12:01:00.000-06:00

Seems like it doesn't matter how many people are ahead of me, if I have several books on hold at the library they all become available at the same time. So I've been reading a lot more than usual lately and something has happened in a couple of books that made me step back and wonder if this was something that actually happened to real people.

The basic idea of this "event" is that the main character is so distraught/hurt/grief-stricken/angry/whatever that she goes wandering around the city (guided by her subconscious, of course) and ends up at some random place (usually a good distance from where she started) that is exactly where she needs to be. And then she says or thinks something along the lines of, "How did I wind up here? Oh, yeah. It must be because [insert some story-related reason]." Or worse, she just happens to be wherever she needs to be to witness something important, but that's another issue entirely.

Now, I'm not saying I've never been driving somewhere and unintentionally taken the wrong road out of habit because I wasn't paying attention--like starting to drive to work because I do it every day--but I don't think I've ever gone anywhere unintentionally because my subconscious knew that was where I needed be. Maybe it's just that I'm a very deliberate person (and a control freak) and I tend to think three or four steps ahead so a situation like this would never happen to me? Maybe I'm not that different from anyone else and this kind of situation wouldn't happen in real life?

What do you all think? Has something like this actually happened to anyone? Or do you think this is just another overused literary device to get a character from point A to point B? Do things like this yank you out of the story?

Time's Almost Up!

2011-07-10T14:31:00.000-06:00

Only a few more hours to enter...