The idea for this post grew out of one discovery this weekend, so 10 truly awesome writing things may be a stretch (especially on only one cup of tea), but for you, my wonderful and amazing blog readers, I am going to give it one heck of a rah-rah try! So let’s get started!

1. Are you like me and have been looking for music to write to, but tunes without words? Try Vitamin String Quartet. I’ve had their String Quartet Tribute to Pixies for years, but didn’t know this was the same group until I was looking up another song this weekend. Check out their YouTube channel. I am just quivering with all of this new music!

2. Need something to jar you loose, goose your muse? Try StumbleUpon–it’s not a deep dark time-suck, it’s a tasty buffet for the creative neighborhoods of your brain! (And don’t blame me if you get pulled under–blame L.A. Mitchell, because she’s the one who infected me!)

3. Speaking of L.A., visit a group blog she’s associated with, the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood.  This is an amazing group of writers who have one thing in common–they were all finalists in the 2009 Golden Heart competition. They run a blog that I think could benefit anybody who writes–fabulous lessons, Q&As, tips and tricks–you name it, it’s there.

4. Twitter. No, I’m serious here. Get thee over to Twitter and follow or bookmark authors, agents, editors, organizations, groups and more. I have learned more about the publishing world in those 140 little characters than I have in days of blog-surfing. The recent kerfluffle with Amazon and MacMillan? All I needed to know I could find through my Twitter feeds. Start with Publishers Weekly and Writers Digest. 

5. Check out this great post from legend Teresa Medeiros. I’m especially fond of #5.

6. You know of my love for Blake Snyder and his Save the Cat method of screenwriting. Even though Blake is gone, his site lives on, and somebody over there recently did a beat sheet for Inglourious Basterds. As much as I love Blake, I love Quentin Tarantino, so this was amazing to me. (There’s also beat sheets for Avatar, Precious, and The Hurt Locker, and it looks like more to come–check them out!)

I’m starting to feel like this now:

Okay, onward and upward!

7. Speaking of awesome writing sites/blogs, get thee over to J.A. Konrath’s site. Not only is his blog amazing, but his whole site is. Do yourself a favor and spend some time there exploring what he’s offering. It is a-maze-ing!

8. One cool site I picked up from J.A.’s blog was Genrefinity. Now, I have to admit I don’t visit the site that much, but I do subscribe to their podcasts. They discuss primarily sci-fi, fantasy and horror so where I’m not looking to them to provide me with the newest and greatest in historical romance, I do love listening to their reviews on tv shows and movies.

9. Go to google and search for whatever town/city you prefer along with ‘book festival’ and then go to it! (Usually they’re free.) I adore book festivals and they are excellent chances to meet authors–anywhere from NYT bestsellers to debut authors excited to talk to a potential reader. Go listen to the presentations, get your books signed. I have discovered more great reads this way and every author has been so nice!

10. And how could I not have a little funny for #10?

Well, the rain worked. Wednesday (when I was home because the tree guy was pruning our storm-damaged tree) I wrote 7 pages, and if I may say so, damn were they good pages! Once scene was especially heartwrenching for my heroine and I kept tearing up. I prayed for peace during those moments so not only would I not have to break that emotional hold on my character, but so the tree guy wouldn’t wonder why the heck I was crying in the middle of the afternoon!

So, the book has picked up again, and if you follow me on Twitter, you’d know I had a fabulous, drool-causing idea pop into my head last night, so I have my laptop scheduled for life beyond the WIP. (Yeah, like I wouldn’t have anyway.) Life is delicious, my friends.

And, since it’s Friday, and since I’m in such a rockin’ good mood, I’m leaving you with a video from my #1 favorite band in the entire world–Great Big Sea. (This is the song that got me turned on to them, so maybe it’ll have the same effect on you, eh? *insert cheeky New Foundland wink here*) Have a great weekend, and enjoy!!!

P.S. The lead singer is Alan Doyle, who plays minstrel Alan-a-Dale in the new Russell Crowe Robin Hood movie. How’s that for perfect casting?

I was never able to see the sailboat in those 3-D posters that were such the rage some years back, but that’s okay. My characters have finally popped out of the background to become complex, crunchy, flesh and blood, dark and twisty hopeless cases. And it’s gray and rainy.

Dang, it’s a beautiful day.

Wow. It’s only Tuesday, but I must say “What a week!” The universe is sending some nice things to me, and I am paying attention. It feels nice, too. December had some pea-green and baby-puke orange shades of craptacular, so this new colorful and sparkly rainbow is a pretty pretty thing, indeed. And I thought, what better way to acknowledge this than to bring out the old chestnut Tuesday Ten?  So my list today is things to be happy about—it’s all about sharing the love, people.

1. Got an email yesterday that just made my day. Can’t say much more about it at this point in time, but I’ll be smiling for weeks over this one.
2. The third book in Heidi Betts fabulous Chicks with Sticks trilogy is coming out in exactly two weeks, and I am busting at the seams to read it. I loved Tangled Up In You, I devoured Loves Me, Loves Me Knot, so it only follows that Knock Me for a Loop is going to be as sexy, funny, and sassy as the first two!
3. On a similar note, registration for RWA Nationals opens on February 1^st. (That’s a day under two weeks.) Since I had to miss last year’s conference, I am twice as stoked this year and cannot wait to see all of you again (or for the first time, as some cases may be.) And it’s in Nashville? It’s-Gonna-Be-A-Hoot-Ville, party of 2,000!
4. Glee won the Golden Globe for Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical. That was a fun moment to watch. April cannot come soon enough for me!
5. I’ve had some other books start talking to me recently, and it feels good. I think those voices are also freeing up my WIP, so the butt’s been in the chair more, the fingers on the keyboard, too.
6. Got to go to the Apple shop on Sunday for a few extras for the laptop. Not only do I always love a visit to the Apple shop, I’m excited to get my baby purring even better.
7. It is gray and rainy here, and being such a rare thing (plus a weather state I love like cookies), I am enjoying it to its utmost. It’s supposed to last all week, so break out the sweaters, tea, and umbrellas! (I know, I always have tea, but somehow it tastes different when it’s raining.)
8. I got to see somebody very special this past weekend, somebody I haven’t seen in years, and once again, I find myself wishing she lived closer, or vice versa. However, I’ll take a little bit over none at all any day!
9. Let’s go for some everyday fun and happy–CakeWrecks, CuteOverload, GraphJam, and in one of the best video/posts/events in human history ever, click here.
10. Did I mention Nationals? In Nashville? In a hotel with its own indoor boat? Yeah, that’s absolutely worth a second listing.

 Here’s to a great week for everybody, and thanks for stopping by!!!

So, I’ve been struggling with MySpace for a while, and since no answers have hit my brain, thought I’d turn to you wonderful people for some insight.

In a nutshell, MySpace–Dead or Alive? (You spin me right round baby, right round, like a record baby…sorry. 80’s flashback.)

I find months go by that I’m not on (being sucked into Twitter and Facebook instead), but when I do log on, I see people have checked out my page (or the blog, at least.) I also see a lot of friends still on there, so either it works for them or they just enjoy being on there.

So here’s where I need your help–please vote on the poll (great for you lurkers!) or post a comment below on your thoughts and opinions on MySpace. I’m just curious to hear what other people think about this once mighty site. 

Take a deep breath. Smell that? That, my friends, is a new year. Many, many things are scheduled for these new and lovely months and I’d like to celebrate just a few of them. Let’s review, shall we?

• The Winter Olympics in Vancouver
• Awards shows (the Golden Globes, the Oscars)
• The release of Apple’s delicious and mysterious iPad
• RWA’s 30^th anniversary, including the national convention in Nashville

And, let us not forget the most basic, the most beguiling of a new year—a new beginning. New Year is second to me under the ‘Fresh Start’ category (the first, being of course, Labor Day/Back to School) so it is a time to look ahead with clear fresh eyes and see how far that horizon goes.

This year? 2010? The horizon is endless, my friends. I am feeling the potential of this year like Armstrong and Aldrin about to walk on the moon. I am looking ahead and seeing events that are going to inspire me, people who are going to encourage me, stories that are going to delight me, and opportunities that are going to amaze me.

In the words of Walt Whitman, “I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.”

Take a deep breath, friends. It’s time to yawp.

With the holidays coming up, as well as the fact I want to get some heavy word counts logged before the new year, I’m going to be taking a break for the next two weeks. I hope you have a very happy holiday season, and wish everybody a peaceful and successful 2010. My gift to you is this video, which always takes me right back to high school. Enjoy.

(They all look so young! And check out those awesome 80’s hair styles. Mullets, anyone? Except for Sting, who seems to be rocking a grown-out bowl cut. God, I miss the 80’s.)

Okay, Baz Luhrmann I’m not, but that’s okay–he’s no Pamela Cayne.

(P.S. To get rid of the gobbledegook when you’re watching, move your mouse off the Vimeo screen.)

Bazinga.

Hello, fabulous blog readers. I apologize for leaving you stranded last week, but obviously my technical difficulties were more difficult than originally thought. Just to keep you updated, my book trailer is done and I am bouncing from toe to toe to post it to the world, but every time I try and upload it onto YouTube, the picture plays, but there is no sound. I briefly thought about letting it rip anyway, but once I really thought about it, I realized how crazy I was being. I mean, really–why not just go all the way then and have Buffy without Willow and Xander, or peanut butter without chocolate. It’s insane people– just insane!  So I keep trying and will post my trailer as soon as I can. At this rate, it’ll be your Christmas present.

What else? I’m still writing. Had a bit of a post-Nano slow-down, but the little engine is still chugging away. I don’t know if the girls in the basement are helping or if I’m just in a wacky coincidence zone, but I’m getting ideas on how to really crunch things up from a book I’m reading about the HBO show Deadwood (if you can believe it.) I also found another great song for my soundtrack on So You Think  You Can Dance. So even by not writing that much, the book is still cooking along.

Yesterday I started getting back into my Michael Hauge teachings. I have a few of his seminars on my iPod, but yesterday was the start of a 3-hour DVD he did with Christopher Vogler (of The Writer’s Journey). Here’s a description of the set: 

If you’re looking for valuable instruction and some extra inspiration for your writing, look no further than The Hero’s Two Journeys DVD series. Whether you’re a screenwriter, producer, novelist, playwright, actor, game designer, or just anyone who loves to tell a good story, then this is the tool for you. Two of Hollywood’s best teachers come together to coach you in the art of storytelling, sharing more than 10 hours worth of insight and writing technique. Be a student of this screenwriting workshop from the comfort of your own home! Michael Hauge, script consultant and author of Writing Screenplays That Sell; and Chris Vogler, story analyst and author of The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers, discuss their views of story structure, character arc, and plot.

DVD 1: The Outer Journey: Explains the important structural principles that move any successful plot forward.

DVD 2: The Inner Journey: The deeper aspects that form the heart of the story. The Hero’s self is experienced or revealed.

DVD 3: The Journeys of Erin Brockovich

My plan is to make my way through it all this week and let those little gems sink in as I’m writing. I already had such a moment this morning, but may save the story for later. (It starts out kinda like a joke–what do you get if you cross Michael Hauge and Fiddler on the Roof? The inside of Pam’s brain!) I realized lately I’ve been slacking off on listening to my craft and writing seminars and that’s just bad! They do such a great job of inspiring me, giving me little tips and tricks that give me new layers to my stories, that I really should queue them up more. Yeah, sure it’s fun to listen to the Glee soundtrack or Buffy’s Once More With Feeling and belt out the words in the privacy (and relative) soundproofedness of my car, but I’ve forgotten how good it feels to have one of those “Yes!” moments when hearing a really good idea.

So that’s life with me. Hope you’re all doing well and the holidays are treating you well. I figure any season with Eggnog shakes has got to be good.

What is it they always say–underpromise and overdeliver? Yeah, I get that now. I was going to post my first book trailer here, but for some reason, my QuickTime movie and YouTube are fighting like RWA and Harlequin and I haven’t been able to upload my trailer.

I’m hoping to have it up sometime this week (see, I’m underpromising now, but I’ve also learned I should have done that at the beginning…) and will shriek and holler as soon as it’s working. Thanks for your patience and here’s to a fabulous week!